Heads
of State and Government, General Assembly President, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ladies and Gentlemen, Sergio Vieira de Mello personified the
honor of the United Nations. Murdered on August
19 along with members of his staff, we shall long remember him. Let
us dedicate this session to this great servant of peace.
The United Nations has just weathered one
of the gravest trials in its history. The debate turned on respect for the Charter and the use of force.
The war, embarked on without Security Council approval, has undermined the multilateral system.
Having taken stock of this crisis, our
Organization can now resume its onward march.
For it is above all in this forum, which is the crucible of the international
order, that it behooves us to exercise our responsibilities to the world
of today and to future generations.
In an open world, no one can live in isolation,
no one can act alone in the name of all, and no one can accept the anarchy of a society without
rules. There is no alternative to the United Nations. But in the face of today's challenges,
this fundamental choice, as expressed in
the Charter, calls for a far-reaching reform of our Organization. Multilateralism is
the key, for it ensures the participation of all in the management of
world affairs. It is a guarantee of legitimacy
and democracy, especially in matters regarding the use of force or laying
down universal norms.
Multilateralism works: in Monterrey and
Johannesburg it has allowed us to overcome the clash of North and South and to set the scene for partnerships-with
Africa notablybearing
promise for the future.
Multilateralism is a concept for our time:
for it alone allows us to apprehend contemporary
problems globally and in all their complexity.
First of all, as a means to settle the conflicts that threaten
international peace and security.
Multilateralism is the modern approach
for this alone allows contemporary problems to be addressed as a whole
in their complexity.
First,
the settlement of conflicts that threaten international peace and security.
In this way the
international community and the Iraqi people, united around a common project,
will together end the tragic decades of this great country's history.
In the Middle
East, undermined by despair and hate, only firm political resolve to
apply, on both
sides, the law as formulated by the United Nations will pave the way
to a just and lasting
solution.
The international
community must restore a dynamic for peace. It must be resolutely involved
in the implementation of the road map. This must be the ambition of
the next ministerial meeting of the Quartet.
France believes the idea of a monitoring mechanism still holds and that
an international conference is an objective to be achieved as quickly
as possible.
Given the present
tension, France calls on the parties to resist the temptation to engage in a trial of force and never-ending
radicalization. The fight against international terrorism
is another key challenge. This is well in hand, under Security Council
auspices and within the framework of our various treaties. Our determination
is rooted in the horror of September 11. The threat goes to the very
heart of our democracies and societies. We are using
force to combat terrorism, but that is not enough. It will return over and over if we allow extremism and fanaticism
to flourish, if we fail to
realize that it uses the world's unresolved conflicts and imbalances
as its justification.
In the face of
proliferating weapons of mass destruction, we reject all "faits
accomplis".
We must stand united in ensuring the universality of
treaties and the effectiveness of non-proliferation regimes. We must
strengthen our means of action in order to ensure compliance. France
has proposed the creation of a permanent corps of inspectors under the authority of the Security Council. We need to give fresh impetus to
this policy. Let us call a
summit meeting of the Security Council to
frame a genuine United Nations action plan against proliferation.
Sustainable development
poses yet another challenge, for half of humanity lives in conditions of
precarity or extreme poverty. Are we capable of nurturing a form of
globalization
founded in solidarity, as our peoples demand, in response to the globalization
of the economy?
The United Nations
suffers from the current weakness of the General Assembly. Yet that is where debate on solutions to
the world's great problems should take place and consensus be forged. A culture of confrontation must give way to a culture
of action, aimed at achieving our common goals.
Chief responsibility
for the maintenance of peace and security lies with the Security Council.
It is therefore essential to its legitimacy that its membership reflect
the state of the world.
It must be enlarged to include new permanent members, for it needs the
presence of major countries. France is thinking, naturally, of Germany
and Japan, but also of some leading
countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America. It needs additional elected
countries as well, in order to make the Council more representative
still. Under the resolute impetus of the five permanent members, each of us must take up this discussion with
the general interest in mind.
This reform should
be accompanied by a strengthening of the Council's authority. It is the role of
the Council to set the bounds to the use of force. No one is entitled
to arrogate to
himself the right to utilize it unilaterally and preventively. Conversely,
in the face of mounting threats, States must have an
We all place a high premium on
national sovereignty. But its scope can and must be limited in cases
of gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law. The Security
Council is taking
steps in that direction, and France supports this development. We now realize that globalization demands
stronger economic, social and environmental governance. To that end,
France proposes the creation of a new political forum representative of the present state of the world economy in all its
diversity. This council would be entrusted with the responsibility
for providing the necessary impetus to the
international institutions, for improving their coordination, and for
anticipating and tackling global problems more effectively. Effectiveness
also depends on increased financial resources. France calls for two
changes. First, a reversal
of the trend toward raising voluntary contributions at the expense of
mandatory contributions.
Failing that, we will end up with a pick-and-choose United Nations, an outdated vision, and a
harmful one. Second, we need
to make progress in harnessing funds for development. France wants to meet the
official development assistance target of 0.7% of gross national income
by the year 2012.
But this effort, together with that of the European Union, will not
suffice to generate the necessary funds needed to finance the Millennium Goals each
year. France therefore supports the innovative concept of an International Financial
Facility. I would also like us to give pragmatic consideration to the
idea of international solidarity levies, a kind of tax on the wealth generated by globalization. To advance on these
issues, I approve the Secretary-General's intention to gather around him a committee of independent
wise men and women entrusted with making proposals. Ladies and Gentlemen, Against the risk
of a world without order delivered up to violence, let us work to establish one governed by the rule
of law. Against the injustice
and suffering of a world of ever-widening inequalities-even though it has
never been as rich as it is today-let us choose solidarity. Against the chaos of a world shaken by ecological
disaster, let us call for a sharing of responsibility, around a United Nations
Environmental Organization. Against the barbarity
of a world in which fundamental rights are trampled on, where the integrity
of mankind is under threat, where native peoples-the heirs to an irreplaceable
heritage-vanish amid silence and indifference, let us uphold the demands
of ethics.
Against the perils
of a clash of civilizations, finally, let us insist on the equal dignity
of all cultures,
respect for diversity, and the importance of dialogue.
With the Charter
adopted in the name of the Peoples of the United Nations, our founders
proclaimed their faith in these ideals. Let us seek to be worthy of
them. Let us strive
to place the United Nations at the heart of this planetary democracy
so vital in our day
and age.
Thank you.
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