Canada, 1996

I am happy to join other

speakers in warmly congratulating His Excellency Mr.

Razali Ismail on his assumption of the presidency of the

General Assembly. I also wish to express Canada’s deep

appreciation of the excellent manner in which Mr. Freitas

do Amaral managed the deliberations of the fiftieth

session of the Assembly.

Forty years ago, in the depths of the cold war, the

General Assembly authorized the setting up of a

peacekeeping force in Suez. Thus emerged an important

tool for the international community, one that has since

served the cause of peace in many different forms around

the world.

(spoke in French)

Canadians take special pride in peacekeeping

because the concept was developed in part by their

Foreign Minister, Lester B. Pearson, who received the

Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

As we reflect on the fortieth anniversary of United

Nations peacekeeping, there are certain conclusions to be

drawn. The United Nations has played a crucial role

throughout the world by dint of its peacekeeping role.

Innovation is both necessary and possible within the

United Nations, and in our time, different as it may be,

the spirit of internationalism, of commitment to

cooperation, calls to us once again.

(spoke in English)

In a new and changing global environment

internationalism is ever more important for all nations,

large or small, weak or powerful. Changing times have

set for us a new broad agenda, which includes focusing

on the security needs of individuals — in other words, on

sustainable human security. Unfortunately, the new times

have not sufficiently been reflected by a rededication to

the United Nations as an expression of the spirit of

internationalism. There remains too often a tendency to

act according to old power configurations rather than to

seek out collective approaches that address the roots of

conflict and attempt to resolve them through common

action.

12

The need for recommitment to the United Nations is

clear, and so too is the need for the renewal, restructuring

and refocusing of the Organization and its various bodies

and agencies. In implementing this agenda of United

Nations renewal we will no doubt encounter difficulties and

differences of opinion. But this should not discourage us.

We need the courage to innovate on two fronts, grappling

with a new and complex world agenda and restructuring the

United Nations to respond effectively to that agenda.

The basic mandate of the United Nations at its

founding was the prevention of international conflict. As

peacekeeping has changed over time, one can see the

evolution of a security agenda itself, from being a simple

buffer between States to an international responsibility for

maintaining order and an involvement in reconstruction.

The range of activities in recent times has been impressive,

from Haiti to Cambodia, from the Golan Heights to El

Salvador, from Bosnia to the peace accords now being

signed in Guatemala.

That range demonstrates that the international response

to threats to security has gone well beyond the initial

definition, which was limited to dealing with cross-border

aggression. Rather, in a continuum of threats, there is an

increasing focus on conflicts that take place within borders

but that have severe ripple effects throughout the entire

international system. These types of conflict are still, in

peacekeeping terms, largely uncharted waters, and of course

there are differences of view on how best to respond.

What is clear is the need for a new tool kit for the

United Nations to respond to a variety of different

situations. In this context I am glad to note that most of the

recommendations made in the rapid-reaction study

submitted by Canada last year are now being implemented.

Canada will continue to support United Nations efforts to

establish a headquarters that will enhance its ability to

respond rapidly and with flexibility. But that is only one

tool. Many more are needed, especially in the area of

prevention of disputes and in the arduous and complex task

of peace-building.

The failure of conflict prevention in Rwanda, as

outlined in the Rwanda evaluation report, has made

abundantly clear the need to enlarge the concept of peace-

building to embrace prevention as well as peacemaking and

reconstruction. Preventive action will require much greater

commitment from United Nations Members to intervene

early.

In Canada, we are currently focusing our approach

to these issues. We have started reworking our own

international tool kit to improve our ability to initiate and

support peace-building operations in areas such as

mediation, dialogue, human-rights monitoring, judicial

reform, police training and demobilization of military

forces. We look forward to cooperating with other nations

that are also exploring similar innovative approaches.

The search for new tools and the means to utilize

them collectively cannot, however, be a substitute for the

reinforcement of existing mechanisms to build peace. We

are about to take a historic step forward on the nuclear-

disarmament agenda. Today, the Comprehensive Nuclear-

Test-Ban Treaty was opened for signature. That Treaty is

the result of decades of hope and effort by people around

the world. This morning I signed the Treaty on behalf of

Canada. We call upon all States Members of the United

Nations to do the same.

The children of tomorrow should, we hope, never

have to know what a nuclear test is. If we can succeed in

this goal, and if we can vigorously pursue the goal of

systematically and progressively reducing nuclear

weapons, with the ultimate goal of their elimination, we

can ensure that those children know less and less about

the most terrible scourge to face humanity.

If the world can focus its energies on ending the

testing of sophisticated and expensive nuclear weapons,

we believe that there is real hope for setting ourselves the

goal of ending the use of the most simple, cheap and, on

a daily basis, most destructive weapon in use today, the

anti-personnel landmine.

We have all witnessed the suffering, death and

horrifying mutilation caused by mines. Canada, along

with many other countries and organizations, is engaged

in mine-clearance operations. But the simple fact is that

anti-personnel mines are being laid far faster then we can

pull them out of the ground. This is not just a

disarmament issue. It strikes at the very heart of

development, and the thousands upon thousands of

victims affected every year pose a stark challenge to

humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts.

Canada will host an international strategy session

this autumn, bringing together like-minded Governments,

international agencies and non-governmental groups to

provide impetus and direction to international efforts

towards a global ban on anti-personnel mines. I hope this

will help to catalyse efforts to build a consensus on a

13

strong, forward-looking resolution for this fifty-first session.

As such, it can provide further impetus to multilateral

negotiations on a full global ban.

A third milestone in this area is the Chemical

Weapons Convention, the first international treaty that aims

to introduce a complete, global ban on an entire category of

weapons of mass destruction. It is of the greatest

importance that it be brought into force as soon as possible.

(spoke in French)

During the cold war, we re-examined and redefined

the dimensions of international security to embrace the

concept of sustainable human security. The rule of law and

good governance are as important to maintaining global

peace as disarmament measures. We are also coming to

realize that real security cannot be guaranteed by the State

alone, but must involve civil society as well.

(spoke in English)

These realizations stemmed in part from a growing

sense of insecurity at the newly emerging but deadly threats

of what one writer has described as “the underside of

globalization”, including environmental degradation, crime

and terrorism, and a lack of equity between the peoples of

the Earth.

The recent series of United Nations conferences has

served both to define the concept of sustainable human

security and to bring home the growing challenges to the

security of the individual. The road map is clear; we do not

need to study it any further. Now is the time to move

forward in a concerted, comprehensive way.

There are already notable examples of what the United

Nations system has achieved, such as programmes to

improve children’s health and strategies to combat such

environmental threats as depletion of the ozone layer.

But as important as these advances are, there remain

far too many paper commitments instead of real progress

on the ground. Currently we are swamped by a plethora of

agendas, blueprints and plans that run the risk of exhausting

the ability of donor nations to respond to or have a real

impact on those most in need. Too many bodies are

established to implement these plans, creating jurisdictional

confusion and an overlap in implementation. We need to

recognize that in the realm of sustainable human security,

Governments are not alone. The groups and networks that

have emerged around the world representing women,

indigenous peoples and children, along with business and

finance, are now major players, and we need a system of

governance that recognizes this and brings them into

partnership with Governments themselves.

One example of a new system is the Arctic Council,

which was inaugurated in Ottawa last week. This

multilateral regional body brings together Arctic nations

and indigenous groups to cooperate in the sustainable

development and environmental protection of a unique

and precious part of the globe. The Council represents a

new model of international organization, bringing together

people and States to share their energy and resources in

a common cause.

The upcoming World Food Summit organized by the

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

(FAO) provides another opportunity to combine

governmental and non-governmental efforts. As a major

agricultural producer, Canada looks forward to working

with other nations and with non-governmental

organizations and representatives on solutions to the

problem of food security through approaches to

technology transfer, financing and land reform.

As private trade and investment flows into

developing countries increasingly outweigh the

significance of official development assistance, issues

such as terms of trade and debt take on even greater

significance. At the same time, new and complex issues

are emerging which existing international structures are

not well placed to address.

One major emerging issue is the relationship

between trade and labour standards. We are pleased to see

the International Labour Organization (ILO) focus on core

labour standards, including by working towards an

international convention on the elimination of forced child

labour. There can be no clearer example of an issue

where cooperation and dialogue with other international

and regional organizations, particularly between the ILO

and the World Trade Organization (WTO) and with non-

governmental groups is required in order to produce

synergy rather than overlap.

Sustainable human security means providing for

basic needs not just in economic ways, but in political

ways as well. Recent conflicts have demonstrated by

negative example that respect for human rights and

14

democratic principles is fundamental to the prevention of

conflict.

Last year, Canada commissioned work on the human

rights components of the United Nations field operations.

I am pleased to announce today that we will immediately

begin compiling a roster of qualified Canadian human rights

experts available for rapid deployment as part of larger

peace-building operations. We look forward to coordinating

our efforts with those of Norway and others to ensure

coherent, focused support for such United Nations efforts.

In 1998 we will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This will be an

occasion not only to reaffirm our commitment to its

principles, but also to consider further practical steps to

implement them. One step we will take is to promote, as

part of the fiftieth anniversary, the preparations led by the

High Commissioner for Human Rights, international

dialogue on means to combat hate propaganda, which is so

often the trigger of human tragedies such as genocide and

“ethnic cleansing”.

The establishment of international war-crimes

Tribunals in The Hague for the former Yugoslavia and for

Rwanda represents a critical element of necessary progress

in the field of human rights. They signal our determination

to hold accountable all individuals guilty of committing

atrocities, be they officials of the State or extra- or para-

State actors. Above all, they signal our determination to

break the cycle of hatred. It is for these reasons that Canada

strongly urges the prompt establishment of a permanent

international criminal court as a new instrument in the fight

against massive human rights violations.

There is one aspect of human rights that my

Government and I have personally decided to make an

utmost priority: the rights of children. Let me take this

opportunity to thank the Swedish Government and

commend the organizers of last month’s World Congress on

the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. It is

Canada’s fervent hope that this Congress will lead to the

implementation of the most effective practical measures, as

well as to the adoption and ratification of legally binding

international instruments to combat child slavery and the

commercial sexual exploitation of children. We should

move resolutely to conclude negotiation of the Draft

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the

Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child

Pornography.

We will work through our own development funds

with all countries interested in similar goals.

The concept of sustainable democracy requires,

beyond a commitment to respect for basic human rights,

also a commitment to democratic development. In the last

decade we have seen the United Nations involved in the

promotion of democracy from Cambodia to South Africa

to Haiti. Other multilateral organizations are also playing

an important role, such as the Organization for Security

and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the recent elections

in Bosnia. Recent conflicts have demonstrated the

importance of stable democratic structures in promoting

sustainable human security. They have also highlighted

the need to distinguish between legitimate aspirations and

dangerous tendencies towards fragmentation. Attempts to

structure political participation around culturally or

ethnically “pure” mini-States must be resisted by the

international community.

(spoke in French)

Haiti has been a critical test for the United Nations.

The promotion of democratization has been an integral

part of security. Concerted international effort is needed

to support democracy, not merely for the sake of one

leader or one election, but as part of the ongoing process

of laying the foundations of democratic institutions. We

must recognize this and must make the commitments

needed to ensure that the United Nations can work

effectively for peace and stability in Haiti.

(spoke in English)

Nigeria, Burundi and Burma are among the most

recent challenges to our collective ability to support

democratic aspirations. Canada remains firmly committed

to the restoration of democracy in these countries, and to

working in these countries and with our partners,

bilaterally, multilaterally and within the Commonwealth

and francophonie to this end.

The explosion of information technologies presents

great dangers but also great opportunities for human

security. Extremist groups can spread their message of

hate and intolerance more easily, and we have only to

look to Bosnia and Rwanda to see the tragic effects this

can have. Yet at the same time, these technologies have

placed powerful tools for the strengthening of civil

society in the hands of millions of individual citizens and

groups.

15

The development of information technologies raises

many other questions, including issues of access and of

countering abuses such as the transmission of child

pornography or terrorism. The Economic and Social

Council has mandated a study of these issues. In Canada

we believe we have solid knowledge and expertise in these

area in terms of technology and jurisprudence and we will

make major contributions to finding solutions.

I have outlined some of the major issues that require

conceptual innovation on the part of the United Nations.

The counterpart to conceptual innovation is innovation in

renewing existing United Nations structures and developing

new ones. We should not hesitate to eliminate those

programmes or bodies that no longer serve any useful

purpose, to reorient those whose mission so requires, and

to consolidate and eliminate duplication. Nor should we

hesitate to create new instruments, within existing

resources, to deal with the challenge of the day. Reform is

more than just cost-cutting, though that aspect must not be

ignored.

Our first priority is the ongoing financial crisis the

United Nations faces. We have seen some encouraging

progress in the establishment and early results of the

Efficiency Board.

Perhaps more importantly, there is a growing

awareness of the need for financial and administrative

restructuring. But much remains to be done. I cannot

simply content myself here with calling yet again for all

Members to pay their dues unconditionally — in full and

on time. I have to ask why it is that over half the Member

States are failing to meet this standard, and some are failing

to pay at all. Pressures on government budgets is no

excuse; Canada has in recent years undertaken some of the

most severe expenditure cuts of any developed country. Yet

we have maintained our commitment to pay our dues in full

and on time, because we believe that the United Nations

responds to key international priorities.

Perhaps some Members are withholding dues as a

form of blackmail, hoping to pressure the United Nations

into reforms through fiscal starvation. This is both wrong-

headed and short-sighted. An organization in crisis will not

have the energy required to tackle genuine reform. What is

needed here is political will, both in paying dues and in

moving forward in the difficult task of reviewing the scale

of assessments to better reflect the ability to pay. Canada

hopes that others will join us in demonstrating that will

during the current session of the Assembly.

Another priority is to strengthen the effectiveness of

the Security Council by giving it greater accountability,

representativeness, transparency and responsibility.

Canada attaches particular importance to the need to

ensure meaningful participation in decision-making by

those Members whose nationals — military or civilian —

are in the crossfire of the conflicts that the Council is

debating.

The Council needs to address two issues: its role and

its composition. On the former, if the Council is to come

to terms with the more complex nature of international

peace and security, it must be prepared to assume a

greater role in conflict prevention. This will require

cooperation among the Security Council, the Secretary-

General and other Governments and non-governmental

actors in identifying and addressing emergency crises.

On the latter issue, the Council can address

criticisms of it as a closed body whose membership does

not fully reflect changes in the world since 1945 by

increasing the number of seats. The distribution of those

seats should take into account in the first instance the

contribution of Members to the broader purposes of the

United Nations Charter, and also the need for equitable

geographic representation. Membership has its privileges,

but more importantly, it must bring with it a special

responsibility and commitment to the principles of the

United Nations Charter and to sustainable human security.

(spoke in French)

Equally important is the revitalization of the General

Assembly. The United Nations General Assembly is the

one body that brings together all nations of the world in

their full diversity. It represents on a global scale both the

essence and the challenge of democracy. The General

Assembly must achieve consensus and take decisions on

the new human security agenda. It must promote

sustainable human security, a concept that combines the

need to husband natural resources, to generate growth and

to ensure peace and security.

(spoke in English)

I have outlined today some of the steps that Canada

has taken to advance thinking, to improve existing

practices and to develop new ones. And I know that other

Member States have been working towards the very same

end. We now have many options to consider and discuss.

16

But plans, proposals and studies are not enough. As

the poet Yeats said, “In dreams begins responsibility.” It is

easy to dream; it is much harder to act. We have a renewed

vision of multilateralism, and a renewed mandate not just

for the prevention of conflict, but for the nurturing of

peace. We have started work on making that vision a

reality. We all recognize how daunting this task is as we

embark upon it; but we must persist, for the task is as vital

as it is difficult.

We in 1996 must show ourselves capable of restoring

the spirit of 1956 when, in the deepest freeze of the cold-

war climate, the United Nations gave birth to peacekeeping

and changed international relations forever. We need to find

within ourselves the ability and the will to innovate and the

persistence to implement our innovations. It is in the

interest of each one of us, as much as it is in the interests

of all of us, to do so.