Mongolia, 1996

At the outset, I wish

to extend my sincere congratulations to His Excellency

Mr. Razali Ismail of Malaysia on his unanimous election

to the high post of the presidency of this session of the

General Assembly. I also wish to express my appreciation

to His Excellency Mr. Freitas do Amaral for his excellent

stewardship of the historic fiftieth session of the General

Assembly.

The current session is being held at a time when the

contours of a new international system are still being

shaped. The twentieth century has witnessed the

generation of enormous wealth. However, its distribution

among regions, individual States and groups within States

remains uneven. Scientific and technological

developments have led to great strides in the advancement

of human society while they have posed potentially

disruptive threats to its survival. Trends towards

globalization and integration are accompanied by the

forces of fragmentation and marginalization. The winds of

sweeping democratic change have touched the greater part

of the family of nations. By and large, the world today

finds itself at a momentous juncture, at a time of both

opportunities and challenges.

Today no country can afford to stay aloof from the

tremendous transformations that are going on. In

Mongolia, this year ushered in a new era. As a result of

general elections held last summer, State power has been

peacefully transferred to democratic political forces for

the first time in 75 years. This marks the logical

culmination of the 1990 democratic revolution and lays a

solid foundation for stable democratic development. It is

10

also a result of the simultaneous pursuit of both political

and economic reforms.

The reform process is complex, time-consuming and

challenging. Mongolia is not alone in facing the challenges

inherent in laying the foundations of an open, democratic,

just and humane society and in creating conditions for

accelerated social and economic development. Like many

other developing countries undergoing fundamental

changes, Mongolia is faced with a host of problems: a low

level of development, poverty, unemployment, an external

debt burden and an underdeveloped national economic

structure vulnerable to fluctuations on the world market. In

spite of those hardships, the Government of Mongolia is

determined to undertake decisive measures to speed up the

reform process.

The Government of Mongolia, while preserving the

continuity of its multipillared foreign policy, is resolved to

pursue an active, balanced foreign policy based on national

interests. Mongolia will continue its strong support for the

multifaceted activities of the United Nations as one of the

main pillars of its foreign policy.

A few days ago the international community witnessed

a landmark event designed to attain the goal of a nuclear-

weapon-free world. I refer to the adoption by the General

Assembly of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

This morning I had the privilege of signing the Treaty on

behalf of Mongolia. It is of paramount importance, in our

view, that all the declared nuclear Powers and threshold

States accede to the Treaty so that the many years of hard

work that went into it may yield tangible results. With a

view to contributing to an effective implementation of this

important Treaty, Mongolia will actively participate in its

international monitoring system.

We believe that the creation of more nuclear-weapon-

free zones in different regions of the world will contribute

to the strengthening of regional and international peace and

security. Therefore, we commend and support the

Declarations of Africa and South-East Asia as nuclear-

weapon-free zones. In 1992, Mongolia declared its territory

a nuclear-weapon-free zone, and I am pleased to note here

that the nuclear-weapon States, along with other countries,

have welcomed and supported our initiative. Mongolia

intends to formalize and upgrade the status of the zone to

the international level. In a broader context, it is essential

to provide assurances to non-nuclear-weapon States against

the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, in the form of

an international instrument.

The advisory opinion of the International Court of

Justice on the illegality of the use or threat of use of

nuclear weapons, as well as the important

recommendations contained in the report of the Canberra

Commission, could serve as a sound basis in further

negotiations on non-proliferation and nuclear

disarmament.

While expressing Mongolia’s satisfaction with the

Chemical Weapons Convention that will soon come into

force, I should like to stress the importance of its

ratification by States with substantial arsenals of chemical

weapons so that the Convention can be more effective in

eliminating this type of weapon of mass destruction.

Turning to regional issues, I should like to underline

in particular our deep concern over the uncertain

situations in the Balkans and on the Korean peninsula.

The recent events in the Middle East are adversely

affecting the peace process that is under way. We believe

that the parties concerned should exercise utmost restraint

and resolve the problems by political negotiation, as

envisaged in the Madrid and Oslo agreements.

The peaceful advancement of the human family and

its safety can no longer be assured in a world

characterized by abject poverty, external debt burdens, a

growing technological and economic gap between the rich

and the poor, widespread hunger and malnutrition,

increasing violence and discrimination, crimes and drug

use. It would probably be axiomatic to say that no one

can ensure his or her own security at the expense of

others. However, merely acknowledging this fact can

hardly help solve the problem. There must be real

determination and political will, coupled with collective

action, to face the challenges ahead.

The recent international conferences on children, the

environment, human rights, population, social

development and human settlements organized under the

auspices of the United Nations have forged a clear vision

and a forward-looking strategy for our common and

concerted action toward the betterment of the human

condition. Mongolia holds the view that this new

framework for international development cooperation

should find its due reflection in the Agenda for

Development, which would ensure their integrated and

comprehensive implementation and follow-up. Vital, in

this regard, is a coherent coordination of the policies and

activities of the various entities of the United Nations

system and those of the Bretton Woods institutions at the

global and national levels.

The implementation of the decisions of the

aforementioned conferences requires genuine political

commitment on the part of the international community and

its individual members to substantially increase the

resources for sustainable human development. We believe

that mobilization of added financial resources can be made

possible by reducing global military spending and capturing

the resultant peace dividend for human priority needs. Our

common and shared future calls for the donor countries that

have not yet done so to honour their long-standing

commitment to the 0.7 per cent target.

We welcome and support the World Trade

Organization as a multilateral forum for defining an

international trade policy aimed at coordinating and

promoting the interests of countries with different levels of

development. Mongolia will join this Organization shortly,

which will allow it a greater involvement in world trade

and economic integration. Likewise, Mongolia will actively

endeavour to secure its proper place in the Asia-Pacific

integration, a region characterized by high economic

development and overall political stability.

Handicapped by their geographical location, the land-

locked developing countries face particular difficulties in

their development efforts. Owing to their disadvantaged

position, they risk being further isolated and marginalized

from the globalization process. In this connection, I wish to

emphasize the practical importance of implementing the

Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation

Between Land-locked and Transit-developing Countries and

the Donor Community, endorsed by the General Assembly

at its last session.

South-South cooperation has become a potential

instrument for accelerating the effective integration of

developing countries into the global economy. I believe that

the conference on finance, trade and investment to be held

in Costa Rica next January will help to further enhance

South-South cooperation by identifying its future priorities.

With the acceleration of scientific and technological

progress, the question of protecting the environment from

mercantile human activities is acquiring an ever-increasing

importance. Effective international cooperation aimed at

offsetting the adverse effects of industrialization on

countries, especially in environmentally sensitive regions;

preserving their unique nature and ecosystems; shielding

them from natural disasters; and mitigating the damage

inflicted is the order of the day. Furthermore, this requires

an allocation of additional resources and their effective

utilization. Elaboration of a national strategy for sustainable

development, in line with the Earth Summit Declaration

and Agenda 21, is well under way in my country.

Mongolia attaches particular importance to the special

session of the General Assembly scheduled for 1997 to

review the implementation of Agenda 21. In preparation

for that session, a study could be conducted on the root

causes of the considerable increase in natural disasters

over recent years, as noted in the report of the Secretary-

General on the work of the Organization.

Today, it is vital to foster respect for and compliance

with the norms of international law. In this regard,

Mongolia welcomes the establishment of the International

Seabed Authority and supports the creation of an

international criminal court. We believe that the

international community should elaborate the guiding

principles of conducting international negotiations — the

main instrument of bilateral and international diplomacy.

Mongolia fully shares the view that the United

Nations should be restructured, its activities modified and

democratized, and its effectiveness and efficiency

improved along the lines of the objectives set forth in the

Declaration on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary

of the United Nations. I hope that the ongoing

deliberations in the high-level Working Groups of the

General Assembly will result in the adoption of specific

action-oriented recommendations that will make the

United Nations better equipped, financed and structured

to serve the ideals enshrined in the Charter.

Security Council reform should be intensified

through the introduction of greater transparency in its

activities and the democratization of its working methods.

The expansion of its composition must ensure the fair and

equitable representation of various regions and groups of

States as well as its increased effectiveness and

efficiency. It goes without saying that, in the final

analysis, this world Organization can be only as good as

its Member States allow it to be.

Less than four years separate us from the next

millennium. The time has come for resolute action. The

time has come to collectively undertake radical changes.

The time has come to fulfil the dreams of our forefathers

to build a better future for our children.