Bhutan, 1997

I have the honour to convey to

all representatives the warm greetings and good wishes of

His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, King of Bhutan, for

the success of the fifty-second session of the United

Nations General Assembly.

May I express, Sir, my heartfelt congratulations on

your election to the high office of the presidency of the

General Assembly. We are confident that with your vast

personal experience and in-depth knowledge of the United

Nations you will lead our deliberations in this important

session to a fruitful conclusion.

I would like to express our deep appreciation to

Ambassador Razali Ismail of Malaysia for the bold and

innovative manner in which he led the fifty-first session of

the General Assembly.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay a special

tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his

dynamic leadership of our Organization. I wish to

congratulate him on his comprehensive report on the reform

of the United Nations and also to express our appreciation

to the Executive Coordinator for Reform and his team for

their valuable contribution.

This session of the General Assembly has been widely

regarded as a session for the reform of the United Nations.

I shall therefore confine my remarks to this subject. The

question of United Nations reform is not a new issue and

has been the subject of ongoing discussions. We share the

view that concrete steps must be taken this year so that the

feeling of uncertainty can be put behind us and we can

concentrate on other important challenges that confront our

Organization.

Before we embark on the task of reforming the United

Nations it is important that we first understand what the

United Nations means to different Member States. The

United Nations is certainly unparalleled in history as a

forum for international dialogue and cooperation, as well as

for the maintenance of international peace and security.

However, for many of the larger Members it remains but

one of several means of pursuing their national interests.

For smaller Member countries, however, the United Nations

remains the primary Organization for the protection and

expression of their sovereignty. Many of them also rely

heavily on the United Nations for their economic and social

advancement. Any reform of the United Nations must

therefore take into account the needs and aspirations of

the majority of its Members, which are small developing

countries. The United Nations must be able to protect the

political independence of its smaller Members and support

their social and economic development in order to enable

them to meet their aspirations for peace and development

without undue pressures or interference from outside.

The proposal for reform submitted by the Secretary-

General is significant in that he has not only sought the

views of Member States but has also taken into account

the perspective of the United Nations staff, for the

changes would have a direct bearing on their functions

and responsibilities. In our view, this effort to involve

Members States as well as the United Nations staff will

provide a congenial atmosphere in which to discuss

reforms and their subsequent implementation.

With regard to the reforms, there are clearly areas

which fall within the mandate of the Secretary-General.

It is our view that reforms which are already moving

ahead in some areas must be allowed to do so. We find

merit in clustering together various divisions within the

United Nations Secretariat in the core areas of peace and

security, humanitarian affairs, economic and social affairs

and human rights. We also find the various coordination

and planning mechanisms being put in place among the

new broad clusters necessary and useful.

We look forward to receiving from the Secretary-

General his report on the measures he is taking to

implement the organizational changes which are within

his mandate. While the General Assembly and some of

the existing consultative mechanisms exist and will no

doubt be used for interaction with the Secretariat, there

should be mechanisms by which the general membership

can interact with the newly formed divisions.

The new post of Deputy Secretary-General is

necessary in our view, given the formidable number of

responsibilities that the Secretary-General currently has to

shoulder. The role of the Deputy Secretary-General

should, however, be clearly defined in the larger interests

of the Organization.

The question of refocusing the work of the General

Assembly itself is an interesting proposal which we fully

support. The long debates in the Assembly, as well as in

numerous Committees, and the large number of issues

and resolutions, are well beyond the capacity of many of

the smaller Member countries to handle. We support the

4

idea of dealing with thematic issues, both within the

plenary and the Committees, during the annual sessions.

We also support the view that the follow-up to all

global conferences should be properly tied to the work of

the General Assembly. The resolutions and other decisions

adopted during the General Assembly must be organized in

such a manner that they will have a direct bearing on the

work of the Secretariat, providing both guidance and

direction.

The proposed Development Group that has been

constituted, bringing greater coordination of the three key

United Nations development agencies — namely, the

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United

Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) — is of special interest

to the majority of small developing countries to which the

activities of these agencies provide significant support. It

must be recognized that the coordination among these three

agencies must support the ongoing programmes which these

agencies have arrived at with individual countries and that

the changes should be brought about without any disruption

to the current programmes, both in financial and

programming terms.

As a country which has benefited greatly from the

activities of UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA, we express our

gratitude to these and other United Nations bodies and

specialized agencies for their assistance to my country. The

experience of Bhutan and many smaller developing

countries clearly indicates that there is a continued role for

these United Nations bodies and agencies. It is our hope

that with better coordination within the Development Group

and field-level implementation of their activities there will

be enhanced financial support by the donor community.

The proposal by the Secretary-General to have a high-

level ministerial commission to review the work of other

United Nations agencies and their relationship with the

General Assembly and the Secretariat is timely. The work

of the specialized agencies is extremely important, and it is

time their methods of work and their activities were

reviewed so that all United Nations programmes are better

synchronized.

All the efforts to reform and revitalize the United

Nations will not be possible if the United Nations does not

have a sound financial position. The financial health of the

United Nations must be restored. All members must work

earnestly towards meeting this objective. We welcome the

Secretary-General’s proposal to create a revolving credit

fund to meet the Organization’s funding. However, the

primary requirement must be met from the assessed

contributions of Member States. In this regard, it is our

view that the negotiations on the scale of assessments

must proceed and be resolved at an early date in a

manner that is acceptable to all Member States. We also

firmly believe that all Member States must meet their

financial obligations to the Organization through the

unconditional payment of their assessed dues in full and

on time. The United Nations must also institute more

dynamic means of fund management, including utilization

of the financial market in a prudent manner. All legal

restrictions to such management should be reviewed.

One of the most important issues relating to the

reform of the United Nations remains the membership of

the Security Council. It is our view that the discussions

on this issue, emanating from complex and fundamentally

inequitable premises, have led to the current difficulties.

However, the continued status quo does not benefit the

vast majority of Member States. Bhutan fully supports the

Non-Aligned Movement’s position that there must be

expansion of the permanent membership to include the

developed and developing countries and that there should

be additional non-permanent seats. The expansion must

take into account the new security needs and the objective

criteria, of who would best be able to shoulder the new

responsibilities. We believe that on the basis of objective

criteria, Japan, as one of the foremost economic and

political powers in the world today, qualifies for

permanent membership. Among developing countries,

India’s case merits serious consideration for permanent

membership due to its massive population — one out of

nearly six people on our planet is an Indian — and its

great economic potential, in addition to the fact that India

has played an active role in all United Nations activities.

Discussion on the expansion must continue, and we

should not be deterred by the complex nature of the

subject. We remain confident that an early and equitable

solution can be found.

It is our hope that the reform of the United Nations

and the renewal of the United Nations can be completed

in the two remaining years of this century, so that during

the millennium session of the General Assembly, in the

year 2000, we can concentrate on the vision and

aspirations of mankind for the twenty-first century.