Monaco, 1996

It is a

great pleasure for me, at this fifty-first session of the

General Assembly, to congratulate you on your election.

Your wealth of experience in international affairs, your

professional skills and your great diplomatic qualities are,

for me and my country, a guarantee that our work will be

successful. I would like to include in these very sincere

congratulations the other officers of the Assembly, whom

we have just elected. I wish them all every success in the

important and delicate tasks that lie ahead.

I should also like express our gratitude to and

admiration for the President of the fiftieth session of the

General Assembly, whose very successful term of office

has just come to an end. He did sterling work in ensuring

the prestige of the numerous and highly symbolic events

that marked the fiftieth anniversary of this Organization.

He gave great impetus to the extensive discussions within

the General Assembly on strengthening the United

Nations system and on the question of equitable

representation on the and increase in the membership of

the Security Council and other matters related to the

Council. Suggestions were made by the delegation of

Monaco with regard, notably, to the increase in the

number of permanent and non-permanent members of the

Council. They appear in annex 11 of the report of the

working group established to that end.

I should also like to take this opportunity to thank

the Secretary-General for his efforts to make our

Organization less costly and more effective. In a

particularly difficult political and economic situation, he

has never failed in the mission we entrusted to him five

years ago.

I referred just now to the difficulties of our times.

These are major difficulties and often seem

insurmountable, at least in the short term.

Many factors, sometimes very different but broadly

connected, exacerbate these difficulties. The major world

conferences on population and development, on social

development and on human settlements clearly brought

these factors to light.

If the sustainable and harmonious development we

aspire to is to apply to all human beings, we must also try

to preserve the resources of our planet so that future

generations do not find themselves totally destitute one

day. In a vital area for us, the Principality of Monaco has

been striving for nearly a century to promote the

preservation of oceans and seas and the priceless

resources they provide, through studies and research, but

also by taking specific national and international

initiatives. Accordingly, Monaco ratified the United

Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and intends in

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1998 to play an active role, commensurate with our size

and resources, during the International Year of the Ocean.

The General Assembly, five years after the United

Nations Conference on Environment and Development,

wisely decided pursuant to resolution 50/113 to hold a

special session to consider and review the implementation

of Agenda 21. This will be an extremely important session.

We hope it will give us an opportunity to reinforce the

objectives spelt out at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

The Principality of Monaco is pleased to host next

year’s seventh session of the High-Level Advisory Board

on Sustainable Development and then the International

Whaling Commission.

My country is thus showing our interest in the

international cooperation which is essential if we are to

address the confrontation between legitimate economic

development and protection of the environment and the

non-renewal natural resources of our planet.

Other major concerns which seriously impede

development remain. No continent is spared the tensions

felt around the world, which pose a serious threat.

Our Organization does not always have the means

needed to face up to these challenges and to the most

alarming situations. Nevertheless, we welcomed the

adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,

which is finally open for signature and which I will have

the honour to sign during this session on behalf of the

Principality of Monaco.

Might I refer here to the major role played by the

International Atomic Energy Agency which so ably and so

carefully monitors compliance with the safeguards

agreements concluded in the framework of the Treaty on

the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which the

Principality of Monaco has ratified. Together with this, the

Agency very scrupulously seeks to apply, sometimes in

very delicate circumstances, the decisions of the Security

Council in this respect. Its responsibilities in the field of

disarmament are very substantial. Monaco is therefore

particularly proud to be the home of the Marine

Environment Laboratory, which functions with the

assistance of the United Nations Environment Programme

and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Furthermore, my delegation has been following very closely

the follow-up to resolution 50/75, of which our

Principality was one of the sponsors, and which the

General Assembly adopted on 12 December 1995.

The strengthening of security and cooperation in the

Mediterranean is of concern to us, as it is of concern to

neighbouring friendly countries on both sides of the Sea.

The Secretary-General has embarked on valuable

consultations in this respect, and for this we thank him

very sincerely.

When wars break out, once the weapons have fallen

silent, the painful aftermath remains, including millions of

landmines, which have a devastating, extremely deadly

effect, scattered in fields and under roads and have a

massive impact on civilian populations, primarily on

children. At the human level, the proliferation of these

devices causes serious, often incurable, mutilation and

major material damage. The Security Council’s 15 August

1996 discussions on demining in the context of peace-

keeping operations highlighted, if there were any need to

do so, the importance that the United Nations and the

major Powers attach to this question. His Serene

Highness, the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, my father, is

no less mindful of this. He has requested his Government

to provide regular financial assistance to demining

operations by contributing to the fund set up by the

United Nations for that purpose. Without offering an

immediate, complete solution, a moratorium — or, even

better, cessation — on the production and export of these

anti-personnel landmines would give us some hope.

This year saw the holding of the twenty-sixth

Olympic Games. Men and women from 197 countries and

territories, from very different backgrounds, came together

and tested their strength. They fought peacefully and, with

mutual respect and esteem, created imperishable bonds. I

was there as Chairman of the Monaco Olympic

Committee and as a member of the International Olympic

Committee, and I can attest to the unique spirit which

every four years brings together the world’s best athletes.

I wish to pay tribute to them. They are an irreplaceable

example for the young people of our nations. I think it is

right, here, to echo the appeal made by many

organizations that there be more women representing their

countries at the Olympic Games, and that traditions,

however worthy of respect, do not become discrimination

against women in the area of sport.

The cooperation that has grown up between the

United Nations and the Olympic Movement, which share

lofty universal principles and values, gives me great hope.

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Our General Assembly regularly bolsters this cooperation

in its resolutions, and I hope that the same will happen this

year.

These athletic, dynamic and devoted young people

often work as volunteers for the United Nations and non-

governmental humanitarian organizations, and they deserve

our heartfelt gratitude.

I wish too to recall the World Programme of Action

for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond, adopted last year

by the General Assembly in resolution 50/81. We must take

account of its recommendations in every area, particularly

those of education, employment, health, the environment,

and ensuring full, effective participation of women in the

life of society and in the decision-making process.

The Principality of Monaco, which ratified the

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Racial Discrimination and is a party to the Convention

on the Rights of the Child, is very concerned by

contemporary forms of racism and marginalization. We

encourage the efforts of the United Nations and the Special

Rapporteur on this subject.

We are also seriously alarmed by the development and

scale of child prostitution and the trade in young girls and

boys. An important initiative was taken last August by a

non-governmental organization, End Child Prostitution in

Asian Tourism, with the assistance of the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Government of Sweden.

We must all heed the work of the world Congress

against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. I am

sure that the conclusions and recommendations of this

Congress, in the form of an agenda for action, will raise

our consciousness about the seriousness of the situation by

encouraging States to adopt the necessary national and

international measures.

By participating in the Congress, Monaco showed its

commitment to a world policy to combat the commercial

sexual exploitation of children. On the national level, this

is taking the form of unreserved support for humanitarian

associations and non-governmental organizations that are

active in this area and, in particular for their efforts to

sensitize others to this scourge, to prevent it and to

rehabilitate its victims. We are also introducing a legislative

initiative which should lead to a change in Monaco’s penal

code before the end of the year, with the introduction a new

crime: the sexual exploitation of children for the satisfaction

of the vices of others, whether these events occur in the

Principality of Monaco or outside our national territory.

Once this law is in effect, any person apprehended in

Monaco who has committed, in any place whatsoever,

acts that can be qualified as crimes or attacks against

decency or morality according to the laws of Monaco as

regards minors, can be prosecuted and tried.

I would add that the international community must

also think about strengthening international legal

protections in this area, in so far as existing texts,

including the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child,

particularly its articles 19 and 21, often remain

inoperative because they are difficult to apply.

Similarly, the 1926 Slavery Convention, the 1956

Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery,

and the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the

Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the

Prostitution of Others, which are very general in scope,

do not provide sufficiently effective, speedy recourse in

this particular area, where emergency action is necessary.

The strengthening of this protection in the form of

a multilateral instrument, for instance, could permit

judicial prosecution to go beyond national borders and for

the illicit commerce in children and their commercial

sexual exploitation to be categorized as crimes against

humanity, that is, that they be considered indefensible

under the Convention on the Non-applicability of

Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against

Humanity of 26 November 1968. Article 1 of that

Convention should thus be modified appropriately. Like

those stipulated in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention

and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, these acts

should not meet with a refusal to extradite. The law, and

international law, should be fully capable of protecting

these weak, destitute beings, while leaving no chance of

impunity for the perpetrators of these vile crimes.

In addition to strengthening legal protections, we

should also give some thought to the steps needed to

rehabilitate these young victims, as broadly emphasized

by the Stockholm Congress; without such rehabilitation,

that these children would fall back into prostitution circles

might prove inevitable.

Although some of the behaviours I have just

mentioned are intolerable and unacceptable, I wish now

to speak of the United Nations Year for Tolerance, which

ended in December 1995. Adopted in December 1993

thanks to a welcome initiative by the General Conference

of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization, and supported by a unanimous resolution of

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the General Assembly, this manifestation of faith in

humankind, concluded with a Declaration and Plan of

Action that were designed to inspire not only high-level

politicians, but each of us in our daily lives.

In keeping with General Assembly resolution 49/213,

the Follow-Up Plan of Action for the United Nations Year

for Tolerance, accompanied by the Declaration of Principles

that preceded it and that inspires it (A/51/201), is before

this year’s session of the General Assembly. It invites us to

make a common effort to combat political and social

factors which often seem to be at the origin of intolerance

and hatred.

This invitation should receive the proper response, for

it could contribute to providing solutions to the tensions

that persist in the world, some of which, as we know, are

extremely disquieting.

Throughout history, the most important moments of

progress have certainly occurred during periods of real and

profound tolerance. Such tolerance favoured thought, the

arts, the sciences, the sharing of knowledge and values. It

built civilizations and enabled them to draw together and

mutually enrich one another in an exceptional way.

While many today are convinced that history probably

has no meaning, it remains none the less a fragile and

precious commodity, largely fashioned by the commitments

and the will of man.

On 8 January next year we shall commemorate the

seven-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of my

family’s dynasty in Monaco. In celebration of that event,

many cultural and artistic events, some on an international

scale, will take place throughout 1997. This will be our way

of paying a tribute to our past as well as of expressing our

confidence and faith in the future and destiny, not only of

our country, but of mankind.

On that note, I should like to conclude my statement

by thanking the President very much for having allowed me

to speak.