Belgium, 1995

“[Today more then ever we should realize that

we are delegations of many countries] to the same

Assembly which collectively represents the interests of

the world. [We must be] conscious, over and above

the interests of our own country, of the interests of the

world and of mankind.

“Each of us must first of all make an effort to

sink our preferences, to put aside our particular

sympathies and our particular antipathies.

“The fact is that ... we did not succeed in

forming a real international spirit. ... If we can create

that kind of spirit, and if we can practice what I

regard as the two cardinal virtues ... that is to say,

good faith and good will, if we are able to apply

certain simple but important rules ... we shall succeed.

“[In an Assembly like that of the United Nations,

we must make a great effort to bridge our various

views.] Naturally, we must all watch over the interests

of our respective countries, but we shall not succeed

unless we are convinced that those interests must take

their place in the wider setting of the general interest.”

(Official Records of the General Assembly, First

Session, Part One, Plenary Meetings, 2nd meeting,

p. 48)

What I have just said was not written recently. It was

not written when we drafted the Belgian statement for the

fiftieth session of the General Assembly. It was an extract

from the official statement delivered by the President of the

General Assembly at its first session, Mr. Paul Henri

Spaak, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium. His

appeal, issued at London on 11 January 1946, is as

pertinent today as it was then.

The United Nations was long paralysed by geopolitical

problems posed by the East-West rivalry, but in recent

years the Organization has been able increasingly to focus

on all aspects of universal society. This is a philosophy that

marks a change in global attitude. Human rights, sustainable

development, the environment, social change, population

questions and the rights of women, to name but a few, have

been on the agenda of the major international conferences

successfully organized by the United Nations. A

precondition for the success of this international approach

is that we have the courage to break away from the old

taboos and dare for the first time to discuss issues as never

before.

It is impossible for me here to discuss each and

every one of these items, and I shall limit myself to

highlighting two of them. I realize that in doing so I may

be ignoring so many other problems which are important

for the immediate future of our United Nations.

I will start with the question of disarmament. In May

this year 180 countries agreed to the extension of the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

(NPT). The five nuclear Powers pledged to reduce further

their already greatly reduced arsenals, and all other

participants solemnly promised indefinitely never to

acquire these weapons, which jeopardize the very

existence of the Earth. Belgium urged other non-nuclear-

weapon States to accept the indefinite extension of the

NPT; I detected the firm will of all signatories to respect

the Treaty in letter and spirit.

We expect nevertheless that nuclear arsenals will be

further reduced. In this context we pin great hopes on the

prompt ratification of the START II treaty. Nuclear non-

proliferation should be strengthened as soon as possible

by the signing next year of a comprehensive test-ban

treaty and by a treaty prohibiting the production of fissile

material for military use. Those two treaties will provide

an indispensable complement to the NPT on the path

towards the total nuclear disarmament which Belgium has

always desired.

The coming negotiations on a comprehensive test-

ban treaty will show whether or not the nuclear Powers

are willing to accept the zero option, which to my mind

is the most important question for the future. In this

context Belgium deplores the recent nuclear tests and

fervently hopes that the other nuclear-weapon States will

maintain their moratoriums. A decision not to conduct any

further tests would strongly promote the creation of a

propitious atmosphere for the resumption of the

negotiations and their successful completion in 1996. On

behalf of Belgium, I strongly urge the nuclear-weapon

States to desist from all further testing.

I have just spoken about what are called weapons of

mass destruction, and obviously the threat posed by

nuclear and biological weapons is enormous. But we

should remember that in fact it is conventional weapons

that claim by far the most victims. In cooperation with

the European Union, Belgium will play an active role in

this field, as we have done in recent months with regard

to anti-personnel mines. In this regard my country has

been a pioneer, including through the adoption by its

Parliament of forward-looking legislation prohibiting the

22

production and use of such weapons in Belgium. In the

United Nations we joined in the initiative to hold a special

conference in Geneva, over which my country had the

honour to preside. Belgium is also aware of the dangers

posed by new laser weapons and their horrendous

consequences. My country is prepared to adopt an activist

policy in this sphere.

To my mind, the next priority of the United Nations

is social and economic progress. The promotion and

protection of human rights are an essential element of this.

Our own history shows that respect for human rights and

the existence of a State based on law and of political

institutions elected and functioning democratically and

following the principles of good management are absolute

conditions for sustainable development.

Yet we cannot say that the results of international

cooperation have been altogether positive. Countries both of

the South and of the North must ponder this. It makes no

sense to speak of peace on Earth if at the same time we

cannot pursue the planet’s social and economic

development. World-wide overall wealth has increased

sevenfold in the past 50 years and international trade has

grown even more. But at the same time poverty has never

been greater. Furthermore, economic recession and the debt

crisis have affected certain sections of the population in

developing countries more than others. The inequalities in

the distribution of income and wealth have therefore

become even greater. To combat this we need to act

internationally, if only because of the globalization of the

world economy. Intensive multilateral cooperation,

including cooperation between the international financial

institutions, the International Labour Organisation (ILO)

and the World Trade Organization will be necessary. We

must also consider how the population can be involved in

the preparation and implementation of reforms.

Of prime concern are basic needs. Real social

development is impossible if those are not cared for.

Belgium is ready to participate in this effort, as it has long

done. The Belgian social security system too is marking its

fiftieth anniversary. That system is now being questioned,

for the unemployment rate has increased dramatically,

threatening the financing of the whole system. However,

this system remains the best guarantee for preserving the

balance between economic development and social

development. The State should remain responsible for the

provision of the basic needs for all.

Belgium therefore calls for the development of a

mechanism which allows economic development to go hand

in hand with social development. Governments must

respect the rights of workers and improve working

conditions and the security and health of the workers. The

five basic social conventions of the ILO — relating to

minimum age for employment, the abolition of slavery,

freedom of trade unions, freedom of negotiation and

non-discrimination — should be internationally

recognized as fundamental conventions, which would

provide a concrete impetus for this.

The major international conferences organized by the

United Nations have proven a useful means of studying

basic questions relating to the goal of social emancipation

and genuine sustainable development in all countries. In

Rio de Janeiro, old concepts of development were

replaced by that of sustainable development, which has

functioned as a common theme throughout all the other

conferences.

At the World Conference on Human Rights, in

Vienna, a Declaration was adopted which underscored and

enriched the universal consensus on the respect due under

all circumstances to human beings. It called on all

Member States not only to prevent human rights

violations, but also to promote those rights. For its part,

Belgium was the first country in Europe to adopt a law,

in February 1994, linking respect for human rights to

development cooperation.

The International Conference on Population and

Development, held at Cairo, recognized the relationship

between the individual’s reproductive and sexual health

and the development of every individual and every

country.

The importance of the World Summit for Social

Development, held at Copenhagen, lay above all in its

integrated approach to linking the fight against poverty,

the creation of jobs, and the promotion of social

integration, and in the adoption on that basis of

coordinated national and international strategies. It is

gratifying also to note the universal consensus on the

concepts and issues that will deserve our attention in the

future.

Finally, the Fourth World Conference on Women,

recently held at Beijing, stressed the role of women as

full participants in the decision-making process and in

economic affairs, by recognizing that genuine sustainable

development and true democracy will be impossible

without women.

23

The United Nations should make economic and social

development its highest priority. It should involve world

public opinion in these decisions and should ensure their

follow-up and resolutely implement them in the field.

Belgium is prepared to reflect the programmes of action of

all these conferences in its future policies in the spheres of

development cooperation, foreign trade, international

finance and in its foreign policy in general.

I have laid stress on two areas where the United

Nations will play a decisive role. It will be a challenge to

us all; the results will not be assessed until the hundredth

anniversary of the United Nations. To meet our goal, it is

vital for us to strengthen the tool that is the United Nations.

The United Nations and its specialized agencies must

maintain — and strengthen and adapt — their resources and

activities so as to give effect to the decisions and

achievements of these conferences. Specifically, duplication

must be avoided; rationalization and the possible merging

of bodies working in the same field are inevitable.

The Economic and Social Council must be

rehabilitated; its role could be reviewed. It should be the

most suitable body for staging international conferences

and, through the United Nations system, should coordinate

and supervise the implementation of conventions and

programmes. It should also spur interaction among the

major agencies and institutions of the United Nations

system.

The agenda of the General Assembly must be

reviewed so that the Assembly can regain its original role

as the Organization’s supreme decision-making, deliberative

and policy-making body.

Security Council reform is the subject of intense

debate. Without going into details, I would like to recall

Belgium’s view that such reform should strengthen, inter

alia, the Council’s capacity for action and its

representativity. The Charter gives the Council

responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and

security on behalf of all, and for the benefit of all. Belgium

is convinced that the authority of Council decisions would

be enhanced if troop- and equipment-contributing countries

were more closely involved in the preparation of those decisions.

The Organization is facing numerous financial

problems. The development of new activities is often

hobbled by disagreements on the allocation of costs. There

is a growing structural rift between the capacity for

multilateral action and the increasingly frequent demands

for intervention.

How can we prevent the United Nations from

becoming a victim of its own success? One fundamental

obligation is that every Member State must promptly pay

the contribution it has been assessed based on its ability

to pay. Non-payment is a serious violation of

commitments, and is even more deplorable when certain

delinquent contributors are also demanding a special role

in the Organization’s policy- and decision-making

processes.

Finally, we must keep working towards the new

international spirit to which I referred at the beginning of

my statement. Without such a new awareness in society

at large, we shall never be able to make the United

Nations into the universal instrument for peace and

sustainable development it must be. In that context, I

want to close with another quotation from that great

statesman, the first President of the General Assembly,

Belgian Foreign Minister Paul Henri Spaak, who as early

as 1943 said that

“The world will never be organized if each

State retains its full national sovereignty and the

absolute right to resolve its political and economic

problems as it sees fit”.