| STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. JAN PETERSEN FOREIGN MINISTER
OF United Nations General Assembly 58th Session General Debate CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, The brutal attacks on the UN mission in The perpetrators of such crimes must be brought to justice. We must renew our efforts to bolster respect for humanitarian principles. It is unacceptable that UN personnel are unable to conduct humanitarian relief operations without risking their lives. It is unacceptable that UN personnel are denied access to people in distress. On behalf of the people of Unless the security needs in Now we must focus our attention on what is needed to rebuild Our aim is to help the people of The United Nations should play a key role in setting the
benchmarks and guiding the political process towards the early restoration
of But a carefully
considered timeframe must be drawn up. We must also make sure that the
tasks that we decide for the United Nations in Mr. President, Terrorism is a dark force, which targets the very values and norms upon which the United Nations Charter is based. An overwhelming majority of Member States have joined forces to fight it - and we have taken some important steps together. We need to strengthen the role of the United Nations in multilateral disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation. We need to agree on strong and effective regimes that can provide reliable protection against weapons of mass destruction. A week ago world leaders and the
Secretary-General sat down in Mr. President, We want a United Nations that reaches out and responds to the concerns of all Member States. And it must reach out and respond to the concerns of all individuals - to the needs of men and women alike. We need a world of equal opportunities, where all the world's human resources - and not only half of them - are put fully to use. We have a vision of a humane world where people can live in security and dignity, free from poverty and despair. To live up to the ideals enshrined in the Charter, the United Nations must continue to give priority to human rights and fundamental aspects of governance. A culture of impunity for mass atrocities is incompatible with human dignity and undermines long-term security. The establishment of the International Criminal Court is a historic turning point. Mr. President, Fighting terrorism, strengthening human security, working for development and preventing conflict are challenges that are closely related. In the Millennium
Development Goals we have pledged
to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and to reduce
child mortality by two-thirds. We have pledged to halve the proportion
of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Development must be built on a global partnership and on shared responsibilities.
Mr. President, More often than not, the United Nations only becomes engaged in earnest after armed conflict has broken out. The reasons are many, but they are no excuse for the loss of lives, the human misery and the setbacks in development that are too often the high price of collective inaction. Too often the main legacy of a civil war is another civil war. Yet there are many things we can do to prevent this from happening. We can act to prevent economic conflict drivers such as diamonds and other natural resources from fuelling and prolonging conflicts. And we can act to curb the illegal trade in small arms. By fighting poverty
and promoting peace and development, we are making the soundest investment
possible in Mr. President, Over the last few years, the United Nations has made considerable
progress in peacekeeping. The foundations for a new approach have been laid. Notable results have been
achieved in The UN Assistance Mission in Many people are suffering from food shortages and are in
need of assistance. Elections are due next year. Women are not yet properly
empowered. Unless we can assure nation-wide security, the nationbuilding
process in With NATO in command of ISAF, Mr. President, In Development of economic infrastructure is equally important
for all in In Mr. President, 2003 has been a tragic year for Israelis and Palestinians. Their acceptance of the Road Map for peace boded well. But again violence and not politics is determining the course of development. A political solution is needed
- building on a parallel process where The ultimate goal, in which we will not lose faith, is
that of two states - Mr. President, The past year has been a trying one for the United Nations. Multilateralism has come under pressure from those who continue to question the primacy of the United Nations - and therefore look elsewhere for solutions. The answer to this challenge is to make the United Nations more effective and thus more relevant in dealing with issues at the top of the international agenda. By increasing the relevance of the United Nations we can increase its authority and legitimacy. We therefore welcome the Secretary-General's decision to appoint a High-Level Panel to recommend concrete ways in which to strengthen the functioning of the major bodies of the United Nations and the relationship between them. Mr. President, The aims and ideals of the United Nations are as relevant as ever - to maintain peace and security, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, to establish conditions for justice and the international rule of law, and to promote economic and social development. The world has changed since 1945, but the United Nations has not changed with it. I urge Member States to come together with a renewed sense of unity and purpose, so that we can change our organisation in the collective spirit that lies at the core of the Charter. |