Japan, 1995

I should like, on behalf of the

Government of Japan, to begin my statement at the General

Assembly by extending my felicitations on the fiftieth

anniversary of the United Nations. I also wish to offer my

sincere congratulations to Your Excellency, Professor

Freitas do Amaral, on your assumption of the presidency of

this commemorative session of the General Assembly.

Half a century has passed since the United Nations

was founded. When we recall that its predecessor, the

League of Nations, endured for just a little over 20 years,

we should consider the very longevity of this Organization

a blessing. But that is not the end of the story. As we look

ahead to the future, the mission of the United Nations will

become increasingly important. I am thus particularly

moved to have been given the honour and privilege of

representing the Government of Japan at this historic and

significant session of the General Assembly.

Although during the past 50 years confrontation

between the super-Powers at times paralysed the peace-

keeping functions of the United Nations, the structure of

the international community has recently undergone

tremendous change. Within this span of time, the world

population has more than doubled, and this explosive

increase has resulted in serious problems on a global

scale. Moreover, with the rapid proliferation of regional

conflicts in the years since the end of the cold war, there

are an estimated 30 million refugees in the world today.

And, as Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali pointed

out in his recent statement in Geneva, as we approach the

end of the twentieth century, 1.3 billion people are living

in absolute poverty and more than 1.5 billion do not

receive even the most basic health care. Needless to say,

there remain the increasingly grave problems of

environmental degradation, including global warming,

deforestation and marine pollution.

The United Nations is the only universal

international organization that exists to cope with these

grave problems to ensure that the international community

enjoys peace and prosperity. Thus it is necessary at this

time for the United Nations genuinely to strengthen its

functions and to take concrete action for reforms in the

financial, economic and social, and political fields.

Cooperation with the United Nations has always been an

important pillar of Japan’s foreign policy. I should like at

the outset to state that Japan is resolved hereafter to

strengthen further such cooperation and to contribute

actively to the strengthening of the Organization’s

functions.

The first point I wish to make with regard to the

crucially important international challenges in this new

post-cold-war era is that the development of developing

countries should be pursued from a new perspective. The

achievement of greater economic self-reliance by

developing countries through development is conducive to

the growth of the global economy as a whole and will, in

turn, help stabilize the new international order.

Development issues have until now tended to become

politicized in the context of East-West confrontation and

have not been addressed from the essential perspective of

development. Today, however, an environment is emerging

in which the problems of the economic and social

development of developing countries can be squarely

addressed from a perspective of cooperation and

partnership. On this occasion, I should like to reaffirm the

need to formulate a more comprehensive development

strategy for achieving peace and prosperity throughout the

international community.

In addressing development issues, I believe that

official development assistance will continue to play an

important role. Japan, recalling the assistance it received

from other countries in the past, and now as the world’s

largest aid donor, will continue its efforts to expand its

official development assistance.

On the other hand, however, the development strategy

that we are to pursue hereafter cannot be concerned simply

with development assistance. For example, when one

considers the extraordinary economic performance of the

East Asia region, one cannot but clearly recognize the

importance of fostering the market mechanism and of

promoting the liberalization of trade and investment. I

should also like to emphasize once again the need to

maintain and strengthen the multilateral open-trading

system, at the centre of which is the World Trade

Organization, established earlier this year.

In this connection, I wish to refer to the Asia-Pacific

Economic Cooperation (APEC) as a good example of open

regional cooperation that rejects exclusive regionalism. As

the presiding nation at this year’s APEC conference, to be

held in Osaka in November, Japan intends to contribute

actively to the further promotion of such regional

cooperation under APEC.

The concept of social development is increasingly

important in ensuring that economic development and

growth will lead to the enhancement of individual welfare

and the security and prosperity of society as a whole

through the promotion of education and training, respect

for human rights and the advancement of the status of

women. Japan is working to enhance its international

cooperation in all of these areas. It attaches particular

importance to the role of women in development and

thus, at the recent Fourth World Conference on Women,

in Beijing, it announced a new policy to expand its

development assistance in the three priority areas of

raising the educational standards, improving the health

and promoting the economic and social participation of

women.

In the formulation of the new development strategy

which I proposed earlier, a comprehensive approach is

needed. Such an approach would include not only official

development assistance, but a variety of policy measures

in such areas as trade, investment, macroeconomic

policies, technology transfer and building social

infrastructure. In addition, it is also important to take a

differentiated approach which applies the best policy mix

according to the respective country’s stage of

development.

Based on this fundamental philosophy, I should like

to present the following three concrete guidelines.

First, realistic development targets which clearly

indicate the anticipated results of development should be

established, and developing countries and donor countries

should work together to achieve those targets. I should

like, for example, to propose that the United Nations, with

the cooperation of such bodies as the United Nations

University, undertake a study to establish development

targets. These targets would combine indices measuring

the economic growth of a developing country by, for

example, an increase of its gross national product to a

fixed level within a certain time-frame, with indices

showing the degree of social development according to,

among other things, literacy and infant mortality rates.

Secondly, it is important to promote participatory

development that involves, in addition to central

Governments, new development actors such as

non-governmental organizations and local governments.

Thirdly, South-South cooperation should be further

promoted. I would propose that necessary financial

measures be considered, including the establishment of an

effective mechanism for this purpose within the United

Nations Development Programme.

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While there is a diminished likelihood of a large-scale

confrontation or conflict between nations today, as

compared with the cold-war era, regional conflicts which

stem from religious or ethnic rivalries are of increasingly

serious concern. Because poverty is in many cases a cause

of these conflicts, it is essential that development issues be

urgently addressed. At the same time, it is also the case that

a conflict itself poses a major obstacle to the achievement

of development, resulting in a vicious circle.

The efforts of the countries concerned, as well as

those of other countries in the region, are, of course, basic

to the settlement of regional conflicts. But, in addition, the

international community too must seriously address itself to

the resolution of conflicts, and for this purpose the

functions of the United Nations should be strengthened.

Peace-keeping operations, building upon the efforts of

the parties concerned, are an effective means of helping to

settle disputes. Their deployment can also play an important

role in preventing conflicts. It is thus essential that the

international community continue to support such operations

and work for their further reform. Japan actively cooperates

with United Nations peace-keeping operations and intends

to participate in the United Nations Disengagement

Observer Force in the Golan Heights. Moreover, responding

to the rapidly expanding refugee problems resulting from

these numerous conflicts, Japan continues to support the

activities of such organs as the Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees.

It is also important that the United Nations, as well as

its Member States, place greater emphasis on conflict

prevention. Japan supports the strengthening of United

Nations efforts in the area of preventive diplomacy,

including the dispatch of fact-finding missions and the offer

of political support through its good offices or mediation

efforts.

It is for the purpose of promoting conflict prevention

and settlement that Japan, with the United Nations and the

United Nations University, is co-sponsoring the High-Level

Symposium on Peace and Development: Problems of

Conflict in Africa, which will be convened next month.

Of all the regional disputes being witnessed in the

world today, particular reference should be made to the

conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Peace will not be

achieved in that conflict through the use of force by the

parties concerned; it must be sought through negotiation.

And now there is a window of opportunity for the parties

to engage in peace talks. It is essential that that opportunity

not be lost but that all concerned spare no effort to

achieve peace. Japan continues to support the efforts

towards peace being made by the countries concerned as

well as the activities of the United Nations. It is also

extending appropriate cooperation, including humanitarian

assistance. Once the conflict is brought to an end and

peace is restored, Japan intends to cooperate in the

rehabilitation of the region in conjunction with other

concerned countries and relevant international

organizations.

I turn now to the situation in the Middle East. Japan

has been actively contributing to efforts towards a

peaceful settlement. Japan welcomes the agreement

reached on 24 September in the negotiations on the

expansion of Palestinian interim self-rule and believes it

will be a major step forward in the peace process.

Promoting disarmament and strengthening the regime

for the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

are essential to the maintenance of international peace and

stability. As countries curtail excessive military spending

through arms-reduction efforts, the resources thus saved

can be allocated to development objectives. Conversely,

progress in economic development must not lead to arms

build-ups, and for this reason too it is necessary to

redouble disarmament efforts.

In this year that marks the fiftieth anniversary of the

atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

welcomed the decision to extend indefinitely the Treaty

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

which is an important contribution to strengthening the

basis of the non-proliferation regime and represents

significant progress towards the ultimate elimination of

nuclear weapons.

As an important step towards nuclear disarmament,

renewed efforts should be made to complete negotiations

on a comprehensive test-ban treaty by next spring and to

sign it by the autumn of 1996, at the latest. Japan, with

firm political will and together with other countries, will

do its utmost to attain this crucially important goal. As

for the scope of the treaty’s provisions against nuclear

testing, we deeply appreciate the announcements made by

France, the United States and the United Kingdom

indicating their support for a total ban on all nuclear

testing and we hope that the other nuclear-weapon States

will likewise adopt that position without delay. I should

like to reiterate here the proposal which I made in my

address to this body last year that, once the treaty is

concluded, the signing ceremony be held in Japan.

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I cannot but deeply deplore the nuclear tests conducted

by certain countries immediately after the indefinite

extension of the NPT was approved unanimously by the

States Parties to the Treaty and just as the international

community has begun to make further progress towards a

nuclear-free world. I should like on this occasion to

reaffirm that the nuclear-weapon States, which are accorded

a special status under the NPT, have an obligation to

respond to the trust shown in them by non-nuclear-weapon

States by engaging in genuine nuclear-disarmament efforts.

Japan has consistently called for the cessation of nuclear

testing and at this session of the General Assembly intends

to sponsor a draft resolution calling for the cessation of

nuclear testing. I hope that it receives the support and

cooperation of all Member States.

In addition, I would appeal to all States to work

vigorously for the reduction and control of conventional

weapons. The United Nations Register of Conventional

Arms, the purpose of which is to enhance the transparency

of arms transfers, has proved a great success, recording

more than 90 per cent of the transfers of conventional

weapons that have taken place throughout the world. I

strongly encourage many more States to participate in the

Register. The prompt establishment of an international

mechanism for controlling the export of conventional

weapons is also an important issue.

The problem of uncleared land-mines is not only a

humanitarian issue but one that poses a serious obstacle to

economic rehabilitation. International cooperation and the

development of technology for clearing these mines are

urgently required. As we look to the future, it is equally

important to consider and strengthen the framework of

international regulations with respect to the use, production,

transfer and so on of anti-personnel land- mines.

Another serious problem facing the international

community is that of the proliferation of small arms. It is

Japan’s intention to submit to the General Assembly at this

session a draft resolution on the establishment, under the

Secretary-General, of a panel of experts to address this

issue.

As I stated at the beginning of my remarks, we should

seize the historic opportunity presented by the fiftieth

anniversary of the United Nations to realize concrete

reforms aimed at strengthening the functions of the

Organization, the importance of which continues to grow.

I should like on this occasion to present my views

concerning reforms to be undertaken in three areas, namely,

financial reform, reforms in the economic and social

fields and reform of the Security Council.

Unless the efficiency of its bodies is enhanced and

its financial base is made sound and strong, a genuine

strengthening of the functions of the United Nations will

not be achieved. At present the unpaid contributions of

Member States to the United Nations amount to well over

US$ 3 billion. It is imperative that we as Member States

recognize this situation as an impending crisis and face up

to it. I call upon all Member States to make every effort

to pay in full and as soon as possible their assessed

contributions that are in arrears. At the same time I

should like to stress the need for a comprehensive review

of the method by which the financial burden is shared

among Member States, in a manner that does not place

excessive burdens on any of them. As the second-largest

contributor to the United Nations, Japan, despite its severe

financial situation, has assumed considerable responsible

for United Nations financing. On this occasion I wish to

emphasize that serious discussion of the fundamental

reform of United Nations financing and the realization of

a fair and equitable system of burden-sharing are key to

the strengthening of the functions of the United Nations.

Now, with the situation more conducive to

addressing development issues from a new perspective, it

is imperative that we tackle global issues more

effectively, particularly those relating to the environment,

but also human rights, refugees, population, AIDS and

narcotics.

In so doing we must work with greater earnestness

to strengthen the United Nations system in economic and

social fields. Specifically, it is necessary to improve the

efficiency and review the mandates of the various

organizations and agencies active in these fields and to

promote more effective coordination between them,

including international financial institutions.

From this point of view, Japan attaches great

importance to the discussion on “An Agenda for

Development”, and by contributing actively to that

discussion it is endeavouring to promote reform in

economic and social fields. In particular, there is an

urgent need to revitalize the functions of the Economic

and Social Council, including the further utilization of its

various functional committees.

The reform of the Security Council is of the utmost

importance in strengthening the United Nations in the

political field. The primary objective of Security Council

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reform is to strengthen its function by enhancing its

legitimacy and effectiveness. Towards this end, Japan

believes it is necessary to expand the Security Council by

adding to its permanent membership countries in a position

to assume global responsibilities, and also to increase by an

appropriate number the non-permanent membership.

As I stated here last year, Japan, with the endorsement

of many countries, is prepared to discharge its

responsibilities as a permanent member of the Security

Council, in accordance with its basic philosophy regarding

international contributions, including the non-resort to the

use of force prohibited by its Constitution. On this point, I

should like to take this opportunity once again to express

my appreciation to the many countries that have indicated

their support for Japan’s permanent membership on the

Security Council.

Building on the results of the discussions conducted in

the Working Group over the past two years, particularly on

the substantive progress made during the last session of the

General Assembly, and also taking advantage of the

momentum provided by the fiftieth anniversary of the

United Nations, I would urge all Member States to redouble

their efforts to reach an agreement on a broad framework

for reform by the end of the current session, in September

1996.

This year, which marks the fiftieth anniversary of the

end of the Second World War, Japan has looked squarely

at its past history and has renewed its commitment to

peace. Japan is among the countries that have benefited

most from the peace and stability of the international

community over the past 50 years. I earnestly hope that

other countries throughout the world will likewise enjoy the

blessings that have accrued to Japan as a result of

international peace and prosperity.

I should like to conclude my statement today by

reaffirming Japan’s determination to contribute to the best

of its ability to the building of a stronger United Nations

for the future, as well as to establishing a new international

order for peace and prosperity based upon the principles of

freedom and democracy.