Iceland, 1969

1. Madam President, my delegation

congratulates you wholeheartedly on your election to

the high office of President of the General Assembly. We

see in this a recognition both of your high personal

qualifications and of the contribution and positive role of

your country in the United Nations. It is also a tribute to

Africa, to all the new countries of your great continent, and

to the important role which women are playing and will

play in our common effort to build a better world for our

children.

2. The United Nations is today faced with great problems.

The United Nations is always faced with great problems,

and yet in most cases there are very limited possibilities,

and sometimes none at all, to find solutions to these

problems. There are military conflicts in many places and

there is danger of the outbreak of armed clashes in still

others. The purpose of the United Nations is, according to

the Charter, first of all to bring about adjustments or

settlements of international disputes, and in particular to

suppress acts. of aggression and remove threats to the peace.

3. But what possibilities are open to the United Nations to

work for that purpose and to attain it? The Charter says

this should be done by peaceful means in the first instance

and without the use of armed force. But what has

experience shown the result to be? Resolutions are

introduced here and recommendations are approved, even

with an overwhelming majority of all the Members, but a

party or the parties to the dispute completely disregard the

recommendations, whereupon the efforts of the United

Nations are finished, the matter remains at issue and we are

back where we started. There-are numerous and flagrant

examples of this process.

4. Admittedly, it is not possible to expect the United

Nations to settle disputes to which the great Powers are

parties, directly or indirectly, but there are many other

situations which have arisen and which in normal circumstances

should lend themselves to a solution. The usual

method is to apply sanctions against the party which

disregards United Nations recommendations, but in most

cases—I would almost say always—the result is that these

measures become ineffective.

5. The United Nations has also established peace-observer

units for the purpose of ensuring compliance with recommendations

of the General Assembly and the Security

Council. These observers have certainly achieved some

success in their work, but, regretfully, it has been all too

small a success. These peace-keeping forces have not been

numerous enough and their authority has been too limited.

They have also been in financial straits and there is no

agreement as to how to defray their costs. I have recently

seen remarks attributed to a distinguished personage to the

effect that it is tragicomic that a world which can afford to

maintain, in all, 20 million men under arms at a yearly cost

of $120,000 million cannot afford to maintain a peace-keeping

force of 20,000 men under the United Nations, at a

cost of approximately $120 million—which represents,

proportionally, one per thousand of the current military

expenditures. On an earlier occasion I had the opportunity

to describe from this rostrum the sad experience of those

who are expected to take measures or undertake actions

but have no executive power [1579th meeting]. And the

United Nations is no exception; the United Nations has to

have the executive power to implement its recommendations—a

strong police and peace-keeping force.

6. Let us not confuse this train of thought with the war in.

Viet-Nam. That conflict will, of course, not be settled until

the great Powers that are parties to it, directly or indirectly,

come to an agreement among themselves. And generally

speaking, I would like to echo the remarks of the

Secretary-General, U Thant, when he said recently in a

speech that the great Powers do not strongly enough

support the all too feeble measures taken by the United

Nations to strengthen universal peace. The noble purposes

of the United Nations to promote peace will, of course,

never be achieved if they do not enjoy the whole-hearted

and undivided support of the great Powers, to the’ exclusion

of any extraneous interests.

7. The clashes between Israel and the Arab States seem to

become sharper and more serious every day and, consequently,

all the indications are that war may again break

out soon. Without doubt it is considered possible for peace

to be maintained in the Middle East provided the great

Powers whole-heartedly support the measures of the United

Nations to prevent the outbreak of hostilities, which, it

seems, once started could have unpredictable consequences.

But it is also clear, as the situation is today, that the tiny

United Nations forces in the area are altogether powerless.

8. It is possible to mention other examples where the

hostilities are not, however, hostilities between States but

rather civil war between divided nationalities or different

tribes. In such cases the United Nations is in a difficult

position to intervene. The most obvious example of this

nature is the war in Nigeria, where the smaller party to the

conflict is being starved, to boot. The starvation affects the

public in general, both children and adults, and they are

dying, reportedly, by hundreds and by thousands from

malnutrition and privation. And people who are quite

willing to provide aid are being prevented from carrying out

their freely offered assistance.

9. The same applies to the Kurds, although in a different

way, and it is a sad thing to affirm that no one can

intervene effectively on behalf of the oppressed. According

to the Charter, the United Nations is not supposed to

intervene in so-called internal affairs; but it should be made

possible for the United Nations to give effective assistance

to such minorities or to open up avenues to enable nations

that want to give assistance on humanitarian grounds to

provide such assistance. But the most poignant and painful

thing is when a small, or. relatively small, minority

suppresses a great majority and allows the majority not

even the barest minimum of human rights. It is saddening

that that is the case in many places. Nothing human should

be outside the interest of the United Nations. Nihil

humanum a me alienum est was once said, ages ago,

although in a different context, but it should certainly be

one of the principles underlying the activities of the United

Nations.

10. The Government and people of Iceland have viewed

with concern the recent disturbances in the northern part

of Ireland, a neighbouring country for whose people we

have deep feelings of sympathy. Although Icelanders are

primarily of Nordic stock, there runs a good portion of

Irish blood in our veins. We wish to assure our friends the

people of Ireland that we well understand their concern for

the plight of a frustrated minority whose grievances have

not been fully redressed. We share their concern at the

communal tensions that have been created and at the

outbreaks of violence that have resulted in loss of life and

property.

11. However, my Government remains in doubt whether it

would serve the best interests of the people concerned to

inscribe this matter on the agenda of the General Assembly.

A public debate sometimes results in inflamed tempers and

increased tension in the area concerned. Moreover, it has

been called into question whether this matter falls within

the competence of the United Nations, in view of Article 2,

paragraph 7 of the Charter. Without expressing an opinion

on that point, I note that the Foreign Minister of Ireland

has already had the opportunity to explain the situation

and the point of view of his Government before the

Security Council [1503rd meeting]. We think that was

useful. The same opportunity is open to him here in the

general debate of the General Assembly. My Government

hopes that the fact that the attention of the United Nations

has thus been focused on the situation in Northern Ireland

may result in speedy efforts by all parties concerned

towards an improvement of the situation and a solution of

the problem.

12. The United Nations has been especially successful in

the humanitarian field. To bring this out clearly it is only

necessary to mention a few of the agencies of the United

Nations, I mention only the United Nations High Commissioner

for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s

Fund, the World Health Organization, and the Food and

Agriculture Organization, but there are many more that

come to mind. In all these fields, under the direction of the

United Nations, enormous and successful work has been

done, and it would certainly be desirable for such success to

be attained in other fields as well. Even if the main purpose

of the United Nations is to prevent acts of aggression and to

strengthen the peace, one should not underestimate the

other activities of the Organization in the humanitarian

fields, where the greatest successes have been obtained.

13. Next year, twenty-five years will have passed since the

United Nations was created. Without any doubt that

anniversary will be commemorated all around the world. So

many hopes were raised in the beginning, when the United

Nations was established, and so many States have joined

this Organization during the last quarter of a century. On

that occasion the activities of the United Nations will be

reviewed—the successes and the failures as well. The United

Nations will never be anything more than the Members

want it to be. It is therefore necessary to cultivate among

nations the correct attitude of mind in accordance with the

principles of the Charter of the United Nations to ensure

that all nations support resolutions of the United Nations

and that they will be implemented.

14. There are, of course differing opinions on how to

attain that goal. But in the opinion of my people one

possible way towards that goal would be to strengthen the

distribution of information about the United Nations. We,

Icelanders, consider that that could possibly be done by

devoting to the United Nations one class-hour of every

month of the school year in all schools, from the

elementary to the university level, in all countries. There

would be lectures, carefully prepared in accordance with

the intellectual stage of the student, on the background of

the United Nations, on the establishment and activities of

the United Nations, on their strength and their shortcomings,

on why they have not fulfilled the tasks enunciated

in the Charter—and on the best means to attain the

purposes of the Charter. Of course, the stress would be on

the primary purpose: the maintenance of peace and the

prevention of acts of aggression.

15. However, the other activities of the United Nations

should also be stressed in the economic and social fields, in

the humanitarian and cultural fields, in questions of human

rights and the elimination of discrimination as well as in

other international problems. If we can educate children

from their early years in those matters, we shall be able to

expect that in coming years the attitude towards the United

Nations will change with an improved opinion of it being

formed in the world. There is, of course, some doubt

whether we shall be able to succeed in this and whether the

expected effects will follow, but maybe, along with other

efforts, it will have some influence to bear. The Government

of Iceland has already discussed this idea of devoting

one class-hour per month to the United Nations and it will

possibly begin the experiment next year in Icelandic

schools in connexion with the twenty-fifth anniversary of

the United Nations.

16. When we talk about the United Nations and the youth

of this world, my Government finds considerable merit in

the proposal, debated in the Economic and Social Council

in August 1969, that the United Nations should establish a

volunteer corps, similar to the Peace Corps, to help

developing countries. Such a venture would certainly

provide an opportunity for young people to contribute

personally in carrying out the worthy aims and aspirations

of the United Nations. In a world of youthful unrest this

might prove a sensible undertaking.

17. One very important task of the United Nations, which

concerns all nations, is to prevent pollution of the human

environment. This matter was discussed at the last session

of the General Assembly and it will be discussed again

during this session. I should like to mention only one point.

The peaceful uses of the sea-bed is now being discussed by

the forty-two-member Committee on the Peaceful Uses of

the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor Beyond the Limits of

National Jurisdiction, which is submitting its report to the

General Assembly. The use of the sea-bed for peaceful

purposes means probably first of all the exploitation of oil

resources, But there is always the risk that the oil which is

being exploited will, because of some mishap or other

unforeseen cause, flow into the oceans and thereby

constitute grave dangers for fish and other organic resources

in the surrounding sea area. It is therefore very important

that such accidents be prevented and to ensure that all

possible safeguard measures are taken. The stock of fish in

the North Atlantic seems to be diminishing and one aspect

of that problem is the pollution of the sea, even if there are

also other causes at work with greater effect.

18. The Government of Iceland has been keenly interested

in the issue of the peaceful uses of the sea-bed and the

ocean floor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction from

the very beginning when the issue was first introduced in

this Assembly. My Government realizes the necessity of

adopting internationally recognized rules for this vast area,

the last unexplored part of our globe. While the human race

has embarked upon adventurous journeys into outer space,

it is time to put our house in order and decide upon an

effective and just régime for the sub-oceanic areas, whose

resources must be harvested for the benefit of all mankind.

19. Iceland is one of the forty-two members of the sea-bed

Committee which was established by the last General

Assembly. There Iceland has urged the participating nations

to strive for the adoption of certain fundamental general

principles, which might then be adopted by the General

Assembly in a declaration on the peaceful uses of the

sea-bed, a procedure similar to that followed by the

Assembly on the question concerning the peaceful uses of

outer space.

20. The Assembly will soon have before it the latest report

of the sea-bed Committee. The Assembly will notice from

that report that, while a consensus emerged on certain

general principles, the Committee was not ready to recommend

a list of principles for adoption by the Assembly at

this early stage in its deliberations. That is understandable,

and my Government continues to have faith in the ability

of the Committee to bring its important task to a fruitful

conclusion. But at this stage my Government would like to

enumerate a few of the most important items on which it

feels that an international agreement must be reached at an

early date. They are the following:

(1) There is an area of the sea-bed and ocean floor which

lies beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

(2) No State may claim or exercise sovereign rights over

that area.

(3) That area, as it will be later defined, shall be reserved

exclusively for peaceful purposes.

(4) An international régime shall be established for the

area.

(5) The exploration and exploitation of the area shall be

conducted in accordance with international law, including

the Charter of the United Nations.

(6) Use of the area shall be for the benefit of all

mankind, with special regard for the needs and interests of

the developing countries and international community

purposes.

(7) Pollution of the marine environment must be prevented,

and obligations and liabilities of States established

in this respect.

21. The Government of Iceland feels that these seven

general rules make up a firm basis for a future régime of the

sea-bed and ocean floor, and I should like to refer them to

the First Committee, which is to deal with this item, as a

compromise proposal for further discussion.

22. The General Assembly at the twenty-third session

unanimously adopted a resolution [2467 B (XXIII)] introduced

by Iceland and co-sponsored by a number of nations,

which called for a study by the Secretary-General aimed at

preventing pollution of the oceans which might adversely

affect their living resources. It should come as no surprise

that my Government is intensely interested in this topic, as

fishing has for many years been the chief means of

livelihood of the Icelandic people. My Government was

gratified to note the wide support for that resolution in the

United Nations. One of the most urgent tasks within the

whole environment issue is to draw up an effective

international instrument for the prevention of pollution of

the oceans, from whatever causes pollution may arise. Such

a treaty does not exist today, but it is high time that one

was concluded, as recent incidents in ocean exploitation

have demonstrated. This topic should, therefore, be given

high priority by the sea-bed Committee, as well as by the

Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization

and the international scientific bodies concerned with the

problem of pollution so that a draft treaty on marine

pollution can at an early date be elaborated and agreed

upon.

23. I come now to another aspect of the marine environment

which is of immediate concern to my Government.

This is the question of the regulation and protection of the

living resources of the sea, with special regard to the needs

and interests of coastal States whose economy is dependent

upon fisheries. At the twenty-third session of the General

Assembly, the delegation of Iceland, together with other

delegations, introduced a draft resolution on the “Exploitation

and conservation of living marine resources”, which

was unanimously adopted by the Assembly [resolution for

2413 (XXIII)]. By that resolution, Governments were

urged to increase their co-operation in the development and

exploitation of living marine resources, and United Nations

agencies were asked to improve international collaboration

to that end. Under the terms of the resolution, the

Secretary-General will report upon those issues to the

twenty-fifth session of the General Assembly, next year.

24. Those are important steps on the way to more

effective protection and management of the immeasurably

valuable food resources found in the sea. However, my

Government is convinced that further action is called for in

order to ensure for the coastal state a just and equitable

share of the resources found in its coastal waters.

25. If one reviews the situation in some of the world’s

most important fisheries, one is faced by a gloomy picture.

I shall not elaborate upon the gradual extermination of the

world’s whale stocks, which is indicative of how disastrous

the evolution in the world’s fisheries can be if rational

management is not heeded. Still more important is the

situation in the fisheries of the North Atlantic. Recent

information has shown that the increased fishing effort

there has had an adverse effect on the fish stocks, some of

which are now already being over-exploited. The reduction

in the number of fisheries in some North Atlantic areas is so

severs indeed that definite plans for rationing the resources

under a strict quota system are now being proposed.

26. This is an ominous development for all nations like my

own, whose existence is based chiefly upon the sea

fisheries. When faced with the prospect of the severe

rationing of marine resources, nations which practically live

from the sea can consider it only equitable that they be

granted special rights to the fisheries located outside their

present national jurisdictions in order that they may escape

economic ruin. The nations I am talking about here are very

few in number, and granting them special rights in this

respect Would in no way threaten world community

interest in the freedom of fishing.

27. At present, the 1958 Geneva Convention on Fishing of

and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas

does not grant any State such special rights outside national

fisheries jurisdiction. But eleven years ago the situation of

the world’s fisheries was different. To many of the

participants in the Geneva Conference there did not then

seem to be any need for special rights for the coastal State

in this respect. But, as I have explained, the situation is now

radically altered.

28. Therefore, my Government deems it imperative that

the international community should formulate under the

auspices of the United Nations, such rules as will make

certain that those nations whose economies are heavily

dependent upon fishing will be enabled to utilize the

fisheries of their coastal zone as their situations may

require. In our view, such a commitment would be only a

reiteration of the fact that all nations, large and small, have

a tight to a decent economic existence, which is indeed one

of the corner-stones of the economic policy of the United

Nations. Next year, when the “Resources of the Sea” will

be on the agenda of the General Assembly, we hope to

come back to this very important issue with definite plans

for action by the United Nations.