Latvia, 2002

I would like to begin

by congratulating the Swiss Confederation on its recent

accession to the United Nations Organization.

Switzerland's immeasurable contribution to the work of

the United Nations, even as a non-member, has been

widely recognized and appreciated for decades. I am

confident that Switzerland, in its new capacity as a

Member State, will assume an even more significant

role in United Nations activities, a role compatible with

its new status.

Later this month the United Nations will greet

another country, East Timor, as the newest member of

the Organization. Like my own country, Latvia, which

regained its independence only 11 years ago, East

Timor will face the difficult challenges of

consolidating its statehood and enhancing its economic

development.

The United Nations and the international

community can be proud that their concerted efforts to

create a climate of peace and security on that island

have met with success, and that the people of East

Timor are now able to be the masters of their own

destiny.

I would also like to express Latvia's continued

solidarity and sympathy with the people of the United

States, one year and one day after the horrifying

terrorist attacks that changed the world forever. The

courage and resilience displayed by the inhabitants of

New York following the destruction of the World Trade

Center has been truly remarkable, and the manner in

which New Yorkers have coped with the aftermath of

this tragedy has been an inspiration to us all. Today, as

well as on the anniversary date itself, Latvians the

world over are with the bereaved and with the people

of the United States in our thoughts and in our prayers.

We see the heinous crimes of 11 September not only as

a contemptible act of aggression against the United

States, but also as a direct and frontal assault against

the civilized world as a whole.

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The foundation of any civilized society rests on

its deep-seated respect for the sanctity of human life.

International terrorists hold human life in total and

utter contempt. International terrorists specifically

target civilian non-combatant populations, with the

express goal of extinguishing as many human lives as

possible. That is precisely what makes international

terrorists so dangerous and so threatening.

Latvia, in collaboration with the United Nations,

the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO) and all like-minded countries, is

determined to do everything in its power to stem the

growing threat of international terrorism. In the wake

of the 11 September attacks, the Latvian Government

has adopted an action plan that foresees Latvia's

ratification of all international anti-terrorist

conventions, as well as an increase in the capacity of

Latvia's administrative, security, law enforcement and

military structures. We are continuing to harmonize our

national legislation according to international and

European Union standards, and we are tightening our

control of immigration and the flow of strategic goods.

We are improving our air and border surveillance

capabilities, updating our emergency response

procedures and raising the public's preparedness for

dealing with emergency situations.

I would like to express Latvia's concern at the

fact that one of the Organization's Member States —

Iraq — continues to ignore repeated calls by both the

Security Council and the rest of the international

community to allow United Nations weapons

inspectors on its territory. This lack of good will and

this manifest atmosphere of secrecy only serve to

reinforce credible suspicions that that country is

clandestinely seeking to produce nuclear, chemical,

bacteriological and other weapons of mass destruction,

in clear violation of Security Council resolutions.

Latvia views such clandestine activities not only as

destabilizing to the region, but also as a threat to world

security. That is why Latvia believes that the United

Nations and the rest of the international community

must act deliberately and decisively to curb the

continuing threat of weapons proliferation posed by

Iraq.

Latvia congratulates the United States of America

on the respect expressed by President George W. Bush

for the United Nations as an institutions and on the

commitment he expressed this morning to the principle

of multilaterality that the United Nations embodies. We

applaud the willingness of the United States to engage

the international community, through the United

Nations and through the Security Council, on the

legitimate concerns of the United States with regard to

containing and eliminating visible and defiant threats

to peace and stability in the world.

Latvia realizes that in this globalized world of the

twenty-first century, no nation can be an island unto

itself. Several other alarming threats besides

international terrorism and arms proliferation present

such serious challenges to the human race that we can

hope to address them only through concerted and long-

term international cooperation. These pressing global

issues include organized crime and illegal trafficking,

the abuse and exploitation of women and children,

endemic poverty and unemployment, drug addiction

and disease, and environmental pollution.

The global ecological crisis that our planet is now

experiencing has resulted from our own reckless

disregard for the Earth that sustains us. If we do not

radically curb the excessive amount of greenhouse

gases and other pollutants that we produce every day,

then we will continue to experience natural disasters

and climate changes of increasing scope and frequency.

I am proud to note that Latvia ratified the Kyoto

Protocol earlier this summer, and I share the hope of

Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the recent World

Summit on Sustainable Development, held in

Johannesburg, will lead to an increased commitment to

environmental protection by the countries Members of

the United Nations. Latvia is pleased that target dates

have now been set regarding safe drinking water,

sanitation and permissible levels of harmful chemicals.

Yet we must not allow ourselves to slip into

complacency, as the goals that our countries set at Rio

in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development are still far from being

reached. This past spring, Latvia established a

sustainable development council, led by the country's

Prime Minister. That council will establish plans for

the sustainable economic, social and environmental

development of the country, in conjunction with

European Union policies.

Two years ago, the States Members of the United

Nations adopted another series of far-reaching goals

when they signed the Millennium Declaration on the

reduction of poverty. Unfortunately, we cannot yet

pride ourselves on having achieved notable progress in

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that sphere. If the laudable goals of the Declaration are

truly to be realized in practice, then the States

Members of the United Nations will have to display a

far greater degree of political will and practical

commitment in implementing them.

The United Nations itself will need to increase its

administrative capacity if it is to effectively cooperate

with its Member States in realizing the goals of the

Millennium Declaration. Thanks to the initiative of

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, several improvements

can already be seen in the work of the United Nations,

particularly regarding the reform of peacekeeping

operations and the level of collaboration among the

Organization's own institutions.

Further improvements could still be made in the

financial discipline of the Organization's Member

States through the timely payment of membership dues

and more rational use by Member States of United

Nations services at United Nations conferences.

Initiated reforms within the United Nations system

itself must continue in order to put an end to the

overlapping of functions and to prevent unnecessary

competition among the Organization's various

institutions. Sounder spending practices and reduced

paperwork, along with a reduction in the number of

meetings and conferences with overlapping themes,

would all further increase the effectiveness of United

Nations activities.

Despite certain deficiencies in the structure and

work of the United Nations, the Organization has

contributed tremendously to the economic and social

development of numerous Member States, including

my own country, Latvia. When Latvia regained its

independence 11 years ago, it had to undergo a rapid

transformation from an occupied nation with a

repressive political system to a liberal parliamentary

democracy that respects human rights and liberties, and

it had to transform its closed and planned State-run

economy to an open and free-market economy. Thanks

to the hard work undertaken by Latvia's people and

their commitment to implement difficult transition

policies — as well as the dedicated support of the

international community — Latvia now has one of the

fastest-growing economies in Europe, along with a

stable national currency and a low rate of inflation.

Within a few months, Latvia hopes to receive official

invitations to join the European Union and the NATO

alliance.

Many of the positive changes that Latvia has

experienced over the past decade have been actively

supported by the United Nations, and particularly by

the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Latvia's new social security system, which is now one

of the most modern in Europe, was implemented with

direct UNDP participation. The UNDP and the Latvian

Government are also cooperating in the implementation

of minority integration programmes in our country.

Latvia is still in the process of reforming its health and

education systems and, like other countries in Europe,

must confront the problem of an ageing population

resulting from a falling birth rate, the number of deaths

each year continuing to exceed the number of births.

Nevertheless I am proud to note that on 17 June

last Latvia and UNDP signed a memorandum of

understanding by which Latvia's status as a recipient of

United Nations assistance was changed to that of a net

contributor. Latvia sees its intellectual potential and its

experience in the implementation of transition reforms

as a national resource. We have now entered the phase

of sharing this resource with other developing nations.

During the past two years, Latvia, in cooperation with

Canada and the European Union, has been providing

technical assistance and expertise to Ukraine, Georgia

and Croatia.

Latvia is convinced that the reduction of

disparities in income and standards of living among the

world's nations is essential for the consolidation of

peace and security across the globe. That is why Latvia

has liberalized its trade regime with 49 of the world's

least developed countries, in accordance with the Doha

development agenda. Within its means and through

United Nations channels, Latvia has also provided

humanitarian aid to war-torn areas in the Balkans and

in Afghanistan.

Every nation, no matter how large or how small,

is possessed of its own intrinsic, inalienable value.

Every nation has its unique contribution to make to

humanity as a whole. Let us remember this as we meet

here today at this fifty-seventh session of the General

Assembly. Together, our nations have many serious

challenges to address. But I am confident that by

uniting our experiencing and resources, we shall

eventually succeed in reducing poverty, cleaning up

our environment, controlling the spread of diseases,

and making this world a safer and more secure place in

which to live.

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The United Nations Organization was created

first and foremost to serve for the benefit of humanity.

It was created as an instrument for propagating the

fundamental principles of democracy, humanism,

universality, mutual respect and understanding.

Although the people and nations of the world are vastly

diverse in their conditions of life and in their cultures,

all human beings share the same basic needs and

desires: access to the basic necessities of life, the

possibility of growing and evolving as individuals, and

the change to contribute to the growth and development

of the countries that we each call home. As fellow

inhabitants of our beautiful and fragile planet, let us

pledge to commit our efforts to protect the physical

equilibrium of the earth and to create a fairer social and

economic equilibrium across the globe.