Sweden, 2000

The individual human

being must always be at the centre of our work.

Burmese students fighting for democracy, victims of

ethnic violence in Kosovo, women in Afghanistan

denied their right to education and equality, children

dying of curable diseases, people simply trying to

survive in the utmost poverty have given us our

task. Meeting the needs of the peoples and realizing

their aspirations remain the starting point, the purpose

and the vision of our Organization.

But the United Nations will only be what we, its

Members, allow it to be. This year's General Assembly

session provides an occasion to revitalize our much

needed, but often criticized, global Organization. The

Secretary-General's excellent report on the role of the

United Nations in the twenty-first century provides a

firm basis for the creation of a truly modern United

Nations a United Nations with maintained

legitimacy and increased credibility, greater efficiency

and continued global relevance.

Globalization opens the market for those who

have the resources and instruments to benefit from it.

Globalization makes knowledge and information

available to those who have the tools and skills to make

use of the new technology. Globalization brings

opportunities to improve life for all people, but it has

also led to an increasing gap between those who can

take advantage and those left behind.

Safeguarding the universal and indivisible rights

and values of humanity is a key responsibility for the

United Nations in the age of globalized economy,

technology and communications.

The world community has to do its utmost to

integrate the least developed countries into the global

economy. Solidarity and responsibility from all

countries are necessary for reaching international

development targets and for contributing to an

improved standard of living for all people. Solidarity

and responsibility are essential in fighting two of the

greatest threats to development and human security in

our time: poverty and HIV/AIDS. We need to work

with a wide range of measures to overcome these

threats.

Sustained and increased official development

assistance remains of vital importance. Today only four

countries, Sweden among them, meet the United

Nations target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income

in development aid.

But we must also look at financing for

development in a broader perspective. Domestic

resources, trade, international finance and official

development assistance must all be taken into account.

Sweden wants an integrated approach to development.

We welcome the fact that the United Nations, the

World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the

World Trade Organization (WTO) and others are

working together in preparing next year's high-level

events on these issues.

The start of new negotiations under the WTO can

be an important contribution to growth and

development. Let us together make sure that such

negotiations truly turn into a development round. The

major trading nations have already committed

themselves to giving free market access to products

from the least developed countries. It is time to put

these commitments into effect.

There is no contradiction between development

and respect for human rights. On the contrary,

development benefits from respect for the human rights

and participation of all citizens, and discrimination and

oppression are threats to development. For women in

many parts of the world, discrimination means being

25

excluded from participation in the economic and

political fields; their potential contribution is lost. Two

thirds of all illiterates are women. For millions of

women, domestic violence is a daily reality. This is not

in accordance with the basic values of our international

community and it is a major obstacle to sustainable

development. The legal basis for ending discrimination

exists with the Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women and the new

agreement of the special session in June.

For the children, next year's special session of the

General Assembly provides an excellent opportunity to

set a global and concrete agenda. The Convention on

the Rights of the Child is the basis for this agenda to

reduce forcefully maternal mortality, to give more

children access to primary school and to promote the

participation of young people in shaping our societies.

Girls must be given the same rights and opportunities

as boys. I thus welcome the Secretary-General's new

system-wide girls' education initiative.

A growing problem in many countries and

regions is the traffic in human beings, especially

exposing women and children to sexual exploitation

and to forced labour. These criminal acts call for our

immediate attention and a forceful reaction from the

international community. We need and actively seek

closer cooperation between Europe, Asia and others in

order to develop strong and efficient measures to fight

this appalling violation of human rights.

Respect for human dignity requires an end to the

use of the death penalty. This brutal and irrevocable

form of punishment has no place in a modern, civilized

society. It is time for the international community to

fully recognize the most fundamental human right and

abolish the death penalty.

Disrespect for democracy and human rights paves

the way for crisis and conflict. National sovereignty is

firmly coupled with a Government's responsibility to

protect and promote human rights. It is the duty of the

international community and our duty as political

leaders to act and react when human rights and

fundamental freedoms are violated. We cannot idly

stand by when people are being brutalized behind

national borders.

In many armed conflicts, deliberate terror

directed against civilians is used to create fear. Women

suffer from violence and rape. Children are denied their

dignity and childhood when forced to become soldiers.

Men are imprisoned in concentration camps, forced to

take sides or killed. Lives and families are ruined and

the perpetrators often go unpunished. Sierra Leone is

one example, Kosovo another.

Strengthening international law and humanitarian

law does increase the protection of the individual. It

also creates confidence amongst people, since it

demonstrates that a culture of impunity will not be

tolerated. A good example was the decision by the

Security Council to set up a special court to try those

responsible for war crimes during the conflict in Sierra

Leone.

The establishment of an International Criminal

Court will give us a safer and more just world.

Suspected perpetrators of crimes against humanity can

and will be tried in accordance with international law

whenever national courts are unable or unwilling to do

so. There is a strong need for joint and early action to

make the International Criminal Court operational.

The past year saw a new honesty in drawing

conclusions from previous mistakes and I want to

congratulate the Secretary-General for having initiated

the studies of our failures in Bosnia and Rwanda. The

lessons learned from the chilling reports on the

massacre in Srebrenica and on the genocide in Rwanda,

as well as from the senseless terror in East Timor, must

be put to constructive use for the future.

National sovereignty must not be used as an

excuse to prevent the United Nations from taking

necessary measures when fundamental humanitarian

values are at stake. It is our common responsibility to

make sure that commitments are made and that the

resources for peace operations are available when

needed. My Government warmly welcomes the

recommendations in the Brahimi report, for example

concerning core funding for United Nations

Headquarters support for peacekeeping operations. By

implementing the many recommendations in the report,

the United Nations capacity to act will be significantly

strengthened.

If the Security Council cannot act in an urgent

situation, due to a veto or the threat of a veto, its

credibility and its legitimacy suffer. Necessary action

ought not to be hindered or blocked by a veto. Now is

the time for the permanent members to agree on a

moratorium on the use of the veto.

26

The credibility of the Security Council is of vital

interest not only to its members, but to the United

Nations membership at large. All efforts should be

made to use the Security Council as a forum for

negotiations and decisions in order to avoid not only

the unnecessary threat of or use of the veto, but also

unilateral action whereby the Council is circumvented.

A modern United Nations requires a Security Council

that reflects the realities of today's international

relations. The Council should therefore be enlarged to

make room for an increased representation of

countries, not least from the developing world. We

should also be prepared to periodically review the

composition of the Security Council. At stake is the

global relevance of the Security Council in a world

vastly different from that of 1945.

The recent developments on the Korean peninsula

show that long-lasting tension can also be challenged

through enlightened statesmanship. But the absence of

armed conflict does not equal lasting peace. It is

essential to address the root causes of violent conflict

by building democracy and safeguarding human rights,

by promoting economic and social development and by

removing trade barriers and debt burdens.

There is no alternative to the United Nations in

preventing and, if needed, managing conflicts. The

United Nations provides legitimacy for global action,

but the United Nations alone cannot meet the needs and

demands in this area. Cooperation between the United

Nations and regional entities could be further

developed. Sweden believes that the civilian and

military capacity for crisis management and conflict

prevention now being developed by the European

Union (EU) could be put to use in the future by the

United Nations. We will continue to work for close

cooperation between the EU and the United Nations on

these matters during the Swedish presidency of the EU

in the spring of 2001.

During the past year, the Security Council has

placed emphasis on early action and on the need to

focus on the prevention of violent conflicts. Sweden

strongly supports this shift towards identifying and

taking early measures. We are prepared to work with

other countries to support the Secretary-General in the

development of a comprehensive conflict prevention

strategy.

Improved interaction between the Security

Council and the Economic and Social Council, other

United Nations bodies and the Bretton Woods

institutions, including the use of joint fact-finding

missions, will facilitate early action. Sweden would

like to see the establishment of a standing fact-finding

mechanism at the disposal of the Secretary-General, as

a complement to Security Council missions. Such a

mechanism could be utilized at an early stage in an

emerging crisis situation, without undue delays.

Another part of a United Nations strategy should

be to explore and develop the link between democracy

and prevention of violent conflict. Democracy offers

peaceful ways of handling conflicts and different

interests. Democratization is a process in which the

holding of elections should only be the first step in a

long-term international commitment. Establishing

peace and democracy takes a lot more than free and

fair elections, even if that is the beginning. The

sanctions instrument needs to be refined to become

truly effective. By now, we have ample evidence that

sweeping economic sanctions frequently do more harm

than good. The guiding principle should be to exert the

strongest possible pressure on the decision-makers,

while no effort should be spared to avoid negative

effects on civilians. Every future sanctions regime

ought to consist of sharp and enforceable measures,

directed against the factors that cause and fuel crisis or

conflict. Sweden stands ready to contribute actively to

the debate on how this instrument of the United

Nations Charter can be made more efficient.

To promote disarmament and prevent the

proliferation of weapons of mass-destruction remains a

major challenge for the United Nations and its Member

States. The result of this year's Review Conference of

the Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

(NPT) gives certain hope in this regard. For the first

time in many years, a consensus document on the

agenda for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament

was adopted. For the first time ever, the nuclear-

weapon States unconditionally pledged to totally

eliminate their nuclear arsenals. For the first time, a

number of practical steps were identified for how to

work towards this goal.

A world free from nuclear weapons will not be

achieved overnight. Nor are these steps to be taken in a

distant future or held hostage to States' perception of

the appropriate strategic balance. The momentum

achieved at the NPT Conference has to be sustained.

The countries of the New Agenda Coalition will work

for the implementation of the NPT results. All States

27

ought to immediately cease production of nuclear

weapons and fissile material for weapons purposes.

The Conference on Disarmament should now start its

work on a ban on such material. The world

community's efforts to prevent the further production

of nuclear weapons must not be blocked by China,

India, Pakistan or any other State. It is high time to

bring the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty into force.

We expect all States to live up to their commitments.

The United States' plans for a national missile

defence system causes concern. In today's globalized

world, we must always take account of the global

effects of our decisions. It is hard to see how a possible

threat, from a few States, would best be countered by a

missile shield that may or may not work, and which

risks setting off a renewed arms race, with immense

costs in terms of wasted resources and loss of human

security. The recent announcement by the United States

administration to postpone the decision on the national

missile defence system was therefore welcome. A more

secure world ought to be built on cooperation rather

than on isolation and confrontation. The Anti-Ballistic

Missile Treaty is crucial to global security and must not

be jeopardized.

A major cause of concern is also the uncontrolled

and destabilizing spread of small arms and light

weapons. The international conference on illicit traffic

in small arms and light weapons next year will be an

important opportunity to address the issue in a

comprehensive way. It should result in a concrete

action-plan in the global, regional and national context.

The United Nations today is stronger and leaner

than three years ago when the Secretary-General

launched his reform programme. But there is still work

to be done, for example regarding the interplay

between the main bodies of the United Nations. We

should give the Secretary-General the full authority to

act in his leadership role. We support the Secretary-

General's proposal for a shorter, more focused agenda

for the General Assembly and restructuring of its work.

Another main issue for the Millennium Assembly is to

reach an agreement on the scales of assessment for the

regular United Nations budget and for peacekeeping

operations. While it is imperative that all members pay

their dues on time, in full and without conditions,

Sweden believes that a review of United Nations

contributions should be done. The aim however must

always be a fairer distribution of the financial burden

among Member States, adapted to today's realities, and

with capacity to pay as the guiding principle.

The United Nations must not be used as a

scapegoat when the real problem is lack of political

will or hesitance from us Member States to provide

necessary resources. Accordingly, any call for action

must be followed by a pledge to provide the personnel

or financial means.

The United Nations, with its global character and

legitimacy, can make a difference for mankind as well

as for the individual. Behind the much used term

globalization there are billions of people. They want us

to provide hope. They expect us to act responsibly.

They need to see concrete results. We are here,

representing them, on a mission to make the United

Nations a true guardian of human dignity.