Poland, 2003

At the outset, like

my colleague from Armenia, I would like to express

my highest tribute to the memory of the outstanding

individuals whose tragic loss is a blow to the international

community that is absolutely beyond repair.

The assassination of Anna Lindh, the Foreign

Minister of Sweden, has demonstrated once again the

risk involved in noble dedication to public service in a

world exposed to senseless acts of violence and has

filled people all over the world with the deepest sorrow.

The death of Sergio Vieira de Mello and his staff

members came as a shock to the international community.

The question is, why were they killed? That horrible act

of terror seems to be highly symbolic because, in the

words of the Secretary-General, it directly challenges

the vision of global solidarity and collective security

rooted in the Charter of the United Nations. Sadly, that

is the context in which we must address the concerns

on our domestic and international agendas.

Last year, when addressing the Assembly, I put

forward a proposal to prepare a new act for the United

Nations at the dawn of the twenty-first century. I was

persuaded then, as I am now, that such a document

could give fresh impetus to the principles and

mechanisms of the United Nations in a changing world.

It should entail the elaboration of a new catalogue of

norms of international conduct in the face of the

security threats and global challenges of today.

Developments on the international scene since I

put forward that initiative have strengthened my belief

that the United Nations would only benefit from a new,

strong political signal reconfirming its role as a beacon

of stability and a reliable instrument for managing

change.

I believe that the best way to create the proper

conditions for an unconstrained debate on the future of

the United Nations is to engage outstanding public

figures of international stature in an informal setting. I

suggested at the time that a group of eminent

personalities be charged with the task of producing an

outline of the document, which would then be submitted

for assessment by Member States. The composition of the

group should ensure its independence, appropriate

intellectual format and knowledge of international

affairs. In addition, such a group's excellent moral

standing and political weight would guarantee that the

document designed to serve as an inspiration to

Member States would be of the highest value. Thus, an

essentially intellectual exercise initiated outside the

institutional framework of the United Nations could be

transformed into a political process, culminating in the

adoption of the new act by the General Assembly.

I remain deeply convinced that despite the rapid

changes in the international environment precipitated

especially after 11 September 2001, the United Nations

today almost 60 years after its foundation should

retain a central role as a mechanism for resolving global

problems and as a guarantor of international legitimacy.

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It is a great source of satisfaction for me that the

Polish initiative corresponds to the thinking of the

Secretary-General and his efforts to increase the

effectiveness of the United Nations and safeguard the

position of the Organization as the most important

institution of international security and cooperation. I

wholeheartedly support his views on the need for

review, and possibly a radical reform, of the

international security architecture, as reflected in his

latest report on the implementation of the United

Nations Millennium Declaration (A/58/323), as well as

his timely proposals voiced at the outset of our debate.

Indeed, we can no longer safely assume that our

current multilateral rules and institutions have the

capacity to confront the current array of old and new

threats to peace and security.

Since I presented my proposal last September, we

have consulted extensively with governmental

representatives from a number of countries. A rich

collection of suggestions and comments has been

compiled that will be invaluable in developing the

initiative. In the consultation process, we were

encouraged by the shared view of many countries as to

the need to adapt the United Nations to current

challenges.

Taking into account the initial outcome of the

consultations, the Government of the Republic of

Poland has produced a memorandum in which we have

sketched a proposed outline of the mandate of the

Group of Sages.

The initiative, as reflected in the memorandum, is

in effect an invitation to a conceptual and holistic

reflection on the nature of changes in the international

system and on the most desirable vision of a new, more

effective international order. It deals with the questions

posed by a whole spectrum of present-day challenges,

including security risks related to globalization and the

emergence of non-State actors, the development gap and

international solidarity, governance and subsidiarity.

The novel character of today's challenges calls

for new ways of thinking and an innovative approach.

It is true that protracted regional conflicts remain a

very serious source of instability. Yet, along with those

traditional threats, today's security environment has

been increasingly dominated by a combination of new

threats of a more diverse and unpredictable nature.

They originate mostly within State borders rather than

among States, notably in failing and failed States that

are unable to control their own territories, and they are

often posed by non-State actors.

To use the Secretary-General's terminology,

today's threats are both hard' and soft', and they

tend to reinforce one another. We are confronted with

terrorism that has a global reach, motivated by

extremist ideology and unconstrained in its readiness to

inflict massive casualties. We are facing a growing risk

of proliferation of deadly weapons and the spread of

organized crime that often accompanies State failure.

These hard' challenges are compounded by chronic

underdevelopment in many parts of the world.

Soft' threats, such as widespread poverty,

deprivation, hunger, malnutrition and rampant

infectious diseases, take their tragic toll on peoples

living in countries with poor economic growth. These

are usually found in regions where development is

often thwarted by bad governance and violent internal

conflicts that result in large-scale humanitarian crises,

massive abuses of human rights, political and social

disruption and, ultimately, the collapse of State systems.

In the face of the new realities confronting the

international community, we need to forge a consensus

on the conceptual and political framework for the

operation of the United Nations in upcoming decades.

In this context, let me stress that my initiative is not

intended to revise or change the United Nations

Charter, which should remain the basis of international

relations. Instead, the New Political Act should place

the Charter in the context of the ongoing transformations

taking place in the international environment. It should

provide a new conceptual framework for, and political

interpretation of, the Charter, adapting the United

Nations to present-day realities and regulating the

Organization's activities in those areas that are not

covered by the Charter. It should accomplish that goal

by redefining the objectives of the United Nations,

identifying new tasks and specifying operational

modalities for the Organization.

The Millennium Declaration was a clear

manifestation of the ability of the Organization to take

up new tasks and confront the most pressing

challenges. We must make every effort to increase the

capacity of the United Nations to achieve the goals set

out in that landmark document, and I believe that the

New Act could add a political impetus to the

continuous work under way to fully implement the

Declaration. Yet our experience in the post-cold-war

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era made clear not just problems related to the capacity

of the United Nations, but also the lack of clarity and

consensus on certain principles essential for effective

action in the new security environment.

A source of serious concern is the fact that the

lack of an agreed and common interpretation of many

terms and principles which are fundamental in the

international domain could lead to chaos in

international relations. The New Act for the United

Nations while taking into account the current

changes in the international order should therefore

reflect the relations between numerous principles and

the international conditions dominated by non-

traditional threats. It should examine, for example,

questions related to issues such as respect for human

rights and the principle of State sovereignty, the right

of self-determination and territorial integrity, conflicts

and crisis management, and the principle of non-

interference in internal affairs. It should also address

the possibility of inscribing newly emerged concepts,

such as human security and the responsibility of States

to protect the vulnerable, into the conceptual basis of

the international system.

It is a painful reality that the United Nations is

deeply divided. This limits its effectiveness and

occasionally even calls into question its ability to act.

The basic question is, therefore, how can we restore to

the United Nations the sense of unity and cohesion

embodied in the very name of the Organization? How

can we prevent paralysis in management by the United

Nations of international security? And how can we

adjust the operating principles of the Organization so

as to enable those countries that are able and willing to

respond adequately to new threats to act within the

institutional framework of the United Nations?

In my view, this difficult goal is unattainable

without a reaffirmation of the United Nations as a

community of shared values and shared goals. Such a

reaffirmation could reintegrate the Organization and

infuse it with a new sense of purpose. Hence, at the

core of my initiative there is a need for a profound

reflection on the values and principles that bind the

international community together and define the

behaviour of States towards each other, towards other

actors on the international scene and towards their

citizens.

Let me reiterate once again that Poland strongly

supports the Secretary-General's intention to establish

a high-level panel of eminent personalities to examine

the role of collective action in countering current

security challenges and to review the operation of

major United Nations organs, with a view to

recommending necessary reforms. This idea is in

perfect conformity with my initiative. I believe that the

ideas which we collected in the course of last year,

reflected both in the memorandum of the Polish

Government and in the responses of leading experts

and scholars, could provide a good starting point and

make a useful contribution to the work of the panel.

I wish to affirm the strong commitment of my

country to ensure the successful outcome of the

Secretary-General's initiative. I intend to convey the

aforementioned collected comments of eminent

intellectuals on the future of the United Nations to the

Panel for its consideration.

The war against the murderous regime of Saddam

Hussain has exposed, in a painful way, the challenges

related to the principles and practice of multilateral

action and has revealed the unresolved dilemmas in

this domain, which in my view should be

addressed in the New Political Act for the United

Nations. For the time being, though, the international

community must focus its attention on the situation on

the ground. I believe that the United Nations should be

a key factor in post-war Iraq's transition to the rule of

law, democracy and independence. The tremendous

task of the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq

should be shared by the entire international community.

We must work out arrangements which will help

Iraq assume, as soon as possible, its rightful, dignified

place among the nations of the world. For its part,

Poland remains committed to the stabilization effort in

Iraq. Our participation in that endeavour is guided by

the need to create the conditions for the Iraqi people to

determine freely their own future and to begin a new

chapter in the history of that great nation, leading it to

development and prosperity.

On Monday, 29 September, the United Nations

Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

will enter into force. I am proud that the idea put

forward by Poland during the World Ministerial

Conference on Organized Transnational Crime, held at

Naples in November 1994, was transformed with

the broad support of the international community

into a binding United Nations Convention.

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