Kingdom of Denmark, 2005

The conclusion of the

summit last week marks the beginning of another busy

year for the General Assembly and the Member States

of the United Nations. The summit gave us an

ambitious new agenda and in the spirit of

multilateralism we must do our utmost to meet the

goals it set out. Denmark intends to pull up its sleeves

and contribute to that undertaking and I encourage

others to do the same.

In his impressive report “In larger freedom”

(A/59/2005), issued in March, the Secretary-General

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gave us the best possible basis for the necessary and

profound changes the Organization must undergo. The

spirit of the new interrelated reform agenda is captured

in the report’s observation that “… we will not enjoy

development without security, we will not enjoy

security without development, and we will not enjoy

either without respect for human rights” (A/59/2005,

para. 17). With those words the Secretary-General

identified the three pillars of the United Nations in the

twenty-first century: security, development and human

rights.

The custodian of international peace and security

is the Security Council. In October last year, members

elected Denmark as a non-permanent member of the

Security Council. We have — to the best of our

abilities — sought to translate the trust bestowed upon

us into action: Denmark holds the Chair of the Counter-

Terrorism Committee; we work for improvements in

United Nations peacekeeping by pursuing a holistic

approach to the concept of peacebuilding; we advocate

better protection for women and children; and we

support a stronger emphasis on the rule of law and the

need to end impunity.

The Security Council must clearly demonstrate its

will to enforce the decisions taken by it. If not, the

Council loses credibility, and the international

community loses its only forceful multilateral

instrument.

Targeted sanctions are an important instrument

for achieving compliance with decisions of the

Security Council and for compliance with international

law in general. We must continue an intensive dialogue

on how best to implement sanctions and how to follow

them up to ensure the desired outcome. The approach

must always include both carrot and stick — incentive

and punishment.

The United Nations plays a central role in efforts

to fight terrorism and we support the Secretary-

General’s outline for a comprehensive United Nations

counter-terrorism strategy that will engage the whole

United Nations system in the fight against terrorism.

We will take an active part in its further development

and implementation. We also welcome the new

resolution on terrorism adopted by the Security

Council (Security Council resolution 1624 (2005)).

As Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee,

Denmark regards itself as having a special

responsibility in that field. We have given priority to

enhanced cooperation between the relevant Security

Council subsidiary organs dealing with terrorism, and

we will continue to do so. We have also engaged in

dialogue with parts of the United Nations family not

previously involved in the fight against terrorism. The

aim of that dialogue is to identify their role in helping

States that would like to engage more actively in the

fight against terrorism, but which lack the capacity to

do so. We will continue our efforts to strengthen the

synergies between relevant United Nations actors to

further strengthen the counter-terrorism capability of

the United Nations.

Our efforts to fight international terrorism must

be carried out with full respect for human rights and

fundamental freedoms. It is imperative to strike the

right balance between, on the one hand, preventive and

swift action against terrorists and, on the other,

adequate safeguards for the individual, and not least

for those who have been unjustly listed.

The summit has sent an important political

message about the dedication of Member States to fight

terrorism, even if it was not as strong as we had

wished. We must now make every effort, at the present

session of the General Assembly, to reach agreement

on a comprehensive convention on international

terrorism. Any further stalling on that important issue

will send the wrong message.

The single most frightening scenario today is that

of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of non-

State actors. Such possession constitutes a danger to

civilizations all over the world. Nobody can claim to

be safe today. Everybody must acknowledge the danger

and refrain from activities that increase the threat. We

need a concerted effort in the field of non-proliferation

and disarmament. The failure of the non-proliferation

treaty review conference, held this spring, to produce

an agreement and the lack of new commitments at the

summit must not lead to resignation, but rather must

spur us to redouble our efforts.

At the same, time concerted action is needed to

end illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons,

which kill 500,000 people every year. Arms transfers

must be transparent. Denmark strongly supports the

adoption of an international arms trade treaty. Such a

treaty must be legally binding, include all weapons and

be United Nations-based.

Denmark favours a holistic approach to

peacebuilding. We believe the United Nations is well

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placed to coordinate international efforts to assist

countries emerging from conflict. Therefore, we have

actively supported the establishment of the

Peacebuilding Commission. This new body will add

value to the work done by various actors including the

funds and programmes of the United Nations. I urge

Member States to ensure that the Commission will be

operational by the end of the year, as requested by the

summit.

It is a fact that conflicts in Africa continue to

loom large on the Security Council’s agenda. The

slogan “African solutions to African problems” must

not lead to indifference from donors. We must increase

our assistance to regional capacity-building and, at the

same time, be prepared to provide the necessary human

and financial resources for conflict prevention and

peacebuilding efforts. To that end, Denmark is

sponsoring a major capacity-building programme in

Africa in close cooperation with the African Union and

the Economic Community of West African States.

The summit confirmed our dedication to fulfil the

Millennium Development Goals through considerable

donor commitments, as well as the need to pay

particular attention to countries in Africa that are

lagging far behind. Denmark will remain well above

the 0.7 aid target and urges all donor countries to

implement the goals decided by the summit. The

responsibility, however, does not rest with donor

countries alone. In order to ensure sustainable

development the world’s poor countries must prioritize

human development and respect for human rights,

tackle national inequalities and curb corruption.

In a closely interrelated and interdependent

world, our collective security and prosperity depend

critically on the success of our fight against poverty.

We must continue to look for new ways to enforce

international law and protect those in need. Promoting

the rule of law must be one of the main objectives

when devising peacebuilding strategies in Africa and

when addressing democratic deficits elsewhere.

The President returned to the Chair.

Indeed, prosperity and security will occur only if

and when we decide to respect and promote human

rights. It is our obligation to address and to act on

human rights violations wherever they occur, and we

must do so in a spirit of cooperation and

understanding. It is our common duty to measure every

Member State’s actual performance against the

universal standards of human rights, including when

that means naming and even shaming. Otherwise, we

risk undermining important norms of human decency

and behaviour. All Governments must remember that

they are in office for the people and not for themselves.

For those reasons, Denmark strongly supports the

establishment of the Human Rights Council as a

permanent, principal organ of the United Nations, as

well as the overall strengthening of the entire United

Nations human rights machinery, including the Office

of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights. Sixty years after the creation of this Organization,

we should give human rights the necessary attention and

priority in order to meet the expectations of the people,

whom we are meant to serve.

The grave crimes against humanity committed in

Darfur serve as a reminder to the international

community. Impunity is unacceptable. Some argue that

we face a dilemma every time a country emerges from

conflict. They argue that the pursuit of justice clashes

with the pursuit of peace. However, peace and justice

are not contradictory but, in fact, complementary. The

precedent created by the referral of the Darfur situation

to the International Criminal Court is promising. It is a

major step forward in the fight against impunity and

bodes well for the pursuit of international justice.

Lastly, let me briefly address the call by the

Secretary-General and Member States, including

Denmark, for management reform. The Secretary-

General must be given the necessary discretionary

powers, accompanied by accountability and

independent oversight. We need to modernize the way

we work so as to enable the Organization to meet its

share of the priorities set out at the summit.

The coming months will be crucial. The outcome

of the summit must be implemented. We will be faced

with many difficult but important tasks. They will have

to be solved in a true spirit of international

cooperation. We must strengthen this great institution.

It has a vital role to play in the world of today.

Denmark will spare no effort in doing its share.