Norway, 2012

Leadership is about making

choices. It is about the ability to make the right decision

at the right moment and to have the stamina to deliver

accordingly. It is about the will to help shape the future of individuals, nations and the planet. And it is about

the courage that comes with seeking peace with one’s

enemies, as Yitzhak Rabin once told us. Leadership is

also about creating the conditions for people to choose

how to live their lives. Freedom is more than the mere

absence of physical or legal obstacles.

The very purpose of the United Nations is to

promote freedom for all people — freedom from want,

freedom from fear, and the freedom to live in dignity.

People are only truly free when they are able to choose

the way they want to live their own lives, regardless

of race, gender or sexual orientation. It is the freedom

of a woman to choose when to have children and also

when not to have them. It is about her freedom from

intrusion of her physical integrity, as well as her right

to think and say what she wants. It is about the freedom

that allows mother and child to survive birth, and the

freedom that allows every child to live a healthy life,

receive education and walk to school without fear of

land mines or cluster munitions. It is about the freedom

of every man and every woman to organize, to speak

out and to have their say as society progresses.

Those freedoms lay the ground for development and

prosperity. They give men and women a chance to build

a better future for themselves and for their families.

Some people can only dream about those freedoms, but

when they do exist they are often the result of collective

action by families, communities, regions and States and

at the global level. At the end of the day, that is why we

are here in this Assembly.

In Syria, mass atrocities are continuing. The crisis

in Syria started with a call for freedom and dignity

through peaceful protests. The Syrian Government

bears the primary responsibility. The privileges of the

few should no longer stand in the way of the aspirations

of the many. The regime of Bashar Al-Assad has lost all

legitimacy and must cede power. The violence in Syria

must stop.

Even in war, there are rules. All parties have clear

responsibilities under international humanitarian law.

To any party that commits violations of these principles,

I say this: “You are all individually responsible. When

justice prevails, you will be held accountable for the

crimes you have committed. Do not expect to be

pardoned by stating that your opponent committed the

same crime.”

When the United Nations was formed in San

Francisco in 1945, we collectively decided to establish a Security Council to act on our behalf. The permanent

members were then entrusted with the right of veto. My

country’s delegation at the time was led by Mr. Trygve

Lie, who would later become the Organization’s first

Secretary-General. On behalf of my country, he cast his

vote in favour of the right of veto for the five permanent

members, as did many other small and medium-sized

countries. They did so not only to reflect the world

order of the day, but also to ensure that the Council

would have genuine authority to make decisions and be

able to act on our behalf. They did not do so because

they held certain States to be superior to others.

Therefore, and in the light of the Syrian drama, my

message to the members of the Security Council is that

people in the Arab world, in Europe, in Asia, in Africa

and in the Americas are watching with horror how

history is repeating itself. Once again, the permanent

members of the Security Council are divided and

unable to protect people on the ground. In its absence,

extremists on all sides are free to kill, maim and rape.

We now expect the members of the Council to act. We

expect them to put away outdated ideas of zero-sum

games or spheres of influence and to strive to seek a

common position. Enough blood has been shed.

The verdict is harsh against those who choose the

wrong side of history. They must not allow narrow

self-interest to block the winds of change that the

vast majority of members of this Assembly applaud.

President Al-Assad of Syria was not forced to take the

path of conflict and confrontation; he could have opted

for compromise and cooperation. Elsewhere in the

world, quite different choices are being made.

Today in this Assembly, we have heard how

Myanmar’s reformist President Thein Sein is opening

the door for a free and democratic Myanmar. I commend

the courage shown by the Myanmar Government. I also

commend the courage of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She

has chosen to talk to the very people who once held her

in confinement.

Earlier today in Addis Ababa, the leaders of the

Sudan and South Sudan made the choice to end the

bloody conflict that has marred their peoples’ lives for

decades. The Sudan and South Sudan had again been

on the brink of war, but by signing today’s agreements

they have opted for peace. We salute the African Union,

which has, in close partnership with the Security

Council, helped make that choice possible. In Colombia, the Government and representatives

of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia

have made the wise choice of entering into formal

negotiations in order to end another age-old conflict.

As Norway’s Foreign Minister, I am the Chair of

the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for the Coordination

of International Assistance to Palestinians. We met on

the eve of this session of the General Assembly. I want

to take this opportunity to share with Member States

my deep concern about the state of play in the Israel-

Palestine relationship. Exactly one year ago, we agreed

here in New York that the Palestinian State-building

process had reached a level where the institutions of

State were in place. Great expectations were created,

only to be frustrated.

Time is running short — shorter than many seem

to understand. There is significant fatigue among the

Palestinian population. They may become inspired

to look for alternative options — options that would

severely hamper the prospects of Palestinians and

Israelis alike. I see a similar fatigue emerging among the

countries that are funding the Palestinian authorities.

The two-State solution is the only path to sustainable

peace, but the prospect of realizing a Palestinian State

based on the two-State solution is diminishing as the

expansion of Israeli settlements continues. Those

actions remain the main obstacle to peace and they must

stop. To get the peace process back on track, we need

to break the impasse and reinstall the trust in a political

horizon based on the final status issues. Negotiations

remain the key to achieve that; they must start now.

Leadership is also about trust. To achieve our

goals, we need a strong United Nations. I applaud the

Secretary-General’s tireless efforts aimed at reforming

the internal workings of the Organization. We have

elected a Secretary-General to lead, but we must allow

him to do so. Intergovernmental micromanagement

of what would be the chief executive’s prerogative in

any modern organization is nothing but the opposite of

making the United Nations work.

To conclude, leaders have real choices. Leaders

have real responsibilities. Humankind shapes its own

future. Failing to solve the most critical challenges

of our time not only harms those who suffer under

poverty, war or oppression; it also deprives people of

the conviction that they too can shape their own future.

And that very conviction, that belief in oneself and each

other, is what will make freedom from want, freedom from fear and the freedom to live in dignity possible for

all. That is the purpose of our leadership.