UN General Assembly
1997

On a related subject, we have learned of efforts under way to develop the Organization’s rapid-deployment capability. This dimension is necessary, but any deployment in this sense must withstand the scrutiny of national consent. Again, we would prefer to see the preventive aspect stressed rather than the enforcement side. Further, a rapid-reaction capability is not needed solely to respond to threats to peace in the traditional sense. Recent measures employed to enhance the Organization’s humanitarian response to both man-made and natural disasters are also demonstrative of the requirement for the institutionalization of a rapid-response capability. In the Secretary-General’s programme for reform, deserved emphasis is placed on strengthening international cooperation to combat the new threats to civil society. The deleterious effects of crime, drugs and terrorism know no borders. The administrative changes to be instituted by the Secretariat to focus action through the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme should give us the upper hand in waging war against the forces of uncivil society. Countries such as mine expend huge amounts of