Belgium, 2008

Belgium echoes the congratulations that have been

extended to Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on his

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-third session, and wishes him every success.

During the past year, the international community

has faced unprecedented challenges. As we gather here

in New York, a major crisis of confidence is shaking

the financial markets. This has an impact, of course, on

the world economy. The spectre of a global recession

has been added to the already onerous challenges that

have arisen in recent times, such as the food crisis, the

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spike in energy prices, global warming, terrorism and

the danger of nuclear proliferation.

In addition, our world is changing and becoming

increasingly multipolar. In that regard, 8 August 2008

will remain symbolic: the very day on which China

offered us the unique spectacle of the opening of the

Olympic Games, Russia and Georgia were colliding in

a conflict with harmful repercussions for peace on the

European continent. The very foundations of the

balance that had existed since the 1990s seemed to be

called into question. This uncertain situation has far-

reaching consequences for international organizations.

We could imagine that, in the face of these

enormous challenges, all the world’s countries would

come together to combat them jointly. Unfortunately,

that is hardly what is happening. Belgium believes that

only through close cooperation and enhanced

multilateralism will we be able to respond to these

challenges. More than ever, whether we like it or not,

we are in a situation of mutual dependence. Crises

affect all of us, and the actions taken by some have an

impact on everybody else. That is particularly true for

the current serious financial crisis. If we can stabilize

the financial markets in the coming few days through

proactive measures, that will benefit not only the major

banks and their employees, but also the entrepreneurs,

consumers and citizens of the whole world, including

those in the least developed countries. Those countries

have already been heavily affected by the sharp

increase in the prices of agricultural and energy

products and are the least equipped to deal with a

tightening of credit conditions.

Stabilizing the markets is certainly necessary, but

it must not make us lose sight of the lessons to be

learned from the crisis and the corresponding medium-

and long-term measures to be taken to ensure that the

world does not again become victim to financial

management that at times is risky and immense

speculation with borrowed money.

We are well aware that the crisis goes far beyond

the capacity of a single country, however powerful it

may be. Better regulation of financial markets and the

drawing up of control regulations are essential, in

particular with regard to short selling, hedge funds and

structured products. That is a task that can be

undertaken only at the international level, in close

cooperation among the world’s economies.

Understand what I am saying: Belgium is

convinced of the advantages of globalization and free

trade. We must not forget that thanks to that

globalization of trade, in recent decades the world has

seen remarkable development and that hundreds of

millions of men and women have escaped extreme

poverty and today have a better daily life, even if the

sharing of wealth still remains too unequal.

The developed countries have the duty to

spearhead a better organization of the financial world.

The European Union has already taken steps in that

direction, and we welcome that. However, there

remains much to do. Here, I make an appeal that we

embark on that task together, with energy and

dedication.

The emergence of new economies is an asset for

the world. Ever more countries are determined to

become players in the international system. They must

take their due place, as the French President

emphasized last Monday on behalf of the European

Union (see A/63/PV.5). It is also in everyone’s interest

to demonstrate responsibility.

I would like to stress today that the emerging

economic Powers, from Brazil to India and from China

to South Africa, have, more than we do and more than

ever, a need for trade that is both open and fair to

continue to develop their economies at the pace they

deserve, without however causing imbalance in the

pillars of international trade. Here too, we must again

find the constructive political will necessary to restart

the Doha trade negotiations that unfortunately failed in

Geneva last July.

We all must also show ourselves to be responsible

players, in order to try and find solutions to the

challenges posed by the food crisis and the huge

increase in energy prices and to combat the causes and

effects of climate change. Those challenges we face,

issues that are extremely complex and closely

interlinked, are different facets of one and the same

question, a question that is at the heart of the concerns

of my country: that of sustainable development. None

of us can resolve these problems alone. They call for

solutions at the world level. It is thus crucial that we

successfully conclude in December 2009 the

negotiations for a global agreement on climate, as we

pledged in Bali.

Nor is it by closing in upon ourselves that we

shall reduce the huge inequalities that still characterize

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global development. Better distribution of the fruits of

economic growth is a world responsibility that

concerns us all. The Millennium Development Goals

must remain our main guiding principle. The Follow-

up International Conference on Financing for

Development to Review the Implementation of the

Monterrey Consensus, which will take place in Doha at

the end of this year, will be an important moment. The

developed countries must do more, and I reiterate

Belgium’s determination to achieve the objective of

devoting 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic product to

official development assistance by 2010.

However, this is a shared responsibility, which

first and foremost falls to the Governments of the

countries involved. That is why Belgium will continue

to work actively in promoting the concept of good

governance.

In that regard, the issue of natural resources is

particularly important to me. It is not a matter of

calling into question the sovereignty of any country.

But sovereignty also carries with it responsibilities —

indeed, responsibilities first and foremost. Natural

resources may be a driving force of development to

draw populations out of poverty if their exploitation is

undertaken in a transparent way to benefit the economy

of the country. Unfortunately, experience shows that

frequently that is not the case and that illegal

exploitation often fuels conflict. Therefore, we must

work towards achieving greater transparency and

fighting illegal exploitation. That is why Belgium

organized last year a debate on that subject in the

Security Council (see S/PV.5705), and why it would

like extensive debate on natural resources during the

current session of the General Assembly.

As a member of the Security Council, Belgium

has had the opportunity to be at the heart of the

international system. That has bolstered our conviction

that we can meet those great challenges only through

increased international cooperation and has further

strengthened our determination to work for effective

multilateralism. The key to that effectiveness is not to

be sought only in structures and mechanisms. It lies

also and above all in our political will to make them

work and together to find solutions to our common

problems.

Here, I note with regret a certain turning inwards,

even a return to sovereignty-based concerns. I want to

be clear: I have great respect for the sovereignty of

States. That goes without saying. That is one of the

fundamental principles upon which our international

system is founded. However, being a sovereign State

also means that a State must shoulder its

responsibilities in the international community, even

more so with regard to its own population. Being a

sovereign State does not mean that it can neglect the

needs of its citizens in terms of development, security,

the rule of law and human rights. Sovereignty does not

give carte blanche for conduct that is incompatible

with the values and commitments to which we have

subscribed within the United Nations. Sovereignty

must be a force for good, and not an excuse for a State

not to meet its responsibilities and to avoid its

international and humanitarian obligations. Otherwise,

it becomes what I would call souverainism: an abuse of

sovereignty behind which to hide and escape its duties.

Too often the argument of respect for sovereignty

prevents the international community from acting when

the situation in a country is deteriorating before our

eyes, resulting in the population suffering and an

increase in serious human rights violations. The

examples are well known and strike us all. Myanmar,

Darfur, Zimbabwe and the eastern Congo all confront

us with a responsibility to protect, a responsibility that

the international community is called upon to exercise

when a sovereign State cannot or, worse, refuses to

assume that responsibility. That can be undertaken

through humanitarian instruments, the civil

administration of crises, peacekeeping or peace-

restoration missions, or, earlier on, crisis prevention.

In that context, I wish to speak of combating

impunity. Belgium is convinced that there cannot be

lasting peace without justice. That principle guides our

foreign policy. It is achieved in the first place by

bolstering the rule of law and justice at the national

level before, during and after a conflict. For the gravest

crimes, we actively support the development of

international criminal law. This is not the time to let

any doubts persist with regard to our active support for

the International Criminal Court by putting forward, as

some do, other, more regional solutions. That is

particularly true now when the Court is preparing its

first trial.

Peace and security are the responsibility of the

international community as a whole, and it is in that

spirit that Belgium approached its mandate in the

Security Council, nearly two years ago: seek

constantly, in a constructive and non-dogmatic manner,

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the best way to move things forward. It is particularly

pleased with the progress in crisis management and the

extraordinary expansion of peacekeeping operations.

From that perspective Belgium calls for a renewal of

the United Nations Organization Mission in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo with a strengthened

mandate, which is a key factor in maintaining in the

eastern Congo the prospects for settling the crisis and

avoiding a Somalian scenario.

Belgium also welcomes efforts of regional

organizations and their collaboration with the United

Nations. I am thinking, for instance, of the European

Union alongside the United Nations in Chad and the

Central African Republic.

We need to make further progress with regard to

an integrated and comprehensive approach to conflict

resolution. The establishment of the Peacebuilding

Commission is a real step forward in that area. That is

why Belgium has assumed the chair of the country-

specific configuration on the Central African Republic.

Major progress has been made, but much remains to be

done, in particular in order to better help countries

during that delicate phase when they are emerging

from crisis.

We will soon celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That will

be the time for us to remember the values that it

represents and that we all share, and to which we all

subscribed and which we should implement for the

benefit of our citizens and for greater well-being

throughout the world. It is a responsibility that we must

remember, particularly since it seems to be called into

question at a time when we are faced with the major

challenges that I have just described. Together and on

the basis of our shared values, we should assume those

responsibilities.

That is the real challenge. It is not through less,

but more international cooperation and multilateralism

that we will achieve solutions.