SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS NEED FOR COOPERATION IS GREATER THAN EVER

SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

NEED FOR COOPERATION IS GREATER THAN EVER

Following is the text of a statement made today in New York by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the fourth high-level meeting of the United Nations and regional organizations:

I am delighted to welcome you to New York for this fourth high-level meeting between the United Nations and so many of the world's leading regional organizations.

You are among the United Nations' most important partners and allies.  Each of our organizations has its particular role and expertise.  But most of the challenges we face are bigger than any single one of us.  Cooperation is not a choice, but a necessity.  We can learn from each other and, together, we are stronger.

I would like to welcome three organizations that are attending this meeting for the first time:  the Association of South-east Asian Nations, the Pacific Islands Forum, and the Southern African Development Community.  Also with us today for the first time are a number of United Nations bodies, including the Economic and Social Council, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations regional economic commissions, the United Nations Office at Vienna, and my Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.  This widening participation reflects not only the increasing importance of this forum, but also a growing awareness of the economic and social aspects of conflict.

Last time we met, two-and-a-half years ago, we focused on conflict- prevention and established, for the first time, a framework for cooperation.  A progress report prepared by the United Nations Secretariat is now before you.  As you know, our meetings today and tomorrow will focus on the related subject of peace-building.

Here, too, the need to work together has never been greater.  One reason is the growing number of military conflicts that have ended in recent years.  This has left many States in delicate post-conflict situations, with daunting challenges such as reconciliation and reconstruction.

The United Nations and regional organizations have become deeply involved in post-conflict activities in the Balkans, in Africa, in Central America and in Central and South-East Asia.  These efforts are aimed at preventing the recurrence of conflict, and typically involve such a wide range of areas -- from political advice and human rights to economic development and good governance -- that the need for us to share burdens is clear.

A second reason we must cooperate, even more than we have thus far, is that more and more we find that peace-building needs to start well before the end of a

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                                                                                                            6 February 2001

conflict.  Some of the same instruments can be used to prevent conflict before it erupts, in societies where tensions and instability show signs of plunging a country into violent upheaval.

Many of the conflicts with which we contend are rooted in endemic poverty and underdevelopment, weak or non-existent institutions, the absence of good governance, and gross and systematic violations of human rights.  We need to get used to the idea that the time to address such underlying causes is not after a conflict has ended, but before it starts, and also while it is still going on, as part of the effort to end it.  Here, too, the job is too big for any single one of us.

By now, the United Nations has acquired a fair amount of experience, positive and negative, in peace-building.  Regional organizations, too, have had their successes and failures.  And although each situation is unique, it is possible to draw some lessons and to speak generally about what works, and what does not.  As we share experiences, I hope we will come out with a clearer sense of where and how we can cooperate.  For my part, I see great potential in five key areas:

first, negotiating and implementing peace agreements;.

second, promoting security and stability;

third, working for good governance, democratization and human rights;

fourth, promoting justice and reconciliation; and

fifth, finding a better way to combine emergency relief with longer-term development assistance.

We must all try to learn from the range of tools and approaches that each of our organizations brings to these tasks.  We also need to be able to define our objectives better.  Most crucially, we must assess what each of us does best, and then try to make sure that we do actually help each other and don't get in each other's way.  I hope that, at the end of our discussions, we can agree on a shared vision of peace-building and a concrete action plan to move us forward.  To that end, the United Nations Secretariat has provided a paper setting out our approach to peace-building and presenting some proposals.

I welcome yesterday's open debate of the Security Council on peace-building, and hope that we can use our meetings today and tomorrow to generate proposals that the Council can support when it reconvenes on the subject.

I am confident that you share my view that peace can only be built and sustained on a strong foundation, brick by brick, law by law, institution by institution.  Our common challenge, as always, is to mobilize resources and political will.  It is very encouraging that all of you are so eager to be involved.  I look forward to hearing your views, and to having a very productive session.  Thank you very much.

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