SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS UNITED NATIONS CAN FACILITATE INTERNATIONAL FIGHT AGAINST 'UNCIVIL SOCIETY'

23 July 1998

Press Release
SG/SM/6652

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS UNITED NATIONS CAN FACILITATE INTERNATIONAL FIGHT AGAINST 'UNCIVIL SOCIETY'

19980723 Through UN, States Can Create Strong Laws to Fight Corruption, Terrorism, Transnational Crime, Trafficking in Weapons and People

The following is the text of the "magisterial lecture" delivered today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the Foreign Ministry of Mexico:

It is a privilege to be with you tonight to deliver this "magisterial lecture" and to join in this admirable Mexican tradition of dialogue on the central issues of our times.

In nearly 19 months as Secretary-General, I have had the opportunity and honour of visiting a wide range of United Nations Member States: developed countries, rich in resources and technical know-how; countries making the difficult transition from centrally planned economies to market-based systems; poor nations in danger of being marginalized from the global marketplace; and countries who have been near the abyss of conflict and are trying desperately to recover.

I have seen the best of human progress and the worst of human need, and in the process I have become even more convinced of the essential utility of the United Nations in today's world. So I am pleased to be here and to share my thoughts with you about Mexico's part in the Organization's global mission.

In making this official visit to Mexico, I am keenly aware that I have come to a nation possessing great wisdom about international relations and the ways of the world. Mexican history has both mirrored the trends of the century and resounded well beyond its borders.

Mexico's struggle for independence, for example, was rooted in the basic human right of all peoples to self-determination, a right we are reaffirming this year in marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Your own revolution long-predated the great wave of decolonization that followed the end of the Second World War. But your example informed those later campaigns with a foretaste of success.

Mexico's transition towards greater popular participation in government and democratic openness is likewise both a home-grown phenomenon and part of a

worldwide movement. This process has taken root, as seen earlier this month in the vitality of electoral processes in which Mexicans in several States chose new governors.

The democratic transition in Mexico will, in turn, nurture progress in another area where Mexico and the world join hands: in the common human longing for economic development and social justice. Like other nations, Mexico continues to undergo a radical transformation of its economy. Liberalization and globalization are the order of the day.

While the process has brought considerable upheaval, Mexico achieved significant improvement in 1997, and foreign direct investment has reached an all-time high. A central challenge now is to ensure that such gains reach all Mexicans. Here, too, Mexico's experience provides lessons for other nations, particularly those affected more directly -- and detrimentally -- by the financial crisis in Asia.

In all of these pursuits -- towards freedom, democracy, development -- we can see the interplay between the national and the global; between what Mexico does on its own, and that which Mexico can do only by engaging with the world. Today, that world is one of contrasts. Peace spreads in one region, while genocidal fury rages in another. Unprecedented wealth coexists alongside terrible deprivation, with a quarter of the world's people living in abject poverty. The new globalism knits us closer together, while old hatreds keep us apart.

One of the starkest contrasts I see in our world today is the gulf that exists between the civil and the "uncivil". By civil, I mean civilization: the accumulated centuries of learning that form our foundation for progress. By civil, I also mean tolerance: the pluralism and respect with which we accept and draw strength from the world's diverse peoples. And finally, I mean civil society: the citizens' groups, businesses, unions, professors, journalists, political parties and others who have an essential role to play in the running of any society.

Arrayed against these constructive forces, however -- in ever greater numbers and with ever stronger weapons -- are the forces of what I call "uncivil society". They are terrorists, criminals, drug dealers, traffickers in people and others who undo the good works of civil society. They take advantage of the open borders, free markets and technological advances that bring so many benefits to the world's people.

They thrive in countries with weak laws and institutions. And they show no scruple about resorting to intimidation or violence. Their ruthlessness is the very antithesis of all we regard as civil. They are powerful, representing entrenched interests and the clout of a global enterprise worth billions of dollars. But they are not invincible.

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Consider the war against the deadly trade in illicit drugs. Mexico was a driving force behind last month's special session of the General Assembly devoted to this problem. There, heeding the call of Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and others, Member States committed themselves to eliminating or reducing crops of opium poppy, coca and cannabis by the year 2008. Some have criticized this target as unrealistic; others have gone so far as to say that the war against drugs is futile and is causing more problems than drugs themselves. I say the action plan adopted at the special session gives us new reasons to be optimistic.

It makes use of the lessons learned from drug control efforts over the past three decades, and stresses not only law enforcement but also alternative crop development and demand reduction. Moreover, we now have the renowned Italian crime fighter, Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), to spearhead follow-up to the special session.

Mr. Arlacchi presides over the UNDCP office in Vienna from which the Organization fights drugs, as well as crime syndicates, money-laundering and corruption. These are the drug trade's handmaidens and enablers. Corruption is a particularly insidious menace. We already know how it undermines the rule of law, restricts investment and swallows resources needed for development. But a recent study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) found that corruption can also be especially brutal to the poor, since they are the least able to pay bribes for government services and for access to market opportunities.

Our response to this challenge must be broad-based. I am pleased that the Organization of American States (OAS) has elaborated an inter-American convention against corruption. The United Nations General Assembly, for its part, has adopted an International Code of Conduct for Public Officials. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other international financial institutions are taking us from words to deeds by promoting good governance and effective public administration. The Bank, the OAS and the International Police Organization (Interpol) have also increased their cooperation. Still, we must do more.

Unlike corruption and drugs, trafficking in people is an aspect of uncivil society that receives insufficient attention, legally or in the media. Bribery, bonded labour, forced prostitution, unconscionable living conditions: these are frequently the fate of migrants and others fleeing persecution or searching for economic opportunities.

This situation highlights one of the main problems we face in the area of human rights -- the fact that some treaties are more popular than others. For example, Mexico is one of only 11 countries to have signed or ratified the 1990 Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families, and so

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this text has not yet entered into force. We can do better than this. More than 191 nations are party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which entered into force less than a year after adoption. As Mexico knows, in addition to their human rights implications, problems relating to migrants can cloud relations between frontier States.

The diseases spawned by "uncivil society" plague the world. No country is immune. As harmful as they are, however, they are but symptoms of something gone wrong: in governance, in development and in efforts to build societies dedicated to universal values and human rights.

The United Nations is uniquely placed to help not only with the treatment of these ills, but to work for prevention. Corruption, drug abuse, and the traffick in people and arms, each has a significant international dimension. Through the United Nations, sovereign States can harmonize their policies so that strong laws exist everywhere. Through the United Nations, development projects can improve State administration and remove the despair that contributes to these problems.

Since the very founding of the United Nations, Mexico has been a key voice in the Organization's debates and a strong supporter of collective security and collective approaches to the world's problems. The fight against "uncivil society" will bring that involvement to a new level.

The Nobel laureate Octavio Paz, whose death earlier this year was a loss for us all, has a message that I find quite relevant at this moment. This is no surprise given Mr. Paz's long career in the Mexican diplomatic service and his deep sensitivity about the human condition. But what is surprising is that the message is to be found not in an essay on international affairs, but in his most intensely Mexican essay, "The Labyrinth of Solitude".

"The Mexican", he wrote, "cannot allow the outside world to penetrate his privacy."

I know that this was something of a challenge posed by Mr. Paz, and that it was not easy for Mexicans to hear themselves described in this fashion. But today, I believe, Mexicans are indeed allowing the outside world into their lives.

They have formed a close partnership with the United Nations. They have willingly linked their fates to others in arrangement,s such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). And they have sought, not without fear but with plenty of courage, a place in the global economy. In all of this, there is great potential for a peaceful, prosperous future -- a future that would make Paz proud. In that spirit, let me say how much I look forward to continuing to work with you in the years ahead towards the goals we share and hold dear.

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