UN General Assembly
2001

which represents but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential danger of bioterrorism, and the spreading of fissile materials and chemical weapons are a powerful argument for the urgent need to strengthen and strictly enforce the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 and other legal instruments in this field. We should immediately move to quote the Secretary-General from a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention. While imperative, the struggle against terrorism must not obscure the necessity for the United Nations to effectively discharge the mandate entrusted to it by the international community a mandate whose scope is expanding over the years. This is not only true with respect to the international security problems which I have just referred to, but also concerns problems related to socio-economic cooperation, the protection of human rights and humanitarian issues, particularly those concerning refugees and the protection of the environment. Also of major importance, in our view, is the elaboration and adoption of a package of regulations and commitments in respect of development aid,