Malta, 2000

I would like to join the other

delegations here in congratulating you, Mr. President,

on your election as President of the General Assembly.

May I also pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Theo-

Ben Gurirab who, through his experience and

diplomatic skills, guided the fifty-fourth session to a

successful conclusion. I wish to express our

appreciation to the Secretary-General, under whose

guidance and with whose expertise the Organization

has been moving ahead in the attainment of its goals.

May I also extend a warm welcome to Tuvalu, the

newest Member of the United Nations. For many years

Malta and Tuvalu have cooperated as joint members of

the Commonwealth.

This is an auspicious occasion, not merely

because the General Assembly is the most widely

representative group of the world's peoples, but also

since it comes at a time when we are poised on the

edge of a new dawn, a new beginning. Only last week

we saw and heard the heads of State or Government of

countries the world over reaffirm their faith in the

Organization and its Charter as indispensable

foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just

world. It was a renewed commitment to make the

United Nations a more effective instrument in the

hands of the world's people. This is a weighty

undertaking, and one which may well benefit from a re-

examination of the experience acquired during the past

55 years of the United Nations existence.

As we are all no doubt aware, the United Nations

has been instrumental in fostering a culture of

partnership among States. Indeed, we meet here today

in the understanding that this culture of partnership

must continue to constitute the basis for humanity's

progress. This is more than just a vision for the future;

it is the road map for the way forward based on a

programme of action that has weathered the

vicissitudes of time and withstood test after test ever

since its adoption in San Francisco over half a century

ago. It is a noble endeavour that has survived in the

face of adversity, that has experienced occasional

setbacks, but that has also registered more than a fair

share of success.

Aided by its long-standing commitment to

dialogue, the United Nations has positively contributed

to the process of decolonization that has so decisively

transformed the political map of the world. It has

promoted a culture of dialogue and cooperation in the

most diverse fields of human existence and endeavour,

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ranging from health care to food supplies, from literacy

to urban development, from historical heritage to the

natural environment, and, more recently, improving the

status of women.

Nevertheless, in the crucial area of the

maintenance of peace and security — the very raison

d'être for the creation of the United Nations — the

Organization, for various reasons, has at times been

unable to fulfil this mandate. This is reflected in the

painfully honest reports of the Organization's failings

in Rwanda and Srebrenica. These negative experiences

provided the backdrop to the recently published

Brahimi report.

The Government of Malta shares the concerns

expressed in this report, which cautions in particular

against entrusting the United Nations Secretariat with

unrealistic mandates while not providing it with

commensurate resources. We look forward to early

consultations on the manner in which the

recommendations of the report may be pursued.

We have given serious consideration to

addressing these concerns and have decided to match

them with a specific commitment. It was in this

connection that my Prime Minister last week, in his

address to the Millennium Summit, signalled Malta's

intention to significantly increase its peacekeeping

contribution through a voluntary move from group C to

group B.

It will be recalled that over the years Malta has

made other contributions towards promoting the global

objectives of the United Nations. These have included

a number of initiatives not designed in the narrow

national interest but in the interest of the international

community as a whole.

May I recall in this connection Malta's proposals

to the General Assembly relating to the seabed and the

ocean floor, which led to the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea, to the question of

the ageing and to the initiative relating to climate

change. These initiatives alerted the United Nations to

examine the far-reaching, serious implications of those

issues and thereby enabled it to adopt timely measures,

which, as can be appreciated, have helped defuse, and

continue to defuse, potential political tensions,

environmental dangers and social complications.

The progress recorded in the United Nations over

the years is impressive and a source of great

satisfaction to my Government. The goals achieved,

while relevant the world over, lie extremely close to

the heart of the area of which Malta forms part. The

Mediterranean can be seen as a microcosm of the larger

world stage. We have faced, and continue to face,

intermittent conflicts and wide gaps in development

levels. The shortage of freshwater resources in some

areas is potentially another serious challenge. Despite

being a sea of promise and great opportunity, the

Mediterranean continues to challenge our political will

to nurture long-lasting stability. Security in the

Mediterranean requires committed and quiet

determination to identify both the problems and, more

importantly, the solutions. The element of dialogue that

has so often underscored the work of the United

Nations has brought much to the enhancement of

relations between the States of that part of the world.

Malta indeed not only shares the aspirations of the

United Nations in this regard, but has striven

throughout the years to ensure that they become an

integral part of all dealings in the Mediterranean.

Together with the rest of the world community,

Malta welcomes the progress made in the Middle East

peace process. We hope that the same determination as

helped overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles

in the past will continue to inspire the protagonists to

work for the goal of a just and permanent peace and

security for our Middle Eastern neighbours.

The Balkans are another part of the

Mediterranean area that also continues to challenge the

will of the international community in its quest for

stability and its determination to ensure that full

respect for human rights becomes the common heritage

of all peoples who live there. In this respect, every

positive development is of the utmost importance.

For over 25 years the situation in Cyprus has

remained a cause of concern. We therefore earnestly

hope that an early settlement of the Cyprus question

will be found. In this connection, the Maltese

Government reiterates its full support for the Secretary-

General's efforts to find a solution on the basis of the

relevant Security Council resolutions.

The Mediterranean has also been witness to the

cruel and merciless trafficking in human beings, a

tragic and criminal exploitation of the misery of others.

We welcome the initiatives taken by the Italian

Government at the Conference for Development and

Security in the Adriatic and the Ionian held in Ancona

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last May. The broad parameters established in that

Conference can indeed serve as a prototype for similar

agreements elsewhere.

Malta has always been acutely aware of the role it

can play in bridging the divides of this complex area.

Successive Maltese Governments have consistently

promoted efforts to develop and consolidate

cooperation between the littoral States of the

Mediterranean at both a bilateral and multilateral level.

In the mid-1970s we hosted the preparatory

meeting that led to the Barcelona Convention that

launched the Mediterranean Action Plan. In 1995 we

argued in favour of a Mediterranean stability pact for

the region, a proposal which is now taking shape in the

form of a Euro-Mediterranean charter for peace and

stability. In 1997, at a time of difficult political

circumstances for the area, Malta hosted the second

Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference, following

that of Barcelona in 1995. More recently, Malta was

one of the prime movers behind a recommendation

within the Conference on Security Co-operation in the

Mediterranean process of the Inter-Parliamentary

Union for the establishment of a Parliamentary

Assembly of Mediterranean States. These initiatives

serve to underscore our commitment to the

achievement of peace, prosperity and a just solution to

the demands of the Mediterranean people.

We believe, however, that on our own we can

only do so much, and that therefore the principle of

multilateralism, as enshrined in last week's

Declaration, must be fully respected and observed. As

was stated in the final Declaration of the Millennium

Summit, the management of economic and social

development, as well as the risks and threats to

international peace and security, must be a shared

responsibility. Freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance

and respect for the natural environment are goals

towards which our combined energies and efforts

should be channelled.

It is for these reasons that we have chosen to

pursue the path of membership of the European Union.

It is the common values and principles that inspired the

birth of what is today the European Union that inspire

us in our quest. This is because it is through

membership that we feel we can best play our part on

the international stage, and contribute more effectively

towards the promotion of peace and progress in the

Mediterranean. We feel that our capabilities to play a

useful role may be greatly enhanced from within the

European Union. This is not solely for our own local

benefit. We believe that our membership will give the

European Union an added dimension that will serve to

benefit both the northern and southern shores of the

Mediterranean littoral.

Good governance is what we, the peoples of the

United Nations, seek at a national, regional and

international level. Yet good governance is exactly

what is threatened by a number of phenomena that

plague our contemporary society. Ranging from the

trafficking of drugs to that of armaments and human

beings, international organized crime threatens the very

texture of law and order through abuse, corruption and

violence. The growth of related crimes also alerts us to

the need for ever closer international cooperation.

As much as the socio-political environment

requires constant vigilance, so too does the physical

environment. Global warming remains a constant

concern, and we urge that the undertakings to ward off

the further degradation of the ozone layer be fully

adhered to.

Questions of disarmament, extreme poverty, the

striking proportions of HIV and AIDS and the

vulnerability of the disabled, infirm and those

discriminated against on the basis of race or religion

remain ever present on the world agenda. At no time

must we lose sight of these very real issues faced by a

huge proportion of the world's people. We must, in

pursuit of a more caring and equitable society, seek to

understand and subsequently meet the needs of these

vulnerable members of society. It is not sufficient to

promote global e-commerce and ever new economic

world orders if we do not also tackle the root causes of

many of the problems in the developing world. We

need to convert these enormous challenges into

moments of opportunity. We need to harness the

positive forces of globalization, the new knowledge-

based economy and the opportunities of trade to bridge

the divides that persist throughout each and every

continent.

The United Nations has taken a leading role in

promoting international understanding and agreement

in relation to these varied and diverse areas. Indeed, a

wide spectrum of activities, international agreements

and agencies of the United Nations have been put to

good use in the creation of the impetus necessary for

change. We must continue in our endeavours to bring

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people to a common understanding of how this can best

be consolidated, not solely through dialogue, but

through concrete actions that must necessarily follow.

The number and variety of tasks that face the

United Nations are by no means small. Malta is,

however, convinced that the United Nations is the

forum best positioned to provide workable options and

long-term solutions to the problems that plague the

world and man's relations with it. Last week's

Millennium Summit clearly demonstrated the

international community's renewed commitment to this

unique and indispensable Organization and its vital role

in the maintenance of peace and stability, the

eradication of poverty, ignorance and disease and the

protection of the global environment.

If the Millennium Summit charted our course

towards making the United Nations a more effective

instrument in the hands of the world's peoples, then the

Millennium Assembly must come to be remembered as

the point in time when the first major decisions were

taken to place the Organization firmly on this chosen

path. I hope that these will not be merely empty

declarations of intent, but that each Government and

each of us here present today will endeavour to better

our corner of the globe as best we can. My Government

remains determined to play its part.