SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR INCREASED, BETTER-QUALITY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN UNITED NATIONS AND NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT
Press Release
SG/SM/6197
SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR INCREASED, BETTER-QUALITY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN UNITED NATIONS AND NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT
19970407 In Address to NAM Ministerial Conference, in New Delhi, Kofi Annan Says United Nations Can Become Powerful Force for DevelopmentFollowing is the statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the XII Ministerial Conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, in New Delhi today:
I know that it is not usual for a Secretary-General of the United Nations to address a Ministerial Conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. But I welcomed your invitation to this meeting, so early in my term of office, precisely because of the high priority which I give to enhanced contact with your Movement. I see this Conference as a unique opportunity to deepen and broaden our friendship at a time of change, reform and decision in the international system.
But first I offer warmest thanks to the Government and people of India for their generous hospitality. India has long been a leading force within the Non-Aligned Movement. For many of us, the name of Nehru is synonymous with the struggle for freedom.
As a young man in Ghana I felt the full force of the Non-Aligned Movement's principled stands against colonial oppression, and in favour of liberty, justice, development and cooperation. Ghana was the first African nation to gain its independence. Its coming to nationhood, and its early advocacy of pan-African unity, owed much to the inspiration and solidarity of the Non-Aligned Movement. So I can say that I -- and my country -- grew up with the Non-Aligned Movement.
And India's leadership role has been an inspiration to all of us. This important ministerial conference is further evidence of its creative leadership in the global arena, and of its commitment to the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
Second, I congratulate President Ernesto Samper and Foreign Minister María Emma Mejía Vélez for the skill and sensitivity shown by Colombia during
its chairmanship of the Movement. Colombia's chairmanship faced many challenges. Adjustment and reorientation can be painful. But under Colombia's chairmanship the Movement has continued to flourish.
My message today is simple. In implementing my reform agenda, I am seeking to make the United Nations more responsive to the needs of its membership, and more able to tackle the real issues of the world of today.
Today we stand at a threshold: between an old international system and a new framework that is yet fully to emerge. That is why we must work together. We must embark together on the path of reform.
The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has given its unwavering support for the goal of a more effective, modernized and relevant United Nations capable of meeting the changing needs of the international community.
Indeed, the international community owes a profound debt of gratitude to the members of the Non-Aligned Movement for their active support of United Nations peace-keeping. Members of the Non-Aligned Movement have provided large numbers of personnel and valuable resources to peace-keeping. If I were to try to mention them all, I would have to list the contributions of many of the countries in this room. But let me express my satisfaction and gratitude that six of the top 10 contributors to United Nations peace-keeping are members of the Non-Aligned Movement. And I can understand why this experience has given added impetus and urgency to the Movement's efforts to gain a greater say on questions of international peace and security. The reform process is an opportunity to advance that goal.
We share a basic objective: to make of the United Nations a genuinely universal organization, representative of, and able to serve, its entire membership.
So we have a natural alliance. I would go further. As I pursue the goals of reform of the United Nations system, I need the advocacy, the support and the active participation of the Non-Aligned Movement.
You represent the greater part of humanity. You articulate the views of the strong and the powerless, of nations large and small, of many different political and social systems and religious and cultural traditions. As a unified presence on the international scene you have much to offer the world of the future.
The Non-Aligned Movement has become the voice of those nations whose voice has not always been heard. With 113 members and 13 observers, the Non-Aligned Movement represents some two thirds of the United Nations
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membership. It has become a major political force within the United Nations system.
Your advocacy of the United Nations reform agenda will help to ensure its legitimacy and its effectiveness. Your active participation in the reform process will guarantee that the United Nations remains a genuinely representative and effective world body.
In recent years, some have questioned the very meaning of non-alignment in what has increasingly begun to look like a unipolar world.
The Movement has responded firmly, and in harmony, that the goal of a peaceful and equitable world order remains unfulfilled. That the Movement's underlying principles remain valid. And that the Movement will now shift its emphasis to the new tasks at hand -- to the challenges of the new global society that is simultaneously rich with promise and fraught with peril.
Like the Non-Aligned Movement, the United Nations has faced grave questions about its relevance, mission and capabilities.
We all face the challenge of reshaping our institutions in the light of changing geopolitical conditions. The United Nations still reflects, in some ways -- for example, in the Security Council -- the geopolitical realities of the 1940s. The Non-Aligned Movement, as its very name implies, came into being to defend its members' interests in the bipolar world of the former super-Powers.
As you know, I am leading a thorough and wide-ranging review of the activities of the United Nations. I have introduced a number of managerial and organizational initiatives within the Secretariat that fall within my authority.
Already, these steps have improved communication and coordination among United Nations departments, programmes and funds.
Then there are fundamental issues which only the Member States can decide.
Among them is reform of the Security Council. I do not disagree with those members of the Non-Aligned Movement who feel that the Council's present make-up needs reform. It is not for me to say in what way that reform must occur to bring the Council into line with the realities of today. While an effective Security Council is vital for the United Nations, a more representative Security Council will enjoy even greater legitimacy and support. I would therefore hope that one of the consequences of an expansion
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in the Council's membership would be to correct, among other things, the underrepresentation of non-aligned and developing countries.
It is my hope that this issue can be resolved soon. The recent initiative of General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), in his capacity as Chairman of the Assembly's working group on Security Council reform, seems to me a serious step in that direction. I am conscious that there is a long way to go. But this is the only concrete proposal on the table, and it deserves to be discussed fully, even if the discussions are to be acrimonious and fierce.
The surest foundation for peace, stability and security is economic and social development. That is why I intend both to reform the role of the United Nations in international cooperation for development, and to do all I can to ensure that greater resources are devoted to it.
The commitment to development is one of the guiding beacons of the work of the United Nations. Peace-keeping and peacemaking may catch the headlines, but in terms of resources, and in terms of the changes made in people's lives, the development work of the United Nations is far more significant. As I have often said, we need a broader understanding of human security. For we cannot be secure amidst starvation. We cannot build peace and prosperity without reducing poverty. We cannot build freedom on foundations of injustice.
With the end of the cold war, we have been able to re-examine many of our traditional assumptions about development.
It has become clear that while the eradication of poverty and securing development are the responsibilities of individual States, the United Nations system has a key conceptual and promotional role to play.
The ultimate objective -- securing the development of developing countries -- remains the same. But we need to re-examine constantly the means of attaining that objective. We need to ensure that our approach to development takes full account of the economic, political and technological realities of our times -- especially the role of the private sector and of civil society.
That is how I am approaching the question of reform of the United Nations development system. To make it sensitive to the concerns of developing countries; capable of mobilizing political support; able to enhance its capacity for data gathering and analysis and norm-setting; and, above all, able to provide assistance at the country level efficiently and cost-effectively.
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I would want to see any cost-savings in the larger reform effort being ploughed back into tangible development activities by the United Nations.
A phrase in the San Jose Declaration on South-South Cooperation struck me forcibly. It said "no one can do for us what we do not do for ourselves". In simple form, that phrase expresses the essence of solidarity among the countries of the South. A solidarity which can ensure that the benefits of globalization are more widely spread, and more inclusive in their positive impact. South-South cooperation should be more than a slogan. It should be visible as a viable platform, readily translatable into concrete joint programmes and projects.
I should like to see more progress in this area. I offer the full support and collaboration of the United Nations in these efforts.
The United Nations can become a powerful force for development:
-- as a democratic voice of the weak; -- as a forum for consensus-based action; -- through its advocacy and outreach role; -- by forging new alliances and partnerships; -- through balancing private interests and the public good; -- through the promotion of shared values; and -- through cost-effective and efficient development activities.
But we can do only what you will us to do. Over the years, development activities have suffered from an accretion of mandates, considerable overlap in responsibilities and wasteful duplication of effort. Reform aims to achieve better focus and clarity through greater integration at Headquarters and even more so at the country level. The new arrangements, including a strengthened resident coordinator position and country team system, should bolster support for sustainable development, particularly in Africa and small island developing States.
I strongly believe that such measures are in the interest of all nations, and in particular of developing nations and the Non-Aligned Movement. I believe that, together, we can do much. That is why I have come here. I want to develop still further the level and quality of the communication between your Movement and the United Nations Organization.
In that spirit, I look forward to working with you in the years ahead and I wish you the very best for a successful and rewarding conference.
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