'IT IS GOOD TO BE AMONG FRIENDS IN WASHINGTON', SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS NATIONAL CONVENTION OF UNA/USA
Press Release
SG/SM/6250
'IT IS GOOD TO BE AMONG FRIENDS IN WASHINGTON', SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS NATIONAL CONVENTION OF UNA/USA
19970606 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Kofi Annan Calls on 'Unique' NGO To Help Enhance 'Your Fellow Citizens' Understanding of New United Nations'Following is the address by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the National Convention of the United Nations Association of the United States (UNA/USA) -- today in Washington, D.C. -- on the following theme: "The United Nations and the United States: an enduring partnership".
I am delighted to be with you on the occasion of the UNA/USA National Convention. I accepted your invitation so I could thank you personally for your sustained understanding and support of the United Nations, and to encourage you to redouble your efforts at this crucial time.
It is good to be among friends in Washington. In fact, we have many. But you are special. I am particularly grateful to John Whitehead, not only for his warm and kind introduction, but also for his long-standing and superlative leadership. You are the ideal public servant, John, and I salute you.
My friends, we stand on the threshold of a new era -- an era that holds enormous potential: for peace, economic growth, and advances in human welfare and dignity. But, as at any historic turning-point, the opportunities it offers must be grasped. Otherwise, they will slip away and history, as a result, will fail to turn.
The United Nations is poised to seize the moment. We are questioning old assumptions, reassessing priorities, and devising new means by which to realize our enduring goals. Tonight, I want to share with you some thoughts about the relationship between the United Nations and the United States in this process.
- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/6250 6 June 1997
Specifically, I want to reflect on the close affinity of the principles that guide both the United States and the United Nations; on the promise of partnership that has always existed between us; and how we can proceed jointly to ensure that future potential is harnessed and becomes reality for generations to come.
The task of planning for the organization of the post-Second World War international order was monumental. American leaders approached it with several vital principles in mind. The United Nations became their institutional expression.
The first aim was to create a security system based on the principle of concerted action by all countries on behalf of peace. President Roosevelt explained in 1943 that "the only appeal which is likely to carry weight with the United States public is one based upon a world-wide conception".
The United Nations, of course, is the embodiment of that conception. But the cold war severely constrained the United Nations peace and security role. Nevertheless, the invention of United Nations peace-keeping enjoyed strong United States support. And from the time of President Eisenhower's 1953 Atoms for Peace proposal down to the recent Chemical Weapons Convention, the United Nations has worked closely and successfully with the United States, as well as other countries, in the area of arms control and disarmament.
Post-war America was also committed to the termination of colonial rule. The United Nations, for its part, was a steadfast force in facilitating decolonization, in welcoming the newly independent States into the family of nations, and in ending the evil practice of apartheid.
Fifty years ago, the United States was the leading proponent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Throughout the last half century, the United Nations has been the central global instrument for the implementation of human rights accords. And it has continually devised new mechanisms whereby their objectives can be better achieved.
Finally, in the economic realm, America sought to establish a system of open, non-exclusionary trade and monetary relations, together with minimum barriers to mutually beneficial exchanges. For its part, the United Nations has helped to set the technical standards on which the smooth flow of economic transactions rests, to protect intellectual property; and with our colleagues from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization, to implant firmly multilateral rules for the global economic game. In this context, the United Nations has given particular voice to, and acted upon, the fundamental principles of equal opportunity for all, while providing assistance to those whom market forces bypass or disadvantage.
- 3 - Press Release SG/SM/6250 6 June 1997
What accounts for these complementarities? One obvious explanation is that the United States was a leading architect of the post-Second World War international order, while the United Nations was a core component of that architecture. But, in my judgement, a second, more profound factor is also at play.
The United States and the United Nations are both dedicated to the realization of universal principles: the rule of law, a belief in the paramount value of each and every human being, coupled with the idea that through deliberate efforts we can improve our lot on earth, and leave it a better place for those who will succeed us. In short, the United States and the United Nations are both children of reason and enlightenment.
The cold war cast a long shadow on this quest. At the United Nations, it made implementation of the Charter conceptions extremely difficult. It affected everything from programme priorities to personnel management. It reduced the ability of the United Nations to adapt effectively to changing global needs. Yet, despite these problems, the United Nations managed to break new ground. It acted as an early-warning system and helped set norms in such novel fields as the human environment, the fate of the least developed countries, and the status of women.
Since the end of the cold war, the United Nations has adjusted to the vastly changed world. We were set free to aid democratic transitions, national reconciliation, and market reforms. We were called upon to provide unprecedented levels of humanitarian assistance. Our peace-keeping mechanism for a time became the international community's emergency services, fire brigade, gendarmerie, and military deterrent all rolled up into one, even in instances where there was no peace to be kept. We made mistakes along the way, to be sure -- more often than not because the means given to us did not match the demands made upon us. But we also learned, and continue to learn, from our mistakes.
So where do we stand today? Allow me to give you but a glimpse of the vital and diverse contributions the United Nations is making to pressing concerns of the international community:
-- Our special envoy for the Democratic Republic of the Congo has worked tirelessly to ensure that the political transition there was accomplished without Kinshasa being set afire, and without further loss of life elsewhere in the country;
-- United Nations peace-keepers and human rights observers serve on four continents, while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), working hand-in-hand with non-governmental organizations, cares for refugees and displaced persons throughout troubled parts of the world;
- 4 - Press Release SG/SM/6250 6 June 1997
-- On June 19, the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and Portugal will meet at the United Nations to discuss the peaceful resolution of the situation in East Timor;
-- On June 23, some 70 heads of State and government will convene at United Nations Headquarters for "Rio + 5", reaffirming and strengthening their commitment to preserving the human environment;
-- In early July, a new process of peace-talks for the divided island of Cyprus will commence at the United Nations; I am pleased that President Clinton has named Ambassador Holbrooke as his representative for these talks;
-- Even as these initiatives proceed, the United Nations will release a major new report on drugs, while the United Nations Development Programme will issue its human development report.
Perhaps most critically, for the long-term future of the Organization, we at the United Nations are engaged in a thoroughgoing effort of institutional reform, to reshape fundamentally the way we do business. We aim to serve more effectively not only our Member States, but also the people of the world whose hopes we embody. Accordingly, we are seeking to make the United Nations leaner, more focused, and more responsive.
I am firm in my conviction that when my reform proposals are announced next month they will compare favourably with any such reforms yet undertaken, by any public sector organization, anywhere.
As I look ahead, I see a United Nations that empowers both governments and people to realize through collaboration goals that might otherwise elude them. I see a United Nations that recognizes and joins forces with an ever more robust global civil society, while helping to eliminate "uncivil" elements, like drug trafficking and terrorism, that plague it.
Our future United Nations will view change as a friend, not change for its own sake but change that permits us to do more good by doing it better. The new United Nations will articulate the highest moral aspirations of humankind even as it delivers practical and tangible benefits to men, women, and children in countrysides, villages, and cities around the world.
We have already taken significant steps in these directions. Before the end of my first month in office, I instituted a new management structure to improve coordination of the activities of all United Nations departments, funds, and programmes.
A bare six weeks later, I announced a further reform plan, including the following measures:
- 5 - Press Release SG/SM/6250 6 June 1997
-- A proposed budget for the next biennium that represents a reduction in expenditures of $123 million in 1996-1997 prices;
-- A proposed reduction of approximately 1,000 posts in the 1998-1999 budget;
-- The consolidation of three departments in the economic and social sectors into one;
-- A commitment to cut by one-third the proportion of budget resources used for administrative costs, from 38 per cent to 25 per cent, making those savings available for development activities;
-- Streamlining technical support for the United Nations intergovernmental bodies;
-- Preparing a Code of Conduct that requires the highest standards of competence, independence, and integrity of the United Nations staff;
-- Transforming our delivery of communications and outreach services to governments and civil society;
-- Consolidating and strengthening the organization of United Nations functions at the country level.
The effects of these proposals were immediate, transforming attitudes of managers and staff alike.
Next month, I will submit to the General Assembly a comprehensive package of additional reforms. My March package of measures were common-sense changes. The July proposals will be major strategic initiatives, designed to take us into the next millennium. They will reflect my conviction that no public organization is an end in itself, but a means to enhance the public good. They will propose ways to focus the activities of the United Nations around core competencies, avoiding duplication with other international institutions, and taking into account the expanding capacity of global civil society. I cannot go into further detail tonight but, as you Americans like to say: "stay tuned".
In proceeding with this historic mission of institutional revitalization, what help do we need from the United States, our oldest friend and largest contributor?
- 6 - Press Release SG/SM/6250 6 June 1997
We need, from the United States, its constructive criticisms of our many proposals. We need the full participation of the United States in the intergovernmental phase of the reform efforts, working hand-in-hand with other governments in effecting those changes that only Member States can make. But we need more.
Let us re-invigorate our progressive and productive partnership, and go forward together with a positive, can-do attitude. And, as President Clinton pledged at our White House meeting in January, let us resolve once and for all the issue of United States arrears. I will be discussing this and related subjects with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright when I leave here tonight, and I hope for an early resolution.
And what about you at UNA-USA? How can you help at this time of transition? You have been a critical friend -- often by being a friendly critic. Please keep it up. You help explain to American leaders in Government and the private sector, who we are, and what we do. Indeed, you have often served as an important bridge among us. Please keep that up as well.
You are virtually unique among non-governmental organizations in having chapters across this vast and wonderful land, in localities where citizens even now are debating the future role of the United States in the world community, and the place of the United Nations within that overall foreign policy vision.
You reach the grass-roots of this great democracy. Now more than ever you at UNA-USA can make a very special contribution in enhancing your fellow citizens' understanding of the new United Nations that we are striving to create for the new century. We have extraordinary challenges and opportunities before us. Let us rise to the occasion together.
I wish you well in these endeavours. And I thank you most sincerely for your continued commitment to our common and noble cause.
* *** *