Azerbaijan, 1997

Allow me first of all, Sir, to congratulate you

sincerely on your unanimous election to the post of

President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second

session, and to express our confidence that under your wise

and able guidance this session will successfully cope with

all its historic tasks. Your election to that high and

responsible post is further evidence of the burgeoning

image of independent Ukraine, with which Azerbaijan

enjoys an especially friendly relationship, and of its

substantial contribution to the work of the Organization.

I would also like to address special appreciation to

Mr. Razali Ismail, whose innovative approach and high

professionalism to a large extent facilitated the success of

the last session and showed the irreversible nature of the

radical process of reforming the Organization with a view

to strengthening its effectiveness.

For the past six years, the Republic of Armenia has

continued its aggression against my country. Aiming to

tear away and seize part of the territory of Azerbaijan, the

Republic of Armenia initiated and sponsored a separatist

movement in the Nagorny Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Here it was gambling with the high principle of the self-

determination of peoples and completely ignoring the

principles of territorial integrity and the inviolability of

borders. Subsequently, as members know, the Republic of

Armenia resorted to armed aggression against the

Azerbaijani Republic, occupying a considerable part of

Azerbaijan and leaving about a million people without

shelter.

Their later invention, the so-called Republic of

Nagorny Karabakh, is nothing but a tactical trick in the

strategy of Armenian politicians, which is to attach the

Nagorny Karabakh region of the Azerbaijani Republic to

the Republic of Armenia. The international community

rejected this policy through Security Council resolutions

822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993),

which reaffirmed that the Nagorny Karabakh region is a

part of Azerbaijan.

The 1996 Lisbon summit of the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) put forward

three principles for the settlement of the Armenia-

Azerbaijan conflict. These were: the territorial integrity of

the Republic of Armenia and of the Azerbaijani Republic;

definition of the legal status of Nagorny Karabakh

through an agreement based on self-determination and

conferring on Nagorny Karabakh the highest degree of

self-rule within Azerbaijan; and guaranteed security for

Nagorny Karabakh and its entire population, including

mutual obligations to ensure compliance by all the parties

with the provisions of the settlement.

Armenia was the only country out of 54 OSCE

member States that rejected those principles. While

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speaking in favour of a peaceful settlement of the conflict

at the earliest possible date, the Republic of Armenia

received, during the period 1993 to 1996, a vast amount of

Russian weaponry, far exceeding its requirements, including

tanks, armoured vehicles and SCUD missiles, worth $1

billion. This clearly demonstrates that that country has not

yet given up its aggressive plans.

In an address to permanent representatives of United

Nations Member States during a visit to United Nations

Headquarters last August, the President of Azerbaijan, Mr.

Heydar Aliyev, stated that Azerbaijan had been and would

continue to be in favour of a peaceful resolution of the

conflict. Azerbaijan is ready to provide the Armenian

population of the Nagorny Karabakh region with the

broadest possible autonomy, in accordance with world

standards, but it will never submit to seizure of part of its

territory or allow a second Armenian State to be created at

the expense of its own land.

Azerbaijan supported proposals submitted in

September by the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk

Conference, the United States, Russia and France. The

elaboration of a draft agreement on cessation of the armed

conflict on the basis of those proposals would create a solid

foundation for achieving a breakthrough in the process of

finding a settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan armed

conflict.

The reform package for the United Nations proposed

by the Secretary-General is a serious and fundamental

document. Azerbaijan welcomes his report (A/51/950) as a

real basis for conducting reforms in order to adapt the

United Nations to today’s rapidly changing demands and

make it better prepared to meet the challenges of the

twenty-first century. Azerbaijan is prepared to cooperate

with all Member States and with the Secretary-General and

his reform team in order to achieve the goal that has been

set.

We support the Secretary-General’s realistic

assessment that the main aim of the present reform is to

narrow the gap between the aspirations and achievements

of the United Nations. We think that establishing the

position of Deputy Secretary-General, setting up a Senior

Management Group, creating a Strategic Planning Unit and

strengthening the executive committees of the sectoral

groups, together with a number of other suggestions,

constitute an interesting and comprehensive approach that

will ensure the harmonious management and functioning of

this Organization as it tackles the new and complex tasks

of the twenty-first century.

We are of the view that, given the numerous

pressing problems, the maintenance of peace and security

throughout the world must continue to be the main

mission of our Organization. In this regard, Azerbaijan

welcomes and supports the Secretary-General’s ideas on

strengthening the potential of the United Nations in post-

conflict peace-building, with the Department of Political

Affairs as the focal point for this.

This matter is integrally linked to the issue of

advancing the disarmament agenda. Accordingly, the idea

of establishing a Department for Disarmament and Arms

Regulation, which would address the reduction and

regulation of armaments and weapons of mass

destruction, deserves every support.

With regard to disarmament as a whole, I would like

to dwell on the urgent problem of the proliferation of

conventional arms. The lack of norms regulating

conventional arms causes serious concern. One cannot but

agree with the Secretary-General when he says that such

a situation creates a vicious circle, in that Member States

seek assistance in the settlement of armed conflicts, while

there is tough competition over arms exports, including

exports to conflict areas where the United Nations is

seeking to restore peace. All of this leads to the further

escalation and prolongation of conflicts.

The expansion of the Security Council is a pressing,

acute and complex issue. We believe that any increase in

the number of permanent members of the Security

Council must be confined to countries with the capacity

and will to assume global responsibility, including

financial responsibility, for the maintenance of

international peace and security, and for sustainable

development and stability. In this context, Azerbaijan has

on several occasions spoken in favour of the candidatures

of Germany and Japan, which in our view meet those

requirements.

An increase in the number of non-permanent

members of the Security Council should restore the

principle of equitable geographic allocation of seats for all

regional groups. In this connection, Azerbaijan supports

an increase in the number of non-permanent members of

the Security Council from the Group of Eastern European

States, given that membership of the Group has doubled

in the past five years. We believe that one non-permanent

seat for our Group in the Security Council does not

reflect the current state of affairs and is not

commensurate with the role played by the members of the

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Group in the maintenance of international peace and

security.

Azerbaijan also supports the approach taken to the

question of equitable representation of Asian, African, Latin

American and Caribbean States in the Council. The issue of

the total number of permanent and non-permanent members

of the Security Council should first be addressed from the

perspective of maintaining and upgrading the efficiency of

the Council.

We fully support the Secretary-General’s idea that one

of the main directions for United Nations reform must be

to strengthen United Nations activities in the area of

coordination of international cooperation for development.

We are convinced that at a time when the question of

more rational use of United Nations resources, including

financial resources, has become a priority, the Secretary-

General’s decision to focus on the activities that the United

Nations can best carry out, from the standpoint both of

using existing intellectual potential and of meeting the

requirements of a large group of members of the

international community, is very wise.

The Azerbaijani Republic greatly appreciates the

nature and results of its cooperation with the United

Nations system in the area of socio-economic development.

Since our country joined the United Nations, dozens of

large-scale development projects have been implemented in

Azerbaijan with help from United Nations specialized

agencies. These projects have had a positive impact on the

all-round transformation of Azerbaijani society. I would like

to make particular mention of the establishment of a free

economic zone in the third largest city of Azerbaijan,

Sumgait, and the programme to rehabilitate the territories

of Azerbaijan liberated from Armenian occupation.

We welcome the idea of establishing a United Nations

Development Group, and we believe that strengthening

coordination in the activities of the various agencies will

add to the efficiency of the operational development

activities of the Organization. Among the factors that could

help us achieve this goal are the elaboration of a

comprehensive strategy for the activities of specialized

agencies vis-à-vis the recipient countries, the elimination of

overlap in functions and programmes, a renewed

concentration on priorities, and the improvement of

partnership mechanisms with State institutions and non-

governmental organizations of Member States.

But all these good wishes and hopes may prove to

be simply an unattainable dream if they are not

accompanied by a relevant resource base. In this respect,

Mr. Kofi Annan’s idea of creating a new system for

mobilizing core resources for development purposes,

through voluntary contributions and negotiated pledges

that would be made available in multi-year tranches, is to

be commended and supported. We are convinced that it

is necessary to provide the broadest possible mandate for

the Secretary-General’s proposed Office for Development

Financing.

We welcome the Secretary-General’s proposal to

deepen and expand the partnership between the United

Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions with a view

to strengthening cooperation and increasing the

rationalization and coordination of activities. In recent

years Azerbaijan has accumulated considerable experience

through fruitful cooperation with the World Bank and the

International Monetary Fund (IMF). Thanks to this

cooperation it has been possible to improve the overall

economic situation in the Republic, to curb rampant

inflation and restore economic growth.

Reforming the structure of the Secretariat

departments dealing with social and economic matters and

conferring new functions on the Economic and Social

Council are, in our view, logical elements of the

comprehensive reform programme proposed by the

Secretary-General.

At the same time, it is obvious that reform will not

produce the best results if the finances of the

Organization are not put into good order. Given this fact,

we understand the proposal for the establishment, as a

temporary measure until the Organization’s financial

situation is on a solid basis, of a Revolving Credit Fund

with initial capital of up to $1 billion financed from

voluntary contributions or other means that Member

States may wish to suggest. In this connection we also

fully support the Secretary-General’s proposal to open a

development account.

We are also firmly convinced that reforming the

personnel policy of the United Nations should be an

inseparable part of the reform. We are deeply concerned

by the fact that even today Azerbaijan is still not

represented in the Secretariat.

In recent years the world has been overwhelmed by

a wave of extraordinary situations resulting from armed

conflict, natural disasters and economic crises. As a

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consequence of these situations millions of people have lost

their homes, been deprived of food and basic living

conditions and have become refugees and displaced

persons. This issue is of particular relevance to Azerbaijan,

as refugees and displaced persons in the Republic are in

dire need of emergency humanitarian assistance. Recently,

several regions of Azerbaijan suffered flooding as a result

of continuous rainfall, which inflicted serious damage on

the economy and the people. Azerbaijan greatly appreciates

the humanitarian activities of the United Nations aimed at

protecting and saving the victims of armed conflict and

natural disasters.

We fully endorse the idea contained in the Secretary-

General’s report that humanitarian actions today extend

beyond the mere provision of relief and also entail early

warning, prevention, advocacy and rehabilitation as well as

assistance for transition to long-term development. At the

same time we hope that structural changes — such as the

creation of the Office of the Emergency Relief Coordinator

to replace the Department of Humanitarian Affairs and the

mobilizing of its efforts to deal more effectively with

complex emergencies — will not result in a decrease in

humanitarian assistance for single recipient countries that

are faced with the consequences of armed conflicts, foreign

aggression and occupation and that have hundreds of

thousands — even millions — of refugees and displaced

persons.

This also applies to the suggested reforms of the

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), of whose

Executive Board Azerbaijan is a member. We believe it

necessary to maintain the independence of UNICEF in the

areas of fund-raising and contacts with donors to ensure

contributions for funding the programmes of the

organization and accountability to donors with regard to

how the funds are spent. We consider it important that the

specialized agencies continue to have specific goals and

mechanisms to achieve those goals. At the same time we

support the proposals regarding a common starting point,

close coordination and interaction, and the adoption of

measures to avoid overlap and the dissipation of resources.

UNICEF’s mandate includes not only the development

of children, but their protection and survival. The United

Nations Children’s Fund, together with such entities as the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees and the World Food Programme, becomes

actively involved in saving the lives of children in

emergencies. There is an effective mechanism for

interaction between UNICEF and humanitarian

organizations, donors, Governments and local and

international non-governmental organizations. We hope

that the establishment of the United Nations Development

Group will not weaken but, on the contrary, strengthen

this function of UNICEF.

We support the idea of common premises for United

Nations missions at the country level, to be called “UN

House”. This would certainly encourage closer and more

effective interaction between specialized agencies and

United Nations programmes. As for Resident

Coordinators, we believe it would be expedient to select

them from representatives of all interested organizations.

A mechanism such as rotation should be worked out for

this. We also support the idea of convening joint

committees and consecutive meetings of relevant

executive boards.

On the eve of the twenty-first century, it is high time

to consolidate the efforts of all countries for a resolute

attack on crime, drug abuse and terrorism. Organized

underworld groups that enjoy access to sophisticated

technologies and weaponry are challenging law and order

as well as economic, political and other institutions, not

only in individual countries but in entire regions and

throughout the world. The United Nations must be at the

forefront of the battle to curtail the activities of such

groups. At the same time, we need to ensure that the

efforts of the international community are centralized if

we are to succeed in crushing crime and drug abuse. In

this context we support the idea of uniting the United

Nations International Drug Control Programme with a

new Centre for International Crime Prevention to create

a new Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, to

be located in Vienna.

Ensuring human rights remains one of the most

important of the Organization’s fields of activity. It is

especially urgent today when the issue of human rights

permeates all aspects of public life and is equally relevant

to all countries and all regions of the world. Human rights

are closely connected with political, economic, social and

other processes. The events of recent years have

demonstrated that expansionist actions on the part of

some States, aggressive separatism and economic

difficulties deprive States of their ability adequately to

defend and ensure the human rights of their citizens. That

is why the United Nations will have to strengthen its

activities, exposing and neutralizing the factors that lead

to human rights abuse. We approve in particular of the

measures recommended by the Secretary-General with

regard to existing or potential conflicts or post-conflict

situations affecting human rights.

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We believe it right to suggest that the issue of human

rights must be considered to an equal degree in all four

substantive fields of the Secretariat’s work programme:

peace and security, economic and social affairs,

development cooperation and humanitarian affairs. In the

context of enhancing the work of the Organization’s

divisions in the field of human rights, we commend the

consolidation of the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights and the Centre for Human

Rights into a single Office of the High Commissioner. This

will strengthen that entity and lay the groundwork for more

efficient use of available human and financial resources.

The Secretary-General’s report “Renewing the United

Nations: A Programme for Reform” (A/51/950) is a

comprehensive and far-reaching set of changes aimed at

overhauling the Organization. The quintessential idea of the

report that reform should constitute a continuous and steady

process, not a quick fix, is of particular significance.

In conclusion, I would like to point out that the

suggested measures and recommendations are aimed both

at creating new structures of leadership and management

and at harmonizing the activities of all bodies of the United

Nations.