Kingdom of Denmark, 1997

First of all, I would

like to refer to the intervention which will be made

tomorrow by the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg on

behalf of the European Union. I should also like to

congratulate the Foreign Minister of Ukraine on his

election as President of the General Assembly.

Allow me to reflect a bit on the fact that three

decades ago a Danish Prime Minister, Mr. Jens Otto

Krag, presented our yearly address to the twenty-second

session of the General Assembly. The challenges of today

are not very similar to those of that time, and yet they are

no less complex nor of lesser magnitude. For the United

Nations to face these challenges, the Organization must

adapt. It must reform, must change and must modernize.

That is why reform must be a priority for this session of

the General Assembly. And that, in all humility, is why

I am here today: to support the Secretary-General and the

General Assembly and to do what I can on behalf of my

country in order to reach our goal at the end of this

session and to help make decisions that are necessary in

order to modernize and to reform.

Since the twenty-second session of the General

Assembly, 30 years ago, we have seen disappointments.

We have seen civil wars. We have seen frustrations,

backlashes and incredible suffering. Yet we have also

seen light. We have seen peace where war once raged.

We have seen former enemies living peacefully together.

Indeed, we have seen apartheid disappear. We have seen

the Berlin Wall fall. We have seen the oppressed coming

out of jails and being elected leaders of their countries,

and some of them rank among the world's most

outstanding leaders. We have seen the winds of change

sweep over entire continents.

I believe this: if our generation cannot believe in the

impossible, who can? If our generation cannot take the

decisions that are necessary, who else can? All in all, I

think this is of crucial importance for the United Nations.

A reform programme for the United Nations is not

only about a more efficient use of scarce resources. It is

also, and more importantly, about strengthening and

revitalizing the Organization so that it can effectively

carry out its core activities and meet the challenges of the

future. It must be a reform closer to the people, a reform

closer to non-governmental organizations and

parliamentarians, a reform unifying Governments, the

United Nations and peoples.

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The core activities and priorities are very clearly

described in the Secretary-General's reform programme.

With great precision and clarity, the Secretary-General has

spelled out elements that my Government fully subscribes

to: peace and security, economic and social affairs;

development cooperation; humanitarian affairs; and, as an

activity cutting across the others, human rights - because

human rights makes the United Nations the people's United

Nations. These core functions of the United Nations are

interdependent and mutually supportive. No amount of

funding will create sustainable development without peace,

good governance and respect for human rights. None of our

efforts in the field of peace and security or humanitarian

relief will have a lasting effect without efforts to create

sustainable development.

Denmark gives its full support to the reform

programme of the Secretary-General. We consider the

programme, in its totality, to be a significant contribution

towards strengthening the Organization and towards making

it more responsive, legitimate and efficient. I also note the

spirit of the Secretary-General in creating much greater

motivation among the employees of the United Nations and

much shorter lines between the Secretary-General and all

the rest of the people working for our common goal and

cause, here in this House and all around the world.

Reform is about shifting resources to the core

functions of the United Nations: shifting resources from

administration to development - in short, getting more

value for money, centrally, on the national level and

locally.

The reform programme constitutes a package. It

should be dealt with by the General Assembly as such. The

programme as a whole should receive the political

endorsement of the Assembly in the coming weeks. My

country endorses the package fully and wholly.

Ground-breaking work has been carried out on the

way towards Security Council reform. Expansion of the

membership of the Council is essential to enhance its

legitimacy. At the same time, its effectiveness and decision-

making capacity must be safeguarded. But - and I think

that there is a "but" - we must unify in order to reform.

We are gathered to reform, to open a new chapter of

reforming and modernizing the United Nations.

It has to be said that no institution can discharge its

functions without a sound financial basis. Member States'

fulfilment of their financial obligations must be considered

the touchstone of their attachment to the United Nations. I

am not a billionaire; I am probably not even a millionaire.

I am the Prime Minister of my country, and I know the

way to go. I know, on behalf of my country, our

obligations. I also know, on behalf of my country, the

financial duties my country has. I therefore hope that this

session will also be a turning point for all Member

countries of the United Nations, because a sound financial

basis first and foremost requires that Member States pay

their contributions in full, on time and without any

conditions. The contributions of Member States must be

based on their capacity to pay. Therefore let us join, as

we have done on the reform process, to finance the

United Nations on its path to the next century.

Political instability, violence and the collapse of the

structures of society have led to massive movements of

refugee populations. Large numbers of people - millions

of people - have fled to regions far from their homes.

We are deeply concerned about this situation. We must do

our utmost to support the humanitarian organizations in

their efforts to assist refugees and other displaced persons

as close to their local environments as possible: as close

to their homes as possible.

Yet refugees and other displaced persons cannot

return to their homes so long as anti-personnel mines

remain scattered throughout the countryside, so long as

human beings by the thousand are being injured or killed

when they work their fields, so long as children cannot go

to school without risking losing a limb on their way.

Mr. Secretary-General, you said it yourself in your

speech in Oslo: you underlined that the very presence, or

just the fear of the presence, of only one mine can stop

the work in a whole village, can stop the work in a whole

field, can make it impossible for families, or whole

villages, to survive and to create proper living conditions.

We must realize that, without mines, we would have

countries that could double or triple their agricultural

production and thereby help themselves. We must get rid

of these anti-personnel mines and must do it today rather

than tomorrow.

I look forward to the day when the last anti-

personnel mine has been produced. That will be a good

day for mankind. I look forward to the day when the last

anti-personnel mine has been removed. That will be a

good day for mankind, and that day must come soon. I

look forward to the day when a United Nations

convention will settle this matter so that it never comes

before us again.

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We must at the same time work at improving the basic

conditions of life for ordinary people in areas of conflict.

Only in this way can we prevent people from becoming

permanent refugees.

In the past year we have once again experienced how

quickly crises can break out in different parts of the world.

This underlines the need for the international community to

be able to react swiftly and in unity in order to prevent the

spread of violence and human suffering. As the Secretary-

General has noted, my country, Denmark, has taken the

initiative to establish a multinational standby high readiness

brigade (SHIRBRIG) within the framework of United

Nations standby agreements. The planning element for the

brigade was officially inaugurated by the Secretary-General

earlier this month in my country. The initiative is being

taken to increase the rapid-reaction capability, and it must

be carried forward. Improvements in the planning capacity

of the United Nations are under way and will help reduce

the overall response time.

Capacity within other areas must be enhanced as well.

Civilian police has proved crucial in many of the recent

operations. We must improve both the capacity and the

training of civilian police officers.

Next year we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of a

major achievement in the history of mankind: the 1948

adoption by the General Assembly of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights. The noble object of the

Declaration is the protection of individuals - not the

interests of States. All human beings are equal and deserve

equal protection against abuse. Therefore the standards of

the Declaration are by their very nature universal. Any

denunciation of human rights obligations is unacceptable

and demonstrates a lack of respect for human dignity.

On the subject of credibility, I wish to underline that

a connection must also be made between violence and

human rights violations and the consequences. I think,

therefore, that a significant recent development since the

adoption of the Declaration is the establishment of the

office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. I

welcome the new High Commissioner, Mrs. Mary

Robinson. She will receive our full support in her

endeavours to promote and ensure universal respect for

human rights.

But respect for human rights demands also

international justice. After the Nuremberg trials we all

believed that the Holocaust would never happen again, and

yet new genocides are haunting us. Therefore, we need a

permanent international criminal court. We will not allow

crimes against humanity to go unpunished. This is a

fundamental question of credibility, a fundamental

question of consequence and of justice. Setting a precise

date for a diplomatic conference in 1998 is essential to

maintain the momentum for the early establishment of the

court, by the end of this decade.

The need to assist the poorest countries is as

important as ever. The poorest countries do not, I believe,

attract sufficient private capital flows, nor do they have

the potential to benefit from the liberalization of

international trade. It is time for action. It is time to

narrow the gap between rhetoric and action. I would

remind the Assembly of the World Summit for Social

Development, held in Copenhagen, and I would recall the

obligations undertaken there and our vision of narrowing

the gap between rhetoric and practical action. Education,

health and participation for women are fundamentals.

The role of the United Nations system in the field of

economic and social development is indispensable. I

should like to emphasize in particular the importance of

the United Nations as an Organization operating with a

global mandate and on the basis of a global approach of

sustainable development, security and good governance.

Let me mention by way of example the World

Conference on Women, held in Beijing. It should be a

primary task for the United Nations system to ensure an

effective follow-up to these conferences.

The United Nations should be at the forefront of the

global efforts to ensure sustainable development for all.

And yet let us be direct, clear and honest. The United

Nations development organizations concerned are entirely

dependent on voluntary contributions, and these have,

regrettably, followed a decreasing trend in recent years. I

think it is fair to say that the United Nations development

organizations themselves can be partly blamed for the

emerging funding crisis. All too often they have failed to

cooperate. Many donors have been frustrated to see

United Nations organizations engage in a costly

competition for funds. The mere fact that it has not been

possible until now for the United Nations organizations to

establish common premises at the country level is an

example of this situation.

Here again I feel that the Secretary-General's reform

proposals are a significant contribution towards redressing

this unfortunate situation. Let us have one coordinated

United Nations house in each country, and let us not

compete among United Nations organizations but

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cooperate effectively. That is a vision that we want to

follow and to support.

The many, many problems faced by minorities in our

world, and not least by indigenous peoples, must be

addressed in a coherent manner. We must ensure that

indigenous peoples are given real influence on matters

pertaining to them.

That is why my country, Denmark - in close

cooperation with the indigenous population of Greenland -

has called upon the United Nations and its Member States

to establish, within the framework of the Economic and

Social Council, a permanent forum for indigenous peoples.

This forum should have a broad mandate to cover a wide

range of issues. Indigenous peoples themselves must be

ensured the possibility of active and effective participation

in its establishment and in its function.

The United Nations is the future for all of us on this

globe - a future that can be improved by closer

cooperation with regional organizations. This cooperation

must be strengthened. Since the political changes in Europe

that began at the end of the 1980s, the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has taken on

an important role in that region. This role is a natural

expression of its status as a regional arrangement under

Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. The

OSCE cooperates closely with the United Nations in a

number of areas. By taking on responsibility within its own

geographical area, the OSCE contributes to the United

Nations ability to deal with crises elsewhere.

As Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, my Foreign

Minister has given high priority to strengthening the

relationship between the OSCE and the United Nations. We

have frequent contact with the Secretary-General and have

encouraged closer relations between the secretariats.

Let me conclude. It is time for reform, as the

Secretary-General so wisely said, and I should like in this

connection to make three points.

My first point is that the reform programme put

forward by the Secretary-General deserves our full support.

If adopted, it will leave this Organization in much better

shape. For the sake of our common future this is needed.

Let us decide and let us follow up.

My second point is this: we need the United Nations,

and the United Nations needs us. We must ensure the

necessary funding for the world Organization and its

development agencies. We must do this to make the

world a better and safer place. Every Member must pay

in full, on time, without conditions.

Finally, my third point: we must address the negative

legacies of the past. We cannot solve the problem of

refugees and displaced persons without making it possible

for them to return to their homes. They cannot and will

not do that as long as their physical well-being is

threatened by inhumane anti-personnel mines and as long

as their political future is threatened by war criminals

who have not been brought to justice.

Human rights are not just about words. It should also

be a human right to be able to live a secure life. At the

World Summit for Social Development at Copenhagen,

we said, "You cannot any longer have secure States

without secure people inside". This is what we need the

United Nations to help us with.

This is not a perfect world, but I remain an optimist.

With the United Nations as an organization for the people

and by the people, we can make this world a better place.

Let us join hands to make the twenty-first century a

happier one.