Kingdom of Denmark, 2012

In a complex world, it is

smart economics and also smart politics to focus on

prevention rather than cure. This holds true whether

we address the global economic crisis, sustainable

development and poverty reduction, conflicts like

the one in Syria, or the arms trade and disarmament.

In that context, the inclusion of women in political

decision-making processes is not only the right thing

to do, it is one of the most powerful drivers for positive

change.

Our natural resources are increasingly under

pressure. By 2030, the world will need 50 per cent

more food, 45 per cent more energy and 30 per cent

more water. Thus, we must chart a new course for

our common future and develop a new paradigm for

economic growth and development that will make it

possible to deal with those challenges and to create

opportunities for future generations.

In June, at the United Nations Conference

on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), we made

some progress, laying down the foundations for the

transformative process we need to pursue. But the

house still has to be built, and the General Assembly

must provide some of the important building blocks

to do this. Defining sustainable development goals as

part of the overall post-2015 international development

framework, establishing the new high-level political

forum, and upgrading the United Nations Environment

Programme are all key parts of the agenda before us.

Denmark strongly supports the Secretary-General’s

Sustainable Energy for All initiative, launched

in November 2011, and remains committed to its

objectives. Access to sustainable energy, improved

energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy

are all necessary conditions for achieving long-term

sustainable development. At Rio+20, a green economy

was finally recognized as one of the important tools

available for achieving sustainable development.

We need to work in close partnership with both the

private sector and civil society, if we are to succeed

in transforming the global economy. The Danish

Government, in partnership with the Governments

of Mexico and Republic of Korea, last year created

a public-private partnership among progressive

Governments, global corporations, financial

institutions and international organizations, including

the United Nations, called the Global Green Growth

Forum. At the second Forum meeting a week from now,

in Copenhagen, the focus will be on resource efficiency

and growth, reinforcing the need to decouple economic

growth from unsustainable environmental pressures

and to refocus efforts on the creation of decent jobs.

While making the last push for achieving the

Millennium Development Goals in 2015, we will start

preparing the post-2015 international development

framework and embark on the discussion on how to best

formulate new and more ambitious goals beyond 2015.

As stated, the sustainable development goals should be

an integrated part of this exercise. Denmark strongly

supports the promotion of human rights as a means to

development, rights being understood as indivisible and

interdependent. Such a rights-based approach is about

placing people — men and women — at the centre

and in charge of their own development. And let me

add, in the case of a woman, this also means the right

to decide over her own body. That is why Denmark

welcomes today’s launch of the high-level task force

for the International Conference on Population and

Development. Important parts of the rights-based

approach are access to information, involvement in

decision-making and strengthening the voice of civil

society.

Four decades ago, the United Nations set a target

for developed countries to increase their official

development assistance to 0.7 per cent of their gross

national income. Every year since 1978 Denmark has

surpassed the target, and our development assistance

will continue to increase over the years to come. We

call on other donors and potential donors, including

emerging economies, to increase their assistance as

well.

We see a great need for support to fragile States

like Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan and

Mali, where fragility and conflict hamper development

and poverty reduction and may provide a breeding

ground for all kinds of instability. We see positive signs

in those countries, but there are still many challenges,

and we therefore require strong and continuous political

commitment, both within the countries themselves and

on the part of the international community, in order

to succeed. We in the international community need

to take a closer look inside our toolbox and find the

right mix of development assistance and security policy

response, including ways of addressing terrorism

and in some cases piracy. In conflict-affected and

fragile countries, there is a need to understand that

without security there can be no development and

that without development there can be no security.

Denmark actively participates in promoting the New

Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, and we are

currently co-chairing the International Dialogue on

Peacebuilding and State-building. A peaceful and

prosperous development in fragile States stands at

the heart of Danish development policy, most recently

exemplified in the Sahel region. Denmark shares

the ambition of the International Dialogue to have

peacebuilding and statebuilding goals firmly reflected

in the post-2015 international development framework.

We must also use international cooperation to

reduce the level of conflicts and to set clear rules for

all to abide by. Unregulated and irresponsible trade

of conventional weapons is often the direct cause of

unbearable human suffering. It further destabilizes

weak and fragile States and is a hindrance to

development. There is an urgent need for a universal

and legally binding arms trade treaty, and, together

with Germany, Denmark has encouraged the Secretary-

General to continue his strong personal engagement

with respect to the convening of a second arms trade

treaty conference early next year. Now is the time to

act, and we call upon the members of the Assembly to successfully conclude negotiations on a treaty and to do

so without delay.

Let me use this occasion to once again call on

the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and more

particularly on Iran, to comply with international

law and relevant Security Council resolutions. It is

in Iran’s own interest to take concrete steps to build

international confidence in the exclusively peaceful

nature of its nuclear programme. The Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is a cornerstone

of international cooperation on disarmament and

non-proliferation. In this context, Denmark actively

supports the work of the Finnish facilitator to organize

a conference on the Middle East as a zone free of

weapons and materials of mass destruction.

For Denmark and the European Union, the rule

of law is critical to international peace and security,

human rights and development. It is a fundamental

principle of good governance, whereby the State is

accountable to its citizens and ensures their human

rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as their

participatory rights. We therefore welcome the outcome

of last week’s High-level Meeting on the Rule of Law

at the National and International Levels (resolution

67/1) and the commitments made by Member States.

Denmark also looks forward to an effective follow-up

to the High-level Meeting.

International agreement on the responsibility to

protect at the 2005 World Summit was a clear statement

by the international community that the atrocities

and large-scale tragedies of the last century must not

be repeated in the twenty-first century. The global

network of national focal points on the responsibility to

protect — an initiative launched by the Governments of

Denmark and Ghana, Costa Rica and Australia — is an

approach to encourage and assist States in developing

their national capacities and mechanisms for the

prevention of mass atrocity crimes. We call on all

States to appoint national focal points and to join the

network, thereby demonstrating their commitment to

decisive and timely prevention and response.

Even as I speak, we are witnessing in Syria a

Government that is not living up to its moral and political

obligations. Instead, it pursues a violent path of trying

to quell the cry for freedom, for democratic reforms

and for human rights. Despite several promises made

to the international community during the last year, the

Al-Assad regime has not stopped the violence. Instead we have only heard the sound of machine guns, heavy

weapons and airplanes firing away at civilians. Since I

stood here at this rostrum a year ago (see A/66/PV.29),

the situation has only deteriorated. Last year about

2,600 people in Syria had died in the conflict. Now,

more than 20,000 people have suffered that fate. The

Syrian people are f leeing from the shooting spree,

and a quarter of a million of them are now refugees

in neighbouring countries. More than a million people

inside Syria are in need of humanitarian assistance.

We condemn the brutal violence and massacres of

civilians in the strongest terms. The time has come to

stop the bloodshed and the suffering of the Syrian people.

We cannot look away while the increasing sectarian

violence spirals out of control, the humanitarian

emergency escalates and the crisis spills over borders.

President Al-Assad has lost all legitimacy and must

step aside to allow for a peaceful and democratic

transition. At the same time, those responsible for gross

human rights violations must be brought to justice. We

commend the very valuable work done by the Human

Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

We note in particular that the Commission has stated

that it is likely that crimes against humanity have been

committed by the Syrian regime. The international

community must act on that information. Denmark calls

on the Security Council to refer the case of Syria and

the serious violations of international humanitarian law

committed in the country to the International Criminal

Court.

We urge the Security Council to unite and agree on

strong measures, including comprehensive sanctions,

to enforce the six-point plan endorsed by the Council.

We cannot afford to continue waiting for a change of

policy on the part of the regime, which it shows no sign

of ever making. The Syrian people need action. At the

same time, we strongly encourage the Syrian opposition

groups to agree on a set of shared principles for working

towards an inclusive, orderly and peaceful transition

in Syria to a future free of Al-Assad and his brutal

regime. While thanking former Secretary-General Kofi

Annan for his valuable contribution to finding a lasting

solution to the conflict, we now put our trust in the new

Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and

the League of Arab States, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, and

in his efforts at reaching a political solution.

The negative developments in Syria stand in sharp

contrast to the situation in other countries that have

been affected by the Arab winds of change. Calls for reforms, economic justice, democracy and respect for

human rights have been heard, and in countries like

Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Libya things are moving,

and generally in the right direction. But there are also

signs that progress is not universal, for example, the

recent decision by the Bahraini Court of Cassation to

uphold the convictions of 20 human rights activists,

including a Danish national. Calling for reforms is not a

crime, as was rightly pointed out by the United Nations

High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Last month’s election of the new Prime Minister

in Libya by a democratically elected parliament is a

concrete example of progress, which makes it all the

more difficult to comprehend the terrible and tragic

attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi,

which we have strongly condemned. It was a sobering

reminder of the serious challenges that still persist in

countries in transition toward democracy. Democracy

does not happen overnight. It takes years to develop, and

attacks by extremists should not be allowed to derail a

process that the majority of the people have fought so

hard for. We stand firm by our commitments to Libya,

and we stand firm in there being no justification for

such attacks — none whatsoever.

It has been clear since the beginning of the Arab

Spring that developments in the region make the Middle

East peace process and a negotiated solution even

more urgent and important. A year ago, the Quartet

in its 23 September 2011 statement (SG/2178) called

for a peace agreement to be signed no later than the

end of 2012. Regrettably, we face a reality which does

not augur well for that to happen. As things develop

on the ground, the prospects for a two-State solution,

providing for two independent, democratic, contiguous,

sovereign and viable States living side by side in

peace and security, are diminishing, not increasing.

As we approach the twentieth anniversary of the Oslo

Agreement, it is indeed time to reach a final agreement.

The world is undergoing profound changes. Current

and new challenges call for international resolve

and multilateral solutions. They call for strategic

approaches, focusing on prevention and early action to

dismantle problems, rather than on belated responses

and interventions to deal with them when it is too late,

too inefficient and much more costly. And they call

for the United Nations, the strength of which lies in

its unique legitimacy, to stand up and take the lead in

addressing global challenges. The United Nations can make a real difference for the 7 billion people living

on this planet. It is up to all of us to ensure that it does