Slovenia, 2009

Yesterday and today we have

heard many inspiring words. We heard powerful words,

words of hope. A few moments ago we heard words

about salvation. Although most of us would not agree

that salvation is around the corner, at the same time I

believe all of us will agree that improvement is

possible and that the reason we are here is to make that

improvement a reality. But in order to do that, we must

do what the peoples of the world legitimately expect

from us as representatives of United Nations Member

States: to make this institution, the United Nations,

effective and to work for it with a sense of common

purpose, truly as united nations.

I express full confidence in your experience and

wisdom, Mr. President, congratulate you on your

election and wish you every success in your work for

the improvement of humankind’s situation.

At the same time, I would not wish to miss the

opportunity to thank the President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-third session, Mr. Miguel

d’Escoto Brockmann, who guided this Assembly with

great determination and an ethical commitment to

fairness and justice.

I also wish to pay tribute to our Secretary-

General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his guidance in these

trying times.

In the past few days, many of us were engaged in

an effort, spearheaded by the Secretary-General, to

generate the necessary political will to seal the deal in

Copenhagen. We all appreciate this example of

international leadership. Humankind must take resolute

steps towards a new and effective system to mitigate

the effects of global warming and to ensure our

necessary adaptation.

Our responsibilities are common and

differentiated. Today, we understand that each of the

Member States of the United Nations must do its share

and that, together as united nations, we can save the

planet. Let the Copenhagen Conference be the turning

point.

We also need to broaden the front and fully

include civil society and the business sector in broad

action for this needed technological and social

transformation. Action starting now to mitigate the

consequences of climate change will have to lead to

profound societal change — a change in the way we

produce, the way we consume and the way we live. Let

us not be afraid of these changes. These changes may

not amount to a revolution, of which President Chávez

Frías of Venezuela spoke, but they will have to be real

and, if guided in a wise and timely manner, they can

improve our common future.

Now the world needs a comprehensive strategy in

order to fulfil this task. Such a strategy needs to

address all the main challenges of our time in a

consistent manner. The food crisis, climate change, the

energy crisis, the spreading of infectious diseases and

other problems may have different roots, but they

produce a single, communicative effect. They hobble

global development and make the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals only a distant

possibility. Therefore, clear responses are called for.

And what is the role of the United Nations in this

context? Some of the answers have already been

provided. They are enshrined, inter alia, in the

Outcome of the United Nations Conference on the

World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on

Development, which was held in New York in June.

Results of that Conference should be further

elaborated. Specific priority tasks for global

development must soon be defined.

These days, many expectations are linked to the

G-20 summit meeting in Pittsburgh. Much needs to be

done to bring greater discipline and responsibility to

the global financial system. This is an important and

immediate priority. Moreover, it is necessary to

increase resources and to adjust the Bretton Woods

institutions with a view to the proper maintenance of

global financial stability and of development financing.

The restarting of global trade negotiations has become

an urgent priority.

But even more is needed, including the

improvement of official development assistance, with a

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particular priority on development in Africa. Issues of

global development represent a large part of the agenda

of the current session of the General Assembly.

However, we must also think about the fate of

human rights in current global circumstances. Human

rights and development are closely connected. The

current recession has already increased global levels of

poverty. Unemployment is growing. The faith of many

young people is becoming ever more uncertain. All

these are serious challenges to global social stability

and may turn into the serious security concerns of

tomorrow if left unattended.

I welcome the efforts of the International Labour

Organization and the Global Jobs Pact adopted in June.

Today, there is no challenge to human rights more

pervasive, more strategic and more pressing than the

challenge of poverty and unemployment. Policymakers

need to ensure that economic policies and human rights

policies alike are coordinated and that mechanisms are

put into place at the national and international levels.

Slovenia was one of the first Member States to

sign today the Optional Protocol to the International

Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The Protocol will give individuals an additional and

potentially significant implementation mechanism.

This is a small step, but one which demonstrates our

awareness of the problem and our commitment to

action.

We are also looking to the Human Rights Council

as the main body of the United Nations to devise

strategies for human rights. Slovenia has been an active

member of the Council and we remain optimistic. The

progress achieved so far in developing new methods of

work in the Council is encouraging, albeit not yet

sufficient. We welcome the election of the United

States to the Council and believe that only an inclusive

forum for human rights can be an effective forum for

human rights. Members of the Human Rights Council

must realize that they bear a special responsibility to

lead.

But there are problems which exceed the

potential of the Human Rights Council itself. The

failures to protect human beings from mass atrocities

and from gross and systematic violations of human

rights should not be repeated. We still have not found

the right tools to respond in a timely and effective

manner to such situations. I therefore welcome the

debate on the responsibility to protect that took place

in the General Assembly in July this year. Continued

engagement of the General Assembly on this subject

has proved to be necessary, and I hope that this

discussion will yield results.

Issues of environment, development and human

rights represent today the bulk of the current United

Nations agenda, but it is in the area of the maintenance

of international peace and security that some of the

most urgent thinking and action are necessary. Four

areas of work are of special importance.

The reform of the Security Council is long

overdue and progress made at the sixty-third session of

the General Assembly is insufficient. However,

negotiations so far have generated a positive

momentum. It is apparent that the expansion of the

Security Council in the permanent and non-permanent

categories of membership has gained broad support

among United Nations Member States. Exactly a year

ago from this rostrum, I suggested a specific model for

Security Council expansion. It was one of many

proposals that were made. Now the time is right for

that and other proposals to be put on the table and to be

addressed head on.

In addition to structural change, such as Security

Council reform, we need to strengthen the United

Nations practical role in the maintenance of

international peace and security. I welcome the

thinking expressed in the report of the Department of

Peacekeeping Operations entitled “A New Partnership

Agenda: Charting a New Horizon for United Nations

Peacekeeping”, published in July this year. The report

highlights many of the most pressing and subtle needs

for improvement. Member States must give careful

consideration to the report and to such concepts as

expanding the peacekeeping partnership, the purpose

of which is to strengthen the operational capacity and

political sophistication of United Nations peacekeeping.

Let us not overlook the fact that progress in

peacekeeping would strengthen all other United

Nations activities linked to the maintenance of

international peace and security, including preventive

diplomacy and post-conflict peacebuilding.

The third area which needs to be addressed is

disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control,

where we have come up against far too many

stumbling blocks in the past. United Nations action

needs to be energized now, and the forthcoming review

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of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons has to be a step forward.

Fourthly, the United Nations will continue to be

an indispensable forum for political consultation and

policy advice. The experience of the United Nations is

irreplaceable. The situation in Afghanistan can be cited

as a case in point. For three decades now, the United

Nations has been seized with a variety of problems

affecting Afghanistan, a Member State. No one should

doubt that Afghanistan belongs to the Afghans or that

the Afghanization of security is the only real path

towards security in the country. There can be no

military solution to the country’s variety of problems.

It is becoming ever more apparent that the international

community will have to assist in an Afghan process of

transition that will decrease and eventually phase out

the international military presence in the country.

Let me emphasize the role of the United Nations

in that context. Sometimes, matters such as the

situation in and around Afghanistan are discussed at

specialized international conferences, but wisdom and

common sense suggest that the experience of the

United Nations be put to use. Let us not forget the

unique success of the United Nations, of the United

Nations-led 2001 Bonn Conference and of the

subsequent Constitutional Loya Jirga. The time has

come for a broad look at the entire experience since

that period, an assessment of what exactly went wrong

and why, a sober assessment of the current situation,

and the careful definition of further steps that will

make international political, economic and

administrative assistance more effective and the

international military presence no longer needed. The

assistance of the Security Council and the General

Assembly will be valuable in that regard.

Let me conclude by saying something very

obvious. The agenda of the United Nations today is

heavy, but that is not news. The United Nations has

always been the forum for addressing the world’s most

intractable problems. At the same time, however, the

United Nations has always represented hope and

promise to the world. Let us live up to that hope and

that promise. Let us make this the era of the United

Nations and the Organization’s finest hour.