Austria, 1996

We are glad to see the

General Assembly, the key organ in the reform process of

the Organization, meet under a President who combines

profound knowledge of the United Nations with a

reputation for strong leadership.

My colleague from Ireland has already outlined the

positions of the European Union, which we fully endorse.

I will elaborate on a few points to which Austria attaches

particular importance.

When discussing the need for reform a year ago,

Heads of State and Government expressed their political

will to give the twenty-first century a United Nations

equipped, financed and structured to serve effectively the

peoples in whose name it was established. However,

insufficient progress has been made so far in implementing

this commitment. While the Secretary-General, to whose

spirited leadership of the Organization I should like to pay

a warm personal tribute, has undertaken a number of

important reform initiatives, the Working Groups of the

General Assembly have made only limited progress. Much

more needs to be done. And we must always bear in mind

that reform is not mere downsizing, but pursuing our goals

effectively and efficiently. Four principles should, in our

view, guide our reform agenda. As the first priority and as

a precondition for reform, we must fulfil our financial

obligations in accordance with the United Nations Charter;

we must give clear mandates and provide the necessary

resources; we must ensure the competitiveness of the

United Nations system; and we must eliminate duplication,

waste and mismanagement.

We should like to see strong United Nations leadership

in the following areas.

As regards human rights, the results of the World

Conference on Human Rights form an integral part of the

coordinated follow-up to recent United Nations conferences.

Austria will play an active role in preparations for the

fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights and the five-year review of the Vienna

Declaration and Programme of Action in 1998. Today,

our main task is not to elaborate new international

standards in the field of human rights but to ensure full

respect for the broad body of existing norms and rules in

all parts of the world. This requires the active

involvement of the entire United Nations system. This

includes United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) projects on governance; the United Nations

Children’s Fund’s efforts in the field of juvenile justice;

programmes of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Branch of the Secretariat for the strengthening of criminal

justice systems; and the integration of human rights

elements into United Nations field missions. In the run-up

to 1998, system-wide cooperation and integration in the

field of human rights have to be improved.

Austria pays particular attention to the promotion

and protection of minorities as a means both to prevent

and to resolve conflicts. Respecting the rights of

minorities is crucial for peaceful development and good

neighbourly relations. The case of South Tyrol is an

excellent example. Half a century after the conclusion of

the 1946 Treaty of Paris between Austria and Italy — of

fundamental importance for the survival of the Austrian

minority — the South Tyroleans enjoy the protection of

a carefully regulated autonomy, which increasingly serves

as an inspiration in comparable situations elsewhere.

Turning next to drug control and organized crime, it

is estimated that drug sales generate more than

$120 billion annually, thus exceeding the gross domestic

product of many United Nations Member States. This

economic power of drug traffickers is a serious threat to

the stability and the democratic and legal institutions of

many countries. Drug abuse also has severe social

consequences for societies and individuals. Therefore,

drug control must remain a top priority for the United

Nations. Austria will welcome the holding of a special

session of the General Assembly in 1998 devoted to this

question. In order to make that session a success, we

should soon start our preparations at the national, regional

and international levels.

Trafficking in illicit drugs goes hand in hand with

transnational organized crime and money laundering,

which can be fought only through intensified international

cooperation. In this regard, we encourage closer

cooperation between the United Nations International

8

Drug Control Programme and the Secretariat’s crime

Division.

I turn now to fight against the sexual exploitation of

children. A phenomenon closely linked to organized crime

is the sexual exploitation of children; this contemporary

form of slavery can result in serious, life-long, even life-

threatening consequences for the physical, psychological

and social development of children. The rights of children

and women being at the very heart of our concern, we

would like in this respect to reiterate the importance we

attach to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as

well as to the recommendations of the recent Stockholm

World Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of

Children. We are convinced that only a global partnership

uniting Governments, non-governmental organizations and

relevant United Nations agencies can bring an end to the

trafficking and exploitation of children and women for

sexual purposes.

Peace-keeping remains the international community's

major tool to assist parties to a conflict in the

implementation of peace agreements or to provide a rapid

response to complex emergencies. In view of lessons

learned from previous missions, we actively support the

improvement of the rapid deployment capability of the

Organization, including the establishment of a rapidly

deployable headquarters.

Currently, some 1,200 Austrians — troop contingents,

military observers, civilian police and civilians — are

serving in United Nations missions and in the

Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We will continue to participate in such operations. In this

context, I am pleased to announce that my country will

participate in the system of stand-by arrangements. We will

also continue to assist the United Nations in its efforts to

improve the quality of peace-keeping personnel through our

participation in the United Nations training assistance team

programme. International training centres in Austria offer

training programmes for military as well as civilian

personnel. We have joined forces with the Organization of

African Unity (OAU) in the strengthening of conflict

prevention and peace-keeping capacities in Africa.

As regards preventive diplomacy, over the last few

years, we have witnessed an increase in the deployment of

small political field missions. They play an important role

in the preventive diplomacy efforts of the Secretary-General

and his Special Representatives, and in the coordination of

peace-building initiatives. Austria encourages the Secretary-

General to make more use of this cost-effective instrument.

We therefore support his proposal to establish clear

budgetary procedures ensuring a sound and predictable

financial basis for such missions.

The United Nations took the lead in developing the

concept of post-conflict peace-building. Today, not only

the United Nations but also the International Monetary

Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

(OSCE) are elaborating concepts of how to assist in the

consolidation of peace and the prevention of the

recurrence of conflicts. The objective of peace-building is

political, but it often requires action in the economic,

social, humanitarian or human rights fields.

The broad variety of available instruments is amply

demonstrated by a recent survey of the United Nations

system’s capabilities in post-conflict reconstruction

compiled by the Vienna-based Reconstruction and

Development Support Unit of the Secretariat.

The ability of the United Nations system to act in an

integrated manner in peace-building represents a test for

its overall ability to reform and to modernize. We call

upon the Secretary-General to develop comprehensive

criteria and operational guidelines, including on the

question of leadership for peace-building activities. We

also encourage the Secretary-General to intensify his

cooperation with international financial institutions and

other relevant actors in this field.

As regards regional conflicts, time constraints

prevent me from addressing in detail the many situations

in all parts of the world where the international

community, often under the leadership of the United

Nations, has attempted to bring conflicts and human

suffering to an end — as in the Great Lakes region of

Africa, Liberia and Afghanistan. I will limit myself to a

conflict in our immediate neighbourhood, namely the

situation in the Balkans: in the former Yugoslavia.

My country follows developments there with both

great hope and great concern. The implementation of the

Dayton Peace Agreement lags behind our expectations,

especially in the civilian field. However, we must not

overlook the foremost achievement of this Agreement: the

fact that a very brutal and bloody war was stopped and

that the road for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s return to

normalcy was paved. It is an encouraging sign that

ballots, and no longer bullets, are in place.

9

The elections held on 14 September represent a vital

step forward and indicate the Bosnian people’s

determination to continue with the peace process. The

setting up of common institutions, as foreseen by the

Dayton Agreement, is now the number-one task.

Notwithstanding the primary responsibility of the parties

themselves to fully implement the Dayton peace accords, it

is indispensable that the international community not

abandon the country after the expiration of the IFOR

mandate by the end of this year. We will have to continue

to assist the people and authorities of Bosnia and

Herzegovina in their efforts to rebuild a civil society and to

strengthen reconciliation among ethnic groups.

Sustainable management of environmental resources to

ensure both human progress and human survival poses a

major challenge at the outset of the twenty-first century. At

present, we are compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs. The United Nations

has a crucial role to play in achieving a common

understanding of sustainability and in promoting its

implementation. We therefore attach great importance to

next year’s special session of the General Assembly on the

overall review and appraisal of Agenda 21. The special

session should not only assess the implementation of the

Rio commitments, but should also elaborate a global

consensus on new important areas such as sustainable

consumption, production patterns, energy and transport.

The process of globalization also profoundly changes

the parameters of social development in all countries. The

World Summit for Social Development took up this

challenge and agreed on a set of principles, goals and

commitments to enhance the benefits and mitigate the

negative effects of this process. We welcome the

determination of the United Nations system to translate the

outcome of the Copenhagen Summit into its operational

work for the benefit of all people.

We are striving nationally to meet our commitments

even in times of budgetary cuts. I avail myself of this

opportunity to recall the Austrian invitation to hold a

regional follow-up conference to the social Summit in

Vienna at the end of 1997 or the beginning of 1998.

My next point is disarmament. A more cooperative

approach to security is to provide a setting conducive to

giving new impetus to international disarmament and arms

control. Serious efforts must be undertaken to eliminate

weapons of mass destruction and to strengthen the various

arms control and non-proliferation regimes. At the same

time, more attention should be devoted to areas of

conventional disarmament, such as the United Nations

Register of Conventional Arms, small arms and arms

transfers, as well as to the further development of

universal regimes of transparency in armaments. The

Wassenaar Arrangement, recently established in Vienna,

will make an important contribution to international peace

and security.

In response to the human tragedy of civilian

landmine victims, Austria has been one of the first

countries to establish a total moratorium on anti-personnel

landmines, and is aiming for an agreement on a

worldwide total ban on this scourge of humanity.

The approval of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-

Ban Treaty (CTBT) constitutes a milestone on our path

towards a more secure future, leaving behind the nuclear

weapons competition that defined the cold war. Austria

welcomes the test moratoriums announced by all five

declared nuclear-weapon States, and we call on all States

to work on the rapid ratification of the CTBT in order to

foster nuclear non-proliferation and to spare this planet

further ecological damage.

The organization for the CTBT and, pending entry

into force, its preparatory commission, will play a vital

role in verifying the implementation of the test ban.

Austria considers it an honour to host such an important

international organization and will contribute its share to

creating favourable working conditions. The position of

Vienna, which already hosts the International Atomic

Energy Agency (IAEA), as the centre of global nuclear

non-proliferation is further strengthened by the addition of

crucial nuclear verification facilities.

This fight can be won only by pursuing a double-

tracked approach: on one track, non-proliferation is a

precondition for ridding ourselves of the risk of nuclear

destruction. On the other track, the nuclear-weapon States

are called upon to honour their obligation under the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

(NPT) to disarm their nuclear arsenals with the ultimate

goal of the complete elimination of these weapons.

The United Nations should continue to play a

leading role in the progressive development of

international law. Austria highly esteems the work of the

International Law Commission. Currently the elaboration

of a statute for an international criminal court is of utmost

importance. Austria strongly supports the early

establishment of the court, to end the widespread culture

of impunity.

10

Finally, I would like to mention the United Nations

Office at Vienna: our strong commitment to the United

Nations also manifests itself in Austria’s role as one of the

headquarters of the Organization. United Nations

programmes and agencies based in Vienna represent highly

important instruments in international efforts to meet new

threats to peace, security and development. I am referring

to the key role of the International Atomic Energy Agency

in preventing nuclear proliferation; that of the United

Nations International Drug Control Programme and the

United Nations crime Division, which fight against drug

abuse, money laundering, organized crime and corruption;

of the Office for Outer Space Affairs, the principal United

Nations body for international cooperation in the peaceful

uses of outer space; of the United Nations Industrial

Development Organization (UNIDO), the central

coordinating agency for information, analysis, advice and

assistance in the field of sustainable industrial development;

and of the United Nations Commission on International

Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the international centre for the

promotion, harmonization and unification of the law of

international trade. We would like to pay tribute to

UNCITRAL for the able manner in which it is carrying out

its task. The Austrian Government is looking forward to

celebrating the Commission’s thirtieth anniversary on the

occasion of its next meeting, in spring 1997 in Vienna.

Over the years, the IAEA and the United Nations

Office at Vienna have understood the importance of

building a solid reputation for good and lean management.

UNIDO has undergone drastic reforms, streamlining its

secretariat and clearly defining its priorities and areas of

concern. As one of the host countries of the United

Nations, we are particularly committed to the reform efforts

being undertaken by these organizations and by the United

Nations system as a whole. We shall support all efforts to

fulfil the commitments we all agreed on last year, to make

the United Nations fit for the twenty-first century.