Luxembourg, 1996

Allow me first

of all to congratulate the President most warmly on his

election to serve as President of the fifty-first session of the

General Assembly.

I also wish to convey my thanks to the previous

President, Mr. Freitas do Amaral, for the commitment, skill

and poise with which he led our work at the last session of

the Assembly.

I would also like to convey my appreciation to our

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his

ongoing outstanding work for our Organization since

beginning of his term.

The views of the Luxembourg Government on the

major international issues are the same as those expressed

by our European Union partners. They were presented to

the Assembly yesterday morning by Mr. Dick Spring,

President of the Council and Minister for Foreign Affairs

of Ireland.

Luxembourg learned with great satisfaction that our

General Assembly, by an overwhelming majority, had

adopted and opened for signature the resolution

containing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Yesterday, on behalf of the Luxembourg Government, I

signed that document, which marks substantial progress

towards the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the

creation of a safer and more humane world. I hope that

the parties concerned will continue to work to create the

right conditions for the rapid entry into force of this

Treaty.

Also in the area of disarmament, I support without

reserve the United Nations work on the question of anti-

personnel landmines, which day after day, long after the

guns have fallen silent in a conflict, continue to claim

countless victims. If there is any evil which must be

eradicated, this is it.

I rejoice in the significant progress which has been

achieved, in less than a year, in the conflict in the former

Yugoslavia. I welcome the holding of elections on 14

September, which marks a decisive stage for the future of

Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnians, Serbs and Croats must

now organize their cooperation by first setting up

common institutions.

I regard these elections as a first, important step in

the framework of a process of democratization and

stabilization that must be carried further. Its success will

depend above all on the Bosnian parties. It will also

depend on neighbouring countries, in particular Croatia

and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Lastly, it will

depend on the support of the international community. My

Government is in favour of continued international

civilian and military action in order to create the

environment required to preserve peace and prevent a

return to war.

Luxembourg is concerned by the check to the peace

process in the Middle East that has followed the change

of Government in Israel. We take the view that there is

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no alternative to this complex and fragile process: the fruit

of arduous negotiations. We urge our friends in Israel to

pursue this process, to comply with and execute the

commitments undertaken pursuant to the Oslo agreements

and to avoid creating fresh obstacles. We fear that any

other policy may generate further tension and once again

trigger a spiral of violence that would inflict suffering on

all the peoples of the region. The alarming events that took

place on the West Bank today threaten to destroy the results

of several years of effort to achieve a just and lasting peace

in the Middle East.

The Luxembourg Government condemns the recent

attacks launched by the Government of Saddam Hussein on

the Kurdish population of northern Iraq. It was inevitable

that measures would be taken to react to this fresh

offensive. We call for a complete withdrawal of Iraqi forces

and for full respect for the territorial integrity of Iraq. We

hope that the implementation of the “oil-for-food”

resolution may take place without delay in order to relieve

the hardships suffered by the civilian population of that

country.

The situation in the Great Lakes region of Africa, in

particular in Burundi, continues to give us the greatest

cause for concern. I fully support the efforts of the United

Nations, in close cooperation with the Organization of

African Unity, to avert both the occurrence in Burundi of

a tragedy such as occurred in Rwanda and a deterioration

of the situation which could plunge the region into war.

Over the last year, the United Nations has substantially

cut the number of its peace-keeping operations. This

reduction in our activities and the set-backs that we have

witnessed in the past should not, however, diminish our

efforts to enhance the United Nations capacity to avert,

prevent the spread of and halt conflicts, and to save human

lives.

It is utterly unfair to criticize the United Nations

whenever a peace-keeping operation runs into difficulties.

Many of the shortcomings attributed to the United Nations

could be resolved if all Member States undertook to pay

their contributions to our Organization and, especially,

make available to it the resources that it needs. For this

reason, Luxembourg supports the ongoing work and

reflection aimed at equipping the Organization with a rapid-

intervention force that would enable it to react to crises in

a timely fashion. Where non-military means have failed, it

should be possible to deploy well-trained and properly

equipped peace-keeping contingents in the field very

promptly in order to give practical effect to the Security

Council’s decisions.

Greater responsibility should henceforth be given to

regional organizations. The Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is nowadays playing a

leading role in conflict management in Europe and the

Caucasus. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO) in the former Yugoslavia and the Organization

of African Unity (OAU) in the Great Lakes region are

doing the same. Other regional and subregional

organizations in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere are

performing similar tasks with the support of the United

Nations.

International security begins with the security of the

individual, with respect for his fundamental rights and his

protection against any violation of those rights, including

the actions of his own Government. Nothing, therefore,

can justify violations of human rights, which by their very

nature have universal value. Our Organization plays an

important role in developing international machinery

designed to provide effective protection for human rights.

This role takes the form, among others, of the efforts to

carry out systematic investigations and enquiries with a

view to sanctioning those responsible for violations of

international humanitarian law and human rights.

Luxembourg supports the early creation of an

international criminal court, which would be a decisive

step forward in ensuring respect for the principles of

international law.

Among the most vulnerable human beings are our

children, and they therefore deserve special protection.

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the

Child marks a major advance. Scrupulously applied, that

Convention will be an invaluable instrument in

safeguarding children against physical and psychological

violence. In 1995 my Government proposed to the United

Nations a similar, indeed, a complementary initiative, to

eliminate the exploitation of child labour. I welcome this

Assembly adoption of that proposal designed to come to

the aid of the tens of millions of children forced to work

from an early age. This effort should be strengthened and

further pursued. Luxembourg also hails the results of the

Stockholm World Congress on the Commercial Sexual

Exploitation of Children. My Government is resolved to

foster international cooperation in the prevention and

suppression of sexual exploitation of children in order to

effectively protect and safeguard children at the

international level against such criminal practices.

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The globalization of the world economy is bringing

about profound changes in international relations. A

veritable revolution in information and communication

technologies reducing geographic distances to nothing has

led to a speeding up of business transactions and financial

flows, as well as increased integration of markets.

Generally accepted ideas have been turned upside down,

and serious questions have been raised even among

industrialized countries, where unemployment has grown to

alarming proportions.

At the same time, we note that a significant number of

developing countries remain on the sidelines of

development and remain in great poverty. At a time when

our Organization proclaimed 1996 International Year for the

Eradication of Poverty, more than 1.5 billion human beings

continue to live in a state of absolute poverty. We cannot

remain indifferent to this situation. What should particularly

disturb us is the inequality gap, which is widening both

within countries and between the countries of the North and

the South. This is a dangerous source of new tensions and

conflicts.

The United Nations Development Programme’s latest

report on human development speaks of worldwide social

fragmentation. It underscores the widening disparities

between rich and poor States and increased imbalances in

societies between inhabitants of the same country. The

population explosion and uneven access to the fruits of

technological progress further compound these distortions.

This trend is likely to trigger increasingly massive

migrations within countries and from poor countries to

richer ones.

In order to remedy this situation, I propose to develop

a new strategy based on four main courses of action. First,

we should provide follow-up to, and translate into

operational activities, the results of the major conferences

held since the beginning of this decade in Rio, Vienna,

Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing and, most recently, in Istanbul.

The World Food Summit scheduled by the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for

November and the special session on sustainable

development in the spring of 1997 are also opportunities to

define an integrated programme of action to foster human

development.

Secondly, we must halt the persistent decline of funds

made available for development, a symptom of “donor

fatigue”. In each of our countries we must launch a new

movement of solidarity to benefit the poorest and least

developed countries. The Government of Luxembourg has

decided to increase year by year its contribution to

cooperation for development. Our intention is to achieve

the target of devoting 0.7 per cent of our gross national

product to official development assistance before the end

of this decade. A significant portion of these funds will

be made available to the various funds and programmes

of the United Nations system. This is not simply a

question of solidarity and social justice on a world scale;

it is, above all, a preventive policy designed to contribute,

however modestly, to peace by encouraging development.

The third main course of action is to strengthen the

United Nations capacity to act in the economic and social

field. That strengthening requires courageous reforms of

its structures. Above and beyond the proposals of the

Summit of major industrialized countries at Lyon, which

I welcome, I advocate a single rigorous coordination

structure for all economic and social activities and,

especially, a concerted restructuring of the bodies and

mandates concerned. In this context, I note with interest,

the proposal of the XX Congress of the Socialist

International, which took place recently in this very

building, calling for the setting up of integrated economic

institutions on the regional and international levels and for

the setting up of a United Nations economic security

council.

Fourthly, we must develop cooperation with the

representatives of organized civil society, which is to say,

the non-governmental organizations.The participation of

non-governmental organizations in international

organizations reinforces, in a sense, the political

legitimacy of those international bodies. The

representatives of civil society nowadays play a key role

in the activities of the United Nations system, whether in

the promotion of human rights and democracy, in

humanitarian assistance or in cooperation for

development. They make an invaluable contribution not

only to the Organization’s operational activities but also

to its thinking processes, as attested to by the significant

participation of non-governmental organizations in the

preparation, holding and follow-up of the major world

conferences organized by the United Nations.

This new dimension of our work was also

highlighted at the congress of the World Federation of

United Nations Associations, whose fiftieth-anniversary

meeting, I am proud to note, was held in Luxembourg a

little over a month ago.

The financial situation of our Organization continues

to be a matter of grave concern. As of July, the United

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Nations cash flow was exhausted, and this situation can

only worsen between now and the end of the year.

Any attempt at a radical reform of the system will be

futile if we continue to neglect the fundamental need to put

it on an adequate and reliable financial footing. The United

Nations cannot discharge its important responsibilities

effectively if it is reduced to constant worry about making

ends meet.

Admittedly, the Organization could do even more to

control its expenditure and enhance its effectiveness.

Greater attention should be given, inter alia, to the question

of establishing each State’s assessed contribution, which

should be based on objective criteria and reflect each

country’s real ability to pay. However, the crisis will be

overcome only if each Member State fulfils its obligations

by making full, timely and unconditional payment of its

financial contribution. I therefore unreservedly support the

proposals made by the European Union in this regard.

In the ongoing reform process, one aspect is of

particular significance. Within our Organization, the

Security Council bears unique responsibilities as the organ

entrusted with preventing and resolving conflicts.One of the

greatest lessons to be learnt from the experiences and

setbacks of recent years is that Security Council members

must, if they wish to preserve its credibility, demonstrate

their determination to enforce their decisions, once taken.

The credibility and effectiveness of the Council with

regard to peace-keeping and international security will be

reinforced by the establishment of more open, transparent

and collegial decision-making processes while maintaining

close consultation with the countries supplying matériel and

contingents. The not-insignificant progress made in this

respect in the recent past should be integrated into the

system.

In addition, the Council’s legitimacy, and probably the

quality of its decisions, would also benefit from a

readjustment in membership. The enlargement of the

Council should take into account the ability of member

States to contribute to peace-keeping and to the

achievement of the Organization’s goals. A better balance

must be struck between industrialized and developing

countries.

The passing of the bipolar world has freed our planet

from the ideological, political and military fetters that

impeded to an extraordinary degree our capacity to act.

Relieved of the threat of global confrontation and nuclear

holocaust, we are now faced with a series of worldwide

problems, old and new, that includes underdevelopment,

environmental degradation, the proliferation of all kinds

of weapons, terrorism, ethnic conflicts, drug trafficking,

violence and crime in all its guises.

Luxembourg is convinced that the solution to those

problems lies not in isolationism, nor in nationalism, nor

in fundamentalism of any description. We would also be

deluding ourselves were we to put our trust solely in the

market and private initiative to remedy all humanity’s ills.

Only through an approach based on cooperation,

solidarity, tolerance and mutual esteem can we tackle

those problems successfully at both the regional and the

world levels.

This has been the approach of the European Union

and its member States, which have succeeded in attaining,

in Europe, a level of stability and prosperity hitherto

unknown. The approach is based on the concept of

democracy and of a market economy that is not

uncontrolled but socially responsible, one in which the

State fully shoulders its responsibilities in the areas of

health, education and social justice. The system requires

constant adjustments, but its principles and bases are not

subject to debate. Other parts of the world have also

successfully entered into a process of cooperation and

regional integration.

On the world level, the United Nations is the only

truly universal Organization. We must work at this level

to make a contribution vital to the solution of global

problems, one that will complement the efforts being

made at the regional level.

That is the new and important responsibility that

became evident in the course of the events and meetings

that occurred the world over in commemorating the

fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations last year. There

was emphasis on the need to set up new structures and to

reform the United Nations, to give it the requisite capacity

for review, action and cooperation.

It is our hope that, with a heightened awareness of

the interests of all mankind we, the representatives of the

States Members of the United Nations, will succeed in

displaying the vision, courage and political resolve needed

to make our Organization an effective instrument capable

of facing the challenges of the third millennium.