Austria, 2001

I am speaking

here while still in shock over the terrible aeroplane

crash in Queens, our immediate neighbourhood,

especially since the area of Rockaway, where so many

brave New York firefighters live, was already suffering

in the aftermath of the earlier catastrophe. I wish to

express my deep sympathy to all those families and to

the great number of people affected by this tragedy.

Let me at the outset congratulate His Excellency

Mr. Han Seung-soo on his election to this high office.

While assuring him of my delegation’s full cooperation

and support, I am confident that under his guidance and

leadership — which he has already proven in the first

days of his new function — this session of the General

Assembly will contribute to strengthening global

cooperation and its indispensable platform, the United

Nations, in the coming months.

I should also like to take this opportunity to

reiterate my very best wishes to the Secretary-General

on his appointment to a second term of office.

Furthermore, I would like to congratulate him very

warmly on being awarded, jointly with the United

Nations, the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour and

recognition he truly deserves for his leadership,

dedication and courage in the service of our

Organization. This award also signals recognition of

and encouragement for the United Nations and all those

who are committed to its mission, not least United

Nations staff members.

Allow me to also express here our thanks to the

President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth

session, Mr. Harri Holkeri, for the many efforts he

undertook not only in conducting day-to-day business,

but also in revitalizing the United Nations, in particular

the General Assembly.

My colleague, the Foreign Minister of Belgium,

has already addressed this Assembly on behalf of the

European Union. Austria fully endorses his remarks.

Two months have passed now since the heinous

terrorist attacks of 11 September. Although we are still

in shock at the loss of thousands of innocent lives, we

have, however, also been encouraged by the resolve

expressed in the collective response of the community

of nations, here in the General Assembly and in the

Security Council. This unanimous strong reaction gives

us hope that today our nations are ready to cross over a

threshold, leaving behind a world of deadly divisions

and entering a genuine global community.

There are some positive signs to that effect.

These are, first, that during the past weeks, we have

witnessed new astonishing political — maybe even

geopolitical — alignments that, if followed through,

are comparable to other watershed events of historic

proportions. Secondly, the menace of an

unprecedented, devastating type of terrorism is

compelling us to take a fresh look at the root causes of

much that is unacceptable in our world, according to

our own standards, but which we have been tolerating,

or at least living with, quite contrary to our declared

principles. I refer to the abject levels of poverty,

inequality and injustice. These factors are at the origin

of many conflicts around the globe. Some of them are

particularly dangerous, providing breeding grounds for

global terrorism or serving as pretexts for terrorists. It

would be irresponsible if we — the international

community — did not engage in renewed efforts to find

solutions to these regional conflicts, be they in the

Middle East, in Afghanistan, in Kashmir, in the

Caucasus or in the Balkans, as well as in the area

around the Great Lakes, for instance, which has seen so

much human suffering.

The European Union, on a continent marked by

centuries of war, has developed its model of conflict

resolution. It is held in three words: cooperation,

partnership, integration. The European Union is

engaged in a welcome policy of extending this zone of

peace. We hope that the enlarged Union, planned to

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become a Union of 28 and later more, will be able to

contribute more effectively to peace and stability in the

world.

Under the present circumstances, Austria’s

priorities outside Europe are the Middle East and

Central Asia, not least because these areas have a direct

bearing on the fight against terrorism in its present

phase.

The Middle East conflict has been on our agenda

without interruption since the time of the creation of

the United Nations. There is no doubt that we have a

special obligation to contribute to a just and viable

solution. A heightened sense of responsibility is felt

when, on the one hand, violence escalates, but when,

on the other — as I see it — new opportunities have

emerged. Austria is therefore of the opinion that major

concerted efforts should be undertaken so that

negotiations can resume on the basis of Security

Council resolutions without delay. Only sincere

negotiations and a sincere renunciation of violence can

bring a rapprochement of the two parties and, finally,

peace.

Afghanistan is a reminder of what happens when

a conflict is neglected too long. Now, there is a new

dimension unfolding. We are forced to act. The

humanitarian tragedy is obvious. In this context,

Central Asia deserves increased attention, for example,

in view of assistance in the maintenance of stability

and concertation aiming at the necessary reconstruction

of Afghanistan.

I should like to say a word as to the Balkans, a

neighbouring region to my country. It must not be

neglected, although new dangers emerge elsewhere. In

the western Balkans, there is progress, especially in

Zagreb, in Belgrade, in Tirana and in Sarajevo, but

overall stability and economic recovery are not yet

assured. Extremists have not yet disarmed. We have to

keep up a high profile of international commitment.

Combating terrorism is, of course, not a one-

dimensional task. It requires cooperation on many

fronts. I see the United Nations as playing a key role in

this regard. This requires a clarification and

coordination of tasks within the United Nations system

so as to ensure the necessary synergy. There is also a

role for regional cooperation. To provide an example, a

so called regional security partnership has been

established between Austria and some of its

neighbours, candidates for European Union

membership, across the boundaries that, for half a

century, divided Europe.

Overall, we must address long-term societal

development at the local, national and global levels and

the capacities required to build a universally shared

political culture based on respect for human rights and

human dignity, including for the plurality of identities

at all levels of society.

Let me elaborate now on the United Nations role.

The time has certainly come to significantly strengthen

the United Nations capabilities and programmes in

combating and preventing terrorism. The complexity of

the challenge requires intersectoral and inter-

institutional cooperation. We have to enable the

principal organs of the Organization, including their

specialized subsidiary organs, such as the Security

Council’s Committee on terrorism, the General

Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism, the

Economic and Social Council’s Commission on Crime

Prevention and Criminal Justice and the appropriate

Secretariat units to perform the tasks that are now

urgently needed.

The Commission on Crime Prevention and

Criminal Justice will hold a special meeting on

terrorism in the context of the Vienna Declaration on

Crime and Justice on 15 November 2001. Just one

week prior to the terrorist attacks of 11 September,

plans of action for the implementation of the Vienna

Declaration were adopted. They will play an important

role in the system-wide response to international

terrorism, including a comprehensive set of

recommendations for both national and international

action. These recommendations stress once more the

existing relationship between terrorism, on the one

hand, and crime, including transnational organized

crime and illicit drug trafficking, on the other.

The United Nations Centre for International

Crime Prevention and its Terrorism Prevention Branch

have received a focused mandate, which should serve

as a solid basis for enhancing the capabilities of the

United Nations in the prevention of terrorism. To this

end, the human and financial resources should be

strengthened accordingly.

Needless to say, the challenge of terrorism

requires the full support of each and every

Government. Ratification of the various international

legal instruments, as well as the conclusion of

negotiations concerning a comprehensive international

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convention against terrorism, are of fundamental

importance. The Terrorism Prevention Branch of the

United Nations should also get immediately active in

providing, where requested, concrete assistance to

Member States in implementing national legislation

required by Security Council resolution 1373 (2001),

as well as in national capacity-building.

Several items on our global agenda have

reminded us of the fundamental importance of the

individual citizen and of society in economic, social,

cultural and institutional development. Increasingly, we

have understood the strategic role of the basic

principles and values of our societies upon which the

future of mankind is based. Our rejection of terrorism

must be absolute. At the same time, we need to

strengthen our networks and skills in dialogue, cross-

identification and solidarity.

We do need a globally shared political culture

that is based on respect for global diversity, which

finds its only limits in the right of others to diversity.

We must never allow fanaticism, violence and

terrorism to undermine the fabric on which peace and

security are built. Now more than ever, we have to

redouble our efforts in the development of our societies

based on plurality and trust among peoples and

cultures.

In this context, the Secretary-General’s efforts to

promote dialogue among civilizations, an initiative of

President Khatami, can have enormous significance.

Austria had the pleasure of inviting the Secretary-

General’s Group of Eminent Persons for its first

meeting in Vienna and was honoured by the Secretary-

General’s personal participation in last summer’s

Salzburg dialogue among civilizations. Austria’s

commitment to dialogue has found its expression in a

series of inter-religious encounters, especially between

Christianity and Islam, over the past 10 years. These

encounters have served to identify common values and

to project them into the wider communities. For us,

such dialogue has the core objective of developing

societies’ capacities in preventing hatred,

disintegration and politically motivated violence

against fellow citizens.

Austria’s efforts have also focused on another

element of societal development. Long-term strategies

of terrorism prevention require a globally shared

culture of human rights. Let me mention briefly the

growing cooperation between qualified regional

institutions for human rights education and learning in

Africa, South Asia, the Far East and the Pacific,

Europe and Latin America. The proclamation of human

rights cities in all of these regions might merit specific

attention by the appropriate organs of the United

Nations, including the Commission on Human

Settlements.

We are aware that there is a direct relationship

between the internal negation of human rights, on the

one hand, and a culture of violence that may eventually

project its effects not only internally but also

internationally and even globally. In view of

accelerated globalization and worldwide economic,

cultural and information relations, we may have to take

proactive measures to strengthen our shared basic

beliefs and political values through education and

learning processes. The current United Nations Decade

for Human Rights Education might also offer

opportunities for appropriate initiatives in response to

the horrifying scenario of global terrorism.

In this context, we have to give greater

recognition to the role of women in providing human

security and human development in all our societies.

The recognition is due in particular in crisis areas

where women have not only been the victims of most

of the intra-societal violence, but have also assured the

survival of the neediest.

A case in point is Afghanistan and Afghan

society. Eighty-five per cent of refugees and internally

displaced persons are women and children. In fact,

those who are often depicted as the weakest element in

society had to bear the brunt of violence and

repression. As we design our programmes for

reconstructing a post-terrorist Afghanistan, we must

conceive of programmes by which women, in

particular those now in refugee camps, are enabled to

contribute their share in a governance of development,

peace and cooperation. This is essential for a society

that wishes to overcome the scars of decades of

conflict and war. To be concrete, I therefore suggest

that education and training programmes aimed at

empowering women — in particular, those in refugee

camps — to assume public responsibility in the

reconstruction of their country be immediately

implemented.

The media bear an increasingly important

responsibility in shaping societies’ value structures and

capabilities. As Austria’s Federal Chancellor Wolfgang

25

Schüssel said in his statement on the United Nations

Year of Dialogue among Civilizations at the General

Assembly’s 42nd meeting, Austria is taking an

initiative, in the context of the partnership between the

European Union and the Mediterranean countries, that

will focus on the special role and responsibility of the

media in this partnership and in the societal

development towards accepting and benefiting from the

plurality of cultures and identities in this region.

In conclusion, I should like to make a few

comments on other very important developments with

regard to items on our global agenda. The sustainable

use of the local, national, regional and global natural

resources with which we are endowed continues to be

of foremost importance. The recent study by the

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

(IIASA) on the projected dramatic reduction of

agricultural productivity — between 45 and 55 per cent

in Africa, India, southern China and Latin America —

over the next 50 years due to climate change reminds

us that the processes of long-term global change need

as much action as our activities in coping with crises

and combating criminal terrorism. The World Summit

on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg will need

not only a technical but also a political focus with an

appropriate resolve for our shared global development.

One specific area where newly shared policies

and institutional support may be required, is the

integration of energy policies into the global

sustainable development agenda. The Commission on

Sustainable Development at its ninth session and the

third United Nations Conference on the Least

Developed Countries recognized the strong connection

between energy-policy interventions and poverty

reduction. Energy considerations should therefore be

fully integrated into the implementation of the

Millennium Declaration. Vienna, which hosts four

prominent international organizations in the field of

global energy policies — the United Nations Industrial

Development Organization (UNIDO), the International

Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Organization of

the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and

IIASA — could offer, with Austria’s support, a

framework for developing an innovative platform in

this regard. I look forward to exploring this issue

further with interested partners.

With many developing regions having to cope

with the difficult and often precarious management of

mountain resources, we should take advantage of the

International Year of Mountains, 2002, for new

initiatives in exchanging experience and for new

programmes of cooperation.

Finally, we are still working on implementing our

resolve to strengthen the Economic and Social Council

of the United Nations for accomplishing its important

tasks. The Economic and Social Council reform paper

by the Secretariat’s Department of Economic and

Social Affairs contains, I think, very valuable

contributions to our ongoing debate. As Austria already

suggested years ago, coordination and integration of

the United Nations system’s reporting in economic and

social affairs and the preparation of a comprehensive

“state of the world” report by the Secretary-General

would not only facilitate but significantly enhance the

role of the Economic and Social Council in policy

formulation in this field.

When coping with the dynamic processes of

global change in the economic sector, we have to put

the human being back into the centre of our policies.

New efforts have to be undertaken to internalize the

multiple dimensions and costs of globalization. In this

context, let me especially welcome the Secretary-

General’s initiative of a new partnership with the

global business community, inviting it to share in the

responsibility for what is happening in the global

public space.

All the concerns I am addressing in this statement

have a common focus: understanding the human being

as an actor, a perpetrator, a victim and a partner, in

other words, as the basic paradigm of global

development. This is why human development, human

rights and human security are the points from which we

have to address both the current crises and our long-

term development objectives.