Croatia, 2005

Allow me, Sir,

to express the pleasure of the Republic of Croatia at

your election to the post of President of the General

Assembly. At this crucial moment in the history of the

United Nations, we are gratified that a friend of

multilateralism will be guiding the work of the

Assembly. May I also commend the work of your

predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping, for his remarkable

leadership and tenacity in bringing the fifty-ninth

session to a successful conclusion.

I would like to extend the sincere condolences of

the people of Croatia to the people of the United States

of America on the loss of life and suffering occasioned

by Hurricane Katrina. We can take some small comfort

from the fact that at such times of need nations

instinctively reach out to help others. This provides

vivid illustration of the best of humanity and its

enormous potential to do good and build a better

world.

We believe that the United Nations continues to

be indispensable for building a better world. All States

benefit from a strong United Nations. Small and

medium-sized States, which form the great majority of

Members, can articulate their diverse interests at the

global level through this universal forum more

effectively than in any other. Croatia remembers that

the United Nations played a prominent role in its

re-emergence as a sovereign State.

Yet the difficulty with which agreement was

achieved on the outcome document reflects the present

state of the world in which we live. We should not look

at this imperfect document through rose-colored

eyeglasses. Rather, we should grasp the potential that it

holds for moving towards broader and deeper reforms.

While we may have broad agreement on the goal ó a

more efficient and effective United Nations working in

the service of mankind ó we have created only some

of the contours of reform. As the Secretary-General has

reminded us, we should not consider that the job has

been done. The details remain incomplete.

Let us move now to the details without delay. Let

us move forward in helping developing countries

achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Let us operationalize the Peacebuilding Commission

and the Human Rights Council. Let us introduce the

processes required to strengthen Secretariat

management.

Diplomacy is often about compromise. That word

has been used frequently in describing the World

Summit Outcome document (resolution 60/1).

However, compromise should not be used as a

synonym for regression. Development is a pillar of the

United Nations mandate, and the MDGs are

international obligations.

Over the years, the development dialogue has

resulted in a number of key international documents,

which bear witness to the progress on poverty-related

issues and the ways in which we have agreed to

address those vital challenges. Johannesburg and

Monterrey are prominent among them.

While it is important to reaffirm the agreed

international development framework, it is equally

necessary to move forward. Comprehensive debt relief,

on which there was progress earlier this year at

Gleneagles, and better trade access to the markets of

developed countries, which must be an outcome of the

Doha round, chart the way forward.

The road to the achievement of the MDGs on

which we set out five years ago has been an uneven

one. There has been rapid growth in some parts of the

globe, resulting in the movement of millions out of

poverty. At the same time, sub-Saharan Africa has

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stagnated. Small island developing States have special

vulnerabilities which threaten their very existence. The

achievement of the MDG targets by 2015 requires

national and international implementation strategies.

We know that the current level of aid is not

enough to achieve the MDGs. It is necessary to look at

ways to increase the effectiveness of existing aid,

introduce innovative sources of financing and adhere to

the agreed timetable for progressively increasing flows.

In this regard, Croatia supports the Declaration on

Innovative Sources of Financing for Development.

As a country with an economy in transition and

as a European Union (EU) candidate, Croatia is

undergoing significant internal structural change and

external policy scrutiny. We seek to balance those often

competing demands by including our MDG obligations

within the context of other policy implementation in

the transition and EU accession processes. We have

developed national development targets based on the

MDGs, taking into account our progress to date.

From its coastline, with its over 1,200 islands, to

its Karst hinterland and the mountains and plains

beyond, Croatia's environment offers rare diversity in a

relatively small geographic area. We are vitally

interested in the preservation of our national

environmental heritage, as well as of the whole of the

common environment of mankind. For that reason, we

welcome the extensive treatment of environmental

issues in the outcome document and reiterate our

support for the key concept of sustainable

development.

An effective multilateral system must rely upon

the interaction of States which are responsible

domestic and international actors. In recent years,

threats to peace and security have become very

common topics of discussion in global affairs. With

good reason, much effort has been invested in rallying

the required international cooperation for the creation

of strategies to confront old and new threats to States.

Croatia believes that the United Nations should

continue to be in the frontline of that process.

The fight against terrorism and transnational

organized crime is among the greatest challenges we

face. Last week, the Croatian President signed the

Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear

Terrorism. That Convention, which took several years

to negotiate, is a step forward towards concluding a

comprehensive international convention on terrorism.

States must make greater efforts to ensure that it comes

to fruition during the sixtieth session of the General

Assembly.

Croatia regrets that there has been no meaningful

progress on disarmament and non-proliferation. The

ongoing stalemate, coming, as it does, in the aftermath

of the unsuccessful Review Conference of the Treaty

on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in

May, is a disappointment. We support the recent efforts

by a number of States in relation to the NPT-based

upon the three pillars of non-proliferation,

disarmament and peaceful nuclear cooperation - as

well as the universal adoption of the comprehensive

safeguards agreements and additional protocols.

Countries which have experienced conflict and

subsequently rebuilt their national capacities and

institutions understand well the link between security

and development. Both security and development are

individual pillars of the work of the United Nations.

However, we know that together they are vital for

sustainable development. Security and development are

mutually reinforcing, providing the foundations for the

well-being of individuals and of the States in which

they live.

Croatia took an active interest in the negotiations

on the Peacebuilding Commission. It is clear that such

an intergovernmental body is needed to fill a void in

the United Nations system. While the expertise of the

United Nations in peacekeeping is not in doubt, the

challenges of building and entrenching peace are

different. We have argued for the inclusion in the

membership of the Commission of countries with

national experience in peacebuilding. We are pleased

that that position was reflected in the outcome

document. The inclusion of small States whose own

experience has spanned the transition from conflict to

relief and, subsequently, development, will add an

important dimension which would be absent if the

Commission were constituted solely by large, wealthy

or powerful States.

The Peacebuilding Commission should assist

States to develop and strengthen their key governance

institutions and assist local authorities in creating the

conditions for sustainable development, including

economic growth. It should always ensure that the

process is one which is driven by the State concerned

and by the key stakeholders within it. If internal

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conflicts can be quelled and prevented from recurring,

then we are creating the conditions for a safer world.

We believe that the reform of the Security

Council is necessary with regard to both its

membership and its working methods. We look forward

to further progress being made during the current

session of the General Assembly on this matter.

Clearly, any solution will require the support of as

large a group of Member States as possible.

Croatia has been a factor of stability in a

neighbourhood where past instability has taken a heavy

toll, not only on the countries in the region but also on

the broader international community. Our enhanced

cooperation with our neighbours is a sure basis for

entrenching stability and ensuring preconditions for the

expansion of economic opportunities for South-East

Europe as a whole. We shall continue to play that

regional role.

Having successfully evolved through the

peacebuilding spectrum, Croatia is now playing its part

as a contributor to more than half of the United Nations

peacekeeping operations throughout the world, and

training peacekeepers from emerging troop-

contributing countries. We are using our national

experience to help others in need.

We are now ready to take the next step in our

responsibilities as a Member of the United Nations and

as a global citizen. For that reason, the Republic of

Croatia has presented its candidature for a

non-permanent seat on the Security Council in the

elections to be held in 2007.

The postulates within the United Nations Charter

on human rights serve as a universal measure for all

nations and peoples. They are at the core of the work

of the United Nations. That is why we have supported

the efforts to reform and strengthen the United Nations

human rights machinery. Croatia supports the decision

to strengthen the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights and to increase the

resources allocated to it. Existing machinery in the area

of human rights - one of the fundamental pillars of

the United Nations system - requires such reforms.

Croatia welcomes the decision to establish a

Human Rights Council as a new organ with the

responsibility for promoting universal respect for the

protection of human rights and addressing their

violation, wherever they may occur. We are

disappointed that the necessary political will was not

found to conclude an agreement on the Council in the

lead-up to the world summit. However, we will work

constructively with other Member States in seeking

consensus so that as yet undecided elements relating to

that Council can be settled during the sixtieth session.

Croatia is pleased to see the inclusion of an

agreement on the ìresponsibility to protectî in the

outcome document. The frustration and suffering that

can be caused by inaction on the part of the

international community, inert in the face of

aggression, has been witnessed all too frequently. We

welcome this positive development as a step towards a

new normative framework.

Democracy brings freedom for the individual and

contributes to the legitimacy of States. As a signatory

of the Warsaw Declaration: Towards a Community of

Democracies, Croatia fully recognizes the importance

of strengthening democracy and advancing its global

acceptance as a universal value. Capacity-building can

strengthen States by reinforcing the institutions that

ensure the rule of law, equity, access and stable

government.

Croatia supports the enhancement of the capacity

of the United Nations to promote and reinforce

democratic institutions and practices around the world.

We welcome the decision to establish a Democracy

Fund and have, as a concrete measure of our support,

made a financial contribution towards its

establishment.

Only an efficiently functioning United Nations

system can respond to contemporary challenges. This

requires effective mandates for the principal organs.

Yet, there are distinctly different conceptions among

Member States of the principle of State sovereignty.

These differences, as we have seen in the recent

negotiations, impact directly upon the prospects of

adjusting the mandates and interrelationships of the

principal organs of the United Nations to the realities

of the twenty-first century. We all have more work

ahead of us on this account.

Croatia supports the efforts to introduce

significant human resource management reforms in the

Secretariat. The United Nations cannot afford to have a

Secretariat that is not managed in accordance with

contemporary standards and practices. For the same

reason, we support system-wide coherence, both in

management and policy.

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There have been many high-minded words

uttered on behalf of the United Nations in this Hall

during the past week. When we leave this place, let us

not forget the principles that we have invoked and the

pledges that we have made. Only this can ensure that

we accelerate progress towards achievement of both

the MDGs and United Nations reform. For its part, you

can be assured that the Republic of Croatia shall

continue to be a constructive participant in these

efforts.