I should like first of all, Mr. President, to
convey to you my warmest congratulations. Your election
to the presidency of this Assembly is a clear
acknowledgement of your personal qualities and diplomatic
skills and is a tribute to your country, the Republic of
Guyana. We are pleased that you were nominated as a
16 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
candidate by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean
States, with which my country has particularly close and
cooperative relations.
I should also like to pay tribute to and greet warmly
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The United Nations needs his
proven competence and political experience in order to face
the numerous challenges before us at the end of the century.
You may rest assured, Mr. Secretary-General, that in
carrying out your complex tasks you can count on the firm
cooperation of the Spanish authorities.
Allow me also to convey at this time to the
Government and the people of India our deepest sympathy
for and solidarity with the victims of the earthquake that
ravaged that country yesterday.
Over the last year the universality of the United Nations
has once again been enhanced by the admission of the Czech
Republic, Slovakia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Eritrea, Monaco and Andorra as new Members.
I welcome them all, and most particularly Andorra, a
neighbour of Spain with which we are linked by special ties
of history, culture and deep friendship.
A few days ago Belgium’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,
speaking on behalf of the European Community and its
member States, set forth our common points of view in this
general debate. On behalf of the Spanish delegation, I shall
mention some issues that I think deserve special attention.
A year ago, when I addressed this Assembly for the
first time, I referred, as did many other speakers, to the
fundamental changes that had taken place in the world since
the middle of the last decade. It is the Spanish
Government’s firm conviction that those changes have led to
the advent of a new era. The United Nations has a great
opportunity to play an effective, central role in harmonizing
world-wide the efforts of the international community in
order to achieve the common purposes embodied in the Charter.
Thus, it seems that the time has come to strengthen our
Organization by providing it with the necessary human and
material resources to enable it to carry out its goals. We
must also think about the measures necessary for a possible
revision of the Charter.
A review of the Security Council is an item on our
agenda, and this needs to be approached in a constructive
spirit and with the aim of increasing its representativeness
and ensuring that its actions be not only fast but also
effective. Such a review should be based on the criteria
established in Article 23 of the Charter, that is to say, taking
into account the contribution of Member States to the
maintenance of international peace and security and to the
other purposes of the Organization, and also to equitable
geographical distribution.
We believe that the time has come for a moderate
increase in the membership of the Council so as to reflect
the increase in the number of Members of the Organization
since 1963, when, for the first time, it was decided to
expand the Council’s membership.
We also deem it appropriate to consider the creation of
new categories: one that would enable certain States to
become permanent members without the right of veto, and
another that would allow more frequent non-permanent
membership in the Council to certain States with weight and
influence in international relations that have the capacity and
political will to contribute significantly to the fulfilment of
the purposes and principles of the United Nations. All this
would undoubtedly serve to put our Organization in a better
position to face the challenges of maintaining peace and
international security.
In this context, it is also necessary to make reforms in
order to deal with the changing nature of the tasks assigned
to the peace operations established by the Security Council.
The traditional concept of peace-keeping operations,
embracing monitoring of cease-fire agreements, interposition
between adversarial forces and the establishment of
confidence-building measures - all by primarily military
means - has been expanded, increasingly encompassing new,
non-military aspects. These new tasks range from
humanitarian assistance to nation-building, and include the
monitoring of elections and of the observance of human
rights. Nearly 100,000 men and women from all over the
world are currently serving in the framework of these
increasingly complex and demanding operations.
The United Nations has made a commendable effort to
adapt the structure and functioning of peace operations to the
new exigencies. We should pursue our efforts in this
direction, as we are convinced that it is always preferable to
solve a conflict under the aegis of the United Nations than
through the unilateral action of a Power or group of Powers
outside the framework of the Organization.
Here I should like to draw the Assembly’s attention to
some relevant questions regarding the proper functioning of
peace operations and to offer some ideas and suggestions
aimed at enhancing their performance and effectiveness.
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 17
When establishing a peace operation, the Security
Council should pay the utmost attention to defining
accurately its mandate. The Council should also receive
periodic information on the development of the operation.
Consultation mechanisms should be established with those
States that have a special interest, because of their
involvement in the operation or their troop contributions.
Special attention should also be given to questions of
safety. Acts of violence against the Blue Helmets have
increased alarmingly because of the growing complexity and
risks of the operations. The issue of safety should be
considered most seriously. In this regard we have examined
with the greatest interest the Secretary-General’s report to
the Security Council and the recommendations of the Special
Committee on Peace-keeping Operations. We believe that
the use of force against United Nations personnel must be
regarded as unacceptable interference in the exercise of the
responsibilities entrusted to the Security Council by the
Charter. When such acts occur, the Council should take
appropriate measures, the first of which should be to hold
responsible the perpetrators of the acts.
The Spanish Government considers it imperative that
the appropriate financial resources be made available to the
United Nations in timely fashion to meet the cost of these
operations. We all share the responsibility for ensuring a
sound financial and administrative basis for peace operations.
Before a new operation is established, an estimate of its
financial implications should be presented to the Council.
A the same time, the task assigned to the Security
Council in terms of peace-keeping and peace enforcement
should not lead us to forget the competence of the General
Assembly on budgetary questions and in the field of
preventive diplomacy, especially peace-building. With the
cooperation of United Nations operational activities, the
General Assembly must play an important role in this overall
approach to international security, as is referred to by the
Secretary-General in his "An Agenda for Peace".
Neither should the Secretariat be overlooked. Its
structure and logistical capacity for managing peace
operations need to be reviewed and expanded. We applaud
the Secretary-General’s efforts in this respect.
Aware of the crucial importance taken on by peace
operations, Spain - which has participated and continues to
participate through a large number of military and civilian
observers in various operations, particularly in Central
America and southern Africa - decided a year ago to send a
military contingent of about 1,000 soldiers to Bosnia and
Herzegovina as part of the United Nations Protection Force
(UNPROFOR).
Within the framework of the increasingly necessary
cooperation between the United Nations and regional
organizations, my country sent observers to help in
monitoring compliance with the sanctions imposed against
Serbia and Montenegro and is maintaining naval units in the
Adriatic. Spanish personnel also take part in the observer
missions of the European community and the Conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).
The people and the Government of Spain are proud of
the work being done by our forces and observers. I wish
to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those who have
given their blood and their lives while serving in these
peaceful humanitarian missions of the Organization.
Since the beginning of the terrible conflict in the former
Yugoslavia the Spanish people and Government have done
their best to alleviate the suffering of the population and
have contributed, within the framework of the Security
Council and the International Conference on the Former
Yugoslavia, to the development of a political process aimed
at achieving a peaceful solution acceptable to all parties.
We have all been appalled by the cruelty of that war and
frustrated by the endless negotiations.
It is only fitting to acknowledge the splendid work
accomplished, under extremely difficult circumstances, by
the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). We
would also express gratitude for the skill and dedication of
the co-Chairmen of the Steering Committee of the
International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia.
Provided they can rely on the parties’ basic goodwill and
capacity for compromise, their efforts should lead to an
agreement before this coming winter brings with it a
dreadful human catastrophe. If the hoped for agreement is
reached, the international community and the Organization
will then be faced with a new challenge, that of guaranteeing
implementation of the peace agreement through the
establishment of a peace-keeping operation under the
auspices and authority of the United Nations. Spain would
be prepared to contribute to such a force.
This year the Security Council decided to establish an
International Tribunal to bring to trial those charged with
serious violations of international humanitarian law
committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. We
believe that this crucial step will also encourage at this
session of the General Assembly the speedy completion of
18 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
work leading to the establishment of a permanent
international criminal tribunal with universal jurisdiction.
In the past few months important developments have
taken place in various other parts of the world.
My Government is following with anxiety and hope
the recent events in Russia - with anxiety, because at one
time it appeared that the internal stability of that country
and, therefore, of Europe and the rest of the world, was in
jeopardy, but also with hope that the Russian people
themselves will become the masters of their own destiny.
We are concerned about the worsening conflict in
Abkhazia and the continued confrontation in Nagorny-
Karabakh between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. We appeal
to the wisdom and capacity for dialogue of all the parties
involved and reiterate our support for the peace efforts of the
United Nations and the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).
In Angola the process of restoring democratic normality
and coexistence has been seriously hampered by UNITA’s
refusal to accept the outcome of free and fair elections, thus
preventing the implementation of the Bicesse Accords. This
has compelled the Security Council to impose sanctions on
UNITA in the hope that its leadership will reconsider its
attitude and begin to cooperate in good faith to put an end
to a conflict of catastrophic human proportions.
We wish to recall that a number of the problems arising
from the war between Iraq and Kuwait are still unresolved,
among them the exchange of prisoners and the return of
stolen assets by the invader. The fact that Iraq has not yet
recognized either the existence of Kuwait as a sovereign
State, Member of the United Nations, the demarcation of the
border between the two countries, which was recently
confirmed by the Security Council, constitutes a serious
obstacle to peace.
The persistence of those and other conflicts should not
make us forget the progress achieved in the solution of
many others.
Here we would especially mention the success achieved
in Cambodia through the United Nations Transitional
Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), with the holding last May
of elections for a Constituent Assembly, elections that paved
the way to national unity and reconciliation.
In the Middle East, the serious obstacles that were
threatening to scuttle the peace process launched two years
ago in Madrid have been overcome. The mutual recognition
between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO), along with the signing in Washington on 13
September of an Agreement on the establishment of an
autonomous Palestinian regime in Jericho and Gaza, is a
development of far-reaching significance. Spain welcomes
this fundamental step in the tortured history of the Middle
East and is prepared, together with other countries, to
maintain its political and economic support in order to
ensure that the Agreement between the Palestinians and
Israelis becomes effective. We are aware that the process is
fraught with difficulties, but we believe that they can be
surmounted with the same courage and imagination already
displayed in achieving the recent agreements, and with the
support of the international community.
In Africa, new developments have taken place, although
not without some delay and difficulties. In Mozambique we
have witnessed the implementation of the General Peace
Agreement, with the invaluable cooperation of the United
Nations Operation in Mozambique (UNOMOZ). In Somalia,
the Security Council has given the United Nations Operation
in Somalia (UNOSOM II) one of the broadest mandates ever
conferred upon a United Nations operation. It cannot be
denied that problems of internal adjustment have been
caused by the very novelty and magnitude of the tasks
entrusted to UNOSOM II, and they will have to taken into
account in future peace-keeping operations. Nevertheless,
the Operation’s contribution has been vital in reducing the
consequences of a catastrophe caused by natural disasters
and armed rivalries that have claimed hundreds of thousands
of victims.
Turning to the question of Western Sahara, I wish to
express Spain’s full support for the efforts being made by
the Secretary-General and his Special Representative to find
a solution to the outstanding problems that will make
possible the holding of a free and fair referendum on self-
determination. That referendum will pave the way for the
climate of understanding and cooperation that is necessary
to deal with the challenges in the region. My country
resolutely supports the process of integration in the North of
Africa and the development of stronger links between
Europe and the Maghreb.
We also welcome the progress made in the transitional
process in South Africa, although we regret the fact that
violence still holds sway in certain areas. The progress
made in the drafting of a Constitution and the prompt
establishment of the Transitional Executive Council are the
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 19
best possible foundations for the holding of general elections
in 1994 to prepare the way for a truly representative
Parliament and a democratic South Africa that will be able
to find its true place in the Organization and in the
international community.
In Latin America, a number of recent events deserve
special consideration.
I should mention first the process of consolidation of
democracy through the free election of civilian Presidents
and Parliaments in nearly the whole of the continent. That
fact, enhanced by a number of forums such as the Rio
Group, the Central American Summits or the Ibero-
American Summits, has reversed attempts to violate the
legitimacy of the democratic process.
Latin America continues to place special emphasis on
the use of negotiation, mediation and conciliation in solving
its conflicts, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VI
of the Charter.
Respect for international law and democracy are the
principles that have guided and will continue to guide the
activities of the international community aimed at restoring
democratic legality in Haiti. Those principles have also
inspired the decisive agreements with regard to the peace
process in El Salvador, where we hope the recommendations
of the Ad Hoc Commission and the Commission on the
Truth will be implemented. Finally, those same principles
will be the basis for reconciliation and development in
Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Once again this year I have to mention a matter that, as
the Assembly knows, is of fundamental importance to Spain,
namely, the decolonization of Gibraltar. I wish to reiterate
my Government’s firm decision to continue the process of
negotiation with the United Kingdom in a constructive spirit
and on the basis of the Brussels Declaration of 27 November
1984. Those negotiations should duly take into account the
legitimate interests of the population, but be based on the
doctrine established by the General Assembly that the
decolonization of Gibraltar is not a case of self-
determination but of the restoration of the territorial integrity
of Spain. The Spanish Government firmly hopes that those
negotiations will finally eliminate this anachronism.
In the field of disarmament new challenges have
emerged, such as the need to put an end to the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction. Now, more than ever, we
need to redouble our efforts to move beyond a period of
confrontation that belongs to the past.
There is a pressing need to strengthen the multilateral
negotiating forums to enable them to face the new
challenges efficiently. In this respect, my country considers
that priority should be given to enlarging the Conference on
Disarmament, on the basis of a consensus that will enable
countries like Spain, which have been participating actively
in its work for a long time, to become members.
There is a clear link between international peace and
security on the one hand and economic and social
development on the other. In this new era, when the United
Nations is renewing its efforts to maintain international
peace and security, we must note the persistence of deep
disparities and serious economic and social problems
besetting all countries, in particular the developing countries.
To confront these challenges, the reform of the United
Nations should extend to the Organization’s economic and
social machinery. The reforms, which have already begun,
should be aimed at achieving more effective functioning and
at using available resources more rationally to meet the
needs of developing countries.
In that context, let me mention the convening of the
first session of the Commission on Sustainable Development.
We hope its work will maintain and even intensify the great
momentum generated by the Rio Summit on environment
and development and lead to the speedy implementation of
the commitments made there in Agenda 21.
But it is not enough to repair and fine-tune the
machinery we intend to use to deal with the challenges of
development. We need clear guidelines by which to steer it
unerringly towards the wide range of current needs, in
particular those of the developing countries. Hence, we look
forward with great interest to the Secretary-General’s
"Agenda for Development"; in conjunction with "An Agenda
for Peace", this will supplement the guidelines for action by
the international community with respect to the indivisible
equation of world peace and economic and social
development.
In that context, I want to recall that the third
Ibero-American Summit, held at Salvador de Bahía, Brazil,
last July, considered "An agenda for development", with the
emphasis on social development. The conclusions adopted
by the Heads of State or Government of the 21 participating
countries were submitted to the Secretary-General as a
contribution to the preparation of his own "Agenda for
Development".

The final document of that Summit stressed the
growing interrelationship among the concepts of
development, democracy and human rights. It drew
attention to the priority that should be given to the fight
against poverty both on the governmental level and when
allocating resources and creating machinery for international
cooperation. Our starting-point should be to promote
integrated economic and social development, bearing in mind
the three priorities the Secretary-General set out at the last
session of the Economic and Social Council: redistribution,
integration and protection.
The structure of and developments in the world
population give rise to grave uncertainties about their
consequences and about the aspirations of developing
countries to attain sustainable development. These and other
important issues such as large-scale migration, improving the
machinery for cooperation, and managing resources for that
purpose will be discussed at the International Conference on
Population and Development to be held next year at Cairo.
We hope that Conference will mark a significant step
towards the solution of these questions by addressing
together the issues of population, economic growth and
sustainable development.
The Spanish Government considers that there is also an
urgent need to integrate women into the development
process, eliminate discrimination against women and ensure
their full participation in the economic, social, cultural, civic
and political spheres. We trust that this commitment will be
renewed and buttressed by the international community at
the Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in
Beijing in 1995.
The World Summit for Social Development, the
convening of which my country strongly supported from the
outset, is to be held at Copenhagen in 1995. It will give a
political impetus to improving the living conditions of the
most disadvantaged sectors of our populations. It will help
promote their social integration and the creation of a concept
of social development taking into account the relationship
between peace and well-being, while aiming to reduce
poverty and increase employment.
Year after year from this rostrum we emphasize our
firm intention to build a better world in which the protection
and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms
will become real and effective. Unfortunately, year after
year we are forced to observe that, despite all our efforts, the
practices that endanger human life, freedom and security
persist. It is therefore no longer enough to state our
readiness to step up our efforts; we must now move, in
solidarity, to action.
In that respect, the outcome of the Vienna Conference
on human rights gives us an excellent opportunity to work
steadfastly towards our common goal. We now have a set
of universal rules, universally accepted; we must now insist
on their obligatory application. There can be no democracy
without respect for human rights, and without democracy
there cannot be the harmonious, balanced and lasting
development to which we all aspire.
For that reason, it is of high importance that we
proceed expeditiously to implement the Vienna
commitments, in particular the programme of action. In the
view of the Spanish Government there are two key issues
the resolution of which could lead to unprecedented progress
in this area. First, we must agree on the establishment of
the office of a high commissioner for human rights; and
secondly, we must provide the United Nations Centre for
Human Rights with the resources it needs to carry out its
mandate fully.
In my statement today I have tried to address the most
pressing challenges facing the Organization, challenges
inherent in the increasingly free but increasingly uncertain
world in which we live. I have also advanced proposals for
the reform of the Organization aimed at adapting it to the
new circumstances.
It is difficult but necessary that we focus both on the
new problems and on the reform of the Organization. Our
ability to do this will determine whether the United Nations
can increasingly serve as the proper forum for resolving
world problems.


Mr. President, let
me start by congratulating you on your election to this high
office. I am sure that under your leadership this year’s
General Assembly will be particularly successful and
effective.
Today is the first time that a representative of the
Czech Republic has had the honour to address the United
Nations General Assembly as part of the general debate.
The Czech Republic is indeed a new State. Still, the
division of Czechoslovakia is nothing to be happy about. It
is always better for equal communities to unite than to
separate. However, once we determined that the continued
existence of Czechoslovakia could not be assured by quiet
and peaceful means, we strove to separate peacefully. While
in other parts of the world similar separations are frequently
accompanied by terror and violence, in our country not a
single window pane was broken. This experience makes us
believe that good will and common sense can lead to
peaceful settlements, even of problems traditionally
accompanied by violence.
The Czech Republic is currently undergoing profound
political and economic changes. On the political side, we
are constructing a democratic regime in what used to be the
communist world. The Government has proven to be a
stable one. Meanwhile, we emphasize human rights, and our
robust press freedom as well as our human-rights record
have been recognized even by very finicky non-partisan
international organizations.
On the economic side, the Czech Republic has also
chalked up certain successes. Privatization of property that
was formerly State-owned is continuing apace. Prices are
being freed so that they can find their natural, market-driven
level. Meanwhile, we have managed to maintain tight
monetary policies, keep inflation and unemployment at rather
modest levels, and hold to a balanced budget. We live
within our means.
In this context, let me emphasize one thing. We are
managing the process of economic transformation with our
own efforts and our own resources. We do not ask for
direct financial assistance. We do not seek to siphon off
scarce development resources from countries whose situation
Forty-eighth session - 6 October 1993 13
is much worse than ours. We tell our friends from
developed countries, "We seek trade not aid from you.
Open your markets to us, not your pocketbooks." Actually,
open markets would benefit all of us, whether our economies
are developed or developing, settled or in transition. This is
why we are convinced that the successful conclusion of the
Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade would finally benefit us all.
In addition to the transition of our domestic political
system and the transformation of our economic system, we
have also modified our foreign policy. One of our foreign
policy priorities concerns Slovakia. Over the last months,
the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic have been
learning how to live together as two independent countries,
rather than as two regions of the same country. We have
concluded a series of agreements and treaties, and have
become used to having an international border between us -
a border, I stress, which is peaceful.
We are assuming our natural place in Europe. My
country has recently been accepted as a member of the
Council of Europe, which my President is about to address
in a day or two. Just two days ago in Luxembourg I signed
a Europe Agreement with the European Economic
Community. Also unmistakable is the transatlantic
dimension of our diplomacy, as exemplified by our activities
within the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE) and the North Atlantic Council for
Cooperation (NACC), and by our interest in joining the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Our relations with the developing world have also been
changing. On the one hand, there is a long history of
friendly relations with many countries which we are now
trying to put on a new and more balanced footing. On the
other hand, we are seeking cooperation with a number of
important countries which until recently had been ignored for
political reasons. Thousands of physicians and technicians
from the developing world who have been trained in our
universities act today as so many goodwill ambassadors for
us. I am sure that in a short time we will be able to provide
appropriate economic assistance to needy regions of the
world, preferably through multilateral channels.
Our foreign policy is that of a small country and
reflects that country’s position in Europe and in the world.
It is, however, an independent foreign policy which is not
beholden to anyone and which does not blindly copy the
foreign policy of any other country.
The end of the cold war era is connected with the fall
of European communism, and its consequences have not yet
been fully grasped. While the danger of a world nuclear
catastrophe has significantly abated, conflicts provoked by
political, ethnic, religious, social and economic disputes have
flared up. Meanwhile, rays of hope have appeared in
regions where we perhaps did not expect them. I have in
mind the prospects for a peaceful settlement in the Middle
East, the shaping of a democratic process in the Republic of
South Africa and last, but not least, the success of the
United Nations in Cambodia.
In recent days we have been following with great
concern developments in the Russian Federation. We had
hoped that Russia’s problems would be settled peacefully,
but the anti-reformist opposition initiated violence. Free and
democratic elections are the only solution to the situation.
Elections will determine whether those who waved the
Russian flag in Moscow or those who waved the communist
red flag should guide Russia’s future.
Post-cold-war conflicts have shaken many of the values,
principles and certainties with which we have been living.
Nowhere have these values been questioned as radically and
as viciously as in the countries of the former Yugoslavia
during the several wars that have taken place there in recent
years. Wars in the former Yugoslavia, the Caucasus and
elsewhere have made us aware of the need to ask old
questions anew, to re-examine concepts that have been basic
to international politics since the Second World War.
These questions concern, for example,
self-determination; the role of internal borders as new States
emerge; non-interference in internal affairs; international
recognition of new States and its timing; and probably
others. We will need to scrutinize them far more daringly
and rigorously and with far greater imagination. Here, I
think, is where some of the greatest challenges for the
United Nations will arise in the immediate future. This is
treacherous ground, but it might offer one possible vehicle
in the search for guidance in the times ahead.
Today, however, the fighting in Bosnia and
Herzegovina seems to be resulting in a division of that
country along ethnic lines. We find the enforced
coincidence of statehood with ethnicity odious. We cherish
the principle of a civic society in which citizens enjoy equal
rights regardless of their ethnic background, mother tongue
or religious creed. By contrast, we feel that ethnic, not to
mention religious, purity is a concept from another age,
irrelevant in the modern world. We regard as inadmissible
any violent changes of frontiers as well as "ethnic cleansing"
14 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
accompanied by massive and flagrant violations of human
rights.
One need not stress how important for my country -
particularly when it was not free - was adherence to human
rights, including their codification by the United Nations.
Individual, universally valid human rights and their
observance are inseparably linked to democracy and
prosperity. This year’s World Conference on Human Rights
held in Vienna was an important turning-point. In our
opinion, a more effective use of the means spent on the
protection of human rights, the concentration of activities
into one body, and the establishment of the office of a high
commissioner for human rights would be steps in the right
direction.
The Czech Republic is proud of its share in the work
of the United Nations. Let me mention some of our
contributions. Currently we have military observers in
Mozambique and in the former Yugoslavia. Two more
teams are to be deployed in Georgia and in Liberia. Others
have helped keep the peace in Angola and in Somalia. We
have an infantry battalion stationed in Croatia under the
command of the United Nations Protection Force. Our
civilian observers monitored Haiti’s elections. Our military
participated in the liberation of Kuwait. Our specialists are
working for the United Nations Special Commission. A
large group of security personnel is about to join the United
Nations guard contingent in Iraq. Our officers also served
for 40 years on the armistice line in Korea as members of
the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission.T h i s
demonstrates our tradition of service to the international
community, a tradition of shouldering our fair share of the
international burden.
Along different lines, we have participated for 30 years
in the work of the United Nations decolonization Committee.
And as I look around this Hall, I realize that there is not a
single country among the 130 or so which have been
admitted after the founding of the United Nations that we
would not have helped assume its seat here.
As members of the Assembly know, the Czech
Republic is running in elections for one of the non--
permanent seats on the Security Council. We are running on
our record - our record of service and the record of our
experience. On this basis I ask members for their support in
the forthcoming elections.
As many have already mentioned in the general debate,
the world is different than it was 50 years ago.
Consequently, the United Nations and its Security Council
have reached a turning-point. Still, it is the considered
opinion of my Government that, on the whole, the Security
Council now serves us well. In the past few years, it has
ceased to be a mere side-show in world politics. Indeed, it
has frequently come to occupy centre stage. As a result, the
Council and the United Nations as a whole are striving to
meet the rising expectations the world is pinning on them.
Whatever changes we suggest, we must proceed
responsibly in efforts to reform the Council, in the spirit of
mutual understanding and consensus. The Security Council
must adapt to the new political, economic, social and
security realities of the world. Some countries have become
important members of the international community. An
expansion of the Security Council must above all respect
principles of effectiveness and responsibility for
implementing its own decisions. A just geographical
representation is equally important.
However, some changes should be made today. There
is a certain sense of frustration among non-members of the
Security Council, which is steadily increasing the number of
its informal meetings behind closed doors. We need greater
transparency. We need more communication. We need a
better balance between the Council and the General
Assembly.
In this respect, distributing the monthly agenda of the
Security Council to Members is a welcome first step.
Inviting the chairmen of regional groups for briefings is also
helpful. I am sure that the Council will find further
measures along these lines that could be implemented
immediately. If the Czech Republic is elected, my
Permanent Mission will try to identify other such measures.
The credibility of the United Nations hangs on, inter
alia, the performance of some 80,000 military and civilian
members of United Nations forces in 17 peace-keeping
operations all over the world. Crisis management now
includes not only the classical separation of adversaries but
also the protection of humanitarian convoys, the monitoring
of elections and the observance of human rights. Peace-
keepers are sent more often to countries where there are no
functioning Governments and where agreements are worth
only the paper they are written on. Thus, Blue Helmets are
increasingly becoming the targets of uncontrolled armed
groups. Even as we hold this general debate, members of
peace-keeping forces are dying in clashes with warlords.
The Czech Republic welcomes the intensifying
discussion of the Secretary-General’s "An Agenda for
Peace". The resolution adopted at the forty-seventh session
Forty-eighth session - 6 October 1993 15
of the General Assembly is a first step, however small, in
the right direction. However, much more intensive
cooperation not only among Member States but also between
Member States and the United Nations Secretariat is needed
in order to create an effective mechanism of functioning
peace-keeping. The work of our Organization must
correspond to the changing character of peace-keeping. One
interesting idea is the proposal to create a working group
under the auspices of the Security Council that would review
these issues and prepare proposals and recommendations.
The considerable number of regional and domestic
conflicts is a part of the global security picture. Cooperation
between the United Nations and regional institutions is
another useful instrument for solving them. The Conference
on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) is one
organization that plays an important role in the Euro-Asian
area. The first formal step towards cooperation between the
United Nations and the CSCE was resolution 47/10, adopted
at the last session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Not by accident, the cooperation and coordination of these
two organizations was formalized during Czechoslovakia’s
presidency of the CSCE. The limited resources of both
organizations force us to try to coordinate and complement
their operations and missions.
Guided by our own vital interests, we have been
striving to develop closer cooperation and interaction with
organizations capable of giving effective security guarantees.
This, however, does not mean we want passively to let
others look after our security. On the contrary, we wish to
be active participants in this two-way process. This effort
involves, for example, the following: first, our constructive
contribution, as a country with an advanced nuclear industry,
towards the strengthening of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its extension
beyond 1995; secondly, the adoption of obligations to reduce
the risks of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
their means of delivery, particularly through joining the
Missile Technology Control Regime and the so-called
Australia Group; and thirdly, the early ratification and
thorough implementation of the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and
Use of Chemical Weapons.
A financial crisis is threatening our Organization. The
financial discipline of Member States is but one prerequisite
for improving the situation. Equally important is the need
to make more effective use of available resources and to
strengthen the control of Member States in using them. We
need to make better use of existing control mechanisms. We
favour the creation of a strong, meaningful post of an
inspector general.
The United Nations system also pays great attention to
the problems of social development, and a lot of good work
has been done since development programmes and
specialized agencies were established. The Czech Republic
considers the problems of economic and social development
to be one of the priorities for international policy-making, as
these issues directly influence other current burning issues,
such as local and ethnic wars, drugs, poverty and
undernourishment in some regions of the world.
However, despite the numerous successes of specialized
agencies, there is considerable space for further improvement
of their performance and efficiency. We think there is room
for improvement in, inter alia, focusing more carefully on
specific targets; eliminating overlap in some activities;
utilizing available resources more effectively; reducing
bureaucracy and enhancing flexibility; and developing
greater cooperation among agencies.
Environmental issues are also high on our agenda, as
parts of our country are in the most environmentally
devastated areas of the world. The situation is not only
taking its toll on people’s health but is also undermining the
economy of the country as a whole. Sustainable
development is more than a new-fangled catchword for us:
in our country, it means finding the right balance between
environmental concerns and aspirations of development.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) was an important step forward in
tackling this problem in all its dimensions. All
UNCED-related decisions adopted at the forty-seventh
session of the United Nations General Assembly are very
important. The Czech Republic will take part in their
implementation, even if not all of them relate directly to its
national interests. We welcome the creation of the
Commission on Sustainable Development. The mandate of
the Commission, its programme of work and the experience
it has accumulated even during the short period of its
existence indicate its budding importance. The Czech
Republic, as a member of the Commission, is seriously
involved in its work.
Central and Eastern parts of Europe border on a zone
of instability. We have gained priceless experience in
solving problems resulting from the disintegration of the
totalitarian world, even as we perceive the world through the
eyes of a stable European democracy. This dual vision can
help us identify risks and seek their solutions. We feel we
16 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
have something to contribute, and we are prepared to
shoulder our share of responsibility for world affairs. This
is one of the reasons why the Czech Republic submitted its
candidacy as a non-permanent member of the Security
Council. We believe we will be able effectively to use our
experience and our perception of the world, and we hope
that you will all support us.


It has been an
extraordinary year since the General Assembly met last year.
We have seen breakthroughs in two areas - South Africa and
the Middle East - which have bedevilled the international
community for decades. Bringing both to a successful
conclusion will be hard, but we have good reasons for
optimism. Canada applauds the courage and foresight of the
parties involved, and pledges that it will continue to do its
part in promoting further advances.
But, at the same time, we have also seen tragedies - in
Somalia, Bosnia, Angola and elsewhere - which have, thus
far, defied our best efforts to bring peace.
It is against this background, of hope renewed and
hopes dashed, that I wish to speak about the United Nations
central vocation: the defence and promotion of peace and
security and the conditions in which they can thrive. It is a
Canadian vocation as well.
Since United Nations peace-keeping was invented in
1956 by Lester Pearson, we have been there; sweating it out
in the field, taking casualties, doing the tough work for
peace, in partnership with a growing number of other
Member States. Since 1956, Canada has fielded almost
100,000 men and women in United Nations operations in
every corner of the world. That contribution has been a
costly one for us, not least in lives lost. None the less, it is
a contribution which has been a symbol of pride to most
Canadians, a tangible expression of our national quest for a
better world.
Canadians speak from experience born of commitment.
We see the changes which must be made and the principles
which must remain immutable. The world is hungry for
multilateral solutions to conflict and war. This is our time,
the United Nations moment. We are living through decisive
political change. Cold war certainties have given way, but
in their place we have unpredictability and instability - a
political unease about our future, uncertainty about where
collective endeavours can take us. Most countries feel more
secure militarily, but our citizens, in their personal lives,
often feel less secure about their well-being, for themselves
and for generations to come.
But this broader perspective must not obscure the very
real military dangers which remain: excessive accumulations
of conventional arms; the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction - chemical, biological and nuclear; and conflict
and human misery created by the breakdown of civil and
political society within States and across fragile and often
new borders.
The world has learned some hard lessons in recent
years. First, we have learned that our security is
interdependent. Within each specific area of concern -
whether military, economic, environment or health - no
nation can stand alone. We are all affected, positively and
negatively, by developments beyond our borders. And our
own actions, within our own countries, inevitably resonate
throughout the wider community of nations.
6 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Secondly, we have learned that our security is
indivisible. We cannot escape the connections linking
issues; between, for example, economic growth,
environmental safety and population flows. Deterioration in
any one area can destabilize the whole. We must think
about security more broadly, in terms which address
fundamental sources of insecurity: questions of economic
development and prosperity; environmental integrity;
freedom from crime and physical threat; health; membership
in communities which reflect our values, traditions and
aspirations.
Thirdly, we have learned that genuine security is not
about control and repression. It is about striking the right
balance of interests, within countries and across borders.
Fourthly, we have learned that we have to find more
cooperative ways of addressing security issues, ways which
maximize the relative strengths of many existing institutions.
We foresee a network of collaborative arrangements - local,
regional and global - forming the building-blocks of a new
system of collective security, all hinged on the focal point of
the United Nations.
The Charter of the United Nations itself provides useful
guidance, describing possible relationships between the
United Nations and regional bodies in the pacific settlement
of local disputes. Cooperation between the United Nations,
the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European
Community in Europe; between the United Nations, the
Commonwealth and the Organization of African Unity in
Africa; and between the United Nations and the Organization
of American States in Central America and Haiti has moved
us considerably along the path anticipated by the drafters of
the Charter. Moreover, regional organizations are often the
best equipped to deal with local sources of instability and
potential conflict, such as water disputes, demographic shifts
or human rights concerns.
For decades, the cold war hemmed us in. That time is
over. We have it within our grasp to fulfil the promise of
our Charter, to build a global cooperative security system
centred on the United Nations. For it is the United Nations
alone which can provide a universal forum for elaborating
new principles and negotiating new rules and standards.
And it is the United Nations alone which, as a universal
body, can bring the full weight of the international
community to bear on specific critical issues.
In the last five years alone, the involvement of the
United Nations in various multilateral military efforts has
grown exponentially. Five years ago there were seven such
operations; today there are 16. Five years ago there were
9,000 military personnel deployed with the United Nations;
today there are nearly 80,000, more than Canada has in all
of its regular armed forces. And as we look around the
world today, the prospect of even more operations has to be
seen as inevitable.
The transformation in United Nations operations has not
been simply quantitative of late. The fact is that the United
Nations is now engaged in a range of activities which goes
well beyond the traditional concepts of peace-keeping we
have been accustomed to in the past. Much of the
Secretary-General’s ground-breaking "An Agenda for Peace"
has moved from prescription to reality, and rightly so. It is
quite right to ask whether and under what conditions the
United Nations should commit its resources to the resolution
of international crises. It is equally right to ask whether the
United Nations has the right tools to do what is asked of it.
(spoke in French)
The rapid expansion of United Nations operations in the
past several years has been both unprecedented and
instructive. In the process we have all learned certain
lessons, some in a very wrenching fashion. We would all do
well to take stock of our recent experience and determine
how we can together improve our capacity to act more
effectively.
Having been an active participant in virtually every
United Nations military operation, Canada has made its own
diagnosis and come to its own conclusions as to some
remedies that should be pursued.
(spoke in English)
To begin with, we must improve our collective capacity
to judge, to determine accurately and dispassionately the
nature of impending threats and the facts of specific cases.
We must also improve our capacity to act, to respond firmly
and effectively to events before they deteriorate into crises.
There are steps we can take now to improve our
collective capacity in the field of preventive diplomacy.
Recent initiatives to strengthen our early-warning system
should be implemented. To do that, the Secretary-General
should be given the resources necessary for independent
political analysis, analysis that he could draw on before
armed conflict is unleashed and when non-military
intervention can still be effective. Not only must warnings
be timely; they must also have an impact on decisions. The
Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 7
Secretary-General must make full use of the provisions of
Article 99 of the Charter to bring to the attention of the
Security Council situations which may threaten peace. This
would itself provide a powerful stimulus to global attention
and necessary preventive action.
The United Nations ability to conduct preventive
diplomacy through the good offices of the Secretary-General
must be strengthened. The Secretary-General’s efforts to
address dozens of conflicts and potential conflicts require
tangible support. The preventive deployment of peace-
keepers to forestall conflict, as we have recently done in the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, can prove very
useful and in the long run avoid a much larger commitment
of scarce resources.
Experience with the assignment of United Nations
military forces around the world has, in our view,
demonstrated a number of shortcomings. It is incumbent on
us all to move quickly to respond to them by changing the
way that business is conducted. First, major operations can
no longer be run on an ad hoc basis. The management,
planning and operational capacity of the United Nations has
to be reinforced. A permanent strategic headquarters staff
capable of controlling two or more large-scale,
multidimensional operations has to be put in place. To be
effective, this headquarters would need a comprehensive
information processing and planning capacity.
Secondly, the United Nations ability to bring matériel
and personnel speedily to a theatre of operations and to
ensure coordination between sources of equipment and
personnel has to be strengthened. Too often in the past, the
Secretary-General has had to delay United
Nations-sanctioned operations for want of adequate personnel
or matériel.
The ability to deploy United Nations troops rapidly to
emerging flashpoints has to be upgraded substantially. At a
minimum, Member States should enter into formal
commitments with the Secretary-General to provide troops
on a stand-by basis and tied to readiness standards, as
Canada has done in the past year.
Thirdly, United Nations Members have to build and
develop the large cadre of peace-keepers necessary for the
United Nations missions of the future. Peace-keeping
demands cultural sensitivity, the ability to mediate and a host
of other skills. Training will be required, particularly of a
corps of senior officers who will have to exercise leadership
in complex, difficult and dangerous situations. Training
holds the key to successfully integrating different national
contingents into one operation.
Fourthly, we need to ensure that field operations meet
high performance standards. Work on the development of
a common code of conduct and operating procedures for all
personnel serving under the United Nations flag should be
brought to an early conclusion.
Fifthly, we must also come to grips with the
increasingly serious dangers facing our peace-keepers. We
and others are working to clarify and codify principles and
measures for the protection of United Nations personnel,
particularly those involved in peace-keeping operations.
Canada will be proposing specific provisions for such a
convention to be discussed during the coming General
Assembly session.
In the last several years, a range of innovative proposals
has been put forward with a view to enhancing the capacity
of the United Nations to mount effective multilateral military
operations. Many of these suggestions have been the subject
of extensive debate in Canada, as they have in many other
countries. We have, in fact, been proponents of some of
these suggestions. We fully recognize, of course, that ours
is but one perspective. Actually realizing these necessitates
a much broader level of support by United Nations Member
States.
Accordingly, in the best interests of future United
Nations efforts, it is time that a panel of civilian and military
experts with experience in United Nations operations be
charged with assessing these and other proposals which
could further enhance the operational capacity of the United
Nations. Such a report should be finalized and submitted to
the Secretary-General next summer. It should include clear
recommendations on both the merits of the proposals and, as
importantly, how they could be implemented and financed.
The report would in turn would provide us with the basis for
coming to collective decisions on whether or not to proceed
with any of these. Only in this way can we more
definitively determine not only the potential need but the
requisite support for these proposals.
The agenda for such a review would include: the
establishment of a permanent United Nations staff college
for the training of military officers; the creation of more
training facilities for United Nations troops; the development
of a network of United Nations material supply depots
stockpiled with equipment for rapid dispatch to new United
Nations operations; the question whether United Nations
Member States would provide at nominal, if any, cost
8 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
equipment and matériel which would be made available to
United Nations contingents not having such resources in
their own military establishments; and the creation of a
permanent rapid deployment force under United Nations
command, based possibly on a new United Nations volunteer
force.
There may well be other issues that should be on that
agenda. The key, however, is to have that assessment made.
My own Government is committed to reviewing these and
other related questions in the context of a reappraisal of our
own military capacity, including our participation in United
Nations operations.
Security is more than simply a matter of being able to
deploy adequate numbers of troops on a timely basis.
Modern United Nations missions are drawing on expertise
far beyond that of traditional military peace-keepers. There
is a demand for civilian police, for election workers, for
human rights monitors, for engineers, administrators and
other specialists to rebuild infrastructure. It is not enough to
stop hostilities; the United Nations is now expected to build
the peace as well.
We are moving from a tradition of interposing peace-
keepers between hostile forces to new forms of engagement.
Rebuilding societies to stand on their own will be a complex
and lengthy process. Diplomatic peacemaking, military and
civilian peace-keeping and peace-building pose new sorts of
challenges. It has become obvious, in our view, that a more
integrated and coordinated approach by the United Nations
is now mandatory if we are to cope successfully with many
of the crises which draw United Nations military forces. We
have had a measure of success in this regard in Cambodia,
but far less in other situations, such as Somalia. United
Nations military operations cannot in and of themselves
address or resolve the root causes of conflict. That is
something that can be achieved only through a much more
broadly based effort, be it political, economic or social. In
effect, we need a capacity to rebuild, over time, countries or
societies which have suffered structural collapse.
An effective system of cooperative security, led by a
reinvigorated United Nations, will cost money; but then,
genuine security always carries a price which is worth
paying. Resources are limited, and we must all share the
burden. This means paying United Nations bills in full and
on time. That is what Canada does, and we expect others to
do the same. It is difficult to overstate the damage that
non-payment and the build-up of arrears does to the United
Nations system, and to our collective capacity for effective
action.
Burden-sharing means taking part in the activities of the
United Nations, from contributing troops for peace-keeping
missions to providing observers for election monitoring.
Today, Canada is providing just under 4 per cent of all
United Nations forces. Little less than one year ago,
Canadian troops accounted for 10 per cent of all United
Nations forces. Those are rather remarkable figures when
we consider that Canada accounts for less than one half of
1 per cent of the world’s population, and that our military
establishment represents less than 1 per cent of global
military expenditures. This is not to suggest that we are
seeking a diminished role, one more commensurate with our
relative status in the world. It is, instead, to question
whether others are doing their fair share.
Burden-sharing also means sharing political
responsibility for shaping and taking decisions, and for
ensuring that decisions and commitments are fulfilled. That
is why we welcome the Security Council’s increasing
attention to drafting clear mandates, sharply defining
objectives and setting deadlines. Clear and realistic
mandates are necessary if the United Nations is to remain
both credible and effective.
In Canada as in a number of other countries,
governments are facing difficult fiscal circumstances and
publics that are demanding more effective, efficient and
economical service from government. The need for
rationalization of government, for streamlining, and for an
end to overlap, duplication and waste is one that my own
Government has addressed in the last several months. Our
efforts in that respect will continue. We have a
responsibility to our own taxpayers to ensure that the same
standards and objectives are applied to the international
institutions of which we are members.
Institutions of the United Nations cannot remain
immune to the challenges, financial as well as political, of
the late twentieth century. They too must help shoulder the
burden by becoming leaner, more efficient, better focused,
more responsible and more responsive. They must adapt,
just as Member States are doing, to new technologies, to
continuing fiscal restraint, to the challenge to do better with
less. The structures here are not sacrosanct. No position,
expenditure or institution should be free of the scrutiny
under which we in Canada, and others elsewhere, have
placed our own State structures.
We applaud the reforms initiated by the Secretary-
General and we pledge our support for further action. We
urge him to press on, and we urge all Member States to
Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 9
support his efforts. Our security, the security of generations
to come, is in the balance.
We have a great deal to do. All of our efforts to
reform the peacemaking and peace-keeping function of the
United Nations will be in vain if we are not able to come to
terms collectively with what must be regarded as the most
dangerous current threat to international security: the
ubiquitous spread of weapons of mass destruction. In too
many areas of the world, the prospect of conflict involving
nuclear weapons risks destabilizing already tense situations,
and could lead to human disasters of unimaginable
proportions. We must muster the collective resolve to put
teeth into the Non-Proliferation Treaty, disciplining harshly
those who violate its provisions and giving confidence to
those who abide by its undertakings. We wholeheartedly
welcome the priority attached to this issue by President
Clinton, and the practical measures he proposed.
Our own priorities are clear: further progress in nuclear
arms reduction; indefinite extension and universal adherence
to the Non-Proliferation Treaty; negotiation of a
comprehensive test-ban treaty; early progress to bring the
chemical weapons Convention into force; and strengthening
of the United Nations Conventional Arms Register. These
direct investments in peace and security must be
accompanied by collective action on the root causes of
insecurity.
We must develop and consolidate democratic
institutions and the rule of law. Modern history teaches us
that democracies are the least likely States to wage war, the
best guarantors of peace. The impartial rule of law
domestically is the surest way of keeping democracies
democratic; internationally, it is the best way to resolve
disputes before they become crises.
We must protect and promote human rights. Security
begins at the level of the individual, and there can be neither
peace nor security while people, singly or collectively,
minorities or majorities, are unable to uphold their dignity
and exercise their inherent rights. The General Assembly
must build on the progress achieved at the Vienna
Conference earlier this year and agree to establish by the end
of this year the post of United Nations high commissioner
for Human Rights.
We must attack the poverty, deprivation and economic
underdevelopment which so often lie at the heart of
instability and insecurity. The Secretary-General should
draw up an agenda for development. It should incorporate
a bold rethinking of how the United Nations can best play its
important role in the economic and social spheres, while
avoiding the duplication of activities best carried forward
elsewhere. The Agenda could help redefine the role of the
United Nations in promoting sustainable development in
close cooperation with other international economic and
financial institutions. We owe no less to the children of the
world as we celebrate the third anniversary of the Summit
for Children.
(spoke in French)
To be lasting, economic growth has to respect the
environment. Hence, we have to follow through on our
collective commitments at last year’s Rio Summit to protect
the environment. The social and economic costs of not
doing so are simply unacceptable, a fact that is all too real
for the thousands of Canadians dependent on the Atlantic
fishery.
(spoke in English)
The brutal collapse of the fishery in the North-West Atlantic
and elsewhere is compelling evidence of the need to address
that crisis urgently. The United Nations must urgently adopt
a legally binding international regime to conserve and
manage high-seas fish stocks.
It is clear, however, that no amount of development
assistance can match the economic growth that could be
achieved through a freer flow of goods, services, capital and
ideas among our Member States. Indeed, the single most
important step we can take collectively towards improving
the prosperity of developing and developed economies alike
would be to reach, without any further delay, a substantial
outcome to the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade
negotiations. These discussions have reached a pivotal
stage; we must not lose this precious opportunity. My
Government remains committed to doing its part to reach
that goal and to pursuing other opportunities for trade
liberalization, such as through the North American Free
Trade Agreement. We are convinced that the Agreement
will make the North American economies both more
competitive and more open and will provide a much needed
stimulus to global trade and investment.
Our peace and security are not there for the taking. We
must work for them, and work hard - in our own countries,
in our regions, and globally. We must renew and revitalize
existing structures and, where necessary, build anew. We
have a historic opportunity to make good on the language of
the United Nations Charter, on the thwarted promise of those
early days, to build in our own time a cooperative system of
10 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
peace and security which respects difference but holds fast
to universal principles of human dignity and freedom. Let
us move forward, together, now.


On behalf of the
people and the Government of the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, I warmly congratulate Ambassador Samuel Insanally
on his election as President of what promises to be a historic
session of the General Assembly. I would also like to
express my country’s profound appreciation to his
predecessor, Mr. Stoyan Ganev, Foreign Minister of
Bulgaria, for his superior guidance during a time of
unprecedented change.
We are gathered here at a crucial juncture in human
history when numerous changes are becoming apparent.
Few of us ever imagined that we would witness in our
lifetimes the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, a handshake
between the leaders of Israel and the Palestine Liberation
Organization, the peaceful separation of Eritrea from
Ethiopia after decades of war, or the transition to a
Government in South Africa that is truly representative of its
people. In the current international climate we can be
optimistic about the peaceful resolution of the difficult
problems of our time. However, at the same time our world
witnesses these triumphs of the human spirit, it also faces
grave new problems, such as the tragedies that are unfolding
in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Somalia.
The new order will require fundamental changes in the
attitudes and thinking of nations and all mankind. Gone are
the clearly defined divisions of super-Power conflict. In
their place are a myriad of problems, suppressed during the
cold war, that are now resurfacing. The confrontation
between East and West has given way to more intricate
problems, without readily apparent solutions. There are no
easy answers for bringing restraint to the extremes of ethnic
and religious nationalism, or promoting human rights and
sustainable development. Yet the past few months have
shown the real progress that can be made on even the most
intractable problems. Rather than wringing our hands, we
must draw upon the diversity of views represented in this
grand Hall and upon the examples of those who dedicated
their lives to the struggle to bring peace to the world.
The world’s billions are increasingly looking to the
United Nations for solutions. However, as currently
structured and financed, the United Nations by itself cannot
accommodate the breadth and gravity of the many problems
it faces. It is our view that the Organization must be
carefully re-evaluated to ensure its effectiveness in a
situation of new realities. We support the creation of an
Office of Inspector General and will continue to study the
various proposals for expansion of the Security Council
membership.
As proud Members of this body, we cheer our
Organization’s successes and are troubled by its few
setbacks. The Marshallese people mourn the loss of
members of United Nations peace-keeping missions, which
are bravely endeavouring to maintain peace and provide
assistance to those in danger.
Allow me, for a moment, to address the special
situation of the island nations. The physical limitations of
islands and their lack of natural resources, which larger

nations might regard as insurmountable barriers, we, by
necessity, view as challenges to overcome. Throughout
history, islanders have displayed a remarkable degree of
innovation and adaptation, which has allowed us to survive
numerous natural and man-made disasters. Our people and
way of life were not deterred by the horrors of modern
weaponry from which the Marshallese people suffered
during the nuclear testing. Despite the end of the super-
Power arms race, the world must still confront the grave
dangers of nuclear testing, nuclear proliferation, and the
production, transit and disposal of nuclear material. The
Marshall Islands will forever have a special interest in the
dismantling of nuclear weapons because many Marshallese
people are still prevented from returning to their ancestors’
homeland.
As survivors of that legacy, we very much welcomed
the nuclear-testing moratorium. We are greatly distressed
that this moratorium has now been broken by one of the
nuclear Powers, and we would appeal to the others not to
follow this path. I should like to lend my Government’s
voice to the voices of others that have called for negotiations
on a lasting and effective comprehensive nuclear-test-ban
treaty that will enjoy universal adherence. It is the wish of
the people of the Marshall Islands that no one else should
have to endure the same hardships and physical harm that
we did. We pray for a world free from nuclear testing and
intend to participate actively in the steps leading to such a
treaty.
We were proud to be one of the first signatories of the
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,
Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and
on Their Destruction earlier this year in Paris. We will do
our part to contribute to the goal of the abolition of that
immoral class of weapons and commend the many officials
who worked on the Convention for their tireless efforts.
Perhaps the most effective way to avoid the grave
consequences of nuclear weapons is to address the problem
at its source by prohibiting the production of weapons-grade
plutonium. We therefore look forward to working on a
treaty to this effect, and we commend the United States and
others for taking the lead in this regard.
The islands of the Pacific are especially vulnerable to
the dangers posed by transport of nuclear material. We hope
that such shipments will cease. If they are to continue, the
States responsible must take every precaution to ensure that
the safety of States along the sea lanes and the high seas is
ensured.
All of humanity is shocked by the brutality of
nationalist and ethnic conflicts raging throughout the world
today. The possibility of introducing nuclear weapons in
these disputes threatens global peace and security and raises
the spectre of death and suffering on a magnitude never
before witnessed. My Government will continue to support
all efforts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.
The efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) in the area of nuclear safeguards merit special
praise. I am very pleased to report that last week the
Marshall Islands was accepted as a member of the IAEA,
and we look forward to contributing to the work of the
Agency. We are confident that the Agency’s vast expertise
in the area of protection from radiation can shed light on the
matter and at the same time come up with remedial
treatment for the many Marshallese victims afflicted by
numerous cancerous diseases resulting from nuclear testing.
My Government warmly applauds the increased
attention by the world community to human rights and
democratic institutions. Although it fell short of some of our
expectations, this year’s World Conference on Human Rights
was an important milestone in the efforts to protect the
rights of individuals and vulnerable sectors of society.
Perhaps more important, the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action clearly demonstrated that respect for
basic human rights and fundamental freedoms can exist in a
context of cultural diversity.
As important as the Vienna Declaration is, it is
meaningless without the means to enforce its provisions.
We will therefore continue strongly to support efforts aimed
at creating a post of United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights and a Special Rapporteur for Women’s
Rights, and we will continue to study proposals for an
international court with jurisdiction to consider cases of
human-rights violations.
Tomorrow’s leaders are today’s children. With this in
mind, we must ensure that our children are well prepared to
accept the mantle that will be passed on to them. For
decades, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has
advanced this objective with determination, and we are
especially appreciative of its assistance to the Marshallese
children. We are proud to have recently ratified the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and we encourage
others to do the same so that the world may attain
UNICEF’s goal of universal adherence by the year 2000.
The Marshall Islands are endowed with natural beauty
and a rich cultural heritage. The development potential of
Forty-eighth session - 6 October 1993 3
our islands resides in the preservation of their fragile
environment. Because our land area is so limited, we treat
it with the greatest respect and conserve it as best we can.
Given the small land area of our atolls, we face
constraints to agricultural and industrial development. As
the pressure from a growing population increases in my
country, additional demands are made on our resources.
Regrettably, we have become increasingly dependent on
imports to meet basic human needs.
The long distances from markets of many islands result
in especially high transport costs. In our case, we are almost
2,000 miles from the nearest major market for our goods.
Consequently, transport costs raise the cost of goods to
levels that are often not competitive. Even with competitive
products, restrictive trade barriers further limit our access to
markets. We are hopeful that the negotiations of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) will produce a
trade agreement that is equitable and fair to all nations.
The Marshall Islands welcomes with gratitude the
recently approved country programme of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP). It would be especially
welcome if this plan of action could assist my country
significantly along the road to sustainable development. The
spirit of cooperation that was exhibited at the first round-
table meeting in 1991 is evident in this programme. It is
hoped that this will be the first step in a long and fruitful
partnership and that the UNDP will become more responsive
to the special needs of the Marshall Islands. Like many of
the island States in the region, the Marshall Islands is not a
traditional recipient of overseas development aid, and we
have few bilateral partners. Given its regional expertise, we
are pleased that UNDP is becoming a major focal point for
our development assistance. UNDP understands the
complexities of the Pacific region and the development
challenge for the island States. We hope that the UNDP
budget for the region will not be cut back any further. The
Pacific is a vast area, and the logistical challenges faced by
the field office in Suva, Fiji, are daunting.
Sustainable development is a primary objective of
Government planning. We are increasingly aware of the
limits that constrain our development potential. We want to
prosper on the resources that we have, but we do not want
to repeat mistakes that others have made on their road to
development. I commend our neighbour, Papua New
Guinea, for the important work it has initiated to integrate
sustainable development into the framework of international
relations.
The Marshall Islands is a small nation, and we
increasingly feel the strain caused by our expenditures on the
United Nations. We are, of course, very grateful and proud
to be a part of this body, but we are becoming worried at the
scale of new contributions, particularly for peace-keeping
operations. The burden of membership is not shared equally
by every citizen of the world, and we would like to see this
inequity in contributions addressed in some way. If one
looks at the cost of United Nations membership on a per
capita basis, one sees that the island States are among the
very top contributors.
The vulnerability of small islands to natural disasters
and to fluctuations in the world economy make it difficult to
quantify the well-being of our people. Calculations of per -
capita gross domestic product and other traditional economic
indices do not accurately represent the standard of living in
the islands. Perhaps other criteria could be devised to reflect
the complexities of our situation.
The Marshall Islands was one of the first countries to
ratify the Conventions adopted at the Rio Conference on the
environment. Developments subsequent to the Rio summit
have been closely observed by the Marshall Islands
Government. It is our sincere hope that the process initiated
at Rio de Janeiro will succeed, so that our islands can be
saved from possible destruction by global climate change.
The Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States will increase world-wide
understanding of the vulnerability of our islands. The
Government of Barbados is to be thanked for generously
offering to host that Conference next year. We are,
however, a little disturbed by the response by some donor
countries to the Conference. It must be reiterated that the
Conference has its mandate from Rio and from the forty-
seventh session of the General Assembly, and that it should
be considered as a test case for sustainable development. It
will be an attempt to address issues that are specific to small
island States in their quest for sustainable development. The
will of the global community to live up to the promises
made in Rio will face its first test, and the implications of
the outcome of the Conference will be significant to all.
Throughout history the sea has united my people and
has been vital to our lives. It provides our nourishment; it
is a source of income; and our culture and traditions have in
large part been shaped by the ocean. The majority of our
population derives its livelihood from ocean-based activities,
and our territorial waters abound with fish that can feed
people around the world. Clearly, our fate is tied to the
ocean. Today, however, our way of life is threatened by a
rise in the level of the very ocean that has given us life for
4 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
thousands of years. We are greatly appreciative of the
efforts and attention given to the problem by the world
community, most notably in the Framework Convention on
Climate Change, signed at the Rio Earth Summit, which my
Government is proud to have ratified.
However, for a low-lying atoll like the Marshall Islands
the Framework Convention may have come too late. We are
eager that funds from all sectors of the United Nations
system, especially the Global Environment Facility, be made
available for the purpose of adaptation to a rise in the sea
level. We also realize fully that changes required of
residents of industrialized countries will entail considerable
sacrifice, at least initially. However, countless studies have
shown that steps to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions would
greatly benefit those countries in the future.
The threat to the Marshall Islands is imminent. Our
way of life is threatened. My country is threatened with a
loss of identity and culture. We are powerless in the hands
of others and my country may cease to exist as a result.
I would like everyone in this Hall to visit our corner of
the world before it disappears. I hope that 30 years from
today our islands will not have been swamped by the sea
and that we will be able to invite you again, rather than
referring you to a page in a history book. For many, the
Marshall Islands may be little more than specks on the map.
The peoples of the Pacific hold a very different view of the
world: that the world would be greatly diminished by the
loss of even one of the diverse cultures that have been
crafted by mankind.
Let us strive during the coming months to work in
tandem and to endeavour to fulfil the grand aspirations and
lofty goals that this Organization represents. As we do this,
allow me to offer a Marshallese proverb to guide our work:
"Jouj eo mour eo, lej eo mij eo" - "Alone we cannot survive,
but together we are strong".


I wish to begin by
congratulating Ambassador Insanally on his election to the
high office of the presidency of the General Assembly. He
can rest assured that the delegation of Finland will render
him its full support in his challenging task.
On behalf of my Government, I also wish to
congratulate and extend a warm welcome to the new
Members among us. Their participation in the work of the
United Nations will further strengthen the Organization.
Just a few years ago, in a promisingly changing
political environment, high hopes were placed in the United
Nations. Some of these hopes were fulfilled, others were
not. Namibia’s independence process is a fine example of
nation-building in which the United Nations played a crucial
role. Eritrea is another. Let these be examples of wise and
patient conciliation and conflict management. Yet another
example is South Africa, where today we see irrevocable
changes taking place, leading towards a non-racial and
democratic society. I wish to express my Government’s
admiration for the achievements of the parties in South
Africa in their work for peace, cooperation and mutual
respect. Finland has actively supported the shaping of a new
South Africa and will continue to do so.
We have in recent days witnessed yet another example
of brave and visionary leadership which can overcome
seemingly insuperable obstacles and lead peoples from a
state of war and hatred towards reconciliation. I am
referring to the peace accord between Israel and the
Palestine Liberation Organization. In this context I wish to
pay a tribute to the Government of Norway for its role in
bringing the two parties together. The United Nations must
now stand ready to play its part in this important endeavour
for peace. Finland, together with the other Nordic countries,
was among the first to initiate an international support
programme for this historic process.
The United Nations also has to its credit other
achievements in recent years. Among the most important
have been the rebuttal of the aggression against Kuwait and
the restoration of democracy in Cambodia. However,
numerous other conflicts have proved very difficult to solve.
War is raging in the former Yugoslavia and in Somalia,
Angola, Abkhazia and Nagorny-Karabakh. Conflicts persist
in Western Sahara and Cyprus. All these conflicts constitute
formidable challenges to the international community and to
the United Nations.
From that balance sheet of success and failure an
important question emerges: how can our Organization be
best adapted, reformed and revitalized to face effectively not
only the challenges of today but also those of tomorrow?
Undoubtedly the United Nations is today a more viable
institution than ever before. Nevertheless the many unsolved
conflicts illustrate that the United Nations still has serious
shortcomings. These stem primarily from the nature of the
problems and challenges of the increasingly interdependent
global society in which we live.
It is now our responsibility to launch a process of
reform of the United Nations. It must cover all of the
Organization’s agencies, programmes and funds, in both the
political and the development fields. It must be undertaken
in an integrated manner, with a view to better adapting our
instruments of cooperation to the needs of a profoundly
changing world.
Many crises seem political in nature but have their
roots in social injustices and a lack of economic
opportunities. The fulfilment of social needs and the
promotion of economic development are necessary elements
of sustained political stability. Some significant
improvements have been made in this field, too, but their
scope and importance are clearly dwarfed by the immensity
of the challenges. Human development, human rights and
the environment are cases in point.
Thanks to the dynamic initiatives of our
Secretary-General, a process of reform of the United Nations
is under way. In addition, several Member States have
introduced important proposals for reforming and
restructuring our Organization. My own country, together
with other Nordic countries, has actively participated in this
process, particularly as regards peace-keeping and reform of
the United Nations work in the economic and social sector
and in the area of humanitarian assistance.
World events have forced the United Nations and its
Member States to re-examine closely the Organization’s
capacity to maintain international peace and security. The
Charter provisions as well as the structures and machinery
created for this purpose reflect a world that was very
different from the one we live in today. That is, of course,
the reason for the great attention that has been accorded over
the past year or two to what traditionally has been called
peace-keeping. The concept of peace-keeping is, as a result
of increasingly complex operations, going through a period
of evolution. Related activities such as preventive
diplomacy, peacemaking and peace-building are the new
tools for maintaining international peace and security.
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 27
The United Nations and its Member States must adjust
to the rapid growth in and new approaches to peace- keeping
operations. The President of the Security Council in his
statement of May this year outlined the operational principles
in accordance with which such operations should be
conducted. My Government fully subscribes to these
principles.
The great increase in requests for peace-keeping troops,
military observers and monitors makes it necessary, in my
Government’s view, for the United Nations to adopt stricter
and clearer criteria and procedures before launching such
operations. The United Nations must not overextend itself;
it cannot be present everywhere.
Mandates for peace-keeping operations must be precise
and clear. The necessary funding must be secured, and
before launching any operations the Security Council must
see to it that the required contingents are available. Recent
experiences also prove that command structures must be
clearly spelled out and subsequently fully adhered too. It is
not sufficient for the Security Council to agree on
resolutions setting up new operations; all the conditions for
their implementation must also be at hand.
We also face new challenges in disarmament and arms
control. The nuclear arms race has stopped, but nuclear
proliferation still constitutes a serious potential threat to
international security and stability. It is vital to ensure that
the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime works efficiently. In
general, disarmament and arms regulation should be
integrated into the broader agenda of international peace and
security. This should be reflected both in the United Nations
disarmament machinery and in the Geneva Conference on
Disarmament. The review of the composition of the
Conference on Disarmament would enhance this objective.
We regret that no agreement on this issue has been reached
so far.
The Security Council is vested with the primary
responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and
security. In carrying out its duties, the Council acts on
behalf of the entire membership of the United Nations.
Trust and confidence in the Council by all Member States is
therefore a crucial factor, affecting its ability to engage in
conflict resolution. It is only natural that a review be
undertaken of the composition of the Security Council in
order to make the Council better reflect today’s membership
as well as the prevailing political realities.
My Government has an open mind on this question.
We are ready to accept a limited increase in the membership
of the Council, provided that such a change will not affect
negatively the capacity of the Council to perform its tasks.
Moreover, there would seem to be a need to review the
Council’s organization and methods of work. The aim
should be to increase transparency and to provide
non-members better opportunities to be heard when matters
of immediate concern to them are considered by the Council.
It would seem desirable - especially in negotiating the
mandates and the financing of peace-keeping operations - to
involve to a greater extent non-members of the Council also,
as provided for by the Charter. Such involvement would be
particularly called for in the case of those States that are
potential contributors of troops and logistical support.
Work on revitalizing the General Assembly and
rationalizing its activities is also under way. Certain
improvements have already been introduced. However,
further efforts have to be made to ensure a more meaningful
and responsible role for the Assembly. To enhance the
Assembly’s standing and add weight to its resolutions it is,
in our view, necessary to establish clear priorities. It is
important to focus the work in the Assembly on these
priorities and to reduce the number of items on its agenda.
Indeed, time has come to consider even some radical
methods to enhance the effectiveness of the Assembly. One
might ask whether a full-fledged General Assembly session
every year is really necessary and productive. Alternatively,
a high-level political debate and meetings of the Main
Committees might be held every other year. Moreover, the
President and the Bureau of a session of the General
Assembly could perhaps be designated well before the end
of the preceding session. That would permit the officers of
the General Assembly and the Secretariat better to prepare
the work of the General Assembly. These and other ideas
merit further consideration.
The economic and social sectors of the United Nations,
including the Economic and Social Council itself, are other
areas where reforms are being actively discussed. The
Nordic countries initiated a reform of the operational
activities for development. Although there is virtual
agreement on a number of reform issues, there are still
details to be settled concerning the governance and financing
of the development agencies of the United Nations. I hope
that these much needed reforms can be agreed upon by the
end of November so that the new structures can be put in
place as early as 1994.
During the discussions on the ongoing reforms it has
become obvious that the extraordinary extent and rapidity of
28 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
economic and social change, as well as the challenges of the
global environment, necessitate reforms that are even much
more profound. We must now devote our efforts to a
reorientation of the United Nations system in this new and
daunting environment. We should, in particular, clarify our
thinking about the institutional and structural linkages
between work on peace and security and work on sustainable
development. Likewise, we should establish the true
priorities in the economic and social sectors as well as in the
United Nations system’s relations with other international
organizations. Such rethinking and reform cannot be carried
out during one single session of the General Assembly. It
will take a sustained effort over several years, which, in turn,
presupposes a consensus on the basic outlines of a reform
programme.
The shaping of a consensus is our primary task. The
agenda for development which the Secretary-General will
present will no doubt have a catalytic effect in this respect,
as could the upcoming important conferences on population,
social development and gender issues. The fiftieth
anniversary of the United Nations will, in my view, provide
a suitable occasion for launching such an ambitious,
fundamental and visionary reform programme.
In order for the United Nations to function effectively
it must have a solid executive branch, a Secretariat that has
at its disposal sufficient human and financial resources. The
Secretary-General has taken several steps to streamline the
Secretariat and make it a more efficient tool for
implementing the decisions of the Member States. But more
needs to be done in order to permit the Secretariat to take
initiatives and pursue its intellectual leadership role.
At a time when resources are scarce and so many new
tasks have been entrusted to the United Nations, it is clear
that a pruning of activities and rationalization of working
methods must be done. The cutting of unnecessary and
obsolete programmes must continue. It is the task of the
Member States to give guidance to the Secretary-General,
but also to draw conclusions and take the necessary
decisions. The United Nations should apply the same policy
of austerity as national Governments in the prevailing
economic circumstances.
Perhaps the greatest concern for the United Nations
today is the unwillingness of the great majority of Member
States to pay their assessed contributions. My delegation has
said time and again, and I will repeat it now: Payment of
one’s dues is not an option. It is an obligation falling on
every Member, big or small. Let it be our collective
birthday present to the United Nations at the fiftieth
anniversary to see to it that by then there is full compliance
with the obligation concerning payment of contributions.
Member States, in fulfilling their financial obligations
towards the United Nations, have the right to expect full
accountability for the resources placed at the disposal of the
Organization. It is essential that the Organization exercise
prudent economic management and constantly improve the
internal control system. We therefore believe that ideas such
as the creation of the post of an independent inspector
general are well worth considering. The main objective
must now be to restore the confidence of the Member States
and the general public in our Organization. The United
Nations cannot afford to have its public image and integrity
tarnished by allegations of mismanagement.
As the United Nations approaches its fiftieth
anniversary, humanity is faced with formidable challenges.
Meeting them will not be easy. And yet, the United Nations
now has a better chance than ever to use its full potential
and show leadership for the sake of a better future. "We the
peoples of the United Nations, ... united for a better world"
has been chosen as the theme for the celebration of our
fiftieth anniversary. Let us all together join in making this
a reality.