Belize, 2003

My delegation celebrates the

wisdom of the United Nations in choosing one of our

distinguished Caribbean statesmen, Mr. Julian Hunte,

to preside over this fifty-eighth session of the General

Assembly. I assure you, Sir, that the energy and

industry that you will bring to our work will produce

very meaningful results in this very important session.

We continue to be fortunate to have the guidance

and strength of our Secretary-General, whose skill and

compassion are especially needed today. His words last

Tuesday echoed strong and true, and we should all take

heed.

And speaking of all, we need to respect the

principle of universality of our Organization. The time

has come to admit Taiwan to membership of the United

Nations. Taiwan has proven itself to be an exemplary

member of the international community with a deep

sense of solidarity with small and poor nations.

Belize’s Prime Minister has said:

“When we turn our attention to the

international stage there is greater cause for

anxiety. Let us ask ourselves: After all the

developments in building the international system

and crystallizing international law from 1945 to

the present, which of the following fundamental

principles are respected in practice or indeed safe

in theory: the peaceful settlement of disputes; the

right to self-determination, sovereignty and

territorial integrity; non-interference in the

internal affairs of States; the right of peoples to

have the social and political system of their

choice; respect for social, economic and political

human rights; not to use force or the threat of

force to settle disputes; respect for the

international rule of law; abiding by the Charter

of the United Nations; and working towards a

world governance based on multilateralism and

the rule of reason, rather than of force?

“Which of those is safe? Indeed, in the

international arena … we do seem to be in free

fall towards barbarism”.

Barbarism may not be new, but there does seem

to be a greater tolerance for it and we do seem to be

22

more powerless to contain it. In a world riddled with

fear and dominated by terrorism, including State

terrorism, we need to concentrate on what needs to be

done to save our humanity.

As we contemplate the international arena, with

multilateralism under threat and the development of

peoples blocked by the practices of the rich and

powerful, we can take comfort in one thing — that,

yes, in the end ideas are more powerful than arms. And

our ideas — we the United Nations of the world — are

clearly and powerfully set out in our Charter. Yes, the

Charter needs reform; we need urgently to democratize

our practice. Small States make up the majority of our

membership and elementary democracy demands that

we have a greater say than our Charter presently allows

us, but the basic principles of the Charter remain valid.

The fundamentals are in place.

Article 1 of the Charter states the fundamental

purpose of the United Nations: To maintain

international peace and security, and to that end to take

effective collective measures for the prevention and

removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression

of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace.

Article 24 of the Charter confers on the Security

Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of

international peace and security. Under Article 42,

should the Security Council consider that measures

short of the use of force would be inadequate or have

proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air,

sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or

restore international peace and security. Such action

must, of course, be agreed collective action, not

unilateral action.

I ask members of the Assembly: Is there any part

of that we do not understand? It seems perfectly simple

and clear to us small States, which depend on the

United Nations Charter and on respect for international

principles and international law for our very existence.

We are confronted with the question: Are we as an

Organization irrelevant? And I say: only if we make

ourselves irrelevant. And we do that only if we are

determined to self-destruct.

We can call here for many lofty objectives, as

contained in our Millennium Development Goals. We

can pronounce on the many injustices facing so many

peoples and countries in the present world

dispensation, but all of that would be futile if our very

United Nations should cease to be effective or become

irrelevant. That is why I have restricted my statement

to one plea to nations large and small, powerful or

weak: Keep the United Nations alive, respect its

Charter, abide by agreed international principles and

international law. That is all we ask, nothing more.

Above all, let us not give up what it has cost us so

much time and effort, so much blood, to bring to a

modest but important stage — our multilateral system.

All civilized nations would surely agree to this

plea rather than plunge the world into barbarism.

Multilateralism or chaos. Long Live the United

Nations!