Secretary-General's press conference with Irish Foreign Minister, Dermot Ahern
Press events | Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General
We discussed quite a lot of issues where we ourselves, both nationally but also through the EU, can be of assistance to the UN. I told the Secretary-General that at my first meeting with the General Affairs Committee in Luxembourg, a lot of the issues that we discussed were to do with better cooperation between ourselves and the UN. This evening we discussed a whole lot of issues, including the Sudan, Iraq, the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Mr. Secretary-General, would you like to say something?
SG: Thank you very much, Minister. I am extremely happy to be back in Ireland and I've had very good discussions with several of the leaders –the President, with the Foreign Minister and with the Minister of Defense. And of course I spoke yesterday at the EU gathering and tomorrow I will see Taoiseach.
But we've had a good round of discussions just now, including the subjects the minister had raised. We also talked about the UN reform and the need to bring, to adapt the UN to make it more responsive to the challenges of the 21st century. And I was also able to thank the Minister for the major contribution Ireland makes to all the major UN activities, from peacekeeping to development to humanitarian and to thank them for the contributions they are making on the key issue of HIV/AIDS which is a major problem around the world. Of course Africa is the hardest hit, but it is spreading fast in Asia, Eastern Europe as well as in the Caribbean.
Questions?
Q: This is a question for both of you. There is a letter from Mary Robinson, Bono and Bob Geldof about the target date that the Taoiseach set for achieving the main target on development assistance -- 2007 -- and they said “We are deeply disturbed at recent reports that this date will not be met.” For you minister, the talk of setting the new date -- why should we believe you when you are not going to meet this date? And for Kofi, pardon me, the Secretary-General…
SG: It's OK, I'm Kofi. [laughter]
Q: Kofi, alright…
SG: It's good to see you again.
Q: Would it be helpful to you if Ireland stuck to the 2007 target in terms of making other countries buck up to achieve the targets for the Millennium Development Goals? Thank you.
FM: Maybe if I say, I mean, first of all, you have to look at this in the context of where we've come from. Back in 1997, the contribution of ODA was about 150 million [euros]; today it is 480 million. That's a sizeable increase in anyone's mind. It also leaves us that we're joint seventh in the world. The commitment in relation to reaching 0.7 is still extant by 2007—it's still in place and can't be changed unless there's a cabinet decision. And obviously going into the budget estimates over the coming weeks running up to the budget in December, we will be pulling in our best foot forward as a department in order to get as much as we can.
I think it has to be accepted that, given the fact that our GNP is going maybe two and a half times as fast as most of the European countries, it makes that job more difficult. And I also think we have to look at the whole issue of the capacity that a lot of the organisations have as to whether or not they can actually spend the sizeable extra resources that we would be talking about. But you can take it that going into the budgetary estimate situation, we will be looking for a planned multi-annual basis so that we can clearly indicate, quite clearly to the general public and those people who are interested in this issue, that we will show quite clearly that we have planned to reach 0.7 per cent as soon as possible, preferably obviously 2007. But if that's not possible, over a time scale that would be subsequently agreed. But as I said, at the moment, that particular time date still stands.
SG: I am very pleased with Ireland's commitment to development and the contribution they have made. I am also reassured by the Minister's statement right now and, of course, he also stated it yesterday publicly. And I think the contribution Ireland has made is important and I would urge other countries to follow suit. If we are going to meet the Millennium Development Goals, we need additional resources, additional funding for development. Without it, many countries, many of the least developed countries, will not meet the target. And next year when we meet at the UN to review the Development Goals, five years on, this will be one of the messages that will be going out to all the members gathered there.
Q: Secretary-General, Mr. Ahern mentioned that you discussed Iraq and I was just wondering if you had any new indications of the size of the UN staff that might monitor the elections in January, firstly. And secondly, what the current thinking is on the readiness of Iraq for elections in January.
SG: Let me say that the UN is not going to Iraq to monitor the elections in January. Our role is to support and advise the Iraqi Authorities as they organise the elections. They are responsible for the elections and they have ownership of those elections. But we have a team there, working with them, giving them support and advice, and for the moment we are on track doing everything that we have undertaken to do. But of course, as we get closer to the time when we begin to take on more activities, additional staff will be needed and as circumstances permit, they will go in. But circumstances are very much dependent on security.
On the question of the environment, let me say that since the Iraqis, as I said, are responsible for the elections, when the Prime Minister was in New York last month, and in my discussions with him he indicated they were determined to go ahead with the elections in January. It is their call.
FM: Could I just add that I was able to tell the Secretary-General that in relation to the Protection Force for the UN personnel, and that is currently being put together, that Ireland were able to contribute a half a million euro to that Protection Force.
SG: Thank you very much for that contribution.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, as regards Darfur, can you see any positive, tangible signs that militias are being reined in and the violence is actually stopping?
SG: No; we are especially concerned about security and the protection of the civilian population. I think more can, and should be done and we've made this known to the government. But what we're also trying to do is encouraging the international community to give all possible assistance to the African Union Force, the monitors and the Protection Force, as soon as possible, and use their presence and their mandate to dissuade these attacks and help ensure the protection of the population.
Q: Secretary-General, could I ask you, do you accept that the UN is damaged goods after the United States government ignored all resolutions in relation to the war in Iraq?
SG: We took a hit; we had a setback, but I wouldn't say “damaged goods”. I think that's going a bit too far. We went through a very difficult period. First of all, there was very acrimonious and bitter debate before the war. And the war created really deep divisions amongst the membership. It's beginning to heal; it hasn't healed yet. But what is important is that almost everyone is looking forward now, that we need to do whatever we can to stabilise Iraq because we cannot afford to have a chaotic Iraq in the middle of that region. It will have an impact on all of us. But I cannot hide the fact that we did take a hit and it was a setback for the Organisation.
Q: Could I ask both of you then. Secretary-General, I think culture is very much an instrument of [unintelligible] of many situations in the world at the moment and it's used to protect people from harm. I think, for example in places where there are tribal situations such as in Afghanistan, where refugees are being repatriated, for example. Often it is the custom for men to take decisions for a whole family or a whole tribal group and yet the United Nations regulations say that each individual refugee should be asked if they're ready to be repatriated. I'm just wondering, is there any role for the United Nations to actually encourage every country's curriculum in the world to include intercultural studies at a very early stage of [unintelligible] curriculum?
SG: Probably UNICEF has a programme with schools that would encourage that sort of thing. I can't answer that it that specifically, but I think it's a good idea to encourage schools and children to learn about other cultures, to learn languages which introduces them to other people's, ways of living, to understand other societies, to get to understand what is sacred to them and to respect these things. But I think we live in an interdependent world, so any studies, any attempt to improve understanding and get people to work together and to live with each other, I think is a very positive and I would myself be in support of that kind of effort in schools.
FM: I have nothing really to add to that. I would agree with it.
Q: [Unintelligible] but what can you say to assure the taxpayer that their money is being used effectively, is going where it should be? [unintelligible]
SG: No, I think generally one of the areas where the UN has been very active these days is institution building, strengthening institutions, good governance and helping governments set up systems where they can track these things. And in fact the governments themselves are making efforts, working with us to ensure that their aid is not only better targeted but it reaches the people it is destined to help. Lots of efforts are going into that, not only be governments, but by the World Bank and all of us and even on other levels, for example in the Global Compact that we work with companies, one of the last principles we added, we have nine principles, is the fight against corruption. The UN Convention against Corruption is also putting pressure on its members to do something to fight corruption. And I think there had been problems in the past but this is an issue which is of concern to governments. Donor governments and some of the recipient governments are being very active in setting up mechanisms for monitoring. And I'm sure the Irish Government is also very actively engaged in this.
FM: Absolutely. Just to add to that, when we are putting [unintelligible] billion Euro per year into ODA, obviously we have to ensure that Irish taxpayers are actually getting value for that money and that it's being spent wisely. One of the issues that I raised with the Secretary-General is the 50 million euro which we're spending now, increased from 5 million euro over the last five years, on HIV/AIDS in a lot of countries in the African continent. And one of the issues that's coming up more and more in that respect is the capability of the health systems that actually deliver on those resources, not just from our country, but also from the other contributors to the Global Fund.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, do you accept that following events in the early to mid-90s, that the United Nations had lacked any military credibility at all in the international community and do you believe the proposals and suggestions that have been spoken of this week will restore that credibility?
SG: We did have serious setbacks in the early nineties, from Somalia to Rwanda to the Balkans. Those were very difficult years. But I think that since then we've taken a look at these operations and set up a group led by [Lakhdar] Brahimi as to how we could improve peacekeeping operations. And I've taken some steps to tighten things up. And of course we were also operating in a very difficult environment, where you have civil wars with some of the parties prepared to use any means and attack not just their own civilians but people who had also gone in to help. And I think the initiatives we discussed today, the “battle groups”, I think that's what you're referring to, can be extremely helpful because in some situations, actually in all situations, if you can deploy quickly you sometimes can nip the problem in the bud or contain it. You had a recent example when the European Union sent in the Operation Artemis to Bunia [in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo]. It was quick [unintelligible] to contain the situation until additional UN forces could go in there to take over from them. You also had a similar situation in Sierra Leone, when extra forces, a rapid reaction force went in there to help, stabilised the situation until the peacekeepers could carry on their work.
Q: How much of a loss was Mary Robinson to the UN and would you have liked her to stay on?
SG: Mary was a wonderful colleague and she did a lot for the human rights programme in the United Nations, travelled the world and showed understanding and compassion for the human condition and demonstrated that she was a true believer in human rights. And after five years or so she felt it was time to move on. And she's now doing some interesting things in New York; I meet her from time to time. And she is still in the human rights field, so we haven't lost her talents and services completely.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, how important is it do you think that Ireland should participate fully in the new European “battle groups”.
SG: I think that is a decision for Ireland to take, but let me say that in these operations, I believe that when you have as many of the UN members participating as possible, it sends a message, a message of international solidarity, a message to those in difficulty, a message to those who are [unintelligible] that the international community cares and that we are all ready to assist.
The other aspect, the “battle group” effort which I referred to, that ability to deploy quickly –on the whole, it takes about three to four months to deploy troops. The UN has no troops; we borrow them from governments. I once noted that we are placed in an awkward situation as an organisation. It's like telling firemen that we know you need a fire station but we'll build one for you when the fire breaks out. We begin looking for the army and collecting them after the war has broken out and it has to go in. So the more we have units like the “battle groups”, or governments with stand-by forces who are ready to assist and help us move quickly, the better.
FM: Okay, thank you very much.