Uzbekistan, 2006

While acknowledging the unique and irreplaceable role

played by the United Nations in international affairs,

one still has to recognize the need to reform this

institution according to present-day realities. Let me

briefly dwell upon our vision of these reforms.

It is necessary to significantly increase the

efficiency of the United Nations management, which

must set itself realistic and feasible objectives and

rapidly respond to challenges and threats. The reform

of the Organization must reflect the principles of

sovereign equality and non-interference in internal

affairs and strengthen the equal cooperation between

States. It must be based upon the principles of broad

international consensus.

The General Assembly needs to concentrate on

designing constructive ways of addressing the

problems of regional and global security, which affect

the interests of the majority of the Member States.

Much attention should be given to questions of post-

conflict rehabilitation and combating terrorism. The

United Nations should assume a coordinating role in

these spheres using the support of all Member States.

Such an approach will contribute to strengthening the

Organization’s ability to meet contemporary

challenges.

Security Council reform must ensure the fair

geographical and regional representation of both

developed and developing States whose authority has

been acknowledged by the international community

and who play an important role in addressing the main

tasks facing the Organization today.

The international community is about to make a

decision on an important issue — the election of the

new Secretary-General. Considering the principle of

rotation and the increasing political weight and

economic significance of the Asian countries, the

Republic of Uzbekistan fully supports the view that a

representative from the Asian group should assume that

post. We support the candidature of the Minister

forForeign Affairs and Trade of South Korea, Mr. Ban

Ki-moon.

The international community places its hopes on

the newly established Human Rights Council, which is

called upon to improve the work of the United Nations

in the field of human rights. It is important not to allow

the Council to be used as a tool for promoting the

interests of certain countries to the detriment of others.

Only by stopping the practice of double standards,

politicization and confrontation can we turn that body

into the forum for equal and open dialogue, enjoying

the trust of all Member States. The work of that United

Nations body must be guided by objective and

unbiased assessment of human rights issues. It must

assist in elaborating constructive solutions to all

problems that arise, instead of being used for political

purposes.

The fundamental changes in today’s world are

accompanied by the emergence of new challenges and

threats. At present, terrorism, extremism and drug

aggression pose a great danger to the sustainable

development of States and peoples of the world.

The principal approaches of the Republic of

Uzbekistan towards addressing these and other

problems of security include the following points.

Uzbekistan firmly supports the United Nations

Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288),

15 06-53341

adopted by the General Assembly on 8 September

2006. Terrorism is not acceptable in any of its forms

and manifestations. The fight against terrorism can be

effective and efficient only by eliminating its causes,

the first of which is the ideological and extremist

centres that finance and direct the forces of

international terrorism. We must also design common

approaches to assessing this, the most dangerous

phenomenon of today’s world.

A universal convention on international terrorism

could become an effective basis for joint counteraction

against the threat of terrorism. This instrument must be

of a non-discriminatory nature, exclude the policy of

double standards and call upon States for concerted

action in countering the ideologies of extremism.

Maintenance of regional and global security is

not possible without establishing comprehensive peace

and stability in Afghanistan. One way to resolve the

Afghan problem and restore a peaceful and neutral

Afghanistan is effective and real progress in

implementing concrete projects, funded by the

international community, in the social, economic and

humanitarian spheres — those spheres that can affect

attitudes among the long-suffering people of

Afghanistan.

A fundamental strategy review and more efficient

coordination are required in combating one of the most

dangerous problems: drug production and drug

trafficking.

Uzbekistan, as an initiator of a nuclear-weapon-

free zone in the region, together with its neighbours, is

doing everything possible to strengthen the global

nuclear non-proliferation regime. On 8 September 2006

in Semipalatinsk, the Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-

Free Zone Treat was signed. That initiative, put

forward by the President of the Republic of

Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, is a concrete contribution

of the States in the region to strengthening the global

non-proliferation process and also to creating a solid

system of regional security. Uzbekistan calls upon

nuclear powers to accede to the protocol on security

guarantees annexed to the Central Asia Nuclear-

Weapon-Free Zone Treaty as soon as possible. I wish

to take this opportunity to express gratitude to the

United Nations for its assistance in realizing this

initiative.

Mr. Sow (Guinea), Vice-President, took the Chair.

In closing, I express my sincere hope that the

results of the work of the General Assembly at its

sixty-first session will contribute to the successful

realization of the joint efforts of the Member States in

the struggle against threats and challenges to global

security and to furthering the peaceful development of

peoples.