JAPAN IS MODEL OF PARTICIPATION, HARD WORK, COMMITMENT TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS UNA LUNCHEON IN TOKYO
Press Release
SG/SM/5949
JAPAN IS MODEL OF PARTICIPATION, HARD WORK, COMMITMENT TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS UNA LUNCHEON IN TOKYO
19960404 Following is the text of a statement by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at a luncheon given by the United Nations Association of Japan in Tokyo on 4 April:Last October, United Nations Headquarters in New York was host to the largest-ever gathering of world leaders in history. One hundred twenty-eight heads of State and government came together to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. The high-level attendance at this special commemorative meeting, and the dedication and hard work of non-governmental organizations and actors of civil society from around the world in preparation for this important event all made clear that the United Nations has the support of citizens of the world and the leaders of the world.
Today, here in Tokyo, I wish to express my deep appreciation to the Government and people of Japan for their immense contribution to the United Nations fiftieth anniversary year. And I wish to congratulate you on the fortieth anniversary of Japan's membership in the world Organization.
I pay tribute to your country's four decades of support for the United Nations and its work. From the political to the financial, from the diplomatic to the intellectual, Japan's leaders and Japan's citizens have never tired in their faith, never tired in their effort to bring the world of the Charter to the world of today.
Since its admission to the United Nations on 18 December 1956, Japan has served seven times on the United Nations Security Council. Japan has led initiatives in every area of United Nations concern. Japan worked to bridge differences during the era of decolonization. In the field of disarmament, Japan is a major advocate for a comprehensive nuclear test ban and helped establish a United Nations registry on conventional weapons. On what I call "micro-disarmament", Japan shares my concern over the need to eradicate small weapons such as land-mines, which have devastating consequences for civilians long after a conflict has ended. In humanitarian activities, Japan contributes greatly in places like Afghanistan, Angola, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, taking the lead in support of United Nations appeals. Japan
supports United Nations efforts around the world to promote sustainable economic and social development, and respect for human rights.
In 1993, Japan was host to the first ministerial conference in Asia devoted to the problems of Africa. In 1994, in Yokohama, Japan hosted the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction. In support of democratization, Japan has sent election monitors to Angola, Cambodia, El Salvador and South Africa. To help maintain international peace and security, Japan has sent peace-keeping personnel to Cambodia and Mozambique, and today has a transport platoon on the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria.
Distinguished Japanese nationals continue to make outstanding contributions within the United Nations system: Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Judge Shigeru Oda on the International Court of Justice; Yasushi Akashi, my former Special Representative in both Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia, and today Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs; Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Yukio Takasu, United Nations Controller.
In terms of participation, hard work and commitment to international peace and progress, Japan is a model for all.
With the fiftieth anniversary year, United Nations efforts have gained new momentum. But there is a danger that this momentum will be lost. A financial crisis has set the United Nations on the brink of bankruptcy. Unpaid assessments now exceed $3 billion.
Serious reform efforts are under way. The Organization has cut expenses. We have streamlined operations and eliminated posts. We are working to reduce waste, duplication and overlap. But as long as the crisis persists, other efforts to reform, cut back and restructure cannot succeed, and the future of the Organization itself is in danger.
This is my number one priority. I am doing all that I can to help resolve the question of payment of arrears so that the United Nations can survive in the short term. In the meantime, I appeal to you as friends of the United Nations, as public-minded citizens, to assist me in this effort. I ask you to speak out in support of settling arrears, and of paying future contributions on time, and in full.
Within the United Nations General Assembly, there are five working groups aimed at reforming different aspects of the Organization -- on the financial situation, on strengthening the United Nations system, on the question of equitable representation and increase in membership of the Security Council and on my two reports, Agenda for Peace and Agenda for
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Development. I consider the questions before these working groups to be critical to the future success of the Organization.
These groups share a common objective. That is, in the words of the heads of State and Government who gathered in New York to mark the fiftieth anniversary, "to give to the twenty-first century a United Nations equipped, financed and structured to serve effectively the peoples for which it was established".
I am firmly convinced that we can meet this objective. And I remain ready to support the efforts of these working groups in every way possible, and to continue the constructive dialogue already under way. Japan is an active participant in these endeavours, in strengthening and reforming the United Nations at its half-century mark, to prepare the world Organization, and all of us, for the new century ahead.
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