New Zealand, 2008

Sixty-three years

after its formation, the United Nations remains the

world’s central international body. Only here do all

countries come together to devise solutions and to

forge collective action on global challenges. And these

are particularly challenging times. As the Secretary-

General and many others have noted, we are facing a

global financial crisis, a global energy crisis and a

global food crisis. More than ever before, we are an

interconnected and interdependent world community.

The Charter goals of peace and prosperity require the

full support of all United Nations Members. New

Zealand was a founding member in 1945, and our

commitment to this body is as strong now as it was

then.

At such a difficult time in the world we need

leadership, courage and a recommitment of our

resources to tackle the issues before us. When the food

crisis was first in the headlines, the Secretary-

General’s High-Level Task Force provided a

mechanism for us all to respond. Having contributed

nearly $NZ 10 million to date, New Zealand is among

those assisting with urgent food security needs and

medium-term policy responses. A successful

conclusion of the Doha Development Round would

alleviate much of the pressure on the demand-supply

imbalance.

On the development theme of this sixty-third

session, New Zealand fully associates with the

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Global Call to

Action Campaign. Support is urgently needed to

revitalize collective efforts, including developing and

strengthening partnerships between traditional and new

donors, the private sector and civil society, and through

South-South cooperation. We are set to play our part.

New Zealand is significantly stepping up official

development assistance (ODA) from 0.27 per cent of

gross national income in 2007 to 0.35 per cent by

2010-2011. That 62 per cent increase will take New

Zealand aid to over $NZ 600 million.

We are acutely aware that the Pacific is the

second region after sub-Saharan Africa that is least

likely to meet the MDG targets. We are therefore

looking to direct our increased ODA there, through a

Pacific strategy, which focuses poverty reduction

efforts around four key pillars: strengthening

governance, achieving broader-based growth and

sustainable livelihoods, improving health and

education, and reducing vulnerabilities, including to

climate change.

In these challenging times, we look to the United

Nations to deliver effectively for development, for

peace and security and on human rights. Our

Organization must continue to evolve along with the

changing demands on it. Momentum needs to be

maintained in the modernization of the United Nations.

We share the Secretary-General’s vision for that and

support his proposals to fix the human resources

management system, which he has characterized as

dysfunctional.

I would now like to turn to the challenges of

peace and security around the world, from which our

own region is not immune. At the Pacific Islands

Forum held in Niue last month, New Zealand and other

members of the Pacific Forum community expressed

profound disappointment at Fiji’s lack of progress

towards restoring democratic government. The Forum

communiqué urged the interim regime in Fiji to fulfil

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its promise to hold elections in accordance with Fiji’s

existing constitution by March next year. Leaders also

acknowledged that there were long-term issues to be

resolved in Fiji and supported a Commonwealth-led

independent and inclusive political dialogue process to

address them. That will not only create a more

conducive environment for elections, but also enable a

newly elected Government to engage with key

stakeholders to promote national reconciliation. New

Zealand urges all United Nations Members to support

the steps taken by the Pacific Islands Forum to

encourage Fiji to return to democratic and

constitutional government as soon as possible.

Mr. Nsengimana (Rwanda), Vice-President, took

the Chair.

Our region is also home to Timor-Leste, a partner

and friend of New Zealand. We are pleased to see

encouraging progress since last year’s elections,

especially the building of institutions and improving

governance. That was achieved despite assassination

attempts on Timor-Leste’s leadership. The United

Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT)

and the International Stabilization Force continue to

play a valuable role in helping to maintain security.

New Zealand strongly supports the UNMIT mandate

and its extension beyond February 2009. Planning for

security in the longer term, to ensure appropriately

sized and resourced institutions with clearly delineated

roles and responsibilities, is also a key issue, and we

stand ready to help.

Also within our region, the political, economic

and human rights situation in Myanmar remains

troubling. We urge the Myanmar authorities to achieve

national reconciliation through open and constructive

dialogue and to respect universal human rights in the

country, consistent with international obligations. We

support the efforts of the United Nations to sustain a

dialogue with the Myanmar Government in order to

build foundations for the future.

On the African continent, the humanitarian

disaster caused by the conflict in Darfur is

unacceptable. The targeting of civilians by State and

non-State parties, is a flagrant breach of international

human rights law. The widespread absence of justice

and accountability for such human rights violations and

the impunity that this promotes represent major

obstacles to improving the human rights situation in

Darfur.

In the case of Zimbabwe, the recent

announcement of a power-sharing agreement offers

hope that the long period of violent repression and

human rights abuses by the previous Government can

be brought to a close. The international community

will be watching closely to see that all parties fulfil the

commitments that they have made to bring about

peace, respect for political freedom and human rights

and a Government which reflects the will of the

people.

Let me turn now to the Middle East. New

Zealand continues to be strongly supportive of all

attempts to find a lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli

conflict. We share the international community’s vision

for a viable and territorially contiguous Palestinian

State, existing side by side in peace and security with

the State of Israel.

In Afghanistan, despite political progress, the

overall situation is fragile. The international

community needs to devote more resources to ending

the conflict and to assisting the people of Afghanistan

in their efforts to stabilize and rebuild their country.

New Zealand has expressed a strong commitment to

restoring peace and security in Afghanistan with our

assistance, both military and developmental, totalling

more than 160 million New Zealand dollars to date.

Closer to home, New Zealand welcomes the

recent improvement in cross-Strait relations. Cross-

Strait stability is vital to the security of the greater

Asia-Pacific region. We encourage China and Taiwan

to maintain the dialogue which has been established.

New Zealand remains a strong supporter of

efforts to protect and maintain the international rule of

law. To that end, one of the most significant advances

in recent times has been the establishment of the

International Criminal Court (ICC). When the ICC was

first established, it was widely considered to herald the

beginning of a new era in international criminal justice.

The Court has now reached a crucial stage in its

development, and it has become clear that the

establishment of a global justice system brings with it

many challenges. It is of the utmost importance that

States rise to those challenges. To fail to do so would

be a betrayal of the victims of egregious crimes. New

Zealand urges States to make every effort to ensure the

independence and success of the Court. The Court

needs our full support and cooperation to ensure that

individuals responsible for the most serious violations

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of international law are brought to justice without

delay.

In this sixtieth anniversary year of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, we acknowledge the

many international human rights conventions that have

arisen out of that unique statement of overriding

principles. New Zealand played an active part in the

design of the new Human Rights Council, and we are

seeking election to the Council next year, so as to be

more closely involved in its work.

The newest member of the family of human

rights treaties is the Convention on the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities, which New Zealand ratified

this month. We look forward to the first conference of

States parties, and to the opportunity the Convention

offers to make a real improvement in the lives and

human rights of disabled people everywhere.

Finally, let me reiterate the importance that New

Zealand attaches to the concept of the responsibility to

protect. The United Nations, through the Security

Council, should be prepared to protect people against

ethnic cleansing, genocide, war crimes and crimes

against humanity when national authorities fail to do

so. There is a clear need to enhance early warning

systems to enable the Council to act in a timely

manner. We look forward to the report of the Secretary-

General on the responsibility to protect, and we stand

ready to help to take that important initiative forward.

As we look forward to the year ahead, New

Zealand pledges to work actively with others in our

collective stewardship of the United Nations. We shall

play our part in the continuing, patient process of

renewing our Organization and of making it more

resilient and responsive.