Brunei, 1999

I

extend my congratulations to Mr. Gurirab on his election

and my warmest respects to his predecessor, Mr. Didier

Opertti. My very best wishes go to them both and to our

fellow Members, together with my great appreciation to

Secretary-General Annan for all his work on behalf of the

General Assembly during the past year.

I would like to offer a special welcome to our new

Members, the Kingdom of Tonga and the Republics of

Kiribati and Nauru. They join us at a time when all of us,

big and small, are feeling what we might call the “cutting

edge” of certain problems. These problems cut very

deeply indeed into the lives of the people we all

represent. They are the ones the United Nations will be

increasingly called upon to address in the coming

decades.

I refer to a host of challenges facing us on the eve

of the new millennium, problems touching on all aspects

of human affairs: overpopulation, migration and

diminishing resources; economic and financial problems;

social and cultural ones; far-reaching environmental ones;

and even transnational criminal ones. These are what I

would describe as today's problems. I say this because

today we are at a special time when the birth of a new

century is bound to provide renewed hope for the people

we represent. This means that every one of us here, from

the newest Member to the great nations of the Security

Council, has a valued contribution to make to our efforts

to meet this Organization's overriding future challenge.

This challenge, I feel, amounts to a choice between

two basic approaches. On the one hand, we can continue

to devote our severely stretched finances to deal with

what I would respectfully call yesterday's problems. I call

them that because many date back to the founding years

of the Organization. They are most obvious, of course, in

the Middle East, where a just and lasting settlement for

the Palestinian people is so long overdue. Others are the

lingering concerns of the century before that. A few even

go back half a dozen centuries or more.

Yet we are still using up many scarce human and

material resources sticking temporary patches over these

problems. Of course, sadly, that is always going to be

part of our work. We have them in every continent, every

region and subregion, even today in our own part of the

34

world in South-East Asia. But this should not be the prime

goal of the General Assembly or of the Security Council,

for we have an alternative.

This is to give our wholehearted support to the

Secretary-General in his efforts to direct us towards the

things the United Nations is equipped to do: identifying the

causes of future division and possibly inevitable conflict;

coordinating world efforts to address them; and devising

effective solutions. I hope we can resolve to choose this

latter course, as it is what the United Nations does best. It

is why, if anyone should ask: “Is the world a better place

for its people than it was over 50 years ago?”, we can

answer with conviction: “Yes”. And if asked why, we can

say, equally surely: “Because this Organization exists”.

This has been well illustrated over the last few years.

The United Nations has demonstrated great compassion for

the people of the world. Together with various non-

governmental bodies, it has resolutely sought to direct

Members' attention to the major problems we will face in

the next century.

This is preventive diplomacy at the highest level. It is

what we are trying our best to do in our own region in

political and security matters through the Regional Forum

of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

and, in economic affairs, with our partners in the Asia-

Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (APEC). The

Secretary-General and his staff are therefore to be

commended for their efforts to conduct it on the wider

international stage in spite of all their financial constraints.

I believe that this aspect of our work is the reason

why the United Nations has survived and, in fact, grown in

membership. It is why our people still look up to this body

in their hopes for the future. However, if we are to continue

to enjoy such esteem, it is most important for the United

Nations to strengthen its role. The way to do this is clear.

We must press ahead with plans for reform.

With this in mind, I am very pleased that some of the

Secretary-General's reform measures have been successfully

implemented. Certainly, a few complex issues, such as the

reform of the Security Council, remain unresolved, but I

hope these matters can be completed quickly. It is a crucial

test of our ability to proceed with reform and we very

much welcome the efforts of all who have been actively

working to achieve progress in this matter. What is called

for, as always, is enormous political will on all our parts

and a determination to work together. We dearly hope that

this will be the hallmark of our millennium celebrations.

Today's world, of course, tests every concept of

international cooperation. In South-East Asia, we have

found this out the hard way. In doing so, we have learned

many lessons from the economic crisis which struck our

region two years ago. Perhaps the most important is a

powerful human one. This is the need to work together as

neighbours and partners, to appreciate each other's

concerns and to do what we can to help each other. In

short, we have learned about the vital need for

cooperation in the hard, practical terms of today's

competitive, globalized world.

At the same time, we have begun to recognize what

we need from this Organization and how important it is

for our people. Basically, it is to this body that we look

to stimulate our awareness of what will be required if we

are to meet the challenges of the new century

successfully. That is why we very much appreciate the

programmes which have been set up this year and will

begin over the next five years to do just this. We offer

them our full support, whether it be on global matters, as

in the recent International Conference on Population and

Development; on special concerns, such as this month's

special session on sustainable development in small island

developing States; on such basic human concerns as the

problems faced by older persons, women and children; on

such human needs as proper food and shelter; or merely

on the chance for our people to lead a peaceful and non-

violent life in a decent environment.

We are gradually beginning, therefore, to identify the

kind of relationship we wish to have with this

Organization. It is one in which the world body as a

whole assumes the role performed so well by its many

workers in the field. It does not try to take on jobs it is

not suited for; rather, it advises, it provokes, it stimulates

and it helps.

This, I believe, is the way forward. For this reason,

I am particularly encouraged by the Secretary-General's

plans for next year's millennium summit. I look forward

to hearing him review and maybe more closely define the

role of the United Nations. I hope it will be along the

lines I have mentioned, addressing today's problems and

suggesting tomorrow's solutions. On that note, Mr.

President, may I assure you and the Secretary-General of

our support in all your efforts on our behalf.