Myanmar, 2006

First of all, I wish to

congratulate Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa on her

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-first session. We are convinced that her vast

experience in international relations and able

leadership will lead this session to a successful

conclusion.

I would also like to pay tribute to her

predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, who led the last session

of the General Assembly most ably and successfully.

I would also like to take this opportunity to

express our deep appreciation to Secretary-General

Kofi Annan, whose stewardship of this Organization

over the past 10 years has brought many positive and

remarkable changes to the world body. His tireless and

dedicated service to the international community will

be indelibly etched in our collective memory.

The reform of the United Nations to meet the new

challenges of our times is an ongoing process that

needs to be assessed continuously. While we have

achieved tangible progress in some areas, such as the

establishment of the Human Rights Council and the

Peacebuilding Commission, progress has yet to be

made in other areas. The success of the reform of the

United Nations must be judged in terms of its effective

response to the contemporary needs of Member States,

in particular those of the developing countries, which

form the majority of the membership. While many

States, including the developing countries, struggle to

protect and advance the principles and practices of

multilateralism, the tendency towards unilateralism

remains strong. That unhealthy tendency can in no way

gain ascendancy if the United Nations is to remain

viable.

Attempts by some strong and powerful States to

impose their will on developing countries in pursuit of

their political agenda create an environment of hostility

in the international community. To our dismay and

frustration, there has been glaring abuse of the mandate

06-53615 10

entrusted to the Security Council by Member States by

unjustly placing the situation of my country on the

agenda of the Security Council and by alleging that it

poses a threat to regional peace and security. Nothing

could be further from the truth. Myanmar has done

nothing that can undermine the peace and security of

any country, let alone regional or international peace

and security. Myanmar has close and cordial relations

with all its five neighbours and other countries in the

region.

The founders of the United Nations did not intend

the world body to become a forum in which some

Members with political and economic clout could gang

up against a Member State and label it as what it is not.

We therefore urge all Member States to resist attempts

by those powerful States to influence the Security

Council to take action against a Member State that in

no way poses any threat to international peace and

security.

Regarding Security Council reform, Myanmar is

in favour of the expansion of the Security Council in

both the permanent and non-permanent categories. The

expanded Security Council must also reflect today’s

political and economic realities. However, the fact that

we have not made substantial progress on the

expansion of the Council demonstrates the sensitive

and complex nature of the issue. It is extremely

important that this issue not become divisive among

the United Nations membership. Dialogue and

consultations must continue to seek a solution

acceptable to the overwhelming majority of the

membership.

It is encouraging that the first session of the

Human Rights Council was successfully held in

Geneva in June and that the Council is now working in

full swing to quickly become an effectively functioning

human rights body. Myanmar’s active participation at

the highest level in that session is a reflection of our

commitment to further strengthening the United

Nations human rights machinery.

It is, however, important that the principle of

impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity be

scrupulously observed in the work of the Council.

Although we want the Council to become an effective

tool in the strengthening of the United Nations human

rights machinery, we are not giving it carte blanche. It

is through the observation of the aforementioned

principles — through dialogue, cooperation and non-

politicization of human rights issues — that the

Council is to function. It is incumbent not only on the

members of the Council, but also on all of us, to ensure

that the Council does not deviate from the direction in

which we expect it to head.

Terrorism continues to defy the attempts of the

international community to eliminate it, raising its ugly

head again in Mumbai and elsewhere very recently. We

are of the view that it is only through the involvement

of every community of people that we can be

forewarned in time of the impending onslaught of

terrorist acts. Myanmar fully supports the international

efforts to eliminate terrorism.

A daunting challenge facing the international

community is the horrendous crime of human

trafficking, which the Secretary-General aptly refers to

as one of the most reprehensible violations of human

rights. Despite the efforts of the international

community to tackle that issue over the past decade, it

continues to grow, with serious national and

international implications for the Governments

concerned. Human trafficking is a serious international

issue and we believe that it requires a coordinated and

cooperative response by the entire international

community to address the issue.

Myanmar is a State party to the United Nations

Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and

its supplementary Protocols to Prevent, Suppress and

Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and

Children and against the Smuggling of Migrants by

Land, Sea and Air. I would like to stress that Myanmar

regards combating trafficking in persons as a national

task. We are making relentless efforts in that regard.

Myanmar has designated HIV/AIDS, malaria and

tuberculosis as diseases of national concern. In 1989,

we set up a high-level multisectoral national AIDS

committee. We have been cooperating with the United

Nations and, in 2001, our national AIDS programme

and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

(UNAIDS) drew up a joint programme of action

covering education, prevention, cure and rehabilitation

to effectively address the challenge. As a result, we

have been able not only to level the HIV/AIDS

infection rate, but to reduce it. We are also serving on

the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, enabling

us to address the issue at both the national and

international levels.

11 06-53615

Narcotic drugs continue to be one of the threats

facing us today. As the Government of Myanmar

regards the eradication of narcotic drugs as a national

responsibility, it has striven relentlessly to eradicate

such drugs by 2014. Our determined efforts on all

fronts have resulted in a substantial decrease in opium

production. I would like to reiterate here that Myanmar

will step up its efforts, in close cooperation with

friendly countries and international organizations, until

we achieve our goal.

Cooperation with the United Nations is a

cornerstone of Myanmar’s foreign policy. Our track

record has proven that Myanmar has invariably

extended its cooperation to the United Nations.

Myanmar has been implementing a national

development plan with the aim of accelerating growth,

achieving equitable and balanced development, and

reducing the socio-economic development gap between

rural and urban areas of the country. The national

development plan addresses the major aspects of the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We have

made significant progress towards achieving the MDGs

by 2015, particularly in such areas as health, education,

sustainable access to safe drinking water, and access to

improved sanitation. In implementing the MDGs, we

are primarily relying on our national resources. In that

regard, we are also receiving valuable assistance and

cooperation from the United Nations agencies

concerned.

Finally, I wish to apprise the Assembly of the

political developments in my country. We have been

steadfastly implementing the seven-step road map for

transition to democracy, announced in August 2003.

The National Convention, which was adjourned on

31 January 2006, will resume its session on 10 October

and continue to discuss the basic principles for the

drafting of an enduring constitution. I wish to stress

that the process of transforming the country into a

democratic State will move ahead systematically in

accordance with the road map.

Before concluding, I would like to reaffirm our

commitment to working together in upholding the

principles enunciated in the Charter of the United

Nations and in strengthening the role of the United

Nations to respond to the challenges of the twenty-first

century.