UNITED NATIONS REFORM, FINANCIAL CRISIS MAJOR ISSUES ON SIXTH DAY OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE

30 September 1996

Press Release
GA/9107

UNITED NATIONS REFORM, FINANCIAL CRISIS MAJOR ISSUES ON SIXTH DAY OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE

19960930 Statements Made by Foreign Ministers of Bolivia, Namibia, Indonesia, Benin, Czech Republic, Yemen, Cuba

United Nations reform and its current financial crisis continued to be major issues this morning, on the sixth day of general debate in the fifty- first session of the General Assembly

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Roberto Robaina Gonzalez, said the most powerful country in the world was using the efficiency of the Organization as a smoke screen for its real aim -- opposing the United Nations mandate to attend to the needs of the great majority of mankind. He said no one could disregard the great influence of the United States in the so-called post-cold-war period, but it would be a mistake to disregard reality and not take preventive actions, preferably collective, to urge political leaders in that country to act with a minimum of responsibility and good sense and to understand that the power of a nation, important as it might be, had its limits.

Calling for a more effective system of global governance, the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Ali Alatas, said a stronger United Nations was needed to give global cooperation coherence. World governance must be fashioned with the United Nations as its principal mechanism and source of legitimacy and the General Assembly should effectively function as the highest decision-making organ within the United Nations system.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Namibia, Theo-Ben Gurirab, said the Assembly, as the ideal forum for resolving the conflicting interests of the "haves and have-nots", was not meant to play second fiddle to any of the other principal United Nations organs. Organizational reform must not end up making the Assembly the rubber stamp of either the Security Council or the Economic and Social Council. The United Nations must reactivate multilateralism as the centre-piece of international relations.

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On the reform of the Security Council, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bolivia, Antonio Aranibar Quiroga, joined a number of countries in the debate in the endorsement of Germany and Japan as permanent members of an expanded Council, and called for three more permanent seats to be chosen from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as for an appropriate number of non-permanent members from the developing world. While, ideally, the veto should soon be eliminated, it should, in the meantime, be strictly limited to actions corresponding to cases of threats to the peace or acts of aggression referred to in Chapter VII of the Charter.

Other statements were made this morning by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Benin, Czech Republic and Yemen.

The Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its general debate.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this morning to continue its general debate. The schedule of speakers included the Foreign Ministers of Bolivia, Namibia, Indonesia, Benin, Czech Republic, Yemen and Cuba.

Statements

ANTONIO ARANIBAR QUIROGA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bolivia, said the support his country gave to inter-governmental organizations, particularly the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS), reflected its confidence in the potential of multilateral cooperation in a world that grew more complex and interdependent. In the regional sphere, Bolivia sought economic integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was seeking closer ties with countries that shared subregional realities and was committed to convergence between different integration processes. That policy had prompted Bolivia to sign an agreement forming a free trade area with the members of MERCOSUR -- the Common Market of the Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) -- and to sign agreements aimed at updating and reinvigorating the Andean Community -- Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Highlighting other regional initiatives, he went on to say that the Rio Group had, at its recent ministerial-level meeting, focused on the danger of drugs and related problems. It recognized the importance of maintaining political dialogue at the highest level on that issue and concurred as to the need to reform the United Nations drug abuse control programme. The meeting called upon the international community to deal with the problem through joint action based on the principle of global shared responsibility. Support was given to the proposal to hold a special session of the Assembly in 1998 to address the issue. The meeting of heads of State and government of the Rio Group also recently noted the region's significant headway in fighting international crime.

Turning to the agenda of the fifty-first session of the Assembly, he said difficult international circumstances made it increasingly clear that the United Nations needed to be strengthened, adapting its structures as a genuine forum for consideration, definition, monitoring and implementation of universally accepted policies. With regard to the expansion of the Security Council, Bolivia considered it a necessity for Germany and Japan to be permanent members of an expanded Council, and three more permanent members should be chosen from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The expansion should be complemented by an appropriate number of non-permanent members from the developing world. Ideally, the veto should be eliminated in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, it should be strictly limited to actions corresponding to cases of threats to the peace or acts of aggression referred to in Chapter VII of the Charter.

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THEO-BEN GURIRAB, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Namibia, told the Assembly that Namibia supported the endorsement of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali for a second term.

"Africa is bleeding", the Foreign Minister continued. He expressed his concern over the "carnage and dehumanization" in Somalia, Burundi and "other tormented places in Africa" and expressed his support for the recently concluded peace accord in Liberia, brokered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the inauguration of Ruth Perry as the first-ever woman President in Africa. He urged support for Mrs. Perry, and he asked the international community to continue to support OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim and the implementation of the Mechanism for Conflict Management, Prevention and Resolution in Africa.

Namibia had signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and insisted on total nuclear disarmament, he said. It also supported the inclusion of a ban on anti-personnel land-mines in the agenda of the forthcoming Conference on Disarmament.

The Foreign Minister recalled that Namibia had been pleading with the United Nations and the rest of the world community for least developed country status. "So far, this plea has remained unheeded in the main, but, to be fair, not entirely", he said. He stated that while renewing the plea, it was worth acknowledging, "with appreciation", that implementation of General Assembly resolution 46/204, concerning the "as if" least developed country status, had aided Namibia in some constructive ways. The minister expressed his appreciation for the extension of the "as if" least developed country status for an additional three years.

On the issue of reform of the Security Council, the Foreign Minister said that Asia, Africa and Latin America each deserved allocation of at least two permanent seats each on the Council, as well as concomitant increase of non-permanent seats "in the spirit of democracy and fairness". Namibia had already expressed a view on the addition of Japan an Germany as permanent member of the Council. At the same time, the General Assembly was not meant to play second fiddle to any of the other principal United Nations organs. United Nations reform must not end up making the Assembly the rubber stamp of either the Security Council or the Economic and Social Council.

Namibia, he went on, was bound "by blood and common destiny" to stand with Angola, and Namibia's military contingent, attached to the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III), would remain in Angola until the mission was satisfactorily concluded. Concluding, he said the enduring current challenge for the United Nations was to reactivate multilateralism as the centre-piece of international relations and constructive cooperation in the emerging world order. The General Assembly was the ideal forum for

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resolving the conflicting interests of the "haves and have-nots", guided by principles of equality, justice and equity for all.

ALI ALATAS, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, said a more effective system of global governance was needed to address the demands created by globalization and interdependence. A stronger United Nations was needed to give global cooperation coherence. World governance must be fashioned with the United Nations as its principal mechanism and source of legitimacy. The General Assembly must function effectively as the highest decision-making organ within the United Nations system.

The Security Council, he continued, must address the interests and concerns of developing counties, and Asian, African and Latin American countries must be represented adequately on the Council. New permanent members should be chosen on the basis of equitable geographic representation, as well as on political and economic criteria. The Economic and Social Council must develop more dynamic relationships with other United Nations bodies and with the Bretton Woods institutions. But, to support change, the financial solvency of the United Nations must be guaranteed through fulfilment by Member States of their financial obligations.

The time had come for the Conference on Disarmament to establish a committee to negotiate a programme of nuclear disarmament and the elimination of nuclear weapons within a defined time-frame, he said. Regional leaders had recently signed the Treaty on the South-east Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. With the ratification of the Treaty, a large part of the southern hemisphere would be nuclear free. While welcoming the signing of the CTBT, he said the Treaty's tolerance of nuclear weapon testing involving simulation rendered the title "comprehensive" a misnomer. Also, the Treaty did not address the issue of disarmament.

Globalization had raised hopes of new opportunities and of equitable prosperity, he said. Developing countries were demonstrating growth in recent years, with some Asian countries recording annual economic growth of 6 per cent. Yet, in an environment over which developing countries had very little control, globalization could widen the "prosperity gap" between the developed and developing countries, and many developing countries still languished in poverty and backwardness.

To integrate into the global economy, many developing countries had found it necessary to make structural adjustments, which carried social and human costs. A new global partnership was needed to address the global problems of development. The World Trade Organization, which would hold its first ministerial meeting in December, must be nurtured so it could develop into the guardian of a non-discriminatory, multilateral trading system. Indonesia welcomed the joint proposal of the World Bank and the International

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Monetary Fund (IMF) which offered effective alternatives for reducing the overall debt burdens of heavily indebted countries to sustainable levels.

PIERRE OSHO, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Benin, said that despite the end of the cold war, peace and international security were far from ensured. In Africa, conflicts were no longer between nations but within nations, and thus constituted a challenge for the United Nations. The Organization should find new methods and mechanisms to deal with such problems.

He said he deplored the military coup last July in Burundi, and expressed his appreciation for the "firm and courageous" reaction of the countries from that subregion and their efforts to achieve an enduring settlement of the crisis. He expressed Burundi's support of similar efforts made by the leaders of the Great Lakes region and also the OAU. Only a new political agreement, founded on common sense and democratic principles, would contribute to a reasonable settlement of the crisis.

On the situation in Liberia, he said the recent summit of the leaders of ECOWAS in Abuja, had extended the 1995 Abuja Accords and elaborated a new time-frame for the peace process in Liberia. Benin demanded that the different Liberian factions conform to those accords, which would help their country return to normality. Benin also invited the international community to increase its financial support of ECOWAS, in its efforts to implement the accords.

Benin felt encouraged by the decisions of both France and China to halt all nuclear testing. It hoped a strategy would be found for a total ban on anti-personnel land-mines; those "murderous" weapons were still claiming innocent victims in Mozambique, Angola, Cambodia and elsewhere, even after the end of conflicts.

He said peace was nothing if development was not assured. Many African countries had made progress in several areas, but as a whole those achievements were far from sufficient. The recent accords of the 1994 Uruguay Round, the rapid formation of groups of developed countries and the ever more important role of private capital in the world economy had created a new international environment which did not take Africa's interests into account. He said Benin welcomed the Secretary-General's launching last March of the Special Initiative for Africa, which required the mobilization of Africans themselves but also all its partners in development, so as to achieve tangible results.

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JOSEF ZIELENIEC, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, said the United Nations should focus its energies on what it did best -- maintaining international peace and security, promoting respect for human rights, providing development assistance and alleviating human suffering. United Nations reform should consist of setting out clear- cut priorities for United Nations action. Those priorities were areas where the United Nations held a competitive advantage, where it could act more efficiently than individual States or regional organizations.

Reform was no longer a subject for discussion, he said. Action was needed. Though reform was well under way, the current system was still hindered by overlapping mandates and duplication in the work of various United Nations bodies and specialized agencies. Departments within secretariats suffered from insufficient coordination and oversight mechanisms, unclear priorities and bureaucratic procedures.

Regarding the financial situation, he said the two main causes of the current crisis were the present method of assessing contributions, and arrears. A new scale of assessment should be developed which equitably reflected the economic circumstances of individual Member States and their capacity to pay, based primarily on gross national product (GNP) indicators. It was also essential that Member States fulfil their financial obligations in full, on time and without conditions. Certain incentives and disincentives should be adopted to encourage Member States to honour their financial commitments.

He expressed strong support for reform efforts to restructure the Economic and Social Council and to enhance its efficiency and its coordinating role. The Council should more adequately reflect the new world economic and social situation. It should also provide policy guidance for development activities and become the supreme coordinating body for all United Nations- based programmes that fell under its purview. To reduce duplication with the Assembly, the Economic and Social Council should pass on to the Assembly only those issues which it did not have the power to decide by itself. On the other hand, the Assembly should strike from its agenda those items that were fully within the Council's authority.

He said his country's membership in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) represented a serious commitment to share the knowledge and experience of the Czech people with other countries and to provide development assistance. His country also intended to contribute to Europe's security and stability by seeking membership in the European Union and in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Russia's participation in the discussion on European security was critical, and a strategic partnership between NATO and the Russian Federation was necessary. That discussion, however, should not be a precondition for the enlargement of NATO.

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ABDULKARIM AL-ERYANI, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Yemen, said his country appreciated the role of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in the efforts to preserve international peace and security, and expressed support for his re-election. He noted "new and dangerous" developments in the Middle East as a result of the "aggressive unjustified actions" undertaken by the Israeli authorities against the Palestinian people. He said the "terrorism and oppressive practices" carried out by the Israeli occupying authority constituted a gross violation of human rights and of legitimate international resolutions as well as of the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning occupied territories. Peace and security were threatened not only in the region but in the world.

Yemen, he went on, had this year celebrated the sixth anniversary of its unification, and the celebrations coincided with preparations for the registration of voters to take part in the second parliamentary elections in April 1997. This democratic approach was characterized by political pluralism, respect for human rights and the freedom of the press, a process that would win the support and encouragement of the international community.

Meanwhile the people faced social and economic problems, such as inflation and a high population growth rate, which were being addressed through a programme for reforms in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). Those efforts had yielded notable success, especially in preventing the collapse of the local currency, but the situation had been compounded by floods which affected the country in June, causing loss of life and property.

He said Yemen's foreign policy orientation was based on mutual respect and common interest. He cited the demarcation of the border with Oman, which had been "definitively concluded" through dialogue, and said his country was working in the same spirit on the issue of the border with Saudi Arabia. On the dispute over Eritrean occupation of the Yemeni island of Hanish al-Kubra, he noted that Yemen, believing in the purposes and principles of the United Nations, had not been quick to use force while negotiations were going on between the two countries. As a result of the war in Somalia, he continued, Yemen had found itself burdened with tens of thousands of its refugees. Responsibility for resolving the refugee problem and the Somalia problem itself, he stressed, rested with the Somalis, urging them to demonstrate the political will and a genuine desire to reach a final settlement.

He emphasized the importance of the total compliance by Iraq with legitimate international resolutions, but also the need to preserve the unity, territorial sovereignty and integrity of the country. He called on the international community and the Security Council to lift the air blockade and

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other measures imposed on Libya. He expressed appreciation for the efforts of the United States and the European Union on the accords reached by the parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Because of its geographical location, he went on, Yemen was of particular importance to any efforts made to strengthen cooperation between the Littoral States of the Indian Ocean. He noted with satisfaction the work of the committee to implement the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a zone of Peace.

ROBERTO ROBAINA GONZALEZ, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba, said that just a few weeks ago, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate, ordered the United Nations to reform in accordance with the manner, way and style prescribed by the United States or else suffer the consequences. The United States Government, which owed the United Nations $1.5 billion, arrogated itself the right to unilaterally determine who may or may not be Secretary-General and argued how the Organization should be managed.

He said that 80 per cent of the work of the United Nations had been devoted to assisting the developing countries. The United Nations has helped those countries receive fair treatment in international economic relations, spared the children of the developing world from starvation and disease, promoted emergency aid to refugees and disaster victims, and promoted education to slow down the ongoing ecological deterioration of the planet. Those were the functions that the United States Senator was trying to abolish.

The most powerful country in the world used the efficiency of the Organization as a smoke screen for its real aim, which was opposing the United Nations mandate to attend to the needs of the great majority of mankind, he continued. In 1945, then President of the United States, Harry Truman, told the San Francisco Conference "if we fail to use the United Nations Charter and the Organization we have created with it, we shall betray all those who have died in order that we might seek here in freedom and safety to create it. If we seek to use it selfishly for the advantage of one nation or a small group of nations, we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal".

The Foreign Minister said no one could disregard the great influence of the United States in the so-called post-cold-war period. He was not claiming that the United States was a source of all evils in the planet. But, it would be a mistake to disregard reality and not take preventive action on time, preferably collective, to urge political leaders in that country to act with a minimum of responsibility and good sense and to understand that the power of a nation, important as it might be, had its limits.

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The social and economic consequences of the increasing number of conflicts throughout the world had no parallel in contemporary history, he continued. Economic models, supported by the international financial institutions, had in practice been accompanied by a growth in poverty, marginalization, deterioration of the environment, disease, ignorance, social conflicts, loss of national resources and sovereignty of countries and the most brutal and increasingly irreversible underdevelopment.

The market was not the only definitive solution for the immense disruptions affecting the international economy, nor was it the remedy that would liberate the great number of countries with most of the inhabitants of the earth from underdevelopment and poverty. Privatization, which could only benefit a few, did not bring well-being to the legions of the poor and miserable living in the third world. It was false that government was the main source of corruption and should, therefore, renounce its responsibility for welfare, health and education, leaving it in private hands. It was false that social justice and equity had to be sacrificed always in favour of entrepreneurial efficiency. It was false that such a model would improve the standards of human development set forth as objectives by the United Nations.

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