Kingdom of Denmark, 2008

My Government agrees

entirely with the Secretary-General’s remarks at the

opening of this debate. The world is on the eve of a

great transition. The problems we face have grown

much more complex, and our challenges are

increasingly those of collaboration rather than

confrontation. The quality of life in most parts of the

world has improved tremendously over recent decades,

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but challenges remain, not least in sub-Saharan Africa.

New challenges, such as climate change, migration,

increasing energy and food prices and financial

instability, could all potentially give rise to embedded

conflicts and further polarization.

As President Sarkozy said last week in his

capacity as President of the European Union (EU),

continued reform of the United Nations is crucial to

improving the ability of the United Nations to carry out

its core business, which is and remains problem

solving. We must continue the progress made on

system-wide coherence and on the Delivering as One

agenda. As regards Security Council reform, Denmark

welcomes the agreement to initiate intergovernmental

negotiations in the near future. At the election of

Security Council members next month, Iceland is the

candidate for membership representing all the Nordic

countries. We are strongly backing Iceland’s

candidature.

On climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change reports have served to crystallize

an international consensus on the need for action. That

consensus has been nurtured by the determined

leadership of the Secretary-General, promoting global

action to curb global warming, with the United Nations

at its centre.

Economic growth and environmental protection

are fully compatible. The challenge is to establish a

framework for low-carbon growth, in which increased

energy efficiency, increased use of renewable sources

of energy, carbon capture and storage, and the

development of a global carbon market are vital

elements.

Denmark will host the United Nations Climate

Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009. The goal

is to reach an agreement on a successor to the Kyoto

Protocol, making it an ambitious and truly global

instrument. Momentum for a new comprehensive and

ambitious international climate agreement is growing

day by day.

During the past weeks, we have witnessed new

cruel and meaningless acts of terrorism. The evil

terrorist attack in Islamabad on the Marriott Hotel on

20 September resulted in the loss of many innocent

lives. Most of those who died were Pakistanis, but

other nationalities were also included, one Danish

person among them. That attack and others came only a

few weeks after United Nations Member States had

reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations

Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. We must respond

to such despicable acts of fanaticism with great

determination to strengthen international cooperation

in that area. All United Nations bodies must join in the

fight against terrorism. We hope that, at its present

session, the General Assembly will finally agree to a

comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

In addition, we must focus on due process and

sanctions, as it is becoming increasingly clear that a

lack of adequate due process is hampering the

efficiency of the sanctions system.

Sixty years after the adoption of the Universal

Declaration on Human Rights, severe violations of

human rights continue to take place. Extremists are

trying to instigate a clash of civilizations by creating

mistrust and polarization among various civilizations,

cultures and religions. It is a major challenge for the

United Nations to counter those trends and to promote

the universality of human rights.

The number of armed conflicts is steadily

decreasing. The United Nations has played a major role

in ensuring that positive trend. However, several

bloody and difficult conflicts remain high on the

international agenda.

In Afghanistan, measurable progress has been

made, but the security situation remains challenging.

Corruption and drugs are undermining the

achievements made and the long-term development of

the country. Denmark has significantly increased its

engagement in the United Nations-mandated, NATO-

led mission, and we have doubled our development

assistance to Afghanistan. Much has been achieved, but

the United Nations needs to play a much stronger role

in coordinating the international engagement. A lack of

success in Afghanistan would have serious regional

ramifications.

In Africa, the deployment of the African Union-

United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur has been

delayed owing to various factors, including actions by

the Government of the Sudan allowing attacks and

killings to go on. Those responsible for the grave

crimes committed in Darfur must be held accountable.

Fighting impunity is a prerequisite for sustainable

peace. We thus stress the need to comply with Security

Council resolution 1593 (2005) and express our strong

support for the International Criminal Court.

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In Zimbabwe, we hope that the power-sharing

agreement will pave the way for durable peace and a

return to democracy and rule of law, ending the

suffering of the people of that country.

In Somalia, the international community is trying

hard to improve the deplorable situation on the ground

and the prospects for a long-term political solution.

The scourge of piracy is one of the factors undermining

stability in Somalia. The Danish navy is taking an

active role, together with the navies of other nations, in

addressing that problem off the coast of Somalia and in

the region. We need to increase our common efforts to

address all aspects of fighting piracy, including

strengthening the international legal framework for

handling detained persons. Through the Copenhagen

Process Denmark has taken the lead on the broader

issue of handling detainees in armed conflict. We

believe that there are already valuable lessons here that

can also be applied in relation to piracy.

In the Middle East, in spite of continuing

violence, effective regional and international

diplomacy has contributed to breaking the political

deadlock in Lebanon. The Palestinians and the Israeli

Government are also making progress. We urge the

parties to the Middle East conflict to honour road map

commitments and to settle their differences in

accordance with the international agreements and the

Arab peace initiative. I should also like to take this

opportunity to strongly condemn the unacceptable

remarks made by the President of Iran calling for Israel

to be wiped off the map.

In Burma, Cyclone Nargis killed more than

100,000 people earlier this year. The slow and

inadequate reaction of the regime demonstrated its

disregard for the welfare of its own people. The United

Nations is working hard to ensure the initiation of a

genuine political dialogue between the Government

and the political opposition as well as the release of all

political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. We

strongly support those efforts.

In August, war erupted in the South Caucasus.

The conflict in Georgia has not only dramatically

affected the region but clearly also entails

repercussions that go beyond it. However, not least

because of the European Union and its French

presidency, the international community has been able

to contribute constructively to the process. Now it is up

to all parties to the conflict to fulfil the conditions set

out in the six-point agreement and the Moscow

agreement and to act in a positive spirit to find long-

term solutions to the conflict in a peaceful manner that

also respects Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and

territorial integrity.

This year saw a new country appear in the

Balkans. The United Nations has played a substantial

role in promoting Kosovo’s development and is still

present in Kosovo with the United Nations Interim

Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), together

with a new substantial contribution from the EU

regarding the rule of law: the European Union Rule of

Law Mission Kosovo. By reconfiguring UNMIK, the

United Nations has demonstrated substantial

pragmatism and a willingness to cooperate actively

with the EU. Later this year, the United Nations is

expected to hand over to the EU Mission tasks related

to the rule-of-law area, and we welcome that

development.

The good offices of the Secretary-General, the

mediation and conflict prevention efforts of the United

Nations and its peacekeeping operations, which now

entail 19 missions and more than 130,000 staff

members, remain the backbone of United Nations

peace and security efforts. However, we need to

improve the capacity of the United Nations system to

assist countries in early phases of recovery after

conflict as well as countries with very weak institutions

that might easily fall into conflict. That means building

a stronger bridge from humanitarian assistance,

political good offices and peacekeeping efforts to early

recovery, peacebuilding, reconstruction and transitional

assistance aimed at sustaining State-building and

preventing weak States from lapsing back into conflict

or chaos. The creation of the Peacebuilding

Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund was

important in strengthening the Organization’s capacity

and capability to build and cross that bridge, but so far

it is only a footbridge. Much more engineering and

craftsmanship are needed, including on the part of

funds and programmes.

At the 2005 World Summit, the concept of the

responsibility to protect was endorsed. We must

develop that concept further and ensure that States do

their utmost to protect their own citizens from

genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes

against humanity. We must discuss what the

international community and the United Nations can do

to assist States in meeting those obligations, and we

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must consider the means that are available to the

international community when States manifestly fail to

protect their populations.

Last week, an impressive number of heads of

State and Government took part in the first high-level

follow-up to the Millennium Declaration and the

establishment of the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs). We are not on track, but we are not

sidetracked either. We all have to make extra effort if

we are to succeed, and we need to get our priorities

right. A special focus on the empowerment of women

is essential socially, politically and economically.

Increased investments in women are crucial across all

the MDGs, across all sectors. Gender equality is a

basic human right, and it is smart economics, too. On

that basis, the Danish Government has initiated a

specific call to action on gender equality and the

empowerment of women.

Another cross-cutting factor that might determine

success or failure for all countries is governance.

Political leadership, democratic institutions, the rule of

law and respect for human rights and fundamental

freedoms are called for not only nationally, but also

internationally. The international rule of law, with a

strong emphasis on respect for the fundamental

principles of international law, respect for human rights

and fighting impunity, is a key to international peace

and stability. The evidence is loud and clear, and we

need to focus our efforts.

The evidence is equally loud and clear in another

area. Sub-Saharan Africa is lagging behind in its

trajectory towards achievement of the MDGs. The

Danish Government has therefore established an

international high-level commission on effective

development cooperation with Africa. The aim of the

commission, in which a number of African leaders and

United Nations officials are taking part, is to present

creative and concrete recommendations regarding a

cross section of young people, employment and

economic growth. By May 2009, the commission will

present its ideas and concrete proposals on how

African countries and the international community can

address those challenges prior to the 2010 review of

the status of the implementation of the MDGs.

In conclusion, let me reaffirm the

interrelationship and interdependence of the issues that

I have addressed. There can be no development without

security and human rights, and vice versa. Progress is

needed in all areas if we are to advance as a global

community. And we must advance — in the area of

development, in the area of peace and security, in the

area of human rights and in the many areas that

transcend borders. That can be achieved, however, only

through multilateral cooperation in areas such as

counter-terrorism, non-proliferation, pandemics and

climate change. Multilateralism is our only response to

the challenges, risks and opportunities of an

interdependent and globalized world. It is our

responsibility to ensure that the United Nations is

properly equipped to address global challenges and

global opportunities.