SECRETARY-GENERAL'S STATEMENT AT DINNER IN SEOUL HOSTED BY UN ASSOCIATION AND FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIES
Press Release
SG/SM/5939
SECRETARY-GENERAL'S STATEMENT AT DINNER IN SEOUL HOSTED BY UN ASSOCIATION AND FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIES
19960328 Following is the text of the statement delivered by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at a dinner in Seoul hosted by the United Nations Association of the Republic of Korea, in association with the Federation of Korean Industries:I am honoured to be spending this evening, the first of my visit, with members of the United Nations Association of Korea, and with representatives of Korean industry.
Last October, your President addressed the fiftieth anniversary session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. He described this country as "one of the success stories of the United Nations".
The United Nations is proud to have been associated with that story. In the course of four decades, the Republic of Korea has moved from the devastation of war to the prosperity of a thriving economy, within a democratic framework of government.
International solidarity, through the United Nations, was key to that process. But the achievements of the Republic of Korea belong to the efforts of the Korean people and their leaders. Tonight, I pay tribute to those efforts.
As a summa cum laude graduate of the school of development, the Republic of Korea owes much to its special combination of government leadership and private sector dynamism. It is an approach which is well-known throughout the world, much admired, and much imitated. I pay tribute tonight to the businessmen of the Republic of Korea for what you have done to bring this country to the leading world position it enjoys today.
As all successful graduates know, they are in demand. The alma mater -- understandably -- seeks to claim the success of its graduates as its own. And the alma mater has a tendency to come back to its successful graduates with requests: requests for funds, to join committees, to take part in events.
The United Nations has no need to ask graduate Republic of Korea to repay any debts from the past. Having ceased to be a recipient of donor assistance, it is now a donor and a participant in development assistance programmes. This year, the Republic of Korea's voluntary contributions to United Nations programmes have increased by over 65 per cent.
Of particular importance has been the Republic of Korea's contributions to UN50 -- the year marking the United Nations first half-century. The Republic of Korea's financial support was vital to the success of this anniversary year. But beyond its financial backing, The Republic of Korea was deeply engaged in the spirit and activities of the Organization's fiftieth year. These made UN50 much more than a celebration. It has been a time to assess, to analyse, and to set out an agenda for the world to come.
Today, the process of globalization is accelerating. The forces of fragmentation are at the same time intensifying. These phenomena, and the new opportunities and new global problems they are creating, make the need for an effective United Nations greater than ever.
A clear agenda for the Organization is now emerging.
Most urgent is the need to resolve the Organization's dangerous financial crisis. A cash receipts crisis has brought the United Nations to the edge of insolvency. Unpaid assessments now exceed $3 billion, and by June cash on hand will be insufficient to cover operating expenses. Increasingly, the crisis has begun to limit what the United Nations can do, and what it can hope to achieve.
Also at the top of the agenda is the need to continue the reform process now under way within the Organization. One, we need a streamlined, more coherent and responsive Secretariat. Two, we need an intergovernmental machinery that is less fragmented, better able to affect global forces, and more open to civil society. And three, we need an Organization in which all principal organs function cooperatively, not competitively.
A look at the record will reveal that significant reforms have been taking place within the Secretariat over the past four years. Throughout the Organization, structures are being streamlined. Staff size is being reduced. The internal rules of the United Nations are being cut and simplified. The Organization itself is being deregulated. There is new flexibility. There is more creativity and more productivity.
Today, even the sharpest critics of the United Nations would, in all honesty, have to acknowledge that serious reform is taking place. Lack of reform is no longer believable as a pretext for the failure to meet international obligations.
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Reform is a dynamic process. The need to adapt to new requirements and new circumstances is never over. Today, the composition and procedures of the Security Council, the state of relations between the Security Council and the General Assembly, the effectiveness of the Economic and Social Council, continue to require urgent attention.
And within the Secretariat, administrative strains are mounting. Demands on the Secretariat are increasing, while resources are decreasing. Restructuring is called for by Member States, but change is resisted -- sometimes by the same voices calling for reform.
Meeting these challenges will require concerted action, and continued efforts. Many constructive suggestions continue to be advanced, and I am committed to ensuring that positive change is an agenda item that is seriously pursued.
But change is not merely an end in itself. Change is a means towards making the United Nations more effective in the pursuit of its vast and vital mission -- maintaining peace and security; promoting sustainable development; ensuring a rapid and effective response to humanitarian emergencies; establishing and monitoring the observance of international legal and technical norms; and advancing human rights and democratization.
Two weeks ago, the United Nations launched a System-wide Special Initiative on Africa. This Initiative is especially significant because Africa is the one region where the imperatives of the United Nations most sharply come together.
At a time when conditions are steadily improving for many peoples around the world, the socio-economic situation in Africa has reached a critical stage. Africa is the only region in the world where poverty is expected to increase during this decade. Of the 47 least developed countries in the world, 32 are in Africa. Today, over 220 million Africans live in conditions of absolute poverty.
The United Nations has become the focal point for international efforts in Africa. Today, most of the Organization's peace-keeping operations are taking place in Africa. Africa receives the largest share of United Nations development assistance. And African States are among those most desiring the Organization's assistance in democratization and the protection of human rights.
Over many years and in many different ways, United Nations efforts have helped to save lives and improve the quality of life for millions of Africans.
The United Nations has helped Africa work to expand its economic opportunities, and try to narrow the growing gap between Africa and other
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parts of the world. And the United Nations has worked especially hard to encourage the peaceful resolution of conflicts in African countries.
Where we have helped to promote development and secure peace, we must build on those efforts to bring real improvements in conditions and standards of living. This is the goal of the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative for Africa.
The Initiative will work to strengthen Africa's capacities in the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict. It will help to strengthen elements of civil society engaged in peace-building and in the promotion of human rights and democratization. It will seek to enhance South- South cooperation in trade, finance, and production through strong private sector strategies. And it will devote the bulk of its collected resources to expanding basic education and health care across the continent.
Africa's leaders are committed to these tasks, and to this agenda. That is why the time has come for Africa and the international community to forge a new partnership. A partnership based on a new level of understanding. A partnership based on a new degree of commitment. A partnership based on a new sense of common community.
In this era of accelerating globalization, Africa's needs are not a regional issue -- they are a global issue. That is why even in the midst of its worst-ever financial crisis, the United Nations must doggedly seek new ways to gain wider support for Africa's development needs. We must find new means of overcoming donor fatigue, and new ways to rekindle support for development efforts.
So, tonight, I should like to make a special appeal to you. I urge and appeal to you to step up to this critical challenge. It is a challenge for the global community. It is a challenge for Africa. And it is challenge also for the Republic of Korea.
The world needs the active engagement of the Republic of Korea in solving global problems and in sharing global responsibilities. And those countries which have still to graduate into the developed ranks need to learn from the Republic of Korea's example.
I appeal to you to deepen still further your networks of international business and development contacts. I congratulate you on what you have achieved. I ask you to do still more.
The world needs the Republic of Korea.
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