Bangladesh, 2004

Sir, allow me to

congratulate you most warmly on your well-deserved

election. I am confident you will build upon the

excellent work done by your predecessor, Mr. Julian

Robert Hunte, and lead us to a very successful outcome

of this session. Special tribute is due to our Secretary-

General, Kofi Annan, for his dedicated leadership.

In Bangladesh, we believe that the United

Nations provides an essential political and diplomatic

framework for the actions of all its Members, including

the most powerful. The use of force without the

authorization of the United Nations Security Council

cannot render the United Nations meaningless. We laud

the United Nations for its strong advocacy against

unilateralism in the interest of a just global order. Our

spontaneous endorsement of this principle is in

conformity with the fundamentals of our foreign

policy.

The United Nations is not only a system for

providing collective security. It is also a

comprehensive international network of systems. It

deals with the work of myriad specialized agencies,

establishing norms, standards, codes and guidelines

and buttressing the rule of law and the rights of

individuals. It embraces the world’s trading, financial

and monetary systems and promotes the cause of

development. In our globalized world, there is no

substitute for the United Nations. It is the only forum

that can deal with the cooperative management of

problems that recognize no frontiers.

The thirtieth anniversary of our admission to the

United Nations this year marks a major milestone in

our partnership with the Organization. It is a sobering

moment as much as it is one for rejoicing; for it is a

record of our progress as a sovereign independent State.

From the very outset, Bangladesh pursued two pre-

eminent objectives, strengthening responsibility at home

and enhancing our contribution abroad. Our relationship

with the United Nations has been mutually rewarding

in promoting peace and advancing development.

Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman laid the

foundations of our national development in the late

1970s. His philosophy embraced reinforcing

democracy with development. Our achievements are

largely due to this pursuit. It reflects our commitment

to human rights, good governance and empowerment

of the poor, especially women. Innovative ideas

flowing from our own intellectual resources were

harnessed, with the cooperation and support of our

development partners and, of course, the United

Nations system. A free press and a vibrant civil society

32

backed our efforts. The outcome was positive: it was to

invoke what the World Bank described as the silent

revolution that is Bangladesh. We are aware that much

more remains to be done.

Natural disasters have often proved to be

impediments to our development. The excessive

flooding this year is a case in point. Two thirds of the

country was under water, and many lives were lost.

Over 2 million people became homeless and our

infrastructure sustained severe damage. Better

preparedness prevented greater losses. The courage and

resilience of the Bangladeshi people in facing the

situation were indeed remarkable. We deeply

appreciate the support and solidarity that we received

from the international community this time.

The peculiarities of our geography render

flooding a seasonal occurrence. It is therefore

imperative that we seek measures that will address this

recurrent problem in a sustained and enduring manner,

through proper management of the water resources in

the region. In the final analysis, long-term

rehabilitation and reconstruction measures also require

international support.

Despite those occasional setbacks, we in

Bangladesh can point to progress in a number of

important social and economic fields. Poverty

reduction has been a central goal. We have reduced

population growth by half, curbed child mortality by a

third, achieved food self-sufficiency for our people,

improved sanitation standards with home-grown

methods, and reduced ozone-depleting substances and

vehicular pollution overall. Education has remained a

major thrust of our Government’s policy. Our school

enrolment rates are among the highest in the

developing world, particularly for girls. Free schooling

for girl children, gender mainstreaming and the

empowerment of women have helped create a vibrant

and progressive society. In addition, ideas like micro-

credit and non-formal education have made famous

beginnings in Bangladesh.

We would be happy to share our experiences with

other comparable societies, and the United Nations can

be an effective conduit for doing so. We encourage the

United Nations in its role as a locator, collator and

transmitter of best practices. That is how the United

Nations can really help developing countries, by

passing the litmus test of relevance, not in drafts and

declarations alone but also in operations and

implementation.

The past decade has witnessed many important

United Nations conferences focused on our critical

aspirations. The leaders of the world agreed on the

Millennium Development Goals. However, the success

of the Goals will largely depend on an enabling

international economic environment, particularly in the

areas of trade, finance, official development assistance

and technology transfer.

Extreme poverty is a gross denial of human

rights. The disturbing experiences of recent years,

including the rise in senseless terrorism, warn us that

failure in development is not an option, that poverty

can breed extremism and that to rid the world of its

tragic consequences effectively its root causes must be

addressed.

In today’s world, trade remains a crucial vanguard

for development. Our active participation in the World

Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference

on Trade and Development conforms to that maxim.

Unhindered market access and special and preferential

treatment for the products of developing countries

should be at the heart of multilateral negotiations.

Managed migration is an important phenomenon.

However, the root causes of cross-border migratory

flows need to be addressed in earnest.

Greater focus must be placed on the full

implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action

for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade

2001-2010. The goals of the Johannesburg Plan of

Implementation and the Monterrey Consensus should

be pursued with determination.

While it is important to set targets, it may be

more important to create the means to achieve them.

For the cause of development to progress, we need an

environment of peace worldwide. Sadly, that is still

lacking in many parts of the world.

We are concerned about the persistent violence in

Iraq. We are encouraged by the return of the United

Nations to the scene. We now expect the United

Nations to play a central role in facilitating the

democratic process and in the reconstruction and

humanitarian work in that country.

In Afghanistan, the holding of a successful election

next month will be critical to the country’s stability.

33

Our people cherish their close bond of friendship

with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. We pray that

their travails will be over soon.

A core issue in the Middle East remains the

unresolved problem of Palestine. The Palestinians have

suffered far too much for far too long, and the wall

now only exacerbates that suffering. Perhaps there can

be a two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967

borders, with an independent Palestine that has East

Jerusalem as its capital. Until that is achieved, there

must be respect for international law, and all peoples in

the region must be able to live in peace and security,

free from violence, destruction and acts of terror.

Wherever it has been possible, Bangladesh has

not fought shy of contributing to post-conflict stability.

We have always done so under the aegis of the United

Nations. We are near the top of the list of participating

countries with regard to peacekeeping. Over the past

20 years, we have been involved in 28 United Nations

peacekeeping operations across 4 continents. Currently,

we are participating in 12 of the 16 United Nations

missions. We have done so because we see this as

advancing our role and perception as a constructive and

stabilizing international actor. We do not do it out of

convenience; we do it out of our conviction.

We believe that there is a direct relationship

between disarmament and development. Bangladesh is

party to all major international conventions and treaties

on disarmament. Our geographical location makes

nuclear weapons a direct and legitimate cause for

concern to us in the South Asia region. Bangladesh

therefore supports all measures, partial and otherwise,

towards arms control and conventional and nuclear

disarmament.

Bangladesh has condemned international

terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We

remain an active coalition partner in the war against

terrorism.

Bangladesh has been playing an active role in

many important committees and commissions of the

United Nations. We believe that the reform of the

General Assembly and the Security Council that is

currently being discussed can truly help re-energize the

system and enable those institutions to reflect the

realities of the contemporary world. Consultations

should be broad-based and should not be guided by the

perceived interests of a few alone. Bangladesh believes

that any increase in the membership of the Council

should be based on certain criteria, including respect

for the principle of equitable geographical distribution

and the aspirant’s contribution to international peace

and security, its proven track-record in democracy, its

compliance with United Nations resolutions, its

avowed commitment to nuclear disarmament, its

profile as a major partner in development and its

contribution as a voice of economically disadvantaged

countries. Bangladesh believes that the ultimate focus

of any reform exercise should be on enhancing the

Council’s credibility and democratic profile through its

working methods and its decision-making processes.

The quest for world order must begin at our own

doorstep. Bangladesh is committed to maintaining the

credibility of the South Asian Association for Regional

Cooperation (SAARC) to provide its socio-economic

mandate and to reduce tension and create a broad-

based climate of confidence-building. Bangladesh will

take over as chairperson of the thirteenth SAARC

summit in January, next year. The occasion will mark

the 20th anniversary of SAARC, and we look forward

to celebrating the occasion with due solemnity as well

as maintaining positive and forward-moving

momentum. Our overarching commitment, of course,

remains poverty alleviation. All in all, we aspire to

expand our collective agenda for peace, progress and

development in South Asia and beyond.

I firmly believe that nations big and small, weak

and powerful, all need the United Nations as much as

the United Nations needs them. It is only by combining

our endeavours and uniting our resolve that we will be

able to achieve our objectives of peace, security and

development.

The power of humanity does not lie in the size of

its armies but rather in the strength of its ideas, not in

its ability to destroy but in its capability to build, not in

its tendencies to despair, but in its propensities for

hope. Our ability to tap this power for our own benefit

will shape our future in these times marked by

difficulties but also possibilities.