Switzerland, 2009

We look back

on a year that has been exceptional in so many

respects. Twelve months ago, a bank only a few

hundred metres away from here collapsed and brought

the global financial system to the verge of breakdown.

The ensuing turbulence in the finance sector led to a

severe global economic downturn.

This illustrates the interconnectedness of our

world. It reminds us that other issues, such as climate

change, the food crisis, migration, pandemics,

terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction are not confined by national borders.

Rising to these global challenges requires determined

and coordinated action at the national, regional and

international levels. International cooperation has

become vital. The United Nations is the place where

this cooperation happens. Today, the world needs the

United Nations more than ever.

The United Nations should continue along its

path of reform in order to reinforce its legitimacy. At

the same time, exchanges between the United Nations

and other forums such as the Group of 20 (G-20) —

which is meeting today — must be strengthened. The

G-20 has taken over a role in discussing important

global issues. This development must not take place at

the expense of other nations or global institutions such

as the United Nations. The G-20 lacks legitimacy;

basic considerations of due process are absent in the

sanctions procedures. The members of the G-20

themselves are not subject to the same scrutiny.

Switzerland advocates a level playing field.

The financial and economic crisis continues to be

of concern to all of us. Governments and central banks

have put together vast stabilization packages. However,

quantity is not everything. What counts is quality.

Economic activity must revert to fundamental values

and virtues. It must focus on economic, social and

environmental sustainability. Through institutions such

as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank

and the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP), the United Nations has the knowledge and the

instruments needed to combat the financial and

economic crisis. It is important to ensure that the

voices of these institutions too be heard within the

G-20.

The present crisis has occasionally been used in

some quarters as an opportunity to question the market

economy and, indeed, globalization. I do not dispute

that reform is necessary. The failures and abuses have

been too big to ignore. Nevertheless, we must remind

ourselves that it is also thanks to a liberal economic

order and open markets that much of the world’s

population has been lifted out of poverty. Here, we

share the concerns of those who believe that the current

growing trend towards protectionism will lead us

straight towards disaster. My country therefore

welcomes the call made at the United Nations World

Conference on the Financial and Economic Crisis for

the swift conclusion of the Doha Round.

People in the developing countries have been hit

particularly hard by the financial and economic crisis.

There is a significant risk that the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals will be delayed. As for

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Switzerland, we have pledged to maintain our level of

development aid despite stringent budget constraints.

Developing and developed countries are jointly

responsible for achieving the Millennium Development

Goals. Next year, the United Nations conference

marking the tenth anniversary of the Millennium

Declaration will provide us with the opportunity to

reinvigorate this partnership and to improve the

effectiveness of development aid.

Sustainable development must also be our

guiding principle in the fight against climate change.

This is why the climate conference in Copenhagen

must be a success. Switzerland wants and is able to set

a good example. We will achieve our CO2 reduction

targets for 2012. For the period until 2020, we are

prepared to cut our CO2 emissions by 20 per cent. At

the global level, the costs of adaptation to climate

change will amount to several tens of billions of

dollars per year of which more than half will be at the

expense of developing countries. Switzerland has

therefore proposed the creation of a global carbon tax

which is based on the polluter-pays principle, in order

to deal with these emerging needs.

Violent conflicts continue to plague the planet,

rendering a life in dignity, peace and security elusive

for too many people. The unique legitimacy of the

United Nations allows it to play an active role in

conflict prevention, mediation, the protection of

civilians, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. My country

welcomes the greater involvement of the United

Nations in these areas and especially advocates the

strengthening of United Nations prevention and

mediation capacities. Switzerland is also active in the

area of peacebuilding. It has taken over the

chairmanship of the Peacebuilding Commission’s

country-specific configuration on Burundi and will

continue its initiative on armed violence and

development.

This year we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of

the Geneva Conventions. Since their creation, the

Geneva Conventions have set indispensable rules for

situations of armed conflict. New forms of armed

conflict and new means and methods of warfare make

it increasingly difficult to ensure respect for these

rules. It is unacceptable that civilian populations

should be so often the target of deliberate attacks and

that humanitarian aid personnel should be so often

denied rapid and unimpeded access to populations in

need.

In an effort to identify ways of improving

compliance with the Geneva Conventions, Switzerland

is organizing a ministerial side event on Saturday here

in New York. In November we will hold an

international conference of experts in Geneva, open to

all State parties to the Geneva Conventions. The

conference will focus on the current and future

challenges faced by international humanitarian law.

Human dignity is an inalienable right of all

human beings, regardless of their gender, origin or

religion. The Human Rights Council is the principal

forum for discussing human rights within the United

Nations. Both its special procedures and its universal

periodic review process have demonstrated their

effectiveness. This said, a great many challenges

remain. Switzerland will continue to work vigorously

for an effective Human Rights Council and will present

its candidacy for a second term starting in 2010.

The protection of human rights, along with the

promotion of democracy and the strengthening of the

rule of law will also be priorities of the Swiss

presidency of the Council of Europe from November

2009 to May 2010. Under the Swiss presidency, efforts

will be made to increase cooperation between the

United Nations and the Council of Europe.

2010 will thus be a symbolic year for the United

Nations. Five years will have passed since the adoption

of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document and ten

years since the signing of the Millennium Declaration.

Next year’s summit will be an opportunity to assess the

status of implementation of these declarations and to

initiate new, more comprehensive reforms. These are

necessary steps because only a reformed United

Nations will be in a position to find appropriate

responses to the global challenges.

In this context, it is my great pleasure to

announce to Member States that Switzerland has put

forward the candidature of Joseph Deiss, former

President of the Swiss Confederation, for the

presidency of the sixty-fifth session of the General

Assembly.

I will conclude with the following: the challenges

to be met are huge, however we must not yield to

pessimism. Throughout history, human beings have

demonstrated time and again that with courage,

imagination and persistence they are capable of great

achievements. The Swiss writer Max Frisch once said:

“A crisis can be a productive state. You just have to get

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rid of the aftertaste of disaster.” I absolutely agree. So

let us be productive and seize the opportunity to create

a prosperous, just, peaceful and sustainable world.