SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES COOPERATION IN PREVENTION OF CONFLICT IN STATEMENT TO OSCE MINISTERIAL MEETING
Press Release
SG/SM/6816
SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES COOPERATION IN PREVENTION OF CONFLICT IN STATEMENT TO OSCE MINISTERIAL MEETING
19981202 Following is the statement of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Seventh Meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council, delivered on his behalf by the Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, Vladimir Petrovsky, in Oslo on 2 December:The accelerating process of globalization constantly confronts us with new and daunting challenges: from nuclear proliferation to human rights; from financial market stability to global warming; from conflict prevention to economic development. At the United Nations, which is the global Organization par excellence, we are striving to address these challenges. But, we can do so with much better chances of success in those regions where we have the support of strong and effective regional organizations, of which the OSCE is a shining example.
We, therefore, have every reason to welcome your achievements in recent years, and to applaud the enthusiasm and courage with which your organization -- our major regional partner in the wider Europe -- is braving new challenges.
Last year, as part of my programme to reform the United Nations, I promised that regional organizations would "increasingly become partners of the United Nations in all activities related to the maintenance of international peace and security, including conflict prevention". In the case of the OSCE, I believe this promise is well on the way to fulfilment.
This past year has seen a number of new and significant coordinated efforts. Our cooperation in Bosnia, Croatia, Albania, Tajikistan and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has been particularly encouraging. In Georgia, where the United Nations has the lead in the Georgian-Abkhaz peace process, while the OSCE is charged with the Georgian-Ossetian question, the division of labour is well established and effective.
As you know, the Security Council recently endorsed the deployment of your very important Verification Mission in Kosovo, and accepted my decision
not to recommend a parallel United Nations political presence there, but instead to develop clear channels of communication between us.
I believe that the most effective, inexpensive and reliable way to keep peace in the OSCE area, which is the scene of so many rapid changes and contains many threats to peace and security, is for us to work closely together in preventing conflict. In July, at the meeting in New York with heads of regional organizations, including your Secretary-General, we considered two specific dimensions of conflict prevention: "structural prevention", which addresses the root causes of conflict by promoting respect for human rights, the rule of law and democratic institutions; and "operational prevention", which includes the more conventional notions of early warning, preventive diplomacy, preventive deployment, and so forth. A follow-up meeting at the working level will be held in New York next week.
In short, Mr Chairman, I look forward confidently to continued cooperation and joint efforts between our two Organizations. And, I send you my best wishes for a very successful meeting.
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