Iceland, 1995

Mr. President, may I

congratulate you on your election and express my deep

satisfaction at seeing a representative of Portugal, an ally

and a valued member of the international community,

occupy the presidency of the General Assembly in our

fiftieth anniversary year.

Anniversaries are occasions to celebrate past

accomplishments. The towering achievement of the United

Nations is to have survived through nearly half a century

where power relationships often submerged the high-minded

vision of the United Nations Charter. Therefore, as we

celebrate the half-century of our Organization, we also

celebrate the triumph of hope over despair and of good

faith over cynicism. At long last, there is an opportunity

for the United Nations to come into its own and for the

ideals of the Charter to take hold.

At the same time, we must learn from our mistakes.

Foremost, in that context, is the tragic conflict in Bosnia

and Herzegovina. In spite of the laudable humanitarian

and peace-keeping efforts of the United Nations, the

Organization has in the eyes of the world appeared

incapable of preventing the savage dismembering of a

sovereign Member State.

Although we all realize that the United Nations can

never provide foolproof insurance against evil and

injustice, the Organization must in the future face such

challenges in a more resolute manner. We must demand

more of ourselves and learn how to use more effectively

the indispensable machinery the Organization has to offer.

We should also bear in mind that no organization,

however efficient, can provide a substitute for the political

will of its Member States.

Recent setbacks should, however, not be allowed to

obscure the considerable gains, global and regional, that

have been made on a number of fronts over the past year.

Let me mention only a few.

The march of democracy has continued through the

organization of free elections in different parts of the

world, and a growing number of people now live under

pluralistic and democratic Governments. In recent years,

the Organization has contributed to the success of

elections in various Member States.

Two major United Nations Conferences took place

earlier this year. Each could, if followed up in earnest,

make a tangible difference in the lives of people

everywhere. At the World Summit on Social

Development in Copenhagen in March, we decided to

place people at the centre of development and to address

the problem of global poverty more effectively. At the

recently concluded Fourth World Conference on Women

in Beijing, we pledged to empower women and to involve

them as equal partners in all spheres of society. Together,

women and men can and should create a powerful unity

based on equality, development and peace.

In the area of international law, the achievements of

the United Nations were once again brought into focus

with the entry into force of the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea last November and the

adoption in August of the Agreement on the

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Implementation of the Provisions of the Convention relating

to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish

Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

In May, a historic step was taken towards ridding the

world of the threat of nuclear weapons. The decision by the

Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to extend

the Treaty indefinitely and without conditions should pave

the way for a comprehensive and verifiable test ban and an

agreement to cut off the production of fissile material. It is

regrettable that China and France have not heeded the

worldwide demand for a moratorium on nuclear testing.

At the regional level there have also been welcome

developments. While the passage has not been smooth,

there has been further progress towards a comprehensive

peace in the Middle East. We have witnessed the joint

efforts of the Israelis and the Palestinians to bring their

conflict to an end, and we extend to them our sincere

congratulations on their historic agreement to be signed

later this week.

These are substantial accomplishments. They confirm

that hard work, guided by the goals and ideals of the

United Nations, can bear fruit. More of that same

dedication is now required as the Organization prepares to

take on the complex challenges of the twenty-first century.

The foremost challenge is the need to establish and

safeguard peace. While the threat of nuclear holocaust has

receded, we still live in a world riven by wars. Annual

military expenditure still nearly equals the total income of

the poorer half of the world’s population. The peace

dividend we had hoped for in the aftermath of the cold war

remains for many a sight unseen.

The Secretary-General has rightly observed that there

is an inherent link between peace and development.

Without the one you cannot have the other. Peace is the

necessary precondition for the well-being of all peoples,

and in the long run we shall be able to protect ourselves

from the scourge of war only if we make the necessary

investment in the infrastructure of peace. This involves,

among other things, dealing with the legacy of deprivation

that still confronts mankind.

The challenge of development will not lend itself to a

simple formulation in terms of government versus the

market-place. Instead, we must apply a comprehensive

framework, linking democracy, society, the economy and

the environment, carefully nuanced to regional and local

circumstances. Here, the Secretary-General has led the way

in his ground-breaking report. Let me dwell on a few

aspects of the issue of development that are of particular

interest to my own country.

First a word on the role of democracy. Democracies,

it is sometimes said, do not make wars. By promoting

democracy we also foster peace. This is in part because

two of the main pillars of democracy are tolerance and

respect for the customs, traditions and opinions of others.

But tolerance and respect for diversity must not be

misinterpreted. We live in a world of rich cultural

diversity, which we should relish and protect. However,

multiculturalism should never be used as a pretext for

compromising basic and universal human rights.

Iceland attaches continued importance to

international efforts to create a global environment

conducive to job-led economic growth. But economic

growth must never be our sole objective, without regard

to human values.

Environmental protection is another main concern.

Important strides have been made in this area since the

Earth Summit in Rio. Climate change and ozone

depletion, two major dangers to the global ecosystem, are

now being dealt with on the basis of legally binding

conventions. But much will depend on coordinated action

to implement the commitments we have undertaken.

Furthermore, greater attention needs to be devoted to the

marine environment.

Pollution of the marine environment, if not

contained, can have a serious impact on human

settlements in certain regions of the world, not least

communities of indigenous peoples. In this connection,

chemical pollutants in the form of persistent organic

substances are of particular concern for entire societies

which base their livelihood on the living resources of the

sea.

Iceland is firmly of the view that this threat can be

countered only through a global and legally binding

framework similar to that governing climate change and

ozone depletion. For this reason, my Government attaches

particular importance to the conference on the protection

of the marine environment from land-based sources, due

to take place in Washington later this year, and we urge

Member States to take active part in this conference.

Marine living resources can make an important

contribution to food security in a world faced with rapid

population growth. Such resources provide food and

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livelihood to millions of people and, if sustainably used,

offer increased potential to meet nutritional and social

needs, particularly in the developing countries, as noted in

a recent report of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

For this reason, it is particularly regrettable that close

to 70 per cent of the world’s conventional species of fish

were, according to the same agency, fully exploited,

overexploited or depleted, or are in the process of

rebuilding as a result of depletion in the early 1990s.

Clearly, the ability to satisfy global demand for food from

the sea in the coming years will depend to no small extent

on the adoption of responsible fisheries conservation and

management policies. We should at all times view the

ecosystem of the oceans as a whole and harvest all species

of this vast but delicate resource in a sustainable manner.

Looked at in this light, the results of the United

Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly

Migratory Fish Stocks, while by no means the final word

on this matter, acquire major significance. Let me point out

that the law of the sea has been the sphere in which Iceland

has been most engaged, beginning in 1949, when, upon a

proposal by Iceland, the International Law Commission was

given the task of studying all aspects of the law of the sea.

Iceland will continue to be active in the implementation of

the Convention on the Law of the Sea.

We live in an era of growing demand on diminishing

natural resources. It is therefore to be welcomed that

international cooperation is now gradually extending to the

Arctic region, breaking at last through the barrier of what

the Icelandic- American explorer Vilhjálmur Stefánsson

once referred to as

“the ancient inherited opinions about the terrors of the

Frozen North”, a “lifeless waste of eternal silence”.

The resources of the Arctic are enormous. The nations of

the region should develop its potential and work together in

the economic, environmental and cultural fields. Therefore,

my Government attaches the highest importance to the

consultations that have taken place among the Governments

of the eight Arctic States to establish the Arctic Council.

We have had intensive discussions on changes in the

Security Council, including on whether to increase its

membership. Iceland is of the view that the fundamental

objective of an enlargement of the Council should be to

strengthen its capacity to discharge the duties assigned to it.

We believe that there should be an increase in the number

of both permanent and non-permanent members. In this

context, I would like to express my Government’s support

for the permanent membership of Germany and Japan in

the Security Council.

Reform, however, will avail us little if we fail to

come to grips with the serious financial situation of the

United Nations. Here, I fully share the deep concerns that

the Secretary-General has expressed in his comprehensive

report on the state of the Organization. According to their

obligations under the Charter, the Member States should

pay their contributions to the regular budget in full, on

time and without condition. If all Member States do not

live up to their obligations, we will be forced to take the

inevitable political decision to scale back the activities of

the Organization. At a time when the services of the

United Nations are in greater demand and when the

Organization has a better chance of success than ever

before, such a step would be highly unfortunate. Instead,

let us put the fiftieth anniversary to good use and make

the earnest pledge to put the Organization on a sound

financial footing.