SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES APPRECIATION FOR CANADA'S 'DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONSIBILITY' IN LECTURE AT OTTAWA CONGRESS CENTER
Press Release
SG/SM/5821/Rev.1*
SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES APPRECIATION FOR CANADA'S 'DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONSIBILITY' IN LECTURE AT OTTAWA CONGRESS CENTER
19951122 Following is the text of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's lecture delivered as part of the World Leaders Series, hosted by the United Nations Association of Canada and the Canadian Committee for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations, at the Ottawa Congress Center on 22 November:I am facing a difficult task today. One of the jobs of a Secretary- General is to travel the world, and inform people about the United Nations and all that it is doing. Misunderstandings can be corrected in this way. And support for the United Nations can be strengthened in this way.
Today, however, I am addressing a highly knowledgeable audience. An audience that knows that the United Nations is not a sinister world government. An audience that knows that only some 20 per cent of the United Nations work is in peace-keeping -- while 80 per cent is in the promotion of human rights, sustainable development, international law and democratization.
And I am aware that Canadians are perhaps foremost in all the world in their support for the United Nations. I am still feeling the warmth of the glowing testimonials to the United Nations from Prime Minister Chrétien during the special commemorative session of the General Assembly and from Foreign Minister Ouellet during the general debate.
One month ago at the United Nations special session, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien stated: "For fifty years, the United Nations has symbolized Canada's highest hopes for a world at peace. I believe there is a simple reason for this attachment. The United Nations stands for the rule of law, for social and political justice and for the peaceful resolution of disputes. These are important principles for Canadians."
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* Revised to incorporate an English translation from the French.
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Earlier, Foreign Minister André Ouellet said at the General Assembly: "The United Nations deserves our continued support. If we examine the record of just the last few years, the United Nations has conducted successful peace- keeping operations in Cambodia, Mozambique and Haiti. Thanks to the United Nations, in this decade alone, five million children will grow up normally, children who would otherwise have been paralyzed by polio. In 1995, the United Nations is working to ensure a better life for the almost 23 million refugees in the world today."
I can only hope that these statements will be heard by people everywhere and heeded by their Governments. With this depth of understanding and responsibility, the United Nations can succeed, and the world it serves becomes a far better place. So for all these reasons, you can see that today I feel at home in Canada, just as Canada has made of the United Nations, for the last fifty years, a home for the world. I thank you of United Nations Association-Canada for your efforts to bring to the people of Canada an awareness of the United Nations. You are the United Nations family in Canada.
So, here among family, let me share some thoughts, in all frankness and humility, regarding the way we are going at the United Nations. These are thoughts which emerge from four years of experience as Secretary-General of this great experiment in human society, the United Nations.
In the United Nations, Member States have an unique forum for dialogue. Many of the old assumptions have faded. New consensus must be achieved. The global phenomenon of democratization must be addressed in all its dimensions, within and among States. Today, the General Assembly brings together 185 States on the basis of sovereign equality and democratic principles. It is here that all nations have a home. It is here that experiences are shared. It is here that conflict and confluence of interest are uncovered and managed, with words -- not weapons. To quote your Prime Minister: "These are important principles for Canadians".
In the United Nations, Member States have an unique vehicle for fostering agreement. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Law of the Sea. The atmosphere and outer space. Commitments on the advancement of women and other social and economic issues. The United Nations provides the only shared framework for the advancement of international law. And, in addition to the General Assembly, it provides the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the International Court of Justice. Each of these intergovernmental organs is different. But all aim to provide for the peaceful resolution of differences, and the achievement of agreement, in a forum acceptable and accessible to all concerned.
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In the United Nations, Member States have a means to deal with global problems. Countering international crime, drugs and disease. Working to stop the cycle of natural disasters. Finding the sustainable balance between the economy and the environment. Today, more than ever, the nations of the world confront problems undeniably global in dimension. No single nation, acting alone, can achieve a lasting solution. The United Nations helps to define the common interest. And it facilitates common action.
In the United Nations, Member States have a mechanism for sharing burdens and responsibilities. Preventing conflicts from erupting. Peacemaking between adversaries. Maintaining cease-fires. Clearing land- mines and peace-building among peoples. The United Nations is not a substitute or surrogate for individual action by Member States. But in many cases, it can provide a useful alternative to unilateral action. In other cases, it serves as a valuable supplement. And in some cases it provides an indispensable mechanism for success. In all cases, the United Nations offers a way for the entire international community to be involved -- to show international solidarity, and to share in the risks and rewards of active international commitment.
These essential attributes of the Organization are a source of the many United Nations achievements that we today recognize.
However, the current situation of the United Nations is uncertain and precarious. The spirit of the founding fathers of the Charter combined generosity and good will. Fifty years later, this internationalism sometimes becomes eroded.
We note that, for some States, there is a wide gulf between the awareness that problems exist and the willingness to do something about them. Much is asked of the world Organization without providing it with the financial resources to act. As I speak, over half the Member States have not paid their assessed contributions to the regular budget in full. And the arrears total some $3 billion.
Things have reached the stage where I occasionally congratulate a State for paying an assessed contribution in full and on time, or I write a letter expressing my thanks to heads of State who pay what they owe to the Organization ...
This situation is unacceptable. After all, late payments jeopardize the activities of the United Nations not only over time but in real terms as well!
However, the situation is in fact even more serious, as Prime Minister Jean Chrétien rightly pointed out. This financial crisis reveals a crisis of confidence in the world Organization and in multilateralism as a whole.
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Today we know very well that most of the problems facing us are global and transnational, requiring both political will and human solidarity.
In the new world order which is taking shape, we must all understand the vital role of the United Nations!
Our Organization should be able to avert and resolve international conflicts, but also the new internal conflicts of an ethnic, religious or cultural nature which have emerged all over the world.
In addition, however, the United Nations must keep pace with the great changes occurring in the world; for example, by protecting the environment and ensuring sustainable development of the planet for future generations. It should also address new threats to the world community, such as global epidemics, drug trafficking, money-laundering and transnational crime.
Moreover, we should continue to ensure the development of international law. I am thinking in particular of the decisive action we must take to prevent the re-emergence of crimes against humanity and genocide such as we have, sad to say, witnessed of late.
I am speaking of the vital contribution which the United Nations has to make to the world community of tomorrow. But I also want to stress the extent to which our vision of the future should go hand in hand with our ongoing intention to adapt and reform the Organization itself.
Everyone must realize that the United Nations holds in its hands the future of the planet. It is the guarantee of progress in the world, and even of its survival.
I should like therefore to emphasize the enormous risks facing all peoples and all nations as a result of the financial crisis of the Organization. And I call on each and every man and woman here to rally support -- needed now more than ever -- for the world Organization!
I know this call will be heeded here, in Canada, the land of the Mackenzie Kings, the John Humphreys, the Lester Pearsons, the Gérard Pelletiers and all your eminent compatriots who have distinguished themselves in the service of the international community.
I should like to revert once more to the exemplary role played by Canada within the United Nations. The first peace-keeping operation, in 1956, was a Canadian initiative. At this very moment, more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers are serving the cause of peace in the world. Canadian servicemen, observers
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1and policemen are at work in the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Rwanda. Others are serving under the blue flag in Cyprus and Angola. Several Canadians have held high positions in the areas of preventive diplomacy, peace-keeping operations, action for development or humanitarian questions.
Furthermore, research and studies on the United Nations carried out in Canada have made it possible for the Organization to make considerable progress in essential areas. I am thinking, for instance, of the Canadian contribution to the development of the rapid-reaction concept. If this concept is fully developed, it will be possible to avert such tragedies as the one in Rwanda, since we shall at last be able to deploy quickly enough the troops we need in order to prevent such intolerable tragedies.
Finally, I should like to recall the role played by Canada in the field of development, its initiatives to elaborate an agenda for development and its efforts to strengthen the Economic and Social Council. To my mind, these constitute a major contribution to the debate on, and reform of, the world Organization.
I have tried in a few words to express the importance I attach to the action taken by you and your country in the service of the United Nations.
Canadian men and women, in their spirit of tolerance, in their generosity, in their hospitality, embody the qualities which we all wish to see in the great family of man.
I should like you to know what great support and deep comfort your welcome has given me.
I should like to thank you for your dedication, for your commitment, and, I would go so far as to say, your passion for the world Organization and its values.
Thanks to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, we will all work together to build a better world.
Thank you for being here and thank you for all you have done.
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