This will deter conflict. I warmly welcome the statute establishing an International Criminal Court. We must now seek the speedy entry into force and implementation of the statute. Now we need an international criminal court that is permanent and effective. Ladies and gentlemen, We need to keep a steady focus on the root causes of conflict poverty, environmental degradation and lack of economic opportunity.
Financial assistance is essential.
Norway firmly believes that conflict prevention, humanitarian relief, and long-term development cannot be regarded as separate tasks. We need an integrated approach in which crisis management and peace-building are part of an overall development strategy. Development assistance can only be one element in such a strategy. But we are convinced that it is an important one. We therefore call on other donor countries to follow the Nordic countries and the Netherlands and fulfil the UN target of allocating at least 0.7 per cent of GDP to development efforts.