Latvia, 2006

I

would like to begin by congratulating the Republic of

Montenegro on its recent accession to the United

Nations Organization. We fully understand the

challenges that country faces and wish it every success

in the establishment of a secure and prosperous State.

I wish to express our highest appreciation to the

President of the General Assembly at its sixtieth

session, Mr. Jan Eliasson, for his enthusiastic

dedication and skilful leadership during the past year.

We now sincerely look forward to working with the

President of the General Assembly at this session,

Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, and I pledge her

Latvia’s full support. I also congratulate her on being

only the third woman ever to preside over the General

Assembly.

A year ago, we marked the sixtieth anniversary of

the United Nations by setting out a far-reaching reform

plan to bring the Organization closer to the needs of

the twenty-first century. While the United Nations

spectrum of peacekeeping, humanitarian and human

rights operations has increased significantly in recent

years, the United Nations must continue to step up its

activities if it is to meet the urgent needs of millions of

people throughout the world.

The current situation presents us with great

challenges at the global level that require us to act with

urgency and coordination. We will be able to attain the

Millennium Development Goals and reduce the

crushing poverty that is debilitating the lives of billions

of people across this planet only if we pool our

resources and redouble our efforts. We need to pursue

our campaign against well-known scourges that include

06-52737 24

contagious disease and the destruction of the global

environment.

(spoke in English)

We can take satisfaction in noting that a number

of serious and meaningful measures have already been

taken to alleviate the plight of the world’s poor. Those

important steps must be followed up by continued

measures to help the world’s poorest nations become

more self-sufficient. At the same time, the developing

countries must do their utmost to implement the

practices of good governance, strengthen their

institutions and abide by the rule of law.

It is worth emphasizing that the United Nations

has been an effective instrument in those countries

where the political will has existed to cooperate fully

with the United Nations programmes and proposals for

alleviating the plight of the poor. At the same time, the

efficiency of United Nations operations has also been

called into question, and not without reason. More

innovative approaches need to be deployed for

alleviating poverty and reaching set development

objectives. Among those, we should look more to the

effective use of information, communication and

modern technologies.

I well remember the excitement at the

Millennium Summit in 2000, when we adopted the

Millennium Declaration. Progress towards reaching the

Millennium Development Goals, alas, is still

unacceptably slow. The statistics on infant mortality

and maternal health, among others, remain particularly

distressing. Millions of our fellow human beings have

no access to clean drinking water, let alone more

sophisticated comforts. We cannot remain indifferent

when so much needs to be done.

In many parts of the world, the misery brought on

by poverty is compounded by such debilitating and

mortal diseases as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and

malaria. While much has already been achieved to

control the spread of those afflictions, further

partnerships need to be developed with other

stakeholders, including those in the private sector.

Only a few days ago, the States Members of the

United Nations concluded a High-level Dialogue on

International Migration and Development. The

dramatic increase of illegal migration in recent years

has placed great stress on the international system for

protecting refugees and asylum-seekers. The activities

of the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees on migration issues should

be coordinated with regional cooperation efforts in

order to become more effective.

We have had the great misfortune to see terrorism

continue as a threat to international peace and security.

I welcome, therefore, the recent agreement on a Global

Counter-Terrorism Strategy and urge the United

Nations Member States to intensify their efforts to

reach a consensus on a comprehensive anti-terrorism

convention.

We have failed to make any substantial progress

over the past year in the area of disarmament and the

non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. That

is a fundamental issue for global peace and security

and I encourage all United Nations Member States to

demonstrate their willingness to move forward at a

faster pace.

The United Nations also needs to provide a

prompt and effective response when armed conflicts

arise. We must strive to make United Nations

peacekeeping a more effective and accepted instrument

of collective security. Too often in the past, the United

Nations has been unable to prevent genocide and

lasting bloodshed — in the Congo, in Rwanda, in the

former Yugoslavia and now in the Darfur region of the

Sudan. During the past 10 years, the operational

activity of the United Nations in peacekeeping has

quadrupled, but that may still not be enough. The

demand for rapid action cannot be met through United

Nations mechanisms alone, but requires a more

effective partnership between the United Nations and

regional organizations.

The most recent example of the need for a

concerted peacekeeping effort is the tragic sequence of

events in Israel and Lebanon this past summer.

Peacekeeping can facilitate solutions, but not impose

them. In Iraq and in Afghanistan, as well as in the

continuing conflict between the Israelis and the

Palestinians, there will be no durable peace until all

parties renounce the use of violence to achieve political

aims. A long-lasting settlement requires the political

will of all parties in the region to negotiate a viable

compromise in good faith, where a secure State of

Israel coexists side by side with an independent State

of Palestine.

Currently, the United Nations is uniquely

positioned to take a leading role in peacebuilding. We

25 06-52737

expect the recently established Peacebuilding

Commission to help those countries that are emerging

from conflict not to be drawn back into it, and hope

that the Commission will serve to promote the post-

conflict reconstruction and long-term development of

regions that have suffered from warfare.

Along with the promotion of peace and security

and the alleviation of poverty, the protection of human

rights is one of the main missions of the United

Nations. The recent creation of the Human Rights

Council will hopefully enable the United Nations to

respond more promptly and effectively in situations

where human rights come under threat. The Council

needs to provide real leadership to restore trust in the

United Nations as a guardian, defender and promoter

of that universal value.

However, the effectiveness of the Human Rights

Council depends entirely on the political will and

conduct of the Member States. We must work together

to ensure that this new institution, in which we have

placed such high hopes, truly serves the purpose for

which it was created.

During this session, we will face the difficult task

of furthering the reform of the United Nations. We

have to accept the fact that none of the United Nations

Member States will be able to attain absolutely

everything they desire from the reform process. At no

point should any Members think of negotiations for

these necessary reforms as a zero-sum game in which

some will be losers and some winners. It is possible to

arrive at solutions that constitute a win-win situation

for everybody. It takes hard work and a lot of patience,

but it can be done.

It is natural for different countries to have

different priorities and different threat perceptions.

That is a fact of life. It is precisely for that reason that

we need the United Nations as a central meeting place

where our common interests can be determined and our

common plans hammered out in an inclusive and

democratic manner. The ongoing reforms of the United

Nations are needed for the benefit and advantage of us

all, without exception.

The international agreements that are reached

within the United Nations bear a unique legitimacy,

moral weight and political authority. Yet it is no secret

that in an Organization with nearly 200 Members, the

decision-making process can be protracted.

Nevertheless, despite the painstakingly slow pace of

United Nations reform to date, there has been some

notable progress during the past year. It is vital for the

United Nations to continue striving for more trust and

goodwill among all our nations, for we simply cannot

afford to do otherwise.

There is general agreement that the time has

come for a serious overhaul of the United Nations

management system. An effective Secretariat is crucial

for the United Nations system’s ability to adapt to

evolving challenges. So far, only the initial steps have

been taken in transforming the United Nations into a

more efficient and accountable Organization. The time

has come for meaningful changes, and I hope that we

will establish tangible results during this sixty-first

session.

Mandate review is another essential element of

the reform process where our aspirations have been

higher than the result achieved. Only a fraction of the

numerous mandates have been classified and the

question of what to do with them is still pending. We

need to move ahead energetically, bearing in mind that

this is not a blind cost-cutting exercise but an ongoing

process of feedback needed to improve the

effectiveness and quality of the Organization’s work.

Rational use of resources and cost-efficiency will allow

us to do more with the resources at the command of the

United Nations, without any duplication of effort.

There has been a growing feeling among United

Nations Member States of the need for a revitalized

and more effective General Assembly. I welcome the

regular meetings among the Presidents of the General

Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and

Social Council with the aim of achieving maximum

complementarity among those principal organs. The

Charter of the United Nations provides us with the

fundamental guidelines for our work, and we should be

guided by it in a spirit of cooperation, not rivalry. It is

self-defeating, unproductive and wasteful to invest

time and effort in a competition among the main bodies

of the United Nations. Only by rising above such

internal divisions can the United Nations hope to truly

fulfil the leading role that it has to play in order to

serve the needs of the world community as a whole.

We must also not neglect the reform of the

Security Council, which needs to be more

representative of the state of the world in 2006. While

this matter should not overshadow the rest of the

reform process, neither can it be indefinitely

06-52737 26

postponed. Progress on this issue needs to be made, for

it would invigorate and give added impetus to the

overall reform process. The Security Council has a

central role to play in maintaining international peace

and security. If it is to function as a truly effective

organ, then it must attain both a stronger capacity and a

greater willingness to act in the face of international

crises and tensions and it must find ways of responding

more rapidly at the outbreak of armed conflicts.

At this sixty-first session of the General

Assembly, we must make every effort to make progress

in adjusting the United Nations to the needs and

challenges of our times. This session will be the last

under the stewardship of Secretary-General Kofi

Annan. During his mandate, Mr. Annan has exhibited

outstanding leadership in setting the agenda and

establishing a clear vision of the goals of the United

Nations. I therefore take this opportunity to thank him

for his tireless dedication to the United Nations and for

framing and initiating the much-needed reform

process. His successor will inherit a vast and complex

agenda which can only be tackled with maximum

cooperation and flexibility from all Member States.

The United Nations requires a Secretary-General

who will be willing to listen to and to respect the views

of all, but who will also have the personal courage to

push for the necessary, but possibly unpopular,

decisions that are needed for the good of the

Organization as a whole. A Secretary-General must be

endowed with leadership, vision, fairness and

objectivity. He or she must be a true citizen of the

world who can feel the pulse of humanity. He or she

must have the passion and commitment to spare no

effort in facing up to the most demanding of

challenges.

Today, the United Nations is at a crossroads and

faces a choice: to address the challenges of the twenty-

first century through the combined efforts of all its

Member States, or to gradually lose its influence in the

international community.

As many here are aware, I recently announced my

decision to submit my candidacy for the position of

Secretary-General. I highly appreciate the confidence

placed in me by the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi

Annan, when he appointed me Special Envoy on

United Nations Reform. I am personally committed to

addressing the challenges posed by United Nations

reform and to promoting human rights, freedom and

democracy, including gender equality. While women

represent half of the world’s population, no woman has

ever been at the helm of this Organization. I believe

that the time has come for a woman to be considered a

serious candidate for the position of Secretary-General.

It so happens that, as a result of historical events

in the twentieth century, no Secretary-General has ever

come from Eastern Europe. Yet that region has a

wealth of experience to share about its ability to effect

radical change and achieve progress in a remarkably

brief period of time.

Nevertheless, the principle of regional rotation

should not be the principal or sole factor in the

selection of a candidate. While I deeply respect the

candidates who have already been nominated from one

part of the world, the selection procedure should not

restrict the rights and opportunities of potential

candidates from any other part of the world. I hope that

the choice made by the Security Council and the

General Assembly will be based solely on the

candidate’s qualifications, personal qualities and

vision.

The world needs a strong United Nations, and we

as leaders need to build bridges of understanding if we

are to make the United Nations as strong as it needs to

be. We need to keep alive the main goal of the founders

of the United Nations, who were determined “to save

succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. We

owe it to our children, who will inherit this planet, to

save them also from the scourges of terrorism, of

hunger and of disease.

Because of my own personal experience as a

child of war and a refugee, having known fear, cold,

loss and hunger in my time, I urge world leaders to

save every child that we can from such experiences.

Our common goal is to extend worldwide the peace,

freedom and prosperity that so many nations have

already achieved. It can be done; it must be done. But

it is something that we can achieve only by all of us

working together.