GENERAL ASSEMBLY, PONDERING REPORT OF SECRETARY-GENERAL ON WORK OF ORGANIZATION, REVIEWS PEACEKEEPING ISSUES, "DILEMMA OF INTERVENTION"

Press Release
GA/9781

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, PONDERING REPORT OF SECRETARY-GENERAL ON WORK OF ORGANIZATION, REVIEWS PEACEKEEPING ISSUES, ‘DILEMMA OF INTERVENTION’

China Warns That Inappropriate Intervention Might Open Pandora’s Box

The United Nations could not perform miracles, but it could do much more to prevent conflict and maintain peace, the representative of Ireland told the General Assembly this morning, as it took up consideration of the Secretary- General’s report on the work of the Organization.

The Prevention Team, established by the Department of Political Affairs, was an important development, he said. Moreover, the Security Council had also paid close attention to conflict prevention. United Nations efforts in tapping the potential of non-governmental actors, however, required leadership and resources, and therefore, political will on the part of the membership.

The representative of Cyprus said the Security Council remained the sole source of legitimate use of armed force when dealing with breaches of peace and when systematic and gross violations of human rights were involved. But the Charter provisions could not be superseded or replaced. If interventions outside the purview of the United Nations were accepted, a Pandora's box might be opened. It might encourage militant separatists to create conditions of bloodshed conducive to intervention. Respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of States, and non-interference in their internal affairs must not be seen as an impediment to the safeguarding of human rights.

China's representative said the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty was an important cornerstone of global strategic stability. The United Nations should continue to pay serious attention to -- and take necessary actions to prevent -- a certain country's move to undermine global strategic stability through the development of a national missile defence system. With regard to the "dilemma of intervention", China believed that the United Nations should make more positive contributions to stopping humanitarian crises, but should be aware of the risk of inappropriate intervention. Big powers and blocs of countries should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country involved, rather than exploit humanitarian intervention in order to interfere in its internal affairs or trigger new conflicts.

Germany’s representative said that the Brahimi Report on peacekeeping operations had highlighted two essential needs: the need for better training and the need for quicker response time. Through the creation of a German

General Assembly Plenary - 1a - Press Release GA/9781 29th Meeting (AM) 27 September 2000

international training centre, Germany sought to address both needs. The training centre for civilian personnel to be deployed in international peacekeeping missions, established in July 1999, aimed to create a reserve consisting of trained experts suited for the most diverse tasks and not limited to one single type of deployment. A special civilian personnel database had already been established to create a quasi-standby facility designed to support international missions in the crucial start-up phase, when qualified personnel were most urgently needed.

The representatives of Norway, Colombia, Kuwait, Japan, Bhutan, Belarus, Ukraine, Ecuador, Croatia, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Peru, Senegal, Malaysia and the Russian Federation also spoke.

The Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. to continue consideration of the Secretary-General's report.

General Assembly Plenary - 3 - Press Release GA/9781 29th Meeting (AM) 27 September 2000

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly this morning started consideration of the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the organization, which was before the Assembly as document A/55/1 Supplement 1.

According to the Secretary-General, the past year has reminded us that the international community has not yet met its goal of working together to better the lives of people still left behind. The Secretary-General observes that since last September, new wars have erupted in several parts of the world, devastation from natural disasters has increased and demands on United Nations humanitarian agencies vastly exceeded worst-case predictions.

The report covers such subjects as achieving peace and security; meeting humanitarian commitments; cooperating for development; the international legal order and human rights; and managing change.

The Secretary-General states that, while living standards in much of the developing world have continued to improve, in many of the least developed countries they remained in decline. That was particularly so in sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS, violent conflict and, in some instances, predatory behaviour by governments and political factions have taken a heavy toll, while per capita economic assistance from the richer world has declined dramatically.

During the year, the creation of three new peace missions resulted in a tripling of the authorized numbers of United Nations peacekeepers to 45,000, the report states. As a reaction to past events, such as the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and the massacre in Srebrenica in 1995, the Secretary-General established a high-level panel chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi to undertake a major review and recommend ways of ensuring that future peace operations will be effective. The panel's recommendations for change are realistic and cogently argued, according to the report.

However, the Secretary-General notes that no objective observer could doubt that the current level of Secretariat support for peacekeeping operations is inadequate, citing the example of 12,000 troops in Sierra Leone being supported by only five staff at United Nations Headquarters. “No national government would dream of deploying a comparably sized military mission overseas with such a minimal headquarters support unit", he states.

Like other great changes in history, the Secretary-General observes, globalization creates losers as well as winners. It was clear that no country had developed successfully by rejecting the opportunities offered by international trade and foreign direct investment. At the same time, engagement with the global economy alone is no panacea for rapid development, and additional measures -- domestic as well as international -- are necessary to make globalization work for all.

During the past decade, many informal coalitions have emerged to pursue cooperative solutions to common problems, the Secretary-General notes. Those global policy networks, sometimes called "coalitions for change", transcend both geographical and political boundaries. Recent examples include the campaigns to reduce global warming, ban landmines and provide debt relief for developing countries. The United Nations, with its universality, legitimacy and broad mandates, has unique convening and consensus-building roles to play in such coalitions.

The Secretary-General proposes a "Global Compact" by which private corporations would commit themselves to observing good practices, as defined by the broader international community, in the areas of human rights, labour and the environment, the report relates. Corporations have joined it because the values the Compact promotes will help create the stable and secure environment that business needs if it is to flourish in the long term. Labour and civil society organizations have also joined, because the Global Compact also upholds their values.

On the subject of peace and security, the Secretary-General remarks that the demands made on the United Nations reflect a shift in the nature of the threats to peace and security since the end of the cold war. Where conflicts were once driven by the ideological divisions of a bipolar world, they are now fuelled by ethnic and religious intolerance, political ambition and greed, and are often exacerbated by the illicit traffic in arms, gems and drugs.

United Nations peacemakers, peacekeepers and peace-builders around the world have begun to cooperate more closely than ever with governments and other actors within the United Nations system, with regional bodies, with non-governmental organizations and with the private sector to help create the basis for good governance and the peaceable resolution of differences between parties. From reports on the tragedies in Srebrenica and Rwanda, clear lessons emerged, such as the importance of joint action by Member States and the Secretariat to strengthen the instrument of peacekeeping; the importance of providing adequate resources to meet mission needs and to ensure that a credible deterrent capacity is maintained; the importance of preparedness for "worst-case" scenarios; and the need for more effective and timely analysis of information from the field. The need for political commitment to initiate and sustain operations is critical.

Referring to "the dilemma of intervention", the Secretary-General asks how the international community can respond to gross and systematic violations of human rights, if humanitarian intervention is considered an unacceptable assault on sovereignty. He states that in circumstances in which universally accepted human rights are being violated on a massive scale, the world has a responsibility to act.

The Secretary-General recalls that in recent years the international community has agreed that preventing armed conflict is critical to achieving lasting human security. Early warning and conflict prevention capacities have been strengthened. The Department of Political Affairs has established a Prevention Team to identify conflict situations that may offer potential for preventive action.

According to the Secretary-General, peacekeeping has become more complicated because peacekeepers must now undertake a greatly expanded range of tasks. Beyond interposition forces and multidisciplinary operations to assist parties to implement agreements, peacekeepers over the past year have assumed responsibility for interim administrations in Kosovo and East Timor, for example. The assumption of those new responsibilities has required that the United Nations expand and adapt the profile of peacekeepers in the field.

Events over the past year have demonstrated how important it is to be able to deploy forces rapidly, says the report, and have revealed the constraints in the critical areas of logistics, finance and human resources. As a result of additional and more complex mandates, the Organization faces increased demands on the same or fewer resources.

Noting the uneven track record of sanctions, which can have negative effects on civilians and neighbouring States, the Secretary-General states that he shares the consensus view emerging among Member States that the design and implementation of Security Council sanctions need to be improved, and their administration enhanced. Such changes would allow for a more prompt and effective response to present and future threats to international peace and security. Future sanctions regimes should be designed so as to maximize the chance of inducing the target to comply with Security Council resolutions, and to minimize the negative effects of the sanctions on the civilian population and other States.

Addressing the subject of disarmament, the Secretary-General states that global military expenditures increased in 1999 for the first time in the post-cold war period. Despite some progress in the reduction of nuclear weapons, there is deep concern within the international community at the continuing risk posed by such weapons. The results of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons are, therefore, of considerable importance. The universalization of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and of Their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention) and the speedy negotiation of a protocol to strengthen the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention) are achievable goals.

In the chapter on meeting humanitarian commitments, the Secretary-General states that complex humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters have marked the past year. Coordination of international humanitarian action has been characterized by the implementation of innovative approaches in major emergencies in Kosovo and East Timor.

However, it had been clear for some time that the international response mechanism for internally displaced persons needs to be reviewed, he continues. A series of reviews have been undertaken. The central premise is that responsibility for internally displaced persons lies first and foremost with their national government. Humanitarian agencies must cooperate with national and local authorities and other relevant actors to support and supplement efforts on behalf of the displaced.

Regarding the delivery of humanitarian services, the Secretary-General notes that, in 1999, the World Food Programme (WFP) has provided food aid to nearly 89 million people worldwide, 75 per cent of whom were women and children. This past year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called attention to such critical global health threats as malaria, poliomyelitis, HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality, providing data that is critical for coordinated planning and implementation of assistance, both in emergencies and post-crisis reconstruction.

In global terms, there has been little change in the number of refugees, partly due to conflicts in Africa, Kosovo, East Timor and Chechnya. In the report, the Secretary-General says that among the challenges that must be faced in the coming year are the plight of internally displaced persons; the growing tendency to deny humanitarian agencies access to war-affected areas; security of refugee-populated areas; and the safety of humanitarian staff. Another major undertaking will be a call to reaffirm the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as the universal foundation of refugee protection. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) plans to initiate a process of global consultations with senior government representatives and refugee protection experts, with the aim of clarifying provisions for refugee protection in situations not fully covered by the Convention.

Regarding cooperation for development, the Secretary-General’s report states that the most important development goal of the United Nations must continue to be the elimination of poverty worldwide, through the promotion of sustainable and equitable growth. The poorest countries still find it difficult to attract private capital, and this means they will continue to rely on Official Development Assistance. Effective social development policies in the areas of health, education and welfare also support the growth process.

During the last year, two clear development challenges have emerged, the report notes. First, how can effective participation of all countries in the global trading system be assured? Second, how can the advancement of social and environmental objectives be integrated with economic and financial strategies? The easing of the economic and financial crisis of the late 1990s has provided a window of opportunity to consider reforms, including the reform of elements of the international financial architecture. System-wide discussion of those issues is continuing. The Secretary-General attaches great importance to the High-level Event on Financing for Development, planned for 2001. The report also draws attention to the need for reliable statistics, for better cooperation and for an improvement in the operational performance, if effective development policies are to be found.

According to the report, the five-year review of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development committed the international community to halving the proportion of people living on one dollar a day by 2015. The Secretary-General called on the Millennium Assembly to endorse this commitment and to commit the resources necessary to achieve it. Above all, a new commitment on the part of developing and industrialized countries to transform paper targets into concrete achievements is needed. The report notes that poverty eradication is a complex task and states that the United Nations Development Group is currently developing practical options for country teams to implement strategies. Any poverty alleviation strategy needs to concentrate on education, health, urbanization and effective cooperation.

In the report, the Secretary-General details two overriding aims for sustainable development: to meet the economic needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to also meet their needs; and to protect the environment in the process. Those challenges are compounded by the burden that continuing population growth is placing on the planet’s physical resources. The Secretary-General reports on the important initiatives taken in this field under the auspices of the Commission on Sustainable Development, such as the upcoming 10-year review of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). He highlights the importance of this opportunity to reassess what progress has or has not been made towards meeting the ambitious targets established by the Conference. The report also looks at progress made during the five-year review of the Copenhagen Summit and the five-year review of the Beijing Conference, and with regard to ageing and disability, drug control and crime prevention. It highlights the importance of resolutions adopted by United Nations conferences and stresses that they must be followed up at country level. National policy must benefit from the evolving international consensus on better ways of promoting human development, the Secretary-General states.

The Secretary-General expresses concern with regard to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is destroying the economic and social fabric in the countries most affected, reversing years of declining death rates and causing dramatic rises in mortality among young people. At the end of 1999, it was estimated that 34.3 million adults and children around the world were living with HIV/AIDS. The report states that sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region, with a total of 24.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS. The Secretary-General called on the Millennium Summit to adopt a reduction in new infections by 25 per cent among 15 to 24-year-olds in the most affected African countries as a goal. The report also states that there is a critical need for additional financing resources and development assistance. A minimum of $3 billion per year is needed in Africa alone.

The Secretary-General’s report elaborates on the importance of bridging the digital divide, as only 5 per cent of the world’s population currently has access to the Internet. The vast majority of the world’s population is denied the economic and social benefits that the information and communication technology revolution can offer.

The report’s chapter on cooperation for development ends with a section on Africa, containing information on the breadth and depth of United Nations initiatives and programmes there. They include preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping, electoral assistance, humanitarian and emergency relief, post- conflict reconstruction, environmental advice, support for Internet connectivity, and economic and social development assistance.

Referring to human rights, the Secretary-General reports that the past year has been one of consolidation, progress and challenge. The UNHCR has developed strategies to promote cooperation with regional and subregional organizations and international financial institutions. Such cooperation is the key to developing a code of human rights and upholding it.

The Secretary-General reports that there have been several new developments in human rights over the past year. At its 2000 session, the Economic and Social Council established a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which will advise the Council. In April, the Commission on Human Rights adopted two ground-breaking resolutions, on good governance and on women's rights to land. A special debate was also held on poverty and the enjoyment of human rights, which endorsed a human rights-based approach to poverty alleviation and development.

In October 1999, the General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. As of 21 August, there were 43 signatories and five ratifications of this Protocol. Two Optional Protocols were also adopted in May to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Secretary-General outlines impending human rights challenges, including issues of trafficking in women and children, the rights of migrants, and minorities and indigenous peoples. Racism and xenophobia will be the focus of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to be held in September 2001.

In its account of progress on the International Criminal Court, the report notes that, in June, the Preparatory Commission adopted the final draft texts of two instruments: on rules of procedure and evidence, and on the elements of crimes. At its next session, the Preparatory Commission will continue discussions on a definition of the crime of aggression, and will begin considering the draft relationship agreement between the United Nations and the Court; draft financial regulations and rules; and a draft agreement on the privileges and immunities of the Court. As of 24 August, 98 States had signed the Rome Statute and 15 had ratified it, the report notes. This falls short of the 60 ratifications needed to bring the Statute into force. The Secretary-General congratulates these States that have ratified the Statute for demonstrating that those who offend the conscience of humankind can no longer go unpunished.

The International Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia were reviewed by a group of independent experts in November 1999, the Secretary-General notes. They concluded that the Tribunals were reasonably effective, but proposed some 46 improvements, most of which had been implemented by April.

Landmarks for the Former Yugoslavia Tribunal over the past year included the arrest in April of Momcilo Krajisnik, former President of the Bosnian Serb Assembly, and the trial of General Radoslav Krstic, the report continues. In general, that tribunal saw a significant increase in the rate of arrests of indicted suspects.

The Rwanda Tribunal handed down judgements in three cases, the Secretary- General reports. To date, it has convicted eight individuals.

The United Nations Office of Legal Affairs played a central role in discussions between the United Nations and the Government of Cambodia on the establishment of a special court to prosecute leaders of the Khmer Rouge, according to the report. That Office has also been entrusted with the establishment of an independent special court for Sierra Leone (Security Council resolution 1315 of 14 August).

The Secretary-General stresses that establishing the rule of law in international affairs is a central priority. Treaties are one of the two main sources of international law, and the Secretary-General launched a campaign during the Millennium Summit to promote the signing and ratification of, and accession to, treaties of which he is the depository. As of 25 August, 69 States had responded to his request to ratify treaties. However, it is not enough, the Secretary-General continues, for States to consent to be bound by treaties. They must also respect and implement the obligations that the treaties embody.

Sometimes, national authorities refuse to respect their obligations under international law, he notes, and more frequently, authorities lack the necessary expertise or resources to ensure that their obligations are implemented. The United Nations is providing governments with assistance to apply international law, and the Secretary-General has requested that every part of the United Nations system considers what might be done to promote the application of international law and to increase awareness about it.

In addressing the subject of managing change, the Secretary-General notes that the United Nations faces many difficulties in its various programmes, but that none is greater than that of communicating what its goals are and how the United Nations goes about achieving them. To address this, the Department of Public Information has developed a public awareness campaign known as "United Nations works", to focus attention on the principal challenges of the twenty-first century, especially those relating to economic and social development.

Internet technology has become the most dynamic force in the communications revolution, the report notes. The United Nations Web site at present receives more than 400 million hits per year, as a result of improved content and design, and now includes text in all six official languages. Moreover, it now has the capacity to handle live Webcasts.

Mobilizing public interest in the activities of the Organization can be facilitated by major promotional campaigns, specifically those generating significant media coverage. Such a campaign concerning the Millennium Summit and Assembly engendered unprecedented attention from the world's press and media. Teleconferencing, videoconferencing and Webcasting were used for this event.

Public information continues to play a key role in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Its role is to explain the Organization’s goals and achievements in the field. "Rapid-deployment" information teams have been instrumental in expanding public awareness of peace missions.

The Department of Public Information has also used its technological expertise to build partnerships, notably with 1,600 non-governmental organizations, the report states. The United Nations continues to provide training programmes for broadcasters and journalists from developing countries, and for Palestinian journalists.

Another important initiative is the implementation of a 24-hour global news cycle for reporting on United Nations activities. The Web-based United Nations News Centre now provides news updates throughout the day, and United Nations Radio is now producing 15-minute news bulletins in all six official languages. By year's end, the radio bulletins will be accessible from the United Nations Web site, and the Secretary-General expects that a similar television service will be available on the Internet by 2001.

As digital information technology develops, the Secretary-General continues, the problem of replacing the dated communication infrastructure at Headquarters becomes more intense. Without major capital investment, the possibility of obsolescence looms large.

At the regional level, the United Nations Information Centres remain a critical source of information away from Headquarters, the report notes. Thirty- four Centres now maintain Web sites, while such projects are pending in others.

The Secretary-General explains that the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Web page received 1.5 million hits in 1999. United Nations publications, such as Africa Recovery, Development Business, the United Nations Chronicle and the Yearbook of the United Nations, are also now available online. Sales of United Nations publications have also increased as a consequence of greater exposure on the Internet.

Although these ventures into advanced technology have improved United Nations communications, the Secretary-General notes, current resources are not adequate. Contributions from individual Member States have supported certain programmes, but more is needed. The private sector has also helped to fund underfunded programmes.

The United Nations has substantially benefited from the philanthropy of Ted Turner, the Secretary-General reports. Mr. Turner’s efforts on behalf of the Organization have supported United Nations projects on AIDS prevention, electrification in rural India and biodiversity conservation in the Galapagos, among others.

Research networks set up by the United Nations University have analysed the relationships between information technology, poverty and economic growth, the Secretary-General reports. It is important that developments from the University are communicated to other research arms of the Organization, and a proposal for improving such communication was made at the annual Geneva research and policy dialogue, officially inaugurated in 2000.

Civil society organizations are becoming increasingly significant partners in implementing and delivering United Nations programmes. Moreover, they remain catalysts for social change, often spreading their message via the Internet. The Millennium Summit relied on input from civil society to develop its global programmes and message.

Within the Secretariat, human resources reform has been ongoing, the Secretary-General reports. These are aimed at creating an "organizational culture that is responsive and results-oriented". His reform package places special emphasis on accountability; mobility; recruitment, placement and promotion; and contractual mechanisms.

Among other institutional changes the Secretary-General discusses in the report are the capital master plan for the renovation of the United Nations Headquarters complex; the restructuring of the procurement process by relying upon Internet technology; the simplifying and streamlining of United Nations rules and procedures; results-based budgeting through the application of performance indicators; and improving management and productivity.

The report notes accomplishments from the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Law Commission, the Office of Legal Affairs, the United Nations Office for Project Services, and the Office of Internal Oversight Services.

Statements

OLE PETER KOLBY (Norway) noted that, among its important messages, the Secretary-General’s report highlighted the need to eradicate poverty. The fight to eliminate poverty was an overriding challenge as half of the world’s population still must try to survive on less than two dollars a day. The HIV/AIDS pandemic had become a serious development crisis. In many countries, the epidemic had dramatic consequences and there was a need for additional financial resources and development assistance to combat the virus. Norway welcomed the fact that an inter-agency task force chaired by the WHO had developed a strategy for improving the access of AIDS victims to anti-AIDS drugs.

He welcomed the recommended strengthening of early warning and conflict prevention capacities. All must make the efforts needed to provide sufficient regular budget funding for the conflict prevention efforts of the United Nations. The success of those efforts would hinge upon close collaboration with Member States, regional organizations and others. It was important to learn from the failures of the past, and improved efforts for coordination could contribute to a better understanding both of the problem and the solutions. Norway, therefore, supported the recommendations in the report of the United Nations panel chaired by Ambassador Brahimi. Norway stood ready to engage in broad dialogue on how to ensure the speedy and efficient implementation of recommendations in the Brahimi report.

The conflicts in East Timor and Sierra Leone continued to cause immeasurable suffering for hundreds of thousands of people, and placed burdens upon the response system of the United Nations. He was happy to note that the United Nations still was intensely involved in the efforts to find solutions to those conflicts in close cooperation with other organizations. The report of the Secretary-General stated that Africa’s problems must remain of the highest priority for the Organization. But progress was dependent on resources that, in too many cases, were too scarce.

RICHARD RYAN (Ireland) described the report of the Secretary-General as “the most effective possible starting point for a new era of cooperation in addressing our common problems and achieving our common goals”. In this Millennium Year, it was appropriate to look back as well as forward, specifically in the area of conflict prevention and peacekeeping. Events in Srebrenica and in Rwanda had revealed serious inadequacies, but all countries shared the responsibility. The United Nations could not perform miracles, but it was true that the Organization could do much more to prevent conflict and maintain peace if certain problems were addressed. The Brahimi Report on United Nations Peace Operations provided a framework to address those problems, and his country was fully prepared to take up the challenge.

He observed that the Prevention Team established by the Department of Political Affairs was an important development. Moreover, the Security Council had also paid close attention to conflict prevention. As the Secretary-General pointed out, United Nations efforts in tapping the potential of non-governmental actors required leadership and resources, and therefore, political will on the part of the membership. The Secretary-General’s report emphasized that more attention must be directed to the continent of Africa, if United Nations efforts to mediate were to prove successful in Sierra Leone, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Angola, and Ethiopia and Eritrea. The United Nations contribution was equally essential in the resolution of other situations, such as those in Kosovo and East Timor.

The Secretary-General’s conviction that thriving markets and human security went hand in hand underscored the need to make globalization more inclusive and to spread its benefits more equitably. For poverty to be reduced and ultimately eliminated, adequate development finance must be made available, especially official development assistance (ODA). As the Prime Minister of Ireland indicated at the Millennium Summit, the Irish Government would increase its level of ODA until it reached the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product (GNP) by 2007. Development must be sustainable, which required a solid and practicable Environmental Vulnerability Index, and the work of the Committee for Sustainable Development was crucial.

ALFONSO VALDIVIESO (Colombia) said the Secretary-General’s report alluded to recognition of the need to resolve the armed conflict in Colombia. His Government was committed to a peaceful solution of a struggle that had lasted more than 40 years, and requested solidarity and persistence from the international community in efforts to achieve a political settlement. It would continue to work very closely with the Special Adviser on Humanitarian Assistance to Colombia, fully convinced that progress towards peace would clearly translate into improvements in human rights.

The Brahimi Report on peace operations had been positively received by Member States, and there was general agreement on the need to take decisions promptly that would affect the United Nations in the directions suggested in the report. The General Assembly was the only organ that could give those decisions the international legitimacy that would guarantee their effectiveness. The humanitarian commitments mentioned in the Secretary-General’s report must be honoured in a way that meticulously balanced the Organization’s limitations, the need to respect the sovereignty of all States and the number of challenges posed by any humanitarian crisis.

Issues related to development were of special concern to Colombia, he said. There was a proliferation of diagnoses of the situation of the South. The diagnoses, however, fell short of recommending collective and individual action to achieve the numerous targets adopted in the Millennium Declaration. That aspect deserved careful and unbiased consideration that took adequate account of the responsibilities of both North and South. Many of the concerns and challenges mentioned by the Secretary-General were directly related to the South. He hoped that the exchange that had characterized the previous months was kept alive.

MOHAMMAD ABULHASAN (Kuwait) said that the last century had witnessed many international problems. He, therefore, hoped that all Member States would respect their international commitments. When studying the report of the Secretary- General, the reader was left with two realities: One reality was that governments and peoples could not progress without the role played by the United Nations. The second reality was that the task of the United Nations had become increasingly complex and that it was no longer possible to separate development from international peace and security.

Peace and security issues were the most important tasks of the United Nations, and were closely connected to economic and social problems. Social work and conflict prevention had to include all of the international issues faced, because the consequences thereof affected peoples on all levels. He welcomed the progress being made in peacekeeping operations and the Brahimi assessment of the issue. There was a need to promote peacekeeping in the maintenance of peace and security. Kuwait understood the importance of peacekeeping and stability because of its own border conflicts with Iraq, and had contributed two thirds of its United Nations budget to peacekeeping forces.

Success in facing disease required efficient action on a national level, to be pulled together as part of an international effort. With regard to sanctions, sympathy for civilians was understandable. However, it was important that the sympathy was not also directed at the regime. Iraq was continuing its non- compliance with Security Council resolutions, and refused to cooperate with regard to Kuwaiti prisoners and property. Kuwait appealed to the Assembly to put pressure on Iraq, so that the problem of the prisoners could be solved and the suffering of the Iraqi people could also come to an end.

YUKIO SATOH (Japan) said that the Secretary-General's Millennium Report, set forth clear guidelines for the United Nations in the 21st century, but those guidelines must not remain ends in themselves. All countries must work for the goals articulated in the Report. His Government expressed its deep appreciation to the Secretary-General for creating such a valuable document. He stressed the importance of strengthening the United Nations, specifically the Security Council, which must be reformed to reflect the realities of the international community. More than 150 countries had called for the reform of the Security Council. “We must now redouble our efforts to achieve Security Council reform,” he said.

Japan also believed that financial reform of the Organization was needed, particularly in the application of more equitable assessments for the regular budget. Furthermore, Japan felt that more balanced budget-sharing in peacekeeping was required, and requested that Member States address the issue of financial reform with a sense of urgency. The Brahimi Report should also be considered expeditiously, because it contained many useful suggestions. The United Nations Secretariat must be strengthened in order to make its operations more successful.

He closed by stressing the importance of developing a human-centred approach in the United Nations in order to address such social problems as poverty, degradation, AIDS, refugees and the displaced. Japan hoped the Organization would play a more active role in human-centred issues. For its part, Japan had contributed $80 million to the human security fund, and would spend another $100 million to further enhance human security.

CONSTANTINE MOUSHOUTAS (Cyprus) said the fight against poverty, and the negative effects of globalization, favourable trade terms, foreign investments, and increased ODA were of paramount importance. Beyond the suffering they caused, extreme poverty and poverty in general, were a cause of environmental deterioration, bred crime and triggered conflicts. Hungry people woke up angry people. The 1990s commitments on development must be implemented.

He said the Security Council remained the sole source of the legitimate use of armed force when dealing with breaches of the peace and, of course, when systematic and gross violations of human rights were involved. The Charter provisions could not be superseded or replaced. If interventions outside the purview of the United Nations were accepted, it might encourage militant separatists to create conditions of bloodshed conducive to intervention. Article 41 of the Charter gave a list of coercive measures available to the Council and not involving the use of armed force. The coming into full operation of the International Criminal Court would be an added restraint to human rights violators.

Respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of States, and non-interference in their internal affairs, could not be interpreted as an impediment to the safeguarding of human rights. When the action to be taken enjoyed the legality of a United Nations mandate, the chances were that it would meet its goals in redressing grave violations of human rights. But if well- meaning interventions outside the purview of the United Nations were allowed, a Pandora’s box would be opened. Use of armed force, motivated by good intentions but in violation of the provisions of the Charter regarding respect for the sovereignty of States, was no solution. The subject of humanitarian intervention was both crucial and challenging, and needed thorough discussion within and outside the United Nations.

LYONPO OM PRADHAN (Bhutan) said that while peacekeeping and peace-building were vital endeavours his delegation was aware that the tasks were sometimes difficult and failures loomed large. Though peace-building and peacekeeping were of great importance, there was a need to take an objective look at necessary and not-so-necessary activities, with a view to keeping operational costs minimal and affordable. In that context the Brahimi Report was welcome, and needed to be given due consideration.

The great need of the hour was to reverse the declining trend in ODA disbursements, he said. The least developed countries had been calling for the fulfilment of the ODA target of 0.15 per cent of developed country GNP agreed upon for all developing countries. He hoped that the Secretary-General would continue to impress upon the developed countries the need to recommit themselves to that goal in the interest of tackling poverty.

With the world population expected to rise to 10 billion by 2030, Bhutan was deeply concerned at the pressures of population movements. The phenomenon could undermine the very foundations of nations, and disrupt the hard-earned successes of socio-economic development achieved over decades. National governments must take steps to control population growth, provide good governance and create economic and social conditions beneficial to the welfare of their peoples. Otherwise the peace and security of regions could be seriously undermined. That was an issue that needed to be given greater emphasis by the international community.

HANNS SCHUMACHER (Germany) said the Millennium Summit had again provided a sharp analysis of the world’s inequities and injustices. True and immediate action to provide remedies was still desperately needed. His country would go ahead with an expeditious implementation of the recommendations of the Brahimi Report, or at least parts thereof, and would focus on the quest for a more inclusive United Nations. The Brahimi Report had highlighted two essential needs: the need for better training and the need for quicker response time. Through the creation of a German international training centre in international peacekeeping missions, Germany hoped to address both needs.

The training centre for civil personnel to be deployed in international peacekeeping missions, established in July 1999, aimed to create a reserve consisting of trained experts suited to the most diverse tasks and not limited to one single type of deployment. A special civilian personnel database had already been established to create a quasi-standby facility to support international missions in the crucial start-up phase when qualified personnel were most urgently needed. Four hundred people would be trained by the end of the year. Cooperation with other international training centres to create uniform training standards would be a high priority, he said. Regarding the focus on a more inclusive United Nations, he noted that the Millennium Declaration had stressed that “the central challenge we face today is to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world’s people.” Germany had introduced the item “Towards Global Partnerships”, now on the General Assembly’s agenda. Globalization and big global challenges in many areas had led to the emergence and increasing importance of new global players, especially from civil society and in particular from transnational business. An appropriate involvement of those new players in the Organization’s work was important. It was now up to the Member States to discuss those issues in a constructive spirit.

SERGEI LING (Belarus) said that the international community was still not close enough to meeting the major goals spelt out in the United Nations Charter. The international community needed peace. That was an imperative that should determine United Nations activities. In the last century, Belarus had made an important contribution to the process by demonstrating full compliance with its obligations to the United Nations and by relinquishing the possession of nuclear arms. Belarus would continue to support the establishment of a nuclear-weapon- free-zone in Central and Eastern Europe.

He said that his Government had carefully studied the issue of sanctions, and supported the conclusion that in recent years the effectiveness of such measures had been increasingly doubtful. Third world countries appeared to suffer from sanctions, and Belarus was no exception. His country therefore supported the proposal made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic concerning the creation within the United Nations of a special group -- similar to Mr. Brahimi’s panel on peacekeeping operations -- to make a comprehensive analysis of the range of questions related to sanctions.

Analyzing the section "Meeting Humanitarian Commitments" in the Secretary- General’s report, Belarus drew the Assembly's attention to the Chernobyl issues. Today, on the eve of the disaster's 15th anniversary, he believed that Belarus was still suffering from the consequences. He hoped that the United Nations would further assist in the development of new forms of cooperation with Belarus on that matter.

VOLODYMYR YEL’CHENKO (Ukraine) said that a forward-looking assessment of United Nations achievements and failures during the past 12 months would be the best response to the spirit of the Millennium Assembly. An action-oriented approach was really essential for making the Summit’s promise a reality. The lessons of the last decade in the maintenance of peace and security had impressively proved the indispensability of the United Nations, but had also revealed its serious limitations and shortcomings.

He reiterated the proposal put forward by the President of Ukraine to develop a comprehensive United Nations conflict-prevention strategy. One of the key components could be the establishment of United Nations regional centres for conflict prevention. Another integral element could be conflict-prevention operations, which could gain prominence as a qualitatively new model of peacekeeping. It was important that recognition of the significance of conflict prevention should also be expressed in the everyday activities of the Security Council. It would be beneficial to initiate a practice of regular briefing of the Security Council by a Prevention Team.

It was very important to give urgent consideration to the recommendations of the Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations. The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations represented the most appropriate forum for consideration of that report, and its Bureau could convene a special session to start the discussion with a view to making prompt recommendations to the General Assembly. He reiterated Ukraine’s strong view that it was absolutely necessary to develop a clear and coherent methodology for the imposition and lifting of sanctions, taking into consideration the concerns of civilian populations and the interests of third countries. The immediate lifting of sanctions, when there were not sufficient grounds to believe that they had served their purpose, was vital.

MARIO ALEMAN (Ecuador) said the Secretary-General’s Report provided a comprehensive vision of United Nations achievements as well as the obstacles it faced. The Organization had been and would continue to be a favourable forum for lasting solutions to problems that concerned the international community: peace and security; humanitarian affairs; development; international justice; and human rights. The principal task of the United Nations, as outlined in the report, was the maintenance of international peace and security. The nature and scope of conflicts had changed since the cold war era, because today’s conflicts were essentially of an internal nature. Such internal conflicts often involved the violations of the most fundamental human rights of entire populations.

He noted that the topic of human rights did not fall exclusively within the domestic or internal jurisdiction of states, since the Charter of the United Nations established international obligations to maintain peace and security. However, bodies charged with peace and security must not legitimate punitive action, unless action calling for force conformed to Chapter 7 of the Charter. Within that same perspective, the Brahimi Report on United Nations Peace Operations contained recommendations that deserved a level-headed and realistic analysis, so that the world could rely upon improved efficacy in the delivery of services.

Peace and security, as well as their opposites, violence and instability, could be approached in isolation from economic and social well-being. The primary concern of the United Nations was development, in which the well-being of the individual was solidly grounded. He felt that those aspirations should be the common denominator for all United Nations operations.

IVAN SIMONOVIC (Croatia) said the Secretary-General’s report had rightly called for innovative approaches in managing complex peace operations, including those that would not shy away from crossing over institutional and administrative turf in the search for comprehensive solutions. The world had a responsibility to act when universally accepted human rights were being violated on a massive scale. The lessons of Srebrenica, Rwanda and Sierra Leone had once more demonstrated the importance of clear, well-managed and achievable Security Council mandates. But even the best mandate remained a dead letter unless it was supported by political will and the necessary means for its implementation.

The Croatian experience -- of progress from a host country to a contributor of peacekeepers -- could be useful for the Organization, he said. In that regard, he looked forward to the conclusion of the mandate of the small United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP) during the session, and his country’s increased participation in peacekeeping operations elsewhere. He was encouraged by the undertakings the nuclear-weapon States had made during the 2000 Review Conference to the Parties of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Nevertheless, progress in overall disarmament remained sporadic. The role of the United Nations in demining was important for many countries that continued to suffer from that blight, well after many other aspects of a conflict had faded into history.

The past year had been one of progress in the field of human rights, he said. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women would enter into force before the end of the year. Nevertheless, there was a need to deal with the trafficking of women. Additionally, the integration of the world’s disabled population into economic and developmental policies remained to be achieved. The legal protection of children at the international level had been a United Nations success story. However, the issue of the protection of children had yet to filter through to the regional and local levels, particularly in regard to overcoming inequities in the promotion of education.

WANG YINGFAN (China) said that the Security Council's responsibility for peacekeeping must be preserved and upheld. At the same time, the principles of the United Nations Charter should continue to be observed. With regard to the "dilemma of intervention", on the one hand, China believed that the United Nations should make more positive contributions to stopping humanitarian crises; on the other, China was aware of the risk of inappropriate intervention. Big powers and blocs of countries should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country involved, rather than exploit humanitarian intervention to interfere in its internal affairs or trigger new conflicts.

Another important task for the United Nations was to respond actively to globalization and realize the common development of humanity. The United Nations must play its role in narrowing the gap between rich and poor, so as to ensure that all countries would benefit equally from globalization and to prevent the further widening of the gap between the North and the South. The United Nations should give top priority to the issue of development and make poverty eradication its most important development objective.

The 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty was an important cornerstone of global strategic stability. The United Nations should continue to pay serious attention to -- and take necessary actions to prevent -- a certain country's move to undermine global strategic stability through the development of a national missile defence system. Furthermore, the illicit trafficking in light weapons and small arms had caused serious security, economic and social problems for developing countries, especially in Africa. The international community should take full advantage of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, to be held next year.

ALISHER VOHIDOV (Uzbekistan) said that the proposals and concepts in the Secretary-General’s report deserved the most careful consideration. In a globalized world, Uzbekistan’s main concern was the need to maintain international stability and security. In that struggle, the United Nations must play a leading role. In the present state of globalization, there could be no comprehensive international security without the security of individual States. Here, Uzbekistan was totally committed to disarmament. Without disarmament, it was impossible to speak of international peace and stability.

Uzbekistan supported the initiative to make Central Asia a nuclear-weapon- free zone. It was important that the process be supported and that the regional expert groups working on the zone be encouraged in their important work. Today’s international problems and risks required cooperation between all United Nations agencies and bodies. There was a need for reform and for prompt adoption of a range of mechanisms relevant to global problems. Security Council expansion was vital, and must include both developing and developed countries. Furthermore, both Germany and Japan deserved to be included as permanent members. There was also a need to enhance the role of the Security Council in armed conflicts. In today’s world, the vestiges of the cold war had been replaced by international terrorism, he said. He hoped that the United Nations would give full attention to the problem.

The Secretary-General’s proposals on terrorism were welcomed, as the problem could only be successfully addressed through coordinated international efforts. The drug problem was aggravated by international terrorism. There must be genuine implementation of the agreements of States to root out the sources of terrorist activities. The Millennium Summit had shown that United Nations Member States were ready to redouble efforts to block terrorism and the problems of drugs.

MOHAMMAD J. SAMHAN (United Arab Emirates) said the Secretary-General’s report contained valuable information about the role of the United Nations in facing growing international problems. Prominent in that role was the maintenance of international peace and security. His country agreed with the Secretary- General’s view of the concept of collective security, which would also deal with such issues as violations of human rights, contagious diseases and natural disasters, in addition to the vast gaps existing between the developed and developing countries. Those problems had to be addressed at all levels: international, regional, subregional and national.

He supported the Secretary-General’s goal of improving the capabilities of the United Nations, in cooperation with regional organizations, for preventing and containing conflicts. Peace-building involved initiatives to promote national reconciliation and respect for human rights. Despite the fact that the last year had seen an increase in peacekeeping operations, some operations had recorded failures because of the lack of political will of the involved parties. He supported the proposals and recommendations of the Brahimi Report, and called for allocation of human and financial resources in promoting humanitarian and other efforts to contain conflicts, to reintegrate combatants and to bring the perpetrators of crimes against human rights to justice.

The Secretary-General had pointed out the importance of disarmament, particularly of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. His country believed in the rights of States in promoting their regional defence capability, but called for a decrease in nuclear armaments. He appreciated the constructive and positive efforts undertaken by the specialized agencies of the Organization in the domain of humanitarian intervention, but such efforts required financial and technical assistance, particularly from developed countries, to help those bodies carry out their responsibilities. He said an equitable and just economic order had to be established in order to bring about stability in international economic conditions. The Organization should be restructured and its financial and human resources improved.

GELSON FONSECA JR. (Brazil) said that the "global compact" initiative had been an important innovation for forging a broad-based coalition for change. Governments alone could not do much. The involvement of civil society, NGOs and the private sector was key to advancing the objectives of the United Nations in many fields, including development and respect for fundamental human rights. The United Nations was heading in the right direction, but much remained to be done. The speeches during the Millenium Summit had set lofty goals for the Organization. It was now time to confront those goals and make the adjustment accordingly.

There were already concrete proposals on the table with regard to peace operations, he said. Brazil welcomed those initiatives. It was indisputable that peace operations had grown in number and complexity, stretching the capacity of the Organization to respond swiftly and efficiently to the new mandates. The recommendation for reinforcing the capacity of the Secretariat to gather and analyse information was welcome, and should be given due consideration. The Organization should also apply the idea that it was better not to establish a mission than to establish a mission flawed from its inception.

The international community, he said, had pledged to halve the proportion of the world's population whose income was less than a dollar a day by the year 2015. How was that to be achieved? What kind of cooperation was required? If globalization was to be a blessing, and not a curse on developing countries, the flagrant imbalances of international flows in trade and investment must be tackled. Efforts at both the national and international level were necessary. Increased international cooperation for development must be coupled with sound political systems and respect for human rights.

JORGE VALDEZ (Peru) said that in the new millennium, Member States must continue to attach importance to peace and stability and the principles affirmed in the Charter of the United Nations. Multilateral action, he said, was essential in resolving problems. In its relations with the neighbouring countries of Ecuador and Chile, Peru had worked for agreement on the demarcation of borders. By approaching the issue from the standpoint of the social and political impact it had on the three countries, the problems had been solved, thereby relaxing tensions and reducing military spending. That example should be followed in the important matter of general disarmament.

While the principles of the Charter were ever vital, faithfulness to that document was not always evident. His country believed that there must be more respect for the General Assembly, the forum of fullest and most democratic participation in the United Nations system. He was also of the view that the Brahimi Report must be further studied. Peru supported the concept of preventive action and strengthening of the Secretariat. But the costs for such activities must be kept in check, since poor countries like Peru could not squeeze more resources from limited budgets.

The intense activity of the United Nations in peacekeeping had not produced the peace dividend so eagerly expected from the end of the cold war. He believed that globalization had actually increased the gap between rich and poor countries. It had also led to greater marginalization because access to technology was not equitably applied. The Secretary-General’s call for the eradication of poverty gave the Organization a unique opportunity to tackle poverty in a global manner. The Millennium Summit’s goal of reducing the poverty level by 50 per cent must be reached. In Peru the poverty level had been reduced to 14 per cent from 27 per cent. Poor nations would benefit from United Nations efforts in that regard.

IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal) said that the report by the Secretary-General sought to establish a reign of peace, security, stability and an active solidarity between nations and peoples. That was a vision based on consensus, where the United Nations was better equipped and more able to face the changing realities of the world. One of the main challenges was determining whether the capacity existed to cooperate progressively and realistically. The citizens of the world had witnessed the Summit, and expected to see the result of the many promises made there.

One critical element was globalization, the brushing away of national borders. Globalization provided many opportunities, but only a handful of countries were benefiting from those opportunities. Other countries ran the risk of becoming increasingly marginalized. The United Nations must work to ensure that globalization became a positive force and did not further emphasize injustice and inequality. The United Nations incarnated the aspirations of peoples. It must, therefore, rectify the process of globalization by committing itself to finding solutions through a generalization of prosperity, not a globalization of poverty. Another challenge was the preservation of peace and international security, which remained a distant vision in the midst of the many conflicts shaking the structure of States and inflicting suffering on civilians.

Those crises were prompted, fed and maintained by the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Concerted action and energetic initiatives were needed, he said, in particular those recommended by the Brahimi Report. Reform of the Security Council meant transforming that central organ into a more representative, democratic and credible body. If the United Nations was to become a modern instrument, the role played by the General Assembly must be strengthened. It was also important to encourage the United Nations to cooperate more closely with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

HASMY AGAM (Malaysia) said the Secretary-General had noted the strong reactions by Member States to the issue of humanitarian intervention. While the issue was a contentious one, there should be a frank and in-depth discussion of the concept. However, the debate should be guided by the principles enshrined in the Charter, as they provided the very basis upon which the United Nations was founded. Support for human rights should not be at the expense of the sovereign rights of States. A multidisciplinary or holistic approach would not only address the symptoms of conflicts, but, more importantly, their underlying causes, which were often socio-economic in nature.

Sanctions remained a legitimate and legal instrument to coerce States to conform to internationally accepted standards of inter-State conduct. Unfortunately, he said, they often exerted a heavy toll on the populace, as graphically illustrated by the continuing grave humanitarian situation in Iraq. He was encouraged by the current efforts to move in the direction of more focused and targeted sanctions. Sanctions of the future should have specific objectives, be clearly targeted, and have specified time frames. They should be lifted as soon as they had served their purpose or were no longer pertinent to the situation -- as should have been done in respect of the sanctions imposed on Libya and the Sudan.

Acts of violence against civilians, which were increasing in number, were unacceptable to the international community. Those responsible must be brought to book either through national justice systems or the relevant international criminal tribunals. The international tribunals should be strongly supported by the international community, thereby sending a clear and unambiguous message to potential perpetrators. Attacks on the United Nations and international humanitarian personnel in the field had also been on the increase. Those acts must be condemned in the strongest terms. The Organization must ensure the safety of personnel as they carried out their noble and selfless tasks in the name of humanity. Given the sacrifices they had made and would continue to make, it would be fitting that they be honoured by the United Nations in the appropriate way, he said.

SERGEY V. LAVROV (Russian Federation) said the Millennium Summit had confirmed that the United Nations still played a central role in guaranteeing peace and stability. A strong and capable United Nations, he added, was the "key instrument in the search for collective responses to contemporary challenges" because it was an indispensable forum for the solution of global problems of security and cooperation. The attainment of sustainable peace and security for all countries and peoples remained a central objective of the Organization.

Increasing United Nations effectiveness in preventing and settling conflicts was the purpose of the Brahimi Report. While the international community must not be indifferent to the pain and suffering of thousands of people, the lessons of the tragedies in Srebrenica and Rwanda must be taken into account, since it was impossible to achieve the cessation of violations of international humanitarian law through actions contrary to the United Nations Charter. To prevent the world from slipping into anarchy and lawlessness, mass violations of fundamental human rights required joint action in accordance with Security Council decisions -- which the Russian Federation considered the answer to the “dilemma of intervention” formulated by the Secretary-General. International norms applicable to effective response to the humanitarian challenges of today must be developed.

Preventive diplomacy, as the Secretary-General suggested, was necessary to resolve crises; it was also important to continue the profound consideration of the concept of post-conflict peace-building. The implementation of Security Council sanctions should not allow them to become means of punishment for countries and peoples, as, unfortunately, had often happened. Extreme clarity of the aims, and timely coordination of the exact terms and mechanism of their revocation, were necessary; moreover, sanctions should not result in destabilization of the economic situation in the targeted country or in third countries.

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