Norway, 2008

Sixty years ago, in

the fall of 1948, the United Nations adopted the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That

international bill of rights contains a forceful reminder

that force can and will be checked, and that the prime

purpose of our work here is to keep the strong just and

the weak secure.

We will celebrate the anniversary of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights later this fall,

and we shall be guided by its wording in everything we

do. The rights and opportunities of individuals, groups

and countries are fundamental, and the United Nations

is at the top of the system that oversees those superior

rules.

When I come here every year, I am struck by the

broad span of items that are discussed in the United

Nations. We need to ask, are we focusing on the truly

essential, most serious issues of our times? This year,

we left on the table the unfinished business of the Doha

Round of trade negotiations. The break-up of those

talks has stalled our efforts to provide billions of

people with increased economic opportunity. It is

crucial that we restart this process.

We face a global food crisis. The Secretary-

General has described the effect of that crisis on

hundreds of millions of people who do not know if

they will have enough to eat tomorrow.

Climate and energy are among the biggest issues

of our time. They must be on the top of our agenda.

These big issues are also all about poverty,

inequity and gender. Leadership is called for —

leadership here at the United Nations.

I believe we face not only a food crisis, an energy

crisis, a climate crisis, a trade-talk crisis, but a larger,

decision-making crisis.

We have great institutional capacity. We discuss,

we deliberate and we study, but we are too often unable

to decide. Often, those countries that want the least are

the countries that decide the most. Those that want the

least amount of change and progress are able to slow

us down and block decisions. Now also the Security

Council seems to face difficulties after many good

years.

All countries, all Member States share the

responsibility for the functioning of the United Nations

as a decision-making body that serves us, that is for

people, that solves global problems and that allows all

people to benefit from the rights with which they were

born and which are written in the Declaration on

Human Rights.

To become more effective, the United Nations

must reform. The Secretary-General addressed this

issue with strong conviction on Tuesday (5th meeting).

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We should support him in that process. I am vesting

hope in the ongoing deliberation on system-wide

coherence. I co-chaired the High-level Panel on

System-wide Coherence, and I am heartened that more

and more countries seem to be opting in on the “One

UN” approach.

Some organizations, funds and programmes are

making efficiency gains. They are truly exceptions.

Still, Norway is committed to using the United Nations

as the arena for our most important international

policymaking activities. We allocate 0.98 per cent of

our national income to official development aid. We

are the seventh largest contributor to the United

Nations in absolute terms. That is why we will be

keeping a watchful eye on how the funds and

programmes manage their resources and our

contributions. We and other donor countries will have

to require improved accountability, transparency and a

results-based management system.

Reaching the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) is our foremost priority. We have assumed a

special responsibility regarding MDG 4 on child

mortality and MDG 5 on maternal health. We must all

dedicate the next seven years to the bottom billion.

Several leaders joined me today in presenting a report

from the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium

Development Goals. We also presented a plan for the

next seven years — an exceptional plan that can allow

us to save 10 million lives. If we succeed, we will

build more sustainable societies, reduce conflict

potential and provide a better basis for growth.

We are making progress towards the Millennium

Development Goals. Poverty is being reduced. Child

mortality is falling. But we have not made any progress

at all with regard to maternal health. That is appalling.

There can be only one reason for this awful situation,

and that is a persistent neglect of women in a world

dominated by men. Just think of all the millions of

young girls and young women who know, and who fear

and dread, that giving life may cause their own death.

All this human tragedy is avoidable by simple means,

but we have not taken the problem seriously.

Money does not seem to be a problem when the

problem is money. Let us look for a moment at what is

happening on Wall Street and in financial markets

around the world. There, unsound investment threatens

the homes and the jobs of the middle class. Something

is fundamentally wrong when money seems to be

abundant but funds for investment in people seem so

short in supply. Market mechanisms will not fund

schools in Afghanistan, hospitals in Rwanda, vaccines

given in the slums and the ghettos. That kind of

investment requires political will and decisions. And

we must provide the framework that will direct

resources towards those ends.

When Robert Kennedy was running for president

40 years ago, he said in a speech that a country’s health

cannot be measured simply by its economic output.

That output, he said, “counts special locks for our

doors and the jails for those who break them … yet ...

does not allow for the health of our children, the

quality of their education or the joy of their play”. And

still I would add that health, education and the joy of

play form the capital that must grow and spread. Then,

and only then, will we reach more equal levels of

development and opportunity.

I have come here directly from a visit to the great

rainforests of the Amazon, in Brazil, a country whose

president is committed to lifting his people out of

destitution. That has been President Lula’s leitmotif

throughout his political life.

Norway is a fortunate and developed country.

From that follows a moral responsibility. We pursue

wider development goals and seek to generate positive

incentives for change and improve climate change

policies.

Efforts against deforestation may give us the

largest, quickest and cheapest reductions in greenhouse

gas emissions. In the years leading up to 2015 Norway

will contribute up to $1 billion to reduce deforestation

in the Amazon. This contribution makes Norway the

first contributor to the Amazon Fund. The size of

Norway’s contribution will depend on how successful

Brazil will be in reducing deforestation.

In Bali last December, Norway announced a

major initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

from deforestation and forest degradation.

Deforestation must be included in a new global

agreement on climate change. Addressing climate

change in a fashion that will stand the test of time and

the scrutiny of future generations ultimately boils down

to us versus the sand in the hourglass. It is a test of

maturity for international cooperation.

Finally, I would like to say a few words about a

fellow Nordic country. For the first time since

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becoming a Member State of the United Nations in

1946 — after 62 years — Iceland is a candidate for the

Security Council. Iceland’s candidature reflects the

long-standing commitment of all the Nordic countries

to international peace and the vital work of the United

Nations. Iceland enjoys the active support of its

partners in the Nordic group: Denmark, Finland,

Sweden and Norway. I urge members to take that into

account.