SECRETARY-GENERAL APPEALS TO BUSINESS LEADERS FOR HELP RESOLVING UN FINANCIAL CRISIS IN LUNCHEON ADDRESS TO BUSINESS COUNCIL FOR UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
SG/SM/5804
SECRETARY-GENERAL APPEALS TO BUSINESS LEADERS FOR HELP RESOLVING UN FINANCIAL CRISIS IN LUNCHEON ADDRESS TO BUSINESS COUNCIL FOR UNITED NATIONS
19951102 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Following is the text of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's address to the Business Council for the United Nations, part of a luncheon series in honour of the United Nations fiftieth anniversary sponsored by the Council and The Economist, at Headquarters on 2 November:Last week, the largest number of world leaders ever to gather in one place came here to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. It was more than a commemoration. It was a serious commitment to the only truly universal organization in human history. For three days the leaders of nations met in this house of nations. They resolved to redirect the United Nations to even greater service to humanity -- and especially to those most in need.
Enormous energy was devoted to bringing about this extraordinary event. And the event itself has generated even more energy. We must channel this energy. We must use this new momentum. If we do, we can turn this historic commitment into a concrete reality.
This is why your presence here today is so important. The Business Council for the United Nations is an old and valued friend. Gatherings such as this are just one of the many ways you build support for the United Nations. Strong friendship and cooperation between the United Nations and business leaders is absolutely essential to creating a better world for tomorrow. Today, and throughout this luncheon series in honour of the United Nations, the Business Council joins with The Economist. So good food, good friends, and good talk about the future of the United Nations. I am delighted to be here with you.
You have asked me to talk today about peace-keeping. More specifically, the future of peace-keeping. You in this room understand the problems that United Nations peace-keepers around the world now confront. This shows in your award of the Business Council's medal to United Nations Blue Helmets. It shows in the pages of The Economist, which deal with the complex issues underlying today's conflicts and the United Nations efforts to resolve them.
Despite all the attention given to peace-keeping, it must be remembered that the United Nations has deeper, more far-reaching responsibilities. Development and democratization are crucial to the creation of more stable societies worldwide. They can reduce the need for peace-keeping in the twenty-first century. But today peace- keeping is more in demand than ever. Unless we can successfully deal with the outbreak of conflict around the world today, development and democratization will not take hold. The United Nations will not be able to give these long-term necessities the attention they require. Therefore, we must apply the lessons learned from our setbacks, and build upon the lessons of our successes.
Let me begin with the successes. Classical peace-keeping has proved its effectiveness. In places from the Middle East to Cyprus, it has stabilized conflict situations between States, and allowed for the search for a political settlement. Classical peace-keeping requires, as you know, impartiality and neutrality on the part of the United Nations. It requires consent and cooperation on the part of the protagonists. It takes place when the fighting has ceased. Its objective is to keep the peace. Classical peace-keeping will remain an important instrument for conflict management and resolution.
Since the end of the cold war, the United Nations has worked to adapt peace- keeping to situations in which internal conflicts are being resolved through negotiation. This "second generation" of peace-keeping is multifunctional. United Nations Blue Helmets are joined by civilian personnel -- experts in providing international assistance in political, social and economic dimensions. The aim is to help societies move from violent conflict towards national reconciliation, reconstruction and democratic consolidation. In this way, peace-keeping has become part of a comprehensive approach to peace-building. This approach shows much promise. Remarkable transformations are under way, with United Nations assistance, in El Salvador, Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique and Haiti. Almost certainly, this approach -- addressing the needs of entire societies -- will be essential in the future.
Another positive development, which the United Nations has encouraged, is peace- keeping by regional organizations. To these operations, the United Nations provides political and operational support through the co-deployment of United Nations observer missions. Such United Nations regional cooperation is now taking place in Liberia, Georgia and Tajikistan. Finding the right division of labour between the United Nations and regional organizations is not easy. But such cooperation brings greater legitimacy and support to international efforts. It eases the material and financial burden on the United Nations. It allows for comparative advantage. And it brings more actors to the world stage, helping to democratize the international system. The founders of the United Nations proposed regionalism and internationalism working not at odds, but together. The search for closer and more effective United Nations regional cooperation will be a positive factor for the future of peace-keeping.
These promising developments form a great part of United Nations peace-keeping. They have not yet received the recognition they deserve. Public opinion is focused on the disasters. The world is most familiar with those situations where United Nations
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peace-keepers have suffered the most serious setbacks. And it is often those places that shape the public image of the United Nations as a whole.
When the focus is on a setback, it is important to analyze the cause of the problem. And it is important not to ignore the positive side of the situation. In Bosnia, for example, the United Nations has saved countless lives, has helped hundreds of thousands of suffering people, and has successfully prevented the conflict from spreading beyond the area of the former Yugoslavia. At the same time, it must be recognized that the United Nations was given a "mission impossible" in Bosnia.
In Bosnia, the United Nations was sent as a peace-keeper into an ongoing wartime situation. This had never been done before. Paradoxically, now that a cease-fire and peace agreement may be in sight, it appears that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) combat troops will be sent to replace the United Nations peace- keepers. The concepts are upside-down. The future of peace-keeping -- and of our system of international security as a whole -- depends upon the restoration of its logic. In war situations, the international community should authorize the combat forces needed to deal with it. Where a cease-fire is in place, and where the consent and cooperation of the parties is reliable, peace-keepers should be deployed.
And finally, the future of peace-keeping rests upon the correction of another distortion -- the distortion between the demands placed upon the United Nations, and the resources provided to it. The United Nations is being instructed to act, but not being given the financial resources to do the job. There is not enough cash to pay for what we have been told to do.
Serious reform efforts are under way. The Organization has cut expenses. We have streamlined operations. We are working hard to reduce waste, duplication and overlap. But today, the impact of the financial crisis is being felt on the front lines of global problem-solving -- in a diminished capacity for peace-keeping, in less assistance for development, in less effective support for democratization and human rights. It is a crisis that threatens the very existence of the United Nations.
I appeal to you as leaders of commerce, as persons of influence, as friends of the United Nations, to help me resolve this crisis. I ask you to speak out in support of settling arrears, and of paying future contributions on time, and in full. Last week I told world leaders that the financial crisis was a symptom of a deeper problem: that Member States simply did not regard the United Nations as a priority. But they attended in unprecedented numbers, and they spoke strong words of support for the United Nations. Perhaps, when they return home, they will make the United Nations a priority.
I ask you now to help make this happen. To help the Member States carry through on the speeches they made here in this House, which is your House, too. I am convinced that working together in partnership -- through the United Nations -- the peoples and governments of the world can fulfil the goals of the Charter. We can save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. We can ensure justice and the rule of law in world affairs. We can reaffirm the dignity of the human person. We can promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.
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