Kazakhstan, 2003

Allow me, Sir, to

express my confidence that, under your able leadership,

the general debate of the General Assembly at its fifty-

eighth session will be successful and fruitful.

At the turn of the millennium, the international

community is living through changes of epic

proportions. The process of transition to a new world

order is facing unprecedented global threats: inter-

ethnic and inter-confessional conflicts; international

terrorism and organized crime; natural, man-made and

humanitarian disasters; diseases and epidemics; and

energy and environmental problems.

These threats are in addition to globalization

processes. All States now share in not only economic,

technological, information and management issues, but

also must face the numerous problems looming over

humankind like a dark cloud.

We in Kazakhstan believe that the time has come

for the entire international community to join together

to ensure broad and effective cooperation to address

global threats. Today, it is becoming increasingly evident

that States' involvement in globalization processes is an

important factor in their economic prosperity.

It is our conviction that there is no alternative to

Kazakhstan's political and economic openness. In the

past four years, our country has had one of the fastest

economic growth rates in the world. Kazakhstan is

leading the Commonwealth of Independent States

(CIS) in main economic indicators. As a country with a

market economy, Kazakhstan is an integral part of the

global economy and an active participant in the

globalization process. Its early admission to the World

Trade Organization (WTO) is a top priority for

Kazakhstan.

Our country's efforts to create a comprehensive

security system in Asia are well known. The process of

the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building

Measures in Asia, initiated by President Nursultan

Nazarbaev, serves this purpose and also provides for

active cooperation between regional States in such an

important area as the combating of international

terrorism. Further support for this process by the

United Nations and all of our partners will undoubtedly

go a long way towards creating a climate of trust and

good-neighbourly relations on the Asian continent.

We are firmly committed to strengthening

regional integration. Kazakhstan is actively involved in

work within the Eurasian Economic Community. We

have great expectations regarding the creation of a

single economic space in the territories of four CIS

countries. A significant contribution to counter-

terrorism efforts and trade and economic cooperation in

the Eurasian region could be made by the Shanghai

Cooperation Organization. We are taking steps to

develop cooperation with the Central Asian States. We

intend to further promote the activities of the Economic

Cooperation Organization.

Kazakhstan backs United Nations action to

strengthen the efforts of the international community in

support of the dialogue between civilizations and

religions. Kazakhstan, a unique State in terms of

religious tolerance and inter-ethnic harmony, convened

a congress of representatives of world religions and

confessions, which, in the unanimous opinion of its

participants, revealed a considerable peacemaking

capacity of our country.

An unprecedented attack against the United

Nations office in Baghdad in August was the cruellest

and largest-scale terrorist act in the entire history of

our Organization. Together with the rest of the

international community, Kazakhstan pays a special

tribute to the late Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United

Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for

Iraq, and his colleagues.

In our view, it is imperative to ensure that efforts

to restore peace and stability in Iraq are carried out

within the legal framework of the United Nations. The

post-war reconstruction of the country and assistance

to the Iraqi population should be provided only under

the umbrella of the United Nations. Kazakhstan has

already made a practical contribution to this process by

deploying in Iraq a group of its military officers.

The Iraqi crisis has become a serious test for the

United Nations and has highlighted the urgent need to

carry out the institutional reform of the Organization.

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Kazakhstan reaffirms its commitment to the

concept of a multipolar world as a political philosophy

of modern international relations. At the same time, we

do not reject unipolarity if its means joining together

the efforts of all States in the world in a bid to avert

global threats.

Given its authority, universal character and

unique experience, the United Nations continues to

play an indispensable coordinating role in all global

affairs. Its effectiveness, however, is dependent on our

will, and we should, through joint efforts, reform the

Organization with a view to democratizing international

relations. In this context, it is essential to strengthen the

role of the Security Council in the settlement of crisis

situations and to provide it with appropriate mandates

and means for conflict-prevention. We call for making

it a more representative body by co-opting five new

members, including Germany and Japan, as well as, on

the basis of rotation, African, Asian and Latin American

States. In order to facilitate consensus, which is greatly

needed, new Security Council members might exercise

the veto power, with certain exceptions, subject to

further discussion in the high-level panel which the

Secretary-General intends to establish. We believe that

it will also be necessary to increase the number of non-

permanent members, with due account being taken of

the interests of the Asian region.

In our view, coordination between the United

Nations and regional organizations should be

reinvigorated. In this context, Kazakhstan proposes to

establish a permanent council of regional organizations

under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-

General.

It is time to combine, in practical terms, the

efforts of the United Nations, the Bretton Woods

institutions, the WTO and other leading economic and

financial organizations to address poverty and social

development. Kazakhstan believes that close attention

should be paid to the proposal to establish an economic

and social security council.

Kazakhstan supports the Secretary-General's

proposal to which I referred earlier to establish a

high-level panel to examine current challenges to peace

and security and to strengthen the United Nations system.

We believe that issues of environmental

protection in the framework of sustainable

development should be considered as a key item on the

United Nations agenda. In this context, President

Nazarbaev's proposal, made last year in Johannesburg,

to create a United Nations register of global

environmental problems is especially relevant. Such a

register would provide an opportunity to ensure a

continuous exchange of information among United

Nations Member States about trends in the global

environmental situation, which is extremely important

for the prevention of natural disasters. With regard to

environmental issues, I would like, from this rostrum,

once again to urge the international community to pay

due attention to the search for practical solutions to the

problems of the Aral Sea and the Semipalatinsk region.

The current surge of terrorist acts throughout the

world has made clear the transnational nature of

terrorism. We must recognize that terrorism is well

organized, financially self-sufficient and bolstered by

powerful ideological dictums that are poisoning the

consciousness of an ever-greater number of people.

Against that background, the strengthening of the

international legal framework of counter-terrorist

cooperation is especially relevant. Kazakhstan supports

the adoption, without further delay, of a comprehensive

convention against international terrorism.

Kazakhstan, which has drug routes running

through its territory, calls for joint efforts by States to

eliminate the evil of drug trafficking, which seriously

erodes international security. Increasing drug production

in Afghanistan demands special attention. In order to

effectively counter the existing drug threat, it is

necessary to apply an integrated approach on the basis

of an agreed international strategy with the United

Nations Office on Drugs and Crime playing a

coordinating role.

Kazakhstan has put forward an initiative

regarding the establishment in Almaty of a Central

Asian preventive diplomacy and conflict management

centre and calls for its support. Such an institution

would strengthen the United Nations activities in the

region, which should be in the interests of all countries

concerned.

As a State that has voluntarily renounced its

nuclear heritage, Kazakhstan is concerned about the

continued proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The desire of a number of countries and some extremist

organizations to possess nuclear weapons and other

types of weapons of mass destruction poses a serious

threat to global security. The well-known British writer

Aldous Huxley was prophetic when he said:

27

Technological progress has merely provided us

with more efficient means of going backwards.'

Let us face the facts: today, the Nuclear Non-

Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear-

Test-Ban Treaty do not work in practice. The main

reason for this state of affairs is weakened international

control.

There are already 39 States in the world capable

of producing a nuclear bomb or a nuclear device and at

least 8 countries with significant nuclear capacity. In

addition, there are at least another 4 countries whose

non-nuclear status is highly questionable.

The United Nations and its institutions should

have the last word in solving the problem of nuclear

non-proliferation. There is actually one way out:

tighten control and improve transparency with regard

to weapons development and testing.

Existing international agreements in this area

should be adapted to new realities. We can no longer

accept the fact that the international community lacks

effective means to discipline States violating non-

proliferation regimes. Here we witness the absence of a

single standard: some countries are punished by

military force, while others are simply urged to give up

their nuclear programmes.

Kazakhstan has welcomed the initiative of the

Group of Eight regarding a global partnership against

the proliferation of nuclear materials and weapons of

mass destruction, and it hopes for fruitful cooperation

on the issue with that group of States.

Our country considers it important to implement

the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and

Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light

Weapons in All Its Aspects.

The International Ministerial Conference on

Transit Transport Cooperation, held in August in

Almaty, has become a turning point in the efforts to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The

Almaty Declaration and the Programme of Action

adopted as an outcome of the Conference have laid a

solid foundation for global partnership designed to put

in place effective transit transport systems. Occupying

a vast stretch of land in Eurasia, Kazakhstan is keenly

interested in the practical implementation of the goals

in these documents so that it can better tap its own

transport potential.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate

Kazakhstan's commitment to the United Nations

reform process in order to ensure a safer and more just

world order. I fully share the Secretary-General's sense

of urgency when it comes to structural changes within

the United Nations. Indeed, history would be

unforgiving to us if we were to squander an

opportunity to reform our Organization.