Mongolia, 2002

Mongolia

welcomes wholeheartedly the newest member of the

United Nations family, Switzerland, a country that has

a long-standing association with the United Nations as

its second largest headquarters. We also look forward

to welcoming East Timor, the youngest member of the

international community.

A little over two years ago, at the historic

Millennium Summit held here in New York, our leaders

reaffirmed their commitment to the purposes and

principles of the United Nations Charter and pledged

their unequivocal support for a more efficient and

reinvigorated United Nations so that this unique world

body can effectively address the formidable challenges

of the new century and, indeed, of the new millennium.

Some important steps have been taken to reform

and adapt the United Nations to the evolving

international realities, with a view to ensuring its

efficient functioning in the era of globalization.

However, the reform process, particularly that of the

Security Council, tends to slow down and hence, there

is an apparent need to take proper measures to speed it

up. Mongolia stands for a just and equitable

enlargement of the Security Council and for

democratization of international relations by enhancing

the openness and transparency of the work of the

Security Council and by increasing the role of the

General Assembly, as envisaged in the Charter of the

United Nations.

The United Nations has been instrumental in

intensifying the efforts of the world community aimed

at developing a collective response to global terror, at

helping reach national reconciliation and build a peace

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process in post-Taliban Afghanistan, at assisting in the

emergence of an independent East Timor and at helping

to bring about the entry into force of the Statute of the

International Criminal Court. It has also been

indispensable in paving the way towards reaching

consensus at Doha, Monterrey, Rome and

Johannesburg, which were important steps along the

road towards meeting the millennium development

goals.

Yet, much still remains to be done to sustain the

progress achieved, to honour commitments made and

to redress setbacks to international peace and security

in today's volatile environment. The tragic events of 11

September have shown that there is a need for a

fundamental change in our perception of security. More

weapons and allocating more resources to the military

do not necessarily translate into increased security.

Security can no longer be confined to the boundaries of

a single State, or even a group of States. This

indivisibility of global security makes multilateralism

the order of the day. To paraphrase the Secretary-

General, let us all recognize that today global security

is our national security. Let us also recognize that

ensuring the security of the human person must be at

the heart of our concerns. The concept of human

security is increasingly making a case for itself.

The outgoing year has witnessed serious threats

to international peace and security. The remnants of

those threats continue to pose a menace to the

international community.

In Afghanistan, the United Nations is helping the

Afghan Government in its efforts towards

rehabilitation, reconstruction and development. Those

objectives can only be achieved if the Government of

President Karzai exercises effective control over the

entire country.

The prevailing explosive situation in the Middle

East is of special concern. It calls for sustained efforts

aimed at reaching a just and comprehensive solution to

the problem. Mongolia supports the efforts of the

Quartet and of the countries of the region to find ways

to peacefully settle that long-festering conflict. The

convening of an international conference to consider

effective measures for such a solution will undoubtedly

be a step in the right direction.

My Government shares the view that the Security

Council should make every effort to impress upon Iraq

the need to comply with Council resolutions and, as a

first step, accept weapons inspections unconditionally.

The world community cannot afford to sit idle in the

face of open defiance of mandatory resolutions of the

Security Council.

The world has not only been threatened by the

escalation of tension in various regions, it has also

been threatened by increasing human insecurity

resulting from the failure of the international

community to deliver on the crucial commitments it

made during the 1990s. In his address to the General

Assembly last year, my Prime Minister appealed to the

international community to make the first decade of

this new century a decade of implementation and

cooperation towards a safer and better world, as we

cannot afford to fail during yet another decade if we

are serious about ensuring human security. We cannot

afford to fail to implement the far-reaching, yet

achievable, targets set by our leaders at the Millennium

Summit. That is all the more so as our failure or

inaction could be used as justification for deadly acts

by those who threaten peace, stability and social

progress.

That appeal is even more relevant today. The

2002 Human Development Report indicates that if

current trends continue, a significant portion of the

world's States are unlikely to achieve the millennium

development goals, including the overarching target of

halving extreme poverty by 2015. If global progress

continues at such a snail's pace, it will take more than

130 years to rid the world of hunger.

A legitimate question arises, namely what has to

be done by the international community to redress that

situation? The short answer could be to display genuine

solidarity and for all to share responsibility in

honouring the commitments made without delay. But

the people of our countries, in whose service this world

body was conceived, have waited through dozens of

conferences and their five-year reviews while the

implementation of agreed targets continues to be

stalled at levels far from those desired. Under these

circumstances it is our considered view that it is

incumbent upon the international community to closely

look into the existing imbalance in global governance,

especially in the economic and social areas.

Mongolia believes that with its impartiality and

universal legitimacy, as well as its Charter-based

prevalence over any other international agreement, the

United Nations is uniquely placed to provide for global

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governance in economic and social areas while

allowing equal participation by the South in the

decision-making process. We therefore believe that it is

high time to engage in an earnest dialogue about an

entirely new framework of development cooperation

that is more responsive to the emerging imperatives of

global human security.

As we see it, the new development partnership

between the North and the South should be based on

justice, not on charity; on equitable sharing of global

market opportunities, not on protectionism or aid; and

on mutual cooperation, not on unilateral conditionality

or confrontation. The Economic and Social Council has

an important role to play in initiating and promoting

that dialogue, in line with the objectives set forth in

Article 55 of the Charter.

Furthermore, transnational organized crime, illicit

drugs, money-laundering, the illegal arms trade, the

spread of HIV/AIDS, global pollution, climate change

and other negative phenomena pose a persistent threat

to rich and poor nations alike. They call for a new

cooperation framework to be developed to defend the

new frontiers of global human security and to fill

critical gaps in the existing system of global economic

governance. At a time of increasing globalization, the

formidable challenges facing the human family require

an adequate response. It would be a fallacy to replace

fundamental reform with a piecemeal approach or

marginal remedies. If there is strong political will on

the part of the international community to collectively

stand up to these challenges, then why not engage in a

common quest for an adequate architecture of global

governance for human security?

Mongolia expresses its firm support for the

creation of the New Partnership for Africa's

Development (NEPAD). NEPAD is a comprehensive

blueprint and a broad vision for Africa's future

economic and social development. It is Africa-owned,

and based on the lessons of the past decade. We hope

that that important initiative will receive the generous

support of the international community with a view to

attaining the ambitious goal of an African renaissance.

My own country, Mongolia, which has the

inherent development handicap of being landlocked

and is very susceptible to natural disasters, is not

immune from many of the threats to human security to

which I have referred. In addition to the persistence of

poverty and unemployment and the disruption of basic

health and social services, human security in Mongolia

is affected by the increasing recurrence of natural

disasters and the spread of environmental degradation,

including desertification, water and air pollution.

Efforts to improve human security are further

hampered by extremely low population density, a weak

infrastructure and a small, non-diversified economy

that is very vulnerable to external shocks.

Capitalizing on its valuable assets of well-

educated human resources and accumulated experience

of reform in both the political and economic areas,

Mongolia is endeavouring to ensure the human security

of its people through both national action and

international cooperation.

Nationally, my Government launched, in late

2000, the Good Governance for Human Security

programme, aimed at improving the capacity to

formulate and implement policies to ensure human

security. Thus far, we have succeeded in securing a

national commitment to its implementation on the part

of all the branches of the State; institutionalizing the

programme's implementation mechanism; and laying

the groundwork for the greater involvement and

participation of civil society, the private sector and

academia.

At the international level, Mongolia, for its part,

has been endeavouring to contribute, where it can, to

the common efforts of the world community, while

drawing attention to issues of particular concern to it.

As a landlocked developing country, Mongolia

attaches particular importance to enhancing

international cooperation to ease the inherent

development challenges faced by that group of

countries. In this regard, my delegation looks forward

to the forthcoming International Ministerial Meeting on

transit transport cooperation, to be held in 2003 in

Kazakhstan.

In recognition of the crucial role of education in

ensuring sustainable human development and human

security, my delegation is pleased to note that at its last

session the General Assembly proclaimed — as the

result of an initiative of Mongolia — the 10-year

period starting 1 January 2003 as the United Nations

Literacy Decade. We look forward to the unanimous

adoption of the Decade's draft plan of action at this

session of the General Assembly.

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Ten years ago Mongolia declared itself a nuclear-

weapon-free zone. Since then, it has adopted national

legislation defining and regulating that status. At

present, consultations are under way with our

immediate neighbours and other States concerned on

ways to institutionalize our status internationally. I

would like to take this opportunity to thank the five

nuclear-weapon States for their cooperation, and

United Nations bodies for their invaluable support in

translating the initiative into reality.

In recent years, Mongolia has been actively

engaged in establishing and strengthening institutions

and processes of democratic governance, protecting

human rights and promoting democratic consolidation.

Its efforts have been similar to those of many other

States that are promoting democratic values and

developing democratic institutions. We believe that the

Fifth International Conference of New or Restored

Democracies, to be held from 18 to 20 June 2003 in

Mongolia, could provide an important opportunity for

the international community to exchange information

and experience and search for practical ways of

promoting and strengthening democracy nationally and

internationally. I would like to take this opportunity to

express my Government's heartfelt gratitude to this

body for graciously accepting our offer and setting in

motion the preparations for the Conference. The main

theme of the Conference is democracy, good

governance and civil society.

Mongolia believes that the International Criminal

Court, established on 1 July, could be instrumental in

ending impunity and upholding justice, deterring future

crimes and further strengthening international criminal

law. As one of its founding members, Mongolia also

believes that the widest possible accession to the Court

will broaden the geographic scope of the Court's

jurisdiction and thus end impunity for acts of genocide,

war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Court's

jurisdiction should eventually cover the crime of

aggression.

In conclusion, may I reiterate my Government's

resolve to work with other Member States towards

making our world Organization better equipped to meet

the global challenges lying ahead.