Iceland, 1997

May I begin by

congratulating the President on his election to preside

over the fifty-second session of General Assembly and

pledging to him the full support of my delegation.

The new Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has

already put his mark on the United Nations, after less

than nine months in office. He has led efforts to reform

our Organization in an effective, fair and balanced

manner. I congratulate him and pledge the unwavering

support of my Government for his important mission.

Increasingly, as we approach the new millennium,

we have come to appreciate the value of international

cooperation, as most clearly demonstrated by the historic

first meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO)/Russia Permanent Joint Council in a ministerial

session that took place here in this building today.

The information revolution is advancing, and a new

sense of global neighbourhood and the gradual abolition

of trade barriers are raising the level of economic well-

being in different parts of the world. At the same time,

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the world community is faced with challenges of a new

order of magnitude, making it necessary for Governments

to pool their resources and work together.

Global forces are in many ways eroding the traditional

boundaries between nation States. The trend calls for the

strengthening of international organizations competent to

tackle issues that no single State or groups of States can

deal with in isolation. Consequently, it is crucial that we

strengthen the United Nations. Without a reinvigorated

United Nations, the international community will not be in

a position to address the foremost challenges confronting

the twenty-first century.

Sadly, our Organization has not been endowed to meet

those challenges. Demands on the United Nations are

greater than ever, and the limited resources at the

Organization’s disposal are grossly disproportionate to the

tasks in hand. The question inevitably arises: Do we wish

to give the United Nations a clear and focused mandate and

empower it to carry that mandate out? In my opinion our

answer should be the same as the one Winston Churchill

once gave:

“Give us the tools and we will finish the job”.

Once more we must urge all Member States to pay

their contributions to the Organization fully and on time.

The Secretary-General’s reform initiative is the most

comprehensive attempt to date at fashioning the United

Nations of tomorrow into an instrument capable of serving

the common interests of all peoples, guided by the enduring

tenets of peace, human rights, the rule of law and social

progress, enshrined in the Charter more than half a century

ago. Coming at the end of a thorough and useful debate,

the Secretary-General’s report is in large part a distillation

of views expressed by individual Governments.

Inevitably, the report represents a compromise,

unlikely to accommodate all the wishes of a single State or

group of States. But, taken as a whole, it represents the best

effort to obtain what is realistically feasible under the

circumstances. The reform package should, in our opinion,

be accepted as an integral whole.

A focused discussion on the Secretary-General’s report

should give a boost to the ongoing debate among Member

States on an increase in the membership of the Security

Council, as well as a more equitable representation on the

Council. The Nordic countries have jointly presented their

ideas on this issue. Iceland welcomes the paper submitted

by the Chairman of the Security Council Working Group,

which is largely in line with the suggestions of the Nordic

countries, and hopes that efforts to resolve this

fundamental aspect of the entire reform process may be

brought to a successful conclusion during the current

session.

Although the reform of our Organization and its

long-term credibility must have a high priority, regional

conflicts continually demand our attention.

In the Middle East, the situation has rarely been

more uncertain since the signing of the Oslo accords. The

parties to the accords must not be distracted from

pursuing the path of peace. They should refrain from

creating unnecessary hurdles in the path of peace by

provocative undertakings likely to cause hostility,

suspicion and fear. There should be a clear and

unambiguous recognition that terrorism against innocent

civilians is wholly incompatible with the pursuit of peace.

Both parties have to ensure that international norms in the

field of human rights and humanitarian law are respected.

A troubled African continent remains at the top of

the United Nations agenda. In sub-Saharan Africa,

particularly the Great Lakes region, the situation is

worrying. The United Nations, in cooperation with

regional leaders and organizations, must spare no effort to

prevent the peoples of this region from further suffering.

By contrast, encouraging developments have taken

place in Western Sahara, where direct talks, held under

the auspices of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-

General, have greatly improved prospects for a

referendum on the future of the region.

Arms control and disarmament will continue to

occupy an important place in the activities of our

Organization. Our most immediate goal should be in the

area of conventional arms: to work for a comprehensive

ban on that most terrible destroyer of the lives and limbs

of innocent people, the anti-personnel landmine. The

recently concluded Oslo conference on this menace has

provided a welcome impetus to work towards a binding

treaty. Iceland strongly urges all States to banish this

inhumane weapon from their arsenals.

Human rights, which are of intrinsic value in

themselves, are also a vital part of efforts to secure peace

and stability in areas torn by wars and internal conflict.

Next year marks the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary

of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. My

Government applauds the Secretary-General’s proposed

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streamlining of the work of the United Nations in the field

of human rights, bearing witness to a strong emphasis on

this crucially important aspect of our work.

Unfortunately, the human rights of women continue to

be disregarded. As the Secretary-General observed in this

forum earlier this week, violence against women has

become the most pervasive human rights violation. The

international community must work harder to correct this

situation and to improve the lot of women everywhere, not

least through the creation of better education and

employment opportunities.

Trafficking in drugs is a peril that recognizes no

national boundaries. To a greater or lesser degree, we are

all affected by it. In addition to the cost in human lives and

suffering, we are witness to calamities that follow in the

wake of drug abuse, the spread of AIDS, prostitution and

crime. Iceland welcomes United Nations efforts in the area

of drug prevention and looks forward to the special session

of the General Assembly on the problem of drugs next

June.

Next year has been declared the International Year of

the Ocean by the United Nations. The world’s oceans are

a crucial part of the earth’s biosphere, in addition to being

the single largest source of protein for mankind. This vital

resource is now threatened in some regions of the world.

Therefore, it is important that the Year of the Ocean be

used to raise public awareness and to reinforce efforts to

protect the marine ecosystem. A global, legally binding

agreement should be concluded to limit the emission of

persistent organic pollutants.

Problems afflicting the marine ecosystem call for

greater coordination at the global level, and also in the

sustainable use, conservation and management of living

marine resources. At the same time, we must recognize that

the primary responsibility for harvesting marine resources

in a sustainable manner rests with the States that depend on

such resources for survival. Also, while Governments must

work with non-governmental organizations, there is a need

to resist the indiscriminate pressure of unaccountable

protectionist groups that wish to sever the vital link

between environmental protection and economic self-

interest.

Although not yet in force, the Agreement for the

Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982

relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling

Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, which

provides a framework for regional cooperation in the

conservation and management of these stocks, has already

had a positive impact. In the North Atlantic, for instance,

fisheries-management conventions are under review in

order, inter alia, to adjust them to the provisions of this

Agreement. Iceland urges Member States to ratify the

Agreement.

As a new member of the Economic and Social

Council, Iceland welcomed the thorough discussion on

fostering an enabling environment for development during

this year’s substantive session. It is of grave concern that

the gap between the rich and the poor has continued to

widen. At a time of vastly expanded trade and investment

in the world, the least developed countries have seen their

share of world trade drop by half in two decades. Many

of them are threatened with exclusion from world markets

and economic marginalization.

The key elements for attaining sustainable economic

development are a sound policy framework that

encourages stable growth, a vigorous private sector, the

strengthening of institutional and legal foundations and,

last but not least, good-governance and anti-corruption

measures. At the same time, we need to focus on human-

development strategies. The strengthening of education

and school systems and health and social services must be

an integral part of any sound strategy for development.

We must mobilize the dynamic private sector,

together with bilateral and multilateral official

development assistance to secure sustainable growth and

poverty reduction in developing countries.

As the chairman of the Nordic and the Baltic

constituency of the World Bank’s Development

Committee, I emphasize the important role of the World

Bank Group in development cooperation. I would like to

reiterate what I stated in Hong Kong earlier this week:

that the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative

must result in a permanent solution to the unsustainable

debt burden of the countries in question.

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Finally, this is a time of extraordinary challenges for

the United Nations and its Member States. This is why we

need a vigorous, strong and confident Organization, capable

of leading the way into the next century. For such an

Organization to become a reality we must now focus on

effective and meaningful reform. We should use the

momentum and not fritter away our time in long-winded

and familiar debates. Now we have an opportunity we may

not have again any time soon.