Please accept
my congratulations, Sir, on your election to the
presidency of this historic sixtieth session of the
General Assembly. I wish you every success. I would
also like to express my sincere thanks to the outgoing
President for his dedicated work at the fifty-ninth
session. I endorse the statement of the European Union
(EU) presidency.
The debate at last week’s summit highlighted one
important point, namely, that peace, development,
security and human rights are inseparably linked. One
cannot address human rights and security without also
addressing development. All of those issues are at the
very heart of our policies.
People are waiting for our solutions to the
pressing problems of development. We must achieve
the Millennium Development Goals. Of that we are
acutely aware, both in Germany and in Europe. The EU
plan to reach the 0.7 per cent official development
assistance goal by 2015, and the Group of Eight (G-8)
commitments made at Gleneagles, substantially
strengthen the financial basis of our work.
We are also willing to forge new paths by making
use of innovative financing mechanisms.
At the same time, frameworks establishing fair
conditions for international trade are a prerequisite if
poorer States are to share the benefits of globalization.
The EU is leading the way with its “Everything But
Arms” initiative, which grants the least developed
countries duty-free and quota-free market access. In
that context, we must do all we can to make the
Ministerial Conference of the World Trade
Organization, to be held in Hong Kong in December, a
success. Only in that way can we bring the Doha round
negotiations to a successful conclusion.
We also know that excessive indebtedness curbs
growth and development. The realignment of the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt
Initiative after 1999 has considerably reduced the
indebtedness of some 27 States. Germany has to date
forgiven €6.5 billion of debt and has earmarked a
further €4 billion for the continuation of the HIPC
initiative.
Debt relief is, however, dependent on all creditors
spreading the burden fairly among themselves. We are
alarmed by the fact that commercial and State creditors
outside the Paris Club are doing less and less to live up
to their responsibilities. I would like to seize this
opportunity to call for your support at the forthcoming
annual meeting of the Bretton Woods institutions, for
the G-8 proposal and for an extensive cancellation of
debts — including multilateral debts — for the
countries concerned.
All of the foregoing emphasizes the great
importance we attach to the global partnership for
33

development. That partnership is not, however, a one-
way street. It also requires a commitment by partner
States to put in place the conditions for
development — that is, democracy, good governance,
respect for human rights and anti-corruption measures.
Climate protection and development are also
closely intertwined. Of course, everyone must have
access to energy. Nevertheless, all States must do their
part to prevent the ominous advance of climate change.
In late November the parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the
Kyoto Protocol will meet in Montreal. There, we will
have the opportunity to adopt effective mechanisms to
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beyond 2012.
That is precisely the policy pursued by the Kyoto
Protocol, and it is a policy we will adhere to.
This year two natural catastrophes — the tsunami
in the Indian Ocean and Hurricane Katrina in the
United States of America — have clearly demonstrated
just how vulnerable our societies are to natural
disasters. We have all learned just how important
disaster prevention is. As host to the Third
International Conference on Early Warning, which will
be held in Bonn in March 2006, Germany hopes to
contribute to making better use of and improving early
warning mechanisms and thereby limiting the scale of
the damage caused by such disasters. Here I would like
to take this opportunity to reiterate our invitation to all
Member States to join us in making the Bonn
Conference a success.
For years, United Nations engagement has been
hailed all over the world as a welcome sign of
protection and assistance, of peace and reconstruction.
Last Sunday saw the first free parliamentary elections
in Afghanistan under the new Constitution. The
Government of Afghanistan, with a full complement of
democratically legitimated institutions, is now
prepared to assume responsibility for the further
reconstruction of the country. By going to the polls,
millions of women and men in Afghanistan have
proved that they have opted for democracy. Our thanks
go to the United Nations, which worked hard to make
those elections possible.
In his latest report on Afghanistan (A/60/224) the
Secretary-General announced that the United Nations
will remain committed to assisting the country after the
elections. I heartily endorse that commitment; such
help is indispensable. For even if the Bonn process,
launched four years ago, has now been brought to a
successful conclusion, the international community
will still need to stand by Afghanistan. Germany, too,
will continue to do its utmost to support the country.
The President returned to the Chair.
Ten years after the conclusion of the Dayton
Agreement, and six years after the end of the Kosovo
conflict, the situation in the Western Balkans has
improved tangibly. Nonetheless, major progress is still
required in the political, legal and economic fields. The
people of that region must genuinely come to terms
with their past, and the parties to the conflict must be
reconciled. In that connection, we call for full
cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
The Middle East still faces great challenges. As
its neighbours, we in Europe have a strategic interest in
peace and stability in the region. We are convinced that
only through reform, the strengthening of democracy
and the rule of law can lasting stability be guaranteed.
The free and fair parliamentary elections in Palestine
and Lebanon are encouraging signs of change.
The Middle East peace process has also gained
new momentum over past months. We emphatically
welcome the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip
and the northern part of the West Bank. Now it is vital
that Israelis, Palestinians and the international
community do all they can to lay the foundations for
political and economic stability in the Gaza Strip.
Efforts should be focused on a two-State solution based
on the road map. The objective remains a viable
Palestinian State, living side by side with Israel within
secure and recognized borders.
The international community is united in its
determination to help Iraq establish democracy and the
rule of law. We want all Iraqis to be able to live free
from fear and material hardship. The forces of terror
and violence must not and shall not be permitted to win
the upper hand. The Middle East needs a stable,
prosperous Iraq.
Here, too, the United Nations is making its
contribution towards the process of political transition
and reconstruction. That is why we have provided
considerable financial assistance for the protection
force whose presence allows the United Nations to
work in Iraq. It is also why Germany has, at Iraq’s
request, advised that country on constitutional issues.
34

The Iranian nuclear programme continues to be a
major cause of concern. Past violations of international
obligations, a lack of transparency in its actions, and
insufficient cooperation with subsequent investigations
have destroyed any confidence that the programme is
for exclusively peaceful purposes. With support from
the EU High Representative, Germany, France and the
United Kingdom have worked with Iran on finding a
way to restore confidence. Those efforts have received
broad support from the international community.
Tehran’s continued disregard of International Atomic
Energy Agency decisions, however, is further
weakening that confidence and the gains made to date
are being put at risk for no good reason. We should
emphasize that our concerns do not relate to Iran’s
right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
This has never been and will not be put in
question. Our concerns do not relate to Iran’s right to
use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. That has
never been and will not be called into question.
We remain prepared to work on solutions which
include objective guarantees that the Iranian nuclear
programme can serve only peaceful ends. I appeal to
Iran to refrain from taking unilateral measures and to
return to the negotiating table.
There is general agreement that the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction is now more than ever
a life-threatening risk to us all. It is thus all the more
regrettable that no consensus could be reached on the
inclusion in the outcome document of a chapter on
non-proliferation and disarmament. If we want to
prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, in particular of nuclear weapons, all States
must fulfil their obligations. At the same time, new
momentum must be brought to the process of nuclear
disarmament.
In that context, I welcome the latest progress made
by the six-party talks towards resolving the nuclear
crisis on the Korean peninsula. It is a vital first step.
Africa is in many ways a touchstone for and an
example of an effective multilateral system. The close
cooperation of the United Nations with the African
Union, as well as with the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS), has had a beneficial
impact in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and,
recently, in Burundi. The United Nations is also
playing an equally important role in efforts to stabilize
the Great Lakes region.
Following the death of John Garang, the peace
process in the Sudan requires an even greater
commitment by all parties to implement the historic
Nairobi peace agreement. The United Nations Mission
in the Sudan (UNMIS), to which Germany has
contributed personnel, is making a major contribution.
However, we must not neglect other crisis areas, in
particular Darfur. The African Union mission in Darfur
has helped to stabilize the security situation in the area
where it is stationed.
The variety of problems facing us — poverty, social
polarization, global population growth, inadequate water
supplies and global climate change, to name only the
most pressing — serves to highlight the need for
concerted action. We must prepare the United Nations
for the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Over the past 12 months, reform of the United
Nations has been intensively debated. Member States,
the High-level Panel and the Secretary-General himself
have provided valuable input. Some of their proposals
are contained in the outcome document adopted at last
week’s world summit.
However, only when we have managed to
implement those proposals will we be able to speak of
true achievement. To be a success, the process requires
the active participation of all Member States.
The tasks that the summit has set the General
Assembly must be tackled with speed and focus. At
this session, the General Assembly must make a
breakthrough towards the adoption of the
comprehensive convention on international terrorism.
It must also work on the creation of a Peacebuilding
Commission.
Sustainable peace requires more than merely
restoring security. The post-conflict peacebuilding
phase is particularly crucial. The sooner reconstruction
can begin, and the better coordinated the peacemaking
and post-conflict recovery efforts are, the better the
chances of lasting stabilization. The summit took a
vital step in that direction by deciding to establish the
Peacebuilding Commission by the end of the year.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his report
entitled “In larger freedom”, states that:
“No security agenda and no drive for
development will be successful unless they are
based on … respect for human dignity”.
(A/59/2005, para. 128)
35

If we wish to lend greater weight to the
protection and promotion of human rights, we must
also strengthen the relevant United Nations bodies and
mechanisms.
Germany therefore welcomes the decision taken
by the summit to create a Human Rights Council which
will replace the Commission on Human Rights. The
General Assembly must now move fast to define the
mandate and structures of the Human Rights Council.
It must ensure that the new body enjoys greater
legitimacy than its predecessor and that its working
methods are more effective, especially when it comes
to responding to acute crises.
Allow me a last word. A glance at the trouble
spots around the world makes it clear that we, the
international community, face far more conflicts in the
South than we do in the North. Key decisions on
settling those conflicts are taken in the Security
Council which, under the Charter of the United
Nations, has primary responsibility for the maintenance
of peace. Its composition, however, still reflects the
world of 1945 and not that of the twenty-first century.
Adjusting and expanding the membership of the
Security Council by adding both permanent and non-
permanent members thus remains essential. Any reform
of the United Nations that does not include reform of the
Security Council is not worthy of the name.
The Security Council is in danger of losing its
authority and legitimacy as long as entire continents
and major contributors are not adequately represented.
Germany and its partners Brazil, India and Japan
therefore have submitted a proposal on reform of the
Council. It is the only proposal that includes a
comprehensive reform of the Security Council and its
working methods. We are convinced that it is the only
proposal capable of obtaining the necessary two-thirds
majority in the General Assembly.
Reform of the Security Council is an
indispensable part of the overhaul of the United
Nations. In last week’s summit document, we all
pledged to swiftly advance those reforms. We do not
need only progress; we need results. The time is ripe
for radical reform. Let us use this session of the
General Assembly to finally resolve this issue, which is
so vital to the future of the United Nations.


I am
pleased to commend the President, and the other
29

members of the Bureau on their election. We assure
them of our full willingness to cooperate in the tasks
facing us.
We arrived at this session of the General
Assembly with the same conviction and resolve that we
had 60 years ago. We still believe that this is the place
where we can collectively promote human rights,
development, solidarity and peace. The political
agreement reached last week, although it did not meet
all our expectations, enables us to embark on the path
towards comprehensive and balanced renewal of the
United Nations system. We have the necessary
mandates to begin renewal during this session. That
must be possible, because our interest is the interest of
humanity.
We have here an exceptional opportunity to
strengthen multilateralism and to build it within the
genuine framework of international coexistence.
Multilateralism is the very cornerstone of our foreign
policy. In the multilateral system, negotiation and
consensus are the tools to create international regimes
that promote globalization in a legitimate and effective
manner. The United Nations is a unique forum in that
process, and we must strengthen it in order to achieve
those goals. Hence, the urgent need to implement
United Nations reform.
We believe that multilateralism can furnish us
both with more and better instruments to allow every
country, large or small, to participate in the elaboration
of rules and in the allocation of the benefits of
globalization. We are convinced that globalization is
more of an opportunity than a threat. For that reason
we must assure the management of globalization,
which can be achieved only through institutions that
conform to clear, stable and equitable rules of the game
within the context of international law. Economic
forces do not act in a political vacuum, which is why
we need both a new architecture and new working
methods in the United Nations system.
It is in that spirit that Chile has taken an active
part in various meetings concerned with the
revitalization of the United Nations, promoting
comprehensive reform in the major areas of
development, security, democracy and human rights. I
would like to touch briefly on each of those areas.
Protection of human rights is, in our opinion, the
central issue of globalization and a continuing
preoccupation in the recent history of Chile and Latin
America. That history has been written by the citizens
and their struggles to restore respect for the dignity and
rights of the individual.
Indeed, human rights are a legitimate concern of
the international community. Examination of human
rights issues by the United Nations does not constitute
undue interference. On the contrary, it is the exercise
of a shared responsibility, from a standpoint of
cooperation and not of confrontation. When States are
unable or unwilling to act, the Organization cannot
remain indifferent in the face of genocide, ethnic
cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The responsibility to protect is an international moral
obligation that we cannot shirk.
For Chile, the decision to establish the Human
Rights Council is a significant step towards universal
protection of human rights. We hope that before the
end of the session, its characteristics, including its
status as a permanent organ, will have been defined.
The election of its members by a two-thirds majority of
the Assembly, as we propose, will strengthen that
organ’s legitimacy.
Comprehensive reporting by the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner would also
enhance the credibility of the multilateral human rights
system. In order to avoid the politicization and
selectivity that are harming United Nations human
rights work, a peer review system would promote
greater cooperation, with all countries subject to
objective evaluations — particularly for those that
aspire to seats on the Human Rights Council.
Democratic values are cross-cutting: they apply
to the citizens who participate in the life of a
community, they underlie the organization of
government and public institutions, and they are also
the linchpin of international coexistence. Democratic
values are a priority on the multilateral agenda and
should be reflected in the active commitment of
Member States to promote and defend democracy. It
was that interest that has motivated Chile’s efforts
within the Community of Democracies.
While some peoples and regions are part of
global society and participate in decision-making and
in the distribution of global output, others are
marginalized and lack access to those benefits. That
situation raises important questions about democratic
participation. It is therefore essential, if we wish to
consolidate democracy in the world, to move
30

decisively to eliminate inequality and to abolish
exclusion. A better quality of democracy is linked to
social integration and poverty relief.
In that connection, the Millennium Development
Goals represent a global commitment to fundamental
rights, with social underpinnings, that must be
achieved in order to effectively consolidate democracy
and uproot moral indifference towards the unprotected
of the world.
The deepening of democracy must aim at
institutional capacity-building in order to meet the
demands of society in an effective and transparent
manner. We have been working along those lines in the
Organization of American States, in particular through
the Inter-American Democratic Charter, seeking
formulas and instruments to improve democratic
governance. Chile believes that that is an area in which
there should be close cooperation between the United
Nations and regional organizations.
The reaffirmation of democracy as a universal
value by heads of State and Government in the
outcome document represents concrete progress in the
consolidation of a new international regime for the
promotion and protection of democracy and the rule of
law.
The creation of the United Nations Democracy
Fund gives us a new forum for cooperation to help
strengthen and consolidate democracy around the
world. In April, 108 countries from all continents
agreed on the “Santiago commitment: Cooperating for
Democracy”, which contains guidelines for action.
We have fully endorsed the concept of
multidimensional security in order to meet old and new
threats. Indeed, the incorporation of the concept of
human security at the United Nations is an important
contribution to the process of renewal. The definition
to be formulated by the General Assembly should
incorporate the progress achieved by the Human
Security Network, in which Chile has actively
participated from the outset.
We were greatly discouraged that no agreement
was reached to include the topic of disarmament and
non-proliferation in the reform process. That is a topic
that must not be dropped from the United Nations
agenda. We therefore supported the Norwegian
initiative, which succeeded in bridging the gap
between opposing positions. Unfortunately, despite
receiving the support of nearly 80 countries, the
initiative did not find a place in the outcome document.
We will continue to work for its adoption.
In addition, we are convinced that terrorism must
be tackled through a global and sustained strategy, with
the cooperation of all States and international and
regional organizations, in accordance with the Charter
of the United Nations and international law and with
full respect for human rights. We must therefore
channel our strong condemnation of terrorism in all its
forms and manifestations into the political will to
conclude an international convention against terrorism
before the end of the session.
The decision to establish a Peacebuilding
Commission is one of the major successes of the
reform agenda, as it will enable the Organization to
provide an institutional and integrated response in
post-conflict situations. United Nations activities
should not cease as soon as a crisis ends but — to build
a durable peace — should continue until institutions
are rebuilt and peaceful coexistence is restored.
As Latin Americans, and aware of our global
responsibilities, we are actively participating in the
United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. We are
convinced that that joint commitment, which is
strongly regional in nature in Latin America and the
Caribbean, has been helpful in enabling Haiti to
recover its ability to control its own destiny. This will
undoubtedly require the continuing presence of the
international community. The elections are an
important step, which Haiti should take on schedule.
Voting, however, is only the basis for self-
determination: we must continue helping to create the
prerequisites for a worthier future for the Haitian
people. Moreover, Haiti could be the first trial run for
the Peacebuilding Commission.
Overcoming poverty, hunger and social inequality
is the great challenge facing our peoples today.
Economic development with equity is essential in order
to achieve a world truly at peace and to guarantee
individual rights and stable democracies.
A few days ago, heads of State or Government
reviewed the implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), adopted in 2000. Our
country met over one third of the Goals and hope to
achieve them all by 2015.
31

In order to achieve economic development with
equity, each country has a responsibility to be assumed
domestically and tasks to be performed internationally.
In this connection, it is essential to work to implement
the Monterrey Consensus on financing for
development, so that in its domestic efforts each
country can enjoy the benefits of an international
economic environment facilitating poverty relief and
permitting sustained development.
We were among the sponsors of the Action
against Hunger and Poverty, which seeks to devise
innovative financing arrangements to combat this
problem within the framework of the international
community’s endeavours to attain the Millennium
Development Goals. We need responses now, and the
Action is a definite option recognized in the Summit
Outcome.
Chile considers it essential to bolster overall
efforts to liberalize international trade for the exports
of developing countries and to achieve stable financial
flows to their economies. We urge the speedy
conclusion of the Doha round, to which we are
committed, and a remodelling of the international
financial architecture to promote international
conditions favourable to the sustained growth of the
developing countries and to the elimination of poverty.
Development, security and human rights for all are
three interdependent concepts that dominate our
existence as societies and that must be adequately
reflected in a comprehensive reform process. We have
embarked on the decisive stage of the road to renewal;
we are all responsible for reaching the end.
We must make progress towards consensus on
Security Council reform so that that organ can more
democratically represent the new realities of the
twenty-first century.
It is also essential to renew the Secretariat’s
managerial capacity to administer effective and
responsibly the resources that we all contribute in order
to achieve the purposes of the United Nations. Over
and above the legitimate differences that are part of the
richness of our diversity, we must build universal
agreements reflecting common concerns to ensure the
dignity of peoples and the right to live in a more secure
world.
Let me conclude by saying that this session of the
General Assembly is a historic opportunity to promote
change. If we do not implement the agreements
achieved, hiding behind national interests or narrow
cultural visions, we shall be failing to respond to the
feelings and expectations of millions of human beings
who aspire to understanding among civilizations, a
global alliance for development and a reaffirmation of
the underlying values of the United Nations. Let us not
miss this opportunity. If we do not act collectively
today, tomorrow may be too late.


May I first take this
opportunity to congratulate the President on his
election to lead the work of the General Assembly. Let
me also reassure him of Tonga’s support and full
confidence that the sixtieth session of the General
Assembly will be fruitful and successful under his very
able leadership.
I would also like to give due recognition to the
sterling work of his predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping,
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of
Gabon, during the fifty-ninth session of the General
Assembly.
I also join others in commending Secretary-
General Kofi Anan for his leadership of our
Organization.
As we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of our
Organization, we can pause and reflect on where we
are, and on the basis of our experience in the past and
the opportunities available for us in the future. We can
chart a roadmap that will ensure that we, the Member
States, deliver on our commitments to the purposes and
principles of the Charter and international law, which
are indispensable foundations of a more peaceful,
prosperous and just world. Tonga shares the concerns
voiced by several other delegations that business
cannot proceed as usual, as this will continue to affect
the role and relevancy of our Organization and the
important place of multilateralism in accomplishing its
aims.
The Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on
Threats, Challenges and Change delivered the
landmark report expected of it. The Panel’s far-
reaching findings and recommendations laid a firm
foundation for what our Foreign Minister described last
year as “constructive engagement”. Tonga remains
optimistic that the level and intensity of engagement
among Member States can still produce a lasting
legacy of improvement and the necessary changes for
our Organization and its important work.
Last Friday, at the conclusion of the historic
High-level Plenary Meeting, heads of State and
Government adopted the outcome document, which
provides multilateral solutions to the problems in
development, peace and collective security, human
rights, the rule of law and the strengthening of the
United Nations. The baton has now been passed on to
us to begin the implementation phase of the summit’s
outcome, and we need to rise to the challenge to make
good on our promises.
The development agenda remains the first priority
for small island developing countries, including Tonga.
Over three decades, we have accumulated experience
in national and integrated regional development
planning and have, therefore, fully embraced our
primary responsibility for our own development. The
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
has been incorporated into our wider development
efforts.
The financing of these development programmes,
however, continues to depend on bilateral and
multilateral official development assistance (ODA), as
well as on concessionary loans from regional and
global financial institutions.
In this regard, we welcome the proposed
increased resources that will become available as a
result of the establishment of timetables by many
developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per
cent of gross national product (GNP) for ODA by
2015. We congratulate those countries that have
already fulfilled their commitment in meeting the
required target. The recent efforts and initiatives to
enhance the quality of aid and to increase its impact,
including the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness,
are also welcome steps.
ODA, while necessary, will be insufficient on its
own and would have to be complemented by active
promotion of foreign direct investment, improving
trade access and effective development partnerships.
The outcome document emphasizes that one of
the critical challenges to economic growth is to ensure
that the necessary internal conditions are put in place
for mobilizing domestic savings. Tonga embarked on a
public sector and economic reform programme in 2002.
To date, several important pieces of legislation have
been enacted through the Legislative Assembly,
including the Public Finance Act of 2002, to modernize
the way the Government manages its finances and to
provide for more transparency; the Public Service Act
of 2002, to modernize employment and remuneration
methods; and the Public Enterprise Act of 2002 to
provide for increased accountability by public
enterprises. A programme of reform of Tonga’s system
29

of taxation is also under way to bring it into conformity
with international norms and bilateral and multilateral
obligations.
Tonga welcomes the recognition in the outcome
document of the special needs and vulnerabilities of
small island developing States and the commitment to
address those needs and vulnerabilities through full and
effective implementation of the Mauritius Strategy
adopted by the International Meeting to Review the
Implementation of the Programme of Action for the
Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States and the Barbados Programme of Action for the
Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States.
Energy continues to play a crucial role in Tonga’s
sustainable development strategies, and maintaining a
fine balance between energy, the environment and the
economy is a national priority. Tonga’s increasing
reliance on imported petroleum products to satisfy its
energy needs means that it is particularly vulnerable to
external events that affect the price and availability of
petroleum products. In this regard, Tonga reiterates its
concern over the continuing escalation of the price of
oil and its negative impact on its economy. Concerted
efforts will have to focus on research and development
for alternative sources of energy.
Tonga recognizes the need to promote gender
equality with the implementation of its National Policy
on Gender and Development, which was approved in
2001.
Remittances are a welcome source of foreign
exchange, and Tonga is recorded as one the countries
most dependent on them as they amount to 39 per cent
of gross domestic product. We therefore acknowledge
the important nexus between international migration
and development and the need to deal with the
challenges and opportunities that migration presents to
countries of origin, destination and transit. We also
look forward to the General Assembly’s high-level
dialogue on international migration and development,
to be held in 2006.
We join with others who have voiced their regret
at the failure of the 2005 Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty Review Conference and reiterate the importance
of implementing the three pillars of the Treaty.
Tonga supports the call to establish the mandate,
modalities, functions, size, composition membership,
working methods and procedures of the new Human
Rights Council as soon as possible during the current
session of the General Assembly.
We fully recognize that post-conflict peacebuilding
is vital to achieving sustainable peace and support the
establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission by the
end of 2005.
We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms
and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever
and for whatever purpose, as it constitutes one of the
most serious threats to international peace and security.
We also look forward to the successful conclusion of
the comprehensive convention on international
terrorism during the present session of the Assembly.
Tonga continues to support the work of the Counter-
Terrorism Committee and has progressed well in
drafting domestic legislation to put into effect all of the
12 counter-terrorism conventions to which we have
acceded.
We applaud the efforts and proposals for a
comprehensive package of reforms to revitalize the
General Assembly and to strengthen the Economic and
Social Council, to enable them to fulfil their mandates
as envisaged in the Charter. We also support the
ongoing work of the Secretary-General to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of the Secretariat.
Perhaps one of the more intense engagements
among our membership involves the reform of the
Security Council. Tonga maintains its support for
Japan’s proper and permanent place on any enhanced
Council. The emergence, in particular, of prospective
permanent members and novel ideas on criteria has
made this issue more deserving of further patience,
poise and pragmatism. However, momentum and
advances on readily agreeable aspects of our reform
agenda should proceed to fruition.
The ever-changing landscape of the Middle East
continues to present hopeful signs suggesting that an
enduring peace is possible. Genuine gestures, like that
involving Gaza, by Israel and the Palestinian Authority,
offer a platform upon which mutual borders might be
secured and upon which statehood might flourish.
Regional organizations play an important role in
supporting and complementing the interests of member
countries in various fields, and Tonga acknowledges
the role of the Pacific Island Forum in that regard. At a
regional level, Tonga is fully committed to its
30

obligations in ensuring peace in the region and
continues to support the Regional Assistance Mission
to the Solomon Islands with the third deployment by
the Tonga Defence Services currently in operation in
the Solomon Islands. The Pacific Plan, which was
articulated by our Pacific Forum leaders for the
realization of their vision through deeper and stronger
regional cooperation and integration in the areas of
economic growth, social development, security and
environmental protection, will be tabled for
consideration by the leaders in October of this year.
Tonga, therefore, welcomes the call for support of a
stronger relationship between the United Nations and
regional organizations.
The Kingdom continues to observe a “one-China”
policy that recognizes Taiwan as an integral and
inalienable part of China. An essential component of
that policy properly acknowledges that common and
mutual issues are ideally left to an across-the-Strait
framework dialogue, as opposed to any multilateral
formula, however well conceived.
Tonga continues to develop and strengthen its
“Look East” policy, in particular with China. Earlier
this year, the Kingdom established a diplomatic
presence in Beijing to give strong voice to its interests
and impetus to its exploration and pursuit of mutually
relevant and beneficial ventures, including tourism,
trade, aviation and security.
The world is watching us. Let us not renege on
our commitments but push forward on the reforms that
are essential to ensuring that multilateralism remains
the most efficient and effective way to address global
problems and issues.


Allow me at
the outset to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as
President of the General Assembly at its sixtieth
session. I would like to express to you the full support
of the Republic of Slovenia as you carry out that
extremely important and responsible task. May you
have much vision, courage and resolve as you preside
over the General Assembly during this anniversary year.
Mr. Sardenberg (Brazil), Vice-President, took the
Chair.
At the same time, Sir, I would like to express our
sincere recognition and gratitude for the efforts of your
predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping, President at the fifty-ninth
session of the General Assembly. His determined
leadership, his insight into the current issues of the
modern world and his enduring courage enabled him to
guide the General Assembly in its sixtieth year, which
promises to be a year of the greatest significance for
the future of the Organization.
We have assembled here to consider together in
good faith how we should respond to the challenges of
modern times and how our Organization should be
adapted to the needs of the twenty-first century. We are
here to act on the basis of our best understanding and
our belief in the achievements of creative development
for the well-being of the people of the modern world,
to quote, Sir, your illustrious compatriot, Dag
Hammarskjöld.
The outcome document contains numerous
meaningful and useful ideas. That document’s purpose
is to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations
and consolidate its mission in the modern world. The
reform of the Organization is of the utmost importance
and was initiated at the right moment. This is a time of
change for several international organizations and
institutions. All are certainly aware of the current
transformation of the European Union and the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Such changes are difficult. We encounter obstacles
such as the rejection of the European Constitutional
Treaty in two referendums.
The effectiveness of the machinery and the
mission of the United Nations should also be improved
through the creation of the Human Rights Council and
the fight against terrorism. There were many
discussions and diverging views on those two questions
in relation to the outcome document. However, we
cannot be successful if we have difficulty even
defining terrorism or establishing the Human Rights
Council. There is some indecisiveness in the outcome
document in that respect. With respect to terrorism, the
document speaks of dialogue and understanding among
civilizations. With respect to the Human Rights
Council, the outcome document proposes holding
further negotiations to establish, among other things,
its mandate and working methods.
In today’s world, change and certainty are closely
connected and interdependent. Attaining a balance
between them involves values, rules, laws and the
institutions of human dignity, equality and democracy —
in short, human rights.
The fact is, we live in a globalized and
interdependent world in which we all are responsible
for our security. It is significant that the outcome
document warns that there can be no development
without security and no security without development,
and that both development and security depend to a
32

great degree on respect for human rights, the rule of
law and democracy.
Many efforts have been made to address the
sources of suffering in the world. United Nations
Member States must continue to support efforts to
attain the Millennium Development Goals. Twenty-five
European Union (EU) member States committed
themselves to the target of allocating 0.7 per cent of
their gross domestic product (GDP) to official
development assistance by 2015. In that context,
Slovenia, one of the 10 new EU members and a new
donor, committed itself to attaining the target of 0.33
per cent of GDP for development aid. We underline the
need for the long-term commitment and responsibility
of all countries in order to attain the Millennium
Development Goals.
We are continuously surprised at the changing
nature of the threats facing each and every country.
The concept of security includes both State security
and the security of the individual. Thus, it is important
to effectively address various issues, in particular
disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, as well as the problem of the
proliferation of illegal small arms and light weapons,
which affects numerous countries. We are rather
disappointed that the outcome document does not
include provisions on non-proliferation and
disarmament, and we hope that work on those issues
will continue after the summit.
Terrorist attacks on innocent people
fundamentally contradict the value systems of modern
countries, in particular human rights, as formulated and
stated in international conventions and declarations.
Terrorist attacks are a violation of human rights, which
are the foundation of modern societies; they represent
an assault on the very essence of those societies and
thus negate their very modernity. This negation is
connected with the complex and paradoxical nature of
the concept of modernity. It seems that the fundamental
frustration caused by this complex and paradoxical
nature drives terrorists to commit radical actions.
Terrorism cannot tolerate the complex and paradoxical
character of modern societies.
Measures in the fight against terrorism are aimed
at those whose actions deny and reject human rights as
a fundamental value of modern societies. By
examining terrorists’ attitudes and the meaning of
terrorism, we should be able to define terrorism. An
agreed definition of terrorism would provide clarity
and help better ensure human rights. The more fully
human rights are protected, the more successful we
will be in our fight against terrorism. Human rights
will be more fully protected when terrorism is without
protection. Tolerating or justifying terrorism
undermines human rights.
That does not mean, however, that we can fail to
respect human rights in waging our fight against
terrorism. It is precisely universal respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms, including in the fight
against terrorism, that will ensure the success of that
fight and preserve the democratic and free principles of
those societies which are being targeted by terrorists.
Slovenia welcomes the affirmation of the
principle of the responsibility to protect. By endorsing
that principle, world leaders have made a conceptual
breakthrough in the prevention of future tragedies like
those of Srebrenica, Rwanda and Darfur. For the first
time, we have recognized our national and collective
responsibility to act in cases of genocide and ethnic
cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Slovenia considers the responsibility to protect to be an
integral part of national responsibility to protect a
country’s people against atrocities. It is our
understanding that the Security Council shares the
responsibility to protect and that the use of the veto in
the Council is fundamentally incompatible with that
responsibility.
We welcome the establishment of a Democracy
Fund and intend to contribute to it. We strongly support
a strengthened role for the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights. The strengthened
role of the Office, to be financed from the United
Nations regular budget, is good news for the realization
of human rights on the ground.
The level of agreement on the Human Rights
Council is a disappointment. Numerous countries
wanted and expected more. Unfortunately, for the
moment, we are left without the necessary vision of a
new Council, even though, in the preparations for the
summit, we formulated good proposals for the
Council’s structure and mandate.
Slovenia wants a standing Council that is a
principal organ of the United Nations, able to deal with
all human rights concerns in all countries at all times.
We want a Council that better addresses rights and
freedoms, without double standards. We want a
33

Council that could convene and act in every instance of
massive violation of human rights. We want a Council
able to make recommendations to other organs and
agencies of the United Nations system so that human
rights are truly integrated in all areas of the
Organization. Finally, we want a Council that reflects
the diversity of the modern world and that gives a
proper voice to civil society through non-governmental
organizations. In the course of the sixtieth session of
the General Assembly, Slovenia will continue to
actively support the establishment of a strong and
efficient new Human Rights Council.
I have already mentioned the dialogue of
civilizations. That dialogue should be based on
universal, fundamental values. No differentiation
between “us” and “them” should be tolerated. Human
rights and fundamental freedoms are the manifestation
of our common fundamental values. They are the best
answer for ensuring a dignified life in our globalized,
fast-paced and increasingly unsafe world. On the basis
of our wealth of traditions and history and creative
diversity, all individuals should be informed of and be
able to realize their rights and freedoms, as this is the
best long-term foundation for peace and development.
Educating people about human rights and dignity is a
prerequisite for this goal, and we are thrilled to see that
the need for such education is properly reflected in the
outcome document. As a member State of the Human
Security Network we are pleased that the issue of
human security has been included in the outcome
document of the High-level Plenary Meeting and will
continue to be discussed in the General Assembly.
Cooperation between the United Nations and
regional organizations deserves our priority attention in
future. As experiences from a variety of geographic
environments and conditions have shown — in
particular in South-Eastern Europe and Africa —
synergetic cooperation between the United Nations and
regional organizations can be very effective.
As Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), I call for
the elaboration of a binding framework for permanent
cooperation between the United Nations and that
important regional organization as soon as possible.
For 30 years now, OSCE has proved effective in very
sensitive regions of the world. This year marks the
thirtieth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, which
established OSCE. Thirty years ago, the integration of
East and West began. Today, our main duty is to
integrate civilizations. One of the areas that should be
further developed is strengthening dialogue among
civilizations. It may be that the supreme importance of
our outcome document rests on that dialogue.


Lithuania welcomes this
effort — the most extensive and ambitious ever made —
to renew the United Nations. We must ensure that the
summit commitments we all have undertaken are
implemented and that they produce real and tangible
results, in order to improve the Organization’s capacity
to act adequately, effectively, expeditiously and in the
best interests of us all. Their implementation should
also enable us to give hope to the vulnerable and the
destitute and to make the world a better place for all.
We welcome the affirmation by the outcome
document of the inextricable link between
development, security and human rights. That, in our
view, is a sine qua non for all our future actions. We
welcome the reaffirmation of the commitments regarding
the implementation of the Millennium Development
Goals. As a member State of the European Union, we
are proud of the Union’s commitment to double its
overall aid level by the year 2010, including a
considerable increase in aid to Africa.
We support the establishment of a Democracy
Fund for countries seeking to establish or strengthen
their democratic practices. In our view, that Fund will
contribute to maximizing the impact of development
assistance by focusing on the improvement of
governance standards. Transparent and democratic
governance practices can make quite a difference in the
performance of countries that are otherwise quite
similar in terms of their natural resources and social
structure.
We emphasize the role of international trade in
promoting economic growth and development and thus
in fighting poverty. We therefore add our voice to calls
for a rapid, ambitious and development-oriented
completion of the Doha trade round.
Furthermore, Lithuania is convinced that all
development and all relevant related strategies should
have a built-in element of environmental sustainability.
We welcome the language of the outcome document to
that effect but believe that we should go further.
In particular, we underline the importance of
going beyond Kyoto by initiating negotiations on the
development of a more inclusive and equitable
international framework for climate change beyond the
year 2012.
Lithuania welcomes the strong and unconditional
condemnation of terrorism in the outcome document.
36

We call on the General Assembly to complete, at its
sixtieth session, work on a comprehensive convention
on terrorism and on a global counter-terrorism strategy,
as proposed by the Secretary-General earlier this year.
We strongly welcome the endorsement of
“responsibility to protect” populations from genocide,
war crimes and ethnic cleansing. This is of
fundamental importance; it is an important step that
gives us hope that we shall no longer look away nor
stand idly by as entire populations are being killed.
Lithuania fully supports the proposals regarding
United Nations management reform. We hope the
blueprint to be submitted by the Secretary-General will
not fall victim to endless debates by Member States
but, rather, lead to tangible changes, improving the
Organization’s accountability, transparency, efficiency
and professionalism, while assuring the highest ethical
standards.
Too often in the past, we have seen nations
emerging from conflict lapse into disruption and chaos,
thus destabilizing entire regions. We therefore call for
rapid progress in making the Peacebuilding
Commission fully operational before the end of this
year.
While expressing our satisfaction with the
agreement to double resources for the Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights, we urge all
nations to take conclusive decisions in the coming
months on the basis of the wording agreed to by the
vast majority of countries in establishing a robust and
effective Human Rights Council.
At the same time, we have to admit that the
outcome document is lacking considerably in some
areas. We are well aware that the reform process is not
a one-time event. As we proceed along the path of
United Nations reform, we must make sure these areas
are not left out.
First, there is the issue of impunity. The fight
against impunity and the rendering of justice must be
part and parcel of our common efforts to improve the
human rights situation worldwide. We stress our
support for the International Criminal Court, as well as
the existing ad hoc and mixed criminal tribunals and
other mechanisms for international justice.
Secondly, there is the question of Security
Council reform which cannot be delayed further,
especially if we really care about restoring the
authority and credibility of the United Nations. The
Council’s working methods must be improved to
provide greater input from non-member States. Its
membership must be expanded in both the permanent
and non-permanent categories, with due consideration
being paid to equitable geographical representation and
the recent emergence of new international actors and
contributors. Lithuania has long supported the
candidacies of Germany and Japan as permanent
members of the Security Council. We appreciate the
aspirations of India and Brazil to undertake the
honourable responsibility of permanent membership,
and we agree that Africa’s representation in both
categories of membership is long overdue.
After 11 years of debate on the issue of Security
Council reform, it is time to admit that we are unlikely
to produce new arguments without repeating ourselves
indefinitely. Lithuania, therefore, calls on all Member
States to assume their responsibilities and to take
action.
Finally, let me touch upon the failure to agree, in
the outcome document, on the issues of non-
proliferation and disarmament. This is the major failure
of our summit, especially in the light of the unfortunate
conclusion of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Review Conference earlier this year. We must honour
our earlier agreements and obligations, restore
consensus and invest all our efforts in search of
agreement on this crucial issue. We therefore call on all
nations to rally around the initiative put forward by
Norway and a group of like-minded countries; we
believe this initiative could become a basis of viable
consensus and future cooperative action.
Last December, we witnessed an unprecedented
outburst of solidarity with the Asian tsunami victims.
These past few weeks, our hearts were with the people
of the United States, whose citizens saw their lives
shattered and whole communities destroyed by
Hurricane Katrina. We offered whatever assistance we
could to those affected and we extend our condolences
to all those who have suffered from this enormous
devastation.
In moments of grief and sorrow, we are one. Pain
has no nationality, no religion, no race. Similarly, we
should all be one in our solidarity. We should not have
to wait for new cataclysms and large-scale tragedies in
order to agree on the need to build a renewed United
Nations for the new century. As Secretary-General
37

Kofi Annan has repeatedly noted, in this globalized,
interrelated world, it is the collective interest that is
often in our best national interest.


Allow
me first, Sir, to congratulate you on your election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixtieth
session.
 I should like to avail myself of this opportunity to
express from the very bottom of the Peruvian heart our
sincere feeling of solidarity with the women and men
of the United States who have suffered as a result of
the natural disasters in Mississippi, Alabama and other
southern states. Their suffering is shared by us, just as
we would share suffering anywhere in the world. I am
sure that the faith and hope of the people of the United
States will enable them to overcome this tragedy.
 A year ago in this forum (see A/59/PV.5) I spoke
of the need to face, with vision and realism, the new
challenges now facing us, the developing countries in
particular. On the one hand, our countries are
becoming part of the globalization of production, trade,
financial flows, the digital telecommunications
revolution, and the spread of values such as democracy
and human rights. At the same time, however, the
world is fragmented by an increase in social inequities,
the proliferation of civil wars, the collapse of States,
genocide, terrorism, transnational crime and
environmental degradation. These contradictory trends
of globalization on the one hand and fragmentation on
the other, call into question the governance within
States and within the international system, and
ultimately call into question international collective
security itself.
 Peace and security and the stability of the global
system are not related only to political, military and
strategic issues. Peace and security also have social
and economic components. Poverty and exclusion
conspire against peace, security and democracy. Social
exclusion triggers violence and instability, renders
democracy fragile and leads to national and
international fragmentation.
 That is why we must agree on action to confront
these contradictions. That is the main commitment that
we as States undertook at the recent High-level Plenary
Meeting on the Millennium Goals, and that is what the
United Nations and the multilateral system as a whole
must tackle next. That is why I am highlighting the two
main axes along which these commitments must
develop. I refer to security on the one hand and
development on the other.
 While each country is responsible for its own
development, it must be recognized that development
encounters obstacles at the international level that call
for new partnerships and new forms of association.
These must go beyond the assistance-based paradigm
characterizing much so-called development assistance.
And, more important, they must overcome the
asymmetry that currently prevails in relations between
developed and developing countries.
 On the one hand, developing countries are being
asked to commit to open their markets, to foreign
investment regimes and to reforming their public
administrations. We agree with all of that. But there is
no matching solid commitment that developed
countries will, as promised, allocate 0.7 per cent of
their gross national product (GNP) for cooperation.
Nor — even less — do we see obstacles to foreign
trade being dismantled.
 The new partnership for development has to
overcome adverse factors for developing countries and
eliminate obstacles such as rigid intellectual property
standards, the speculative volatility of global capital,
the lack of foreign investment, subsidies, the debt
burden, and, above all, the absence of genuine special
and differential treatment in trade negotiations for
developing countries.
 This is not only about receiving assistance to
reduce poverty; it is also about a new association for
development that will make it possible to generate
employment and create wealth. Implementing this new
partnership would fulfil Millennium Development Goal
8 and the commitments made in the Monterrey
Consensus. That is why it is necessary for the Doha
round to be completed next year. That is tremendously
important.
 As the Millennium Declaration recognizes, a very
important cross-cutting element in the partnership for
development is assuring the sustainability of the
environment. As proof of our commitment, I was proud

8 05-51226

some days ago to deposit the instruments of ratification
of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants and the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior
Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, both
of which are intended to reduce the negative impact of
pollution.
 As it carries out its development agenda, the
international system must strengthen collective security
to confront threats such as terrorism, nuclear
proliferation, and organized transnational crime. This
year again, we have been shaken by acts of terrorism
perpetuated all over the world. Peru suffered from, and
combated, terror for many long years, and expresses its
solidarity with the victims of these criminal acts. We
reiterate our firm condemnation of all acts of terrorism
and restate our commitment, through mutual
cooperation, to prevent, combat, punish and eradicate
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Peru
appeals to the Assembly not to continue to delay the
adoption of a comprehensive counter-terrorism
convention.
 For my Government, international peace and
security is a prime objective, and we have adopted the
following measures in that context. First, Peru is
promoting the limitation of defence spending at the
regional level in order to release resources for social
investment. The first decision I adopted on my
Government’s first day in office was to cut back
military expenditure in my country by 23 per cent in
order to allocate it to food, health, education and social
investments. Progress in this field has been significant;
there are agreements with Chile, Colombia and
Ecuador to craft and implement standardized
methodologies to reduce our military spending.
 Secondly, Peru was an advocate of the creation of
the South American Zone of Peace and Cooperation
and the Andean Zone of Peace, which have been
recognized in Assembly resolutions 57/13 and 59/54,
respectively.
 Thirdly, Peru participated actively in formulating
the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and
Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light
Weapons in All Its Aspects.
 Fourthly, Peru is participating in peacekeeping
operations by providing troops, staff officers, military
observers and equipment. To increase our contribution
in this area, Peru has signed a memorandum of
understanding under the United Nations Stand-by
Arrangements System, which includes army, air force
and navy units. Currently, Peruvian Blue Helmets are
participating in peacekeeping operations in Eritrea-
Ethiopia, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, the Sudan
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as
in Cyprus and Haiti. We cherish peace.
 For all these reasons, Peru is a candidate for a
non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the
term 2006-2007 in the elections to be held during this
session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
I should like here to express Peru’s deep gratitude for
the majority support for our candidacy; we now enjoy
the widest possible support from Latin American and
Caribbean countries as well as from our brother
countries in Africa and Asia, the Arab League States
and countries of Europe and of Oceania. This generous
support encourages us and strengthens our commitment
to work with dedication and responsibility in the
Security Council. We are grateful for this opportunity
and the support offered by countries worldwide for our
candidature for a non-permanent seat on the Security
Council for 2006-2007.


It gives me great pleasure to
address the General Assembly on the occasion of my
first visit to the United Nations as head of State. First, I
congratulate you, Sir, on your election to preside over
the sixtieth session of the General Assembly.
I would also like to pay tribute to the Secretary-
General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his able stewardship of
our Organization and the reform proposals he has put
forward for our consideration. Since his appointment,
the Secretary-General has steered the United Nations
with tact and patience. His skill as a builder of
consensus has indeed been exemplary. We share his
vision for the United Nations in the twenty-first
century as outlined in his epic report entitled ìIn larger
freedomî (A/59/2005). I am confident that Member
States will seize this historic opportunity and deliver
on the promise of a better world for posterity.
The shift in the global distribution of power,
accompanied by the emergence of new threats and
challenges, has dramatically changed the context
within which the United Nations operates. The United
Nations of the future must still, however, remain true
to the universal values that inspired its creation. Our
peoples expect the United Nations to act as an agent of
progress. They look to the Organization to play an
effective and leading role in improving their economic
and social well-being.
Kenya embraces the principles of the Charter,
which serve as a basic reference point for the reform of
the United Nations. Those principles are the core of its
inner strength. We believe that the principle of
democracy is as central to this Organization and its
future health as it is to the prosperity of our own
nations. Kenya deeply cherishes that principle and
seeks its generous spread around the world and in this
institution.
Global problems require global solutions. The
United Nations is the only vehicle that can help us
attain those solutions and give legitimacy to our
actions. The United Nations remains indispensable in
the maintenance of international peace and security. It
is pivotal to the attainment of sustainable development
and the advancement of human rights. Let us work to
strengthen the United Nations to meet contemporary
challenges.
Important proposals for United Nations reform
are already on the table. My Government embraces the
holistic definition of collective security, which strongly
affirms the connections between peace, development,
human rights and the rule of law. Those goals cannot
be realized in isolation. As the Secretary-General
observed, ìwe will not enjoy development without
security, we will not enjoy security without
development, and we will not enjoy either without
respect for human rightsî (A/59/2005, para. 17). I am
sure we all acknowledge those plain truths.
15

Kenya firmly believes that reform of the United
Nations is a process, not an event. In view of the
integrated nature of the issues, we need to adopt a
comprehensive policy approach to United Nations
reforms. We must maintain a broad vision driven by
collective effort for the ultimate benefit of the
international system.
I am happy to note that although some of the
proposals have been adopted, we should now move
quickly to implement them. I refer especially to the
proposals that do not require amendment of the
Charter. They include the adoption of a robust counter-
terrorism strategy, strengthening peacekeeping,
creating a Peacebuilding Commission and Fund and the
reform of the human rights system.
I am also pleased to note the consensus on the
strengthening of the General Assembly, the Economic
and Social Council and a strong relationship between
the United Nations and regional and subregional
organizations.
Environmental protection is a threat that is a
major challenge in the attainment of the Millennium
Development Goals. This places the environment, more
than ever, at the core of sustainable development.
International environmental governance is an integral
part of realizing sustainable development. Kenya fully
endorses the ongoing process of defining the elements
of international environmental governance. This,
however, should be done within the framework of the
Cartagena decision, which aims at strengthening the
United Nations Environment Programme within its
current mandate through an enhanced financial and
scientific base.
We should also recognize that no truly effective
response can be made unless the international
community fully complies with its commitment to
make the means available as provided for in various
multilateral environmental agreements.
Kenya remains firmly committed to the United
Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and
Light Weapons and is gratified with the status of its
implementation, at both national and regional levels.
Despite the progress made, small arms and other
conventional weapons continue to end up in the hands
of wrong non-State actors, with attendant adverse
implications on peace and security leading to political
instability in many countries. In order to curb this
trend, Kenya requests the Secretary-General to
undertake a study into the possibility of a legal
instrument to control international transfers of
conventional arms.
Kenya also supports proposals for the
enhancement of peace-support operation capabilities of
the United Nations. Any mandate for peacekeeping
forces should be clear and precise. Adequate resources
must be made available to the commanders in the field
to enable them to execute their mandates effectively.
Intervention in crisis situations must also be timely to
prevent undue loss of life. Kenya welcomes vital
contributions to peace and security made by regional
organizations forging predictable partnerships between
the United Nations and regional organizations.
Furthermore, Kenya endorses the proposal to
establish a strategic military capacity to reinforce
United Nations peacekeeping and the creation of a
standby brigade for rapid deployment of the
Organizationís civilian police in peacekeeping
operations.
We strongly support the Secretary-Generalís
proposal to establish a Peacebuilding Commission and
fund by 31 December 2005. We believe such a
peacebuilding commission will contribute to the
realization of real peace in many regions. However, it
is important that critical questions about form, function
and decision-making authority be resolved.
In our own neighbourhood, the importance of
post-conflict peacebuilding has become a bigger
priority after the recent successes of the Sudan and
Somalia mediation efforts, which Kenya chaired under
the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development.
Kenya commends the international community
for the excellent response during the Oslo pledging
conference towards reconstruction of southern Sudan.
We urge a similar response to support the Transitional
Federal Government of Somalia in setting up and
implementing a national security, stabilization and
economic reconstruction strategy.
We also call upon the Security Council to play a
more positive proactive role in the search for a broad
consensus for peace and thus enhance the capacity of
the Transitional Federal Government to establish basic
institutions.
On the reform of the Security Council, it is
necessary to make it far more equitable and
16

representative of the United Nations global
constituency. The procedures and methods of work of
the Council should be changed to secure transparency
and dialogue with the United Nations membership.
Furthermore, the future composition of the
Security Council should proceed on the basis of
sovereign equality of States and equitable geographical
representation.
Kenya welcomes the proposal to develop a
stronger relationship between the United Nations and
regional and subregional organizations. For Africa,
there is abundant political will in our continent to make
the African Union succeed. I believe that external
support, especially from the United Nations and the
international community at large, would make the
African Union work better.
The establishment of an African Union Peace and
Security Council and of the intervention force planned
to be set up by 2009 are measures aimed at advancing
political stability in Africa to underpin economic
development. Already, the African Union has taken the
lead in Burundi and in Darfur, in the Sudan, where
deployments of peacekeeping missions have preceded
international action by the United Nations.
The recent pledges by the Group of Eight (G-8)
countries to double aid to Africa and grant 100-per-
cent debt relief to 18 developing countries were
welcome. We hope they will honour their pledges and
commitments in conformity with the agreement forged
at the 2002 Monterrey International Conference on
Financing for Development. Support by the G-8 will
help African countries achieve the Millennium
Development Goals.
Kenya affirms the centrality of gender equality
and recognizes the critical role that women must play
in development. We also recognize that achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals depends on the
empowerment of women. As part of our effort to fully
attain this objective, my Government has adopted a
national policy on gender development. The aim is to
integrate women in decision-making through legal,
regulatory and institutional reforms.
I am convinced that, if we are to attain our
common objective of revitalizing the United Nations,
we should embrace the vision presented by the
Secretary-General in his package of reforms. This will
require political will and leadership on our part. I
therefore urge Member States to seize this opportunity
and endorse proposals on which there is broad
consensus. As we contemplate strengthening and
renewing our Organization, we should do so for
posterity.


I wish to join other
representatives in congratulating you, Sir, on your
unanimous election as the President of the General
Assembly at its sixtieth session. I am confident that,
under your able guidance, the General Assembly will
respond wisely and effectively to the needs and
expectations of the international community. I would
like to assure you of Cambodia's full support and
cooperation as you carry out the duties and tasks of
your high office.
While commending the efforts and contributions
of Mr. Jean Ping, President of the General Assembly at
its fifty-ninth session, I wish also to express my
appreciation to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his
political vision and his firm commitment to the efforts
to strengthen and revitalize the role of the United
Nations in securing international peace, strengthening
international security and forging international
cooperation.
In these times of uncertainties and difficulties,
when the world seems to be inundated by conflicts and
tribulations, the summit of the General Assembly and
the outcome document reaffirmed our commitment to
the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and
provided us with a new hope for achieving our noble
goals of strengthening peace and stability in the world,
a sine qua non for the development and prosperity of
all humankind. Admittedly, the outcome document did
not respond to all of our concerns, but it gave us a
framework for our future action. It is important for us
to keep hope alive and to maintain our commitment to
global peace and to taking the necessary steps to ensure
that that noble goal will one day be achieved.
As a country that has just emerged from many
years of war and internal conflicts, Cambodia
understands the paramount importance of peace.
Cambodia is firmly convinced that more weapons will
not bring more security to the world. Disarmament,
like any other matter on our agenda today, cannot be
dealt with in isolation. There is an urgent need for that
matter to be dealt with at the national, regional and
international levels. We are of the view that the
promotion of confidence-building measures is
necessary in that endeavour. The experiences gained by
the Regional Forum of the Association of South-East
Asian Nations ó now in its eleventh year of existence
ó have confirmed the rightness of that approach.
This explains the rationale behind Cambodia's
ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of
Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction on
19 July 2005. Cambodia is a proponent of the
reinforcement of international law, which, inter alia,
incorporates the major instruments to curb the arms
race, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We note with dismay and
deep concern that the recent NPT Review Conference
ended without achieving any results, and we regret the
failure to reach consensus on that very crucial issue in
the outcome document of the High-level Plenary
Meeting. Cambodia profoundly believes in the
necessity and benefit of disarmament. We believe that
people need food, not weapons.
After 11 September 2001, security perceptions
have changed drastically. Nobody and no country is
safe from terrorism, which has caused untold suffering
and death among innocent people and knows no
distinction between the rich and the poor, the powerful
and the powerless, between a super-Power and a little
speck in the ocean, as we have seen in many parts of
the world. When death strikes, we are all the same. The
security of our people cannot be assured and ensured
through weaponry and sophisticated technology alone.
Another threat created by the force of nature,
Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the States of
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and even Florida,
reinforced us in that conviction. The human brain is a
decisive factor of and the essence behind our efforts to
counter security threats and threats of any other nature.
Therefore, it is more important than ever that our
strategies be preventive, comprehensive, inclusive and
global in nature. I would like to take this opportunity to
express, on behalf of the people and the Royal
Government of Cambodia, my profound condolences to
the families of the victims who have lost their lives, as
well as deepest sympathy for the survivors of that
tragic incident.
During the summit, our leaders endorsed the
Secretary-General's identification of elements of a
counter-terrorism strategy. Such a strategy would
contribute to our concerted efforts to fight terrorism in
all its forms and manifestations, which would be
undertaken in full respect of human rights and
fundamental freedom. I hope that our joint efforts will
18

lead to an agreement on the comprehensive convention
on international terrorism.
As part of the Government's policy of playing an
active role in international efforts to combat terrorism,
in particular by fulfilling its obligations spelled out by
the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the United
Nations, Cambodia has implemented some necessary
measures recently. Among other things, we are in the
process of finalizing our national anti-terrorism law.
As we have learned through our experience over
the years, the causes of terrorism do not arise
spontaneously. Only through continuous and consistent
efforts to promote tolerance, social development,
economic growth and democracy, and to build a global
coalition involving all civilizations, all religions, all
cultures and all political systems can we fight injustice,
poverty and the other roots of those malicious and
often lethal acts. Those long-term measures are of
significance in our mission effectively to prevent acts
of violence and extreme aggression.
Sixty years ago, the United Nations was
established to spare future generations from the
scourge of war. However, the foundation of peace lies
in the success of our respective Governments, their
peoples and the world community at large in forging
their future and the future of their children through
better health care, education and economic and
professional opportunities in a safe and secure social
environment that abides by the rule of law and the
culture of merit and honesty.
It goes without saying that development is the
cement for peace. Development in one part of the
world cannot be sustained without development
elsewhere. Cambodia believes in national ownership in
devising strategies to develop itself. We also believe in
the crucial importance and necessity of international
partnership. We equally believe in the importance of
good governance at the national, international and
corporate levels. How could we explain our mutual
dependency otherwise? Transparency and mutual
accountability are the best guarantees of a successful
partnership.
Cambodia has expressed its full commitment to
the Millennium Declaration. In 2003, Cambodia
localized the global Millennium Development Goals,
which it calls the Cambodia Millennium Development
Goals (CMDGs). The CMDGs, which reflect the
realities of Cambodia, are based on a strong national
consensus. Specific indicators have been adopted for
each CMDG, including the benchmarks and the short-,
medium- and long-term values to be achieved by 2005,
2010 and 2015. In all, the CMDGs cover nine areas of
long-term and short-term goals, 25 overall targets, and
106 specific targets covering extreme poverty and
hunger; universal, nine-year basic education; gender
equality and women's empowerment; child mortality;
maternal health; HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases; environmental sustainability; global
partnership for development; and demining,
unexploded ordinance and victim assistance.
At present, Cambodia is in the process of
preparing a national strategic development plan for
2006-2010 by combining its earlier socio-economic
development plan and its national poverty reduction
strategy processes and integrating them into the
CMDGs. The resulting CMDG-based national poverty
reduction strategy will be rooted in the ìrectangular
strategyî for growth, employment, equity and
efficiency, which provides the political platform of the
Royal Government in the third legislature (2004-2008)
of Cambodia's National Assembly.
Our progress towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals is constrained by a number of
impediments, including the chronic shortage of
investment funds to meet our priority requirements.
That resource gap needs to be bridged through
increased flows of external finance. That is necessary
since the current concessions given by the international
community to least developed countries like Cambodia
provide only limited benefit to us and need to be
supplemented by increased inflows of development
finance. If we are to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals, greater financial inflows through
aid, reduced debt servicing and increased current
account inflows are critical to bridging the resource
gaps and fostering the required growth.
It is in that connection that we would like to
reiterate our call for the implementation of the Brussels
Programme of Action for the Least Developed
Countries. We welcome the establishment of timetables
by many developed countries to achieve the target of
0.7 per cent of gross national income for official
development assistance by no later than 2015 and to
reach at least 0.5 per cent by 2009. We urge those
developed countries that have not yet done so to make
concrete efforts and invite them to establish timetables
for achieving the target of 0.7 per cent. We also urge
19

those developed countries to achieve the target of 0.15
to 0.20 per cent of gross national income for official
development assistance to the least developed
countries.
The Royal Government of Cambodia welcomes
the resumption of the six-party talks on the Korean
peninsula. Equally crucial is the continuation of the
inter-Korean dialogue. It is our belief that open
channels of communication are essential in building a
strong foundation for attempts to pursue peace and
stability in the Korean peninsula.
We also welcome the recent positive
developments in the Middle East and continue to
encourage the implementation of the road map and the
relevant Security Council resolutions. After all the
years of war and conflict, we reiterate our call on both
sides to continue taking steps towards peace, no matter
how small they might seem at the time, in order to give
the children of Palestine and Israel the opportunity to
live in harmony.
The dire situation in Africa deserves our outmost
concern and action. Too many African children and
adults have suffered too long from too many conflicts.
At the end of the day, the world community, through
the United Nations and the Group of Eight leading
industrial countries should strive to make more
efficient efforts and to take timely action to tackle the
severe plights of numerous innocent people in sub-
Saharan Africa.
It is important for us never to lose hope, because,
as history has shown us, hope is what carries us
through difficult times and dreadful challenges.
Because of hope, we lend a hand to others. Because of
hope, we let ourselves be assisted by others. Although
we are indeed facing an uphill battle in our attempts to
overcome the challenges of peace, security and
development together, our noble goals to provide a
better future for our children and grandchildren will be
achieved. Let us have faith in our common house, the
United Nations.


Actually, we have no reason to celebrate the sixtieth
anniversary of the United Nations. The chaotic,
unequal and insecure world in which we are now living
is not much of a tribute to those who gathered on
26 June 1945 in San Francisco to found the United
Nations.
From the conclusion of the Millennium Summit
in 2000 until today, more of the world’s children have
died of preventable diseases than all of the victims of
the Second World War put together.
The aggression against Iraq was launched, not
just without regard to, but even counter to the opinion
of the international community. That happened just two
and a half years after having solemnly proclaimed at
the Millennium Summit that “We are determined to
establish a just and lasting peace all over the world in
accordance with the purposes and principles of the
Charter” (resolution 55/2, para. 4). The General
Assembly could not even meet to discuss it. The
Security Council was ignored and then had to undergo
the humiliation of docilely accepting a predatory war
that had earlier been opposed by a majority of its
members.
There is a clear explanation for the current state
of affairs, which is that the order enshrined in the
Charter pertained to a bipolar world and to a balance of
power that no longer exists today. “We, the peoples” —
as the Charter says — must bear the burden of a
unipolar world, in which a single super-Power imposes
its whims and selfish interests on the United Nations
and the international community.
Therefore, trying to get the United Nations to
function in conformity with the principles and purposes
enshrined in the Charter is make-believe. It is not
possible. And it will not be possible as long as third
world countries, which make up the majority of the
world, fail to unite and fight together for their rights.
Were the United States Government to comply
with Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), adopted
on 28 September 2001, and to the international
conventions on terrorism, it would extradite the
terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela and release
the five young Cuban anti-terrorist fighters who have
been subjected to cruel and unjust imprisonment for
seven years.
Had the United States Government allowed the
United Nations to act in accordance with the Charter,
the Iraqi people would not have been invaded so that
they could be robbed of their petroleum, the Palestinian
21

people would exercise sovereignty over their territory
and Cuba would not continue to be blockaded. Nor
would there be billions of illiterate people or 900
million starving human beings in the world.
That explains the failure of last week’s summit,
which was convened to assess compliance with the
modest commitments entered into to fulfil the
Millennium Development Goals and which ended as a
pitiful imitation of what should have been a serious and
committed debate concerning the grave problems
currently besetting humankind. It was a complete farce.
It was of no interest to the powerful. Their selfish and
hegemonic interests run counter to the aspiration for a
more just and better world for all.
The scandalous pressures and blackmail brought
to bear on Member States, after the United States
Ambassador brandished the stick and attempted to
impose 750 amendments on the outcome document,
will go down in history as the most eloquent evidence
that a new world and a new United Nations must be
built, with respect for and recognition of the right to
peace, sovereignty and development for all, without
genocidal wars, blockades or injustice. The final
negotiations, from which most United Nations
Members were excluded, and the outcome document
that was adopted, in which issues of vital interest for
our peoples have been omitted, is a vivid illustration of
what we are talking about.
While we await the day in which that new world
and the new United Nations can become a reality, we,
the peoples, will continue to fight and, through our
resistance, win once again the rights currently denied
to us.
The powerful only talk about interventions and
preventive wars, about imposing draconian conditions
or the most efficient ways to control the United
Nations, while attempting to legitimize concepts such
as the so-called responsibility to protect, which could
be used one day to justify acts of aggression against
our countries. Let us spell this out clearly: today there
is no right to peace for the small.
We as Cubans understand this very well, and we
rely on the solidarity of peoples, on our united front
and on our weapons, which have never been used
except to defend just causes. Our brothers and sisters in
Africa know this well.
We are not pessimists; we are revolutionaries. We
do not surrender or conform. Today, more resolutely
than ever, we affirm that “we, the peoples” will
overcome.


I would like to congratulate you,
Mr. Eliasson, on your election to the presidency of the
General Assembly and to assure you of my country's
full support during this sixtieth session of the General
Assembly.
Reform will be a central theme at the Assembly's
sixtieth session. Allow me to focus on four institutional
reforms, by which Switzerland sets great store. They
are, first of all, the creation of a Human Rights
Council; secondly, reform of the Security Council;
thirdly, the Peacebuilding Commission; and, fourthly,
internal management of the United Nations.
The creation of a Human Rights Council is
crucial. The Commission on Human Rights in its
present form suffers from various defects. We deplore
its weak capacity to respond to grave human rights
violations. We also regret its overly selective character
and the application of double standards, which
undermine its authority.
Switzerland welcomes the decision made by the
Member States at the summit to replace the
Commission on Human Rights with a Human Rights
Council. However, we regret that it has not been
possible, even at this stage, to establish some of the
working methods on which there was wide agreement.
For Switzerland, this Human Rights Council
should be a principal organ of the United Nations or
should at least be directly subordinate to the General
Assembly. It should convene periodically, be based in
Geneva and should work in close cooperation with the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights. It should be of a size that guarantees
both its legitimacy and the capacity to work effectively.
Finally, to ensure real added value, it should incorporate
those instruments that constitute the strength of the
present Commission without reproducing its defects.
The profile and working methods of the Human
Rights Council should be established promptly. We
have given ourselves until the end of the sixtieth
session of the General Assembly to do this, but the
ideal solution would be to complete the work before
the next session of the Commission on Human Rights,
which starts next March.
We now need a clearer picture of the process
which the President of the General Assembly intends to
conduct. We assure him of our strong support in this
task. Switzerland hopes that the future Human Rights
Council can start its work soon, and it invites all States
to strive towards this goal.
Switzerland has also been actively involved in the
reform of the Security Council, an organ that embodies
both the strengths and the weaknesses of the United
Nations. No one can deny that the composition of the
Security Council should better reflect contemporary
geopolitical realities. Enlargement of the Security
Council will make it more representative and will
strengthen the authority of its decisions. However,
enlargement of the Security Council, which has been
the subject of intensive debate over the past few
months, is only one aspect of the reform that needs to
be made. It should not overshadow another
indispensable part of the reform: the need to improve
the Council’s working methods.
For most countries, opportunities to sit on the
Security Council are few and limited in time. A serious
reform of the Council's working methods would have
an immediate and beneficial effect for all Member
States. New and more detailed rules should be adopted
in a General Assembly resolution and then written into
the Security Council's rules of procedure.
Reform of the Security Council’s working
methods must achieve several goals: it should increase
the possibilities for participation by States that are not
members of the Council; it should ensure greater
accountability of the Council to all the Member States
of the United Nations; and, finally, it should improve
transparency and find new ways for the Council to hear
other points of view.
Efficiency is a fourth criterion that needs to be
taken into account. Improvements in the working methods
of the Security Council must be geared towards
strengthening its capacity to efficiently exercise its
responsibilities for international peacekeeping and
security.
In May Switzerland presented a series of specific
recommendations that were well received by many
Member States. I would like to focus on three specific
proposals.
First, in accordance with the principle of the
responsibility to protect, the right of veto must not be
18

exercised in cases of genocide, ethnic cleansing or
other grave and large-scale violations of international
humanitarian law or human rights. I believe that that
principle is sufficiently clear not to require further
elaboration.
Secondly, the Security Council should refrain, as
far as possible, from exercising legislative functions.
The task of codifying and developing international law
should remain the primary responsibility of the General
Assembly, which includes all Member States. The
Council is authorized by the United Nations Charter to
take emergency measures to maintain international
peace and security. However, that authorization cannot
be interpreted as including the power to impose
legislative obligations, that is, obligations that are
general in scope, abstract and have no time limits.
Thirdly, on the subject of Security Council
sanctions, the procedures for establishing and revising
the lists of targeted individuals and entities must be
improved. It is unacceptable that people who are
subject to sanctions that affect their basic rights are
denied all right of appeal. In particular, it is important
to ensure the right to be heard, which is a fundamental
human right.
Switzerland, together with other countries,
intends to present a draft resolution on improving the
working methods of the Security Council.
Another important institutional reform decided at
the summit is the creation of a Peacebuilding
Commission. Switzerland has contributed its ideas to
that project over the past few months. It welcomes the
creation of that body, which will address a key area of
United Nations activities and fill a clear institutional
gap.
Once a conflict has ended, the main players -
institutions, States and civil society - must work
together to rebuild the country. The principal mission
of the Peacebuilding Commission will be to bring those
players from the fields of peacekeeping, humanitarian
aid, and development together to define joint strategies
for future action.
The Commission will include representatives of
the Security Council and the Economic and Social
Council, as well as representatives of the principal
financial donors and troop contributors. Switzerland
believes that the main United Nations institutions
concerned should also take part in the deliberations.
For instance, it would be useful to include the
Chairman of the United Nations Development Group,
the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It
would also be useful to bring on board, as needed,
experts from civil society, the academic world or the
private sector.
Furthermore, in the composition of the
Commission, we need to ensure gender parity.
Peacekeeping, humanitarian action and
development are parallel activities and should not be
rigidly divided into successive phases. In drafting its
mandate, we should ensure that the Commission has
the ability to advise all the institutional actors
concerned at any step of the peace and reconstruction
process.
We cannot speak of improving the efficiency of
the Security Council without discussing the
improvements that have to be made in the internal
management of the United Nations. The Summit
Outcome document sets out the most urgently needed
measures. They must be implemented without delay.
In that context, the three following factors must
be taken into account: first, the political competence
and responsibility to decide the budget belong to the
General Assembly; secondly, the Secretary-General's
management authority must be extended; and, thirdly,
the internal oversight bodies must be strengthened.
The scandals that have tarnished the image of the
United Nations in recent months underscore the urgent
need to strengthen the means as well as the financial
and operational independence of the Office of Internal
Oversight Services. Furthermore, given the increasing
complexity of their task, we must strengthen
cooperation between the various oversight bodies,
which are spread across the United Nations system. We
invite the Member States to support the enlargement of
the mandate of the Office of Internal Oversight
Services, so that it is able to respond to requests for
assistance from the specialized agencies.
Especially close to my heart is the importance of
combating cases of abuse and sexual exploitation
committed in the context of United Nations peace
operations. Such abuses are a grave violation of human
rights and of the values that the Organization espouses.
They damage the credibility of the Organization and
hinder the accomplishment of its missions on the
19

ground. Switzerland advocates zero tolerance on this
question. We strongly support the measures that have
recently been taken, in particular an increase in the
number of resident investigators deployed on the
ground under the authority of the Office of Internal
Oversight Services.
Last autumn, we embarked together on a major
undertaking: adapting the multilateral system so that it
can address the new problems and challenges of the
twenty-first century, with a strengthened and more
efficient United Nations at its centre. All reform
requires a subtle mix of ambition, realism and patience.
We have come part of the way. The basic itinerary was
set at the summit. We must now pursue the path of
reform, give shape to our early decisions, and resolve
persisting differences. That has to be one of the main
objectives of the sixtieth session of the General
Assembly, which has just begun.