Estonia, 2002

Let me begin by

welcoming the United Nations new Member,

Switzerland who has always been devoted to the cause

of the United Nations and has now finally decided to

join us. I look forward to welcoming East Timor as the

newest Member of the Organization in the very near

future. I would also like to pass on my congratulations

to the newly elected President of the General

Assembly.

Today I would like to address three subjects of

major concern for our globalizing world: the struggle

against terrorism, human trafficking, and sustainable

development.

A year ago today, the whole world was still

recoiling from the horrendous terrorist attacks in the

United States. Immediately after the terror attacks,

most States, including Estonia, and almost all

international organizations expressed their solidarity

with the United States.

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We also associated ourselves with the North

Atlantic Council's statement of 12 September 2001,

which invoked article 5 of the Washington Treaty, as

well as with relevant European Union statements and

undertakings.

Estonia is actively participating in the

international coalition to combat terrorism. We have

contributed a search and rescue team to Operation

Enduring Freedom under United States leadership. Our

highly trained explosives detection dog team is

presently serving in Afghanistan alongside the forces

of the other countries, which are helping to restore

order in that war-torn land.

We appreciate the noteworthy role of the United

Nations and its Security Council in the universal

campaign against terrorism. We fully recognize the

importance of preventive measures and further

standard-setting in this field. To date, not a single

crime that could be classified as terrorism has been

committed in Estonia. However, let me assure you that

Estonia will continue to make all efforts necessary to

fulfil its role in this ongoing quest for comprehensive

international security.

Indeed, I can announce for the record that Estonia

has ratified all the relevant United Nations conventions

and has promptly presented reports to the appropriate

parties about the implementation of the various

Security Council resolutions.

We are confident that truly joint efforts, which

make use of the input of all States, will eventually

enable the international community to make

remarkable progress in the global struggle against

terrorism. In this regard, cooperation to counter the

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is of

particular significance, since sooner or later, terrorists

might actually gain access to these ghastly tools of

doom.

Today, the United Nations faces the challenge of

upholding its authority. For the sake of our future, and

the prestige and relevancy of the United Nations, it is

essential that the United Nations does not shy away

from reacting effectively and decisively when

confronted with real and formidable dangers. Full and

unconditional implementation of Security Council

resolutions is obligatory for all Members, just as is the

effective enforcement of these resolutions.

Therefore, we value highly the decisiveness of

the international community to implement the

resolutions dealing with Iraq. Estonia supports the

Secretary-General's further efforts to obtain Iraq's

compliance with the Security Council resolutions. The

return of the United Nations weapons inspectors to Iraq

is just a beginning. Further acts will have to follow.

The possible results of international

indecisiveness and appeasement are well illustrated by

the history of the League of Nations, which

disappeared from the international arena, just as did

some of its member States, including my homeland,

Estonia. The result was an international conflagration

that left a large part of the civilized world in ruins, the

very ruins upon which the United Nations Organization

was founded. This taught us all a very essential

lesson — inaction can often be much more disastrous

than action.

Another important issue which deserves to be

touched upon here is human trafficking, in particular

trafficking in women. The Estonian Government

recently acceded to the three Protocols additional to the

United Nations Convention against Transnational

Organized Crime, including the Protocol to Prevent,

Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially

Women and Children. In June 2001, at the Women and

Democracy Conference in Lithuania, the Nordic and

Baltic Ministers for Gender Equality decided to launch

a joint Nordic-Baltic information campaign against

trafficking in women.

The aim of the campaign, which will continue at

least until the beginning of 2003, is to turn the general

public's attention to the problems of prostitution and

trafficking in people and to initiate public discussion

about the problems surrounding the issue of trafficking

in women. The joint campaign is being carried out

simultaneously in the eight Nordic and Baltic

countries, with all relevant institutions concentrating,

throughout this year, on the matter of how best to

combat this problem. We hope that we will soon have

some concrete proposals for drafting amendments to

appropriate national legislation.

The problem of trafficking in women, however, is

part of a broader series of issues relating to women,

including their position in society, their participation in

the decision-making process and so on. In order to

discuss all of these topics in depth and to highlight

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women's role in democratic societies, Estonia will

host, in February 2003, a major international

conference on women and democracy. I sincerely hope

that that conference will help to further the cause of

women's rights.

Another crucial issue on the global agenda, and

the last topic that I wish to speak about, is development

cooperation and sustainable development. Having

participated in the Monterrey discussions, and in the

wake of the Johannesburg Conference, I would like to

emphasize that the most important factor for sustained

and sustainable development is a clear national goal

and a road map for achieving it. Estonia is in the

process of drafting a special sustainable development

strategy, a process involving the cooperation of both

civil society and the private sector.

Estonia acknowledges the problem of

environmental deterioration, and we have taken action

to tackle it. Estonia has ratified the Kyoto Protocol —

among many other international and regional

agreements concerning the environment — and we will

do our best to fully implement the decisions made in

Johannesburg.

Since the successful implementation of recent

international decisions depends largely on the

concerted action of the various parties, communication

and access to information are becoming key issues.

Bridging the digital divide between the haves and the

have-nots is essential if we want all countries to benefit

equally from globalization. Thanks to our rapid rate of

progress, Estonia has been able to support development

in various other countries.

The creation of an e-governance academy in

Estonia — a cooperative effort involving the Estonian

Government, the United Nations Development

Programme and the Open Society Institute — is a

significant step towards bridging the digital gap with

the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia. The

academy will also be open to other interested regions.

The academy will draw on the experiences gained in

various environments, thereby providing broad

knowledge that will enable participants to choose or

create the best solution for their particular situation.

Among other things, this project demonstrates the

synergy that can be created from cooperation between

Governments, international organizations and non-

governmental organizations.

Today I have spoken about some of the issues on

the global agenda, all of which have been discussed at

length at recent international meetings and

conferences. Those discussions provided us with useful

signposts, agreements and decisions. Now it is time to

implement them.