Poland, 2010

I wish you success during

your presidency, Sir.

This year began with a tragic earthquake in Haiti

that took the lives of more than 200,000 people,

including United Nations staff and peacekeepers.

Unfortunately, several months later, Pakistan was

affected by floods with catastrophic effects. I would

like to pay tribute to those women and men who lost

their lives while working for the United Nations. I

would also like to salute those who provided assistance

to the victims. Those dramatic and very painful events

highlighted the essential role that the United Nations is

capable of playing in our lives and the extraordinary

performance of an Organization that many seem to take

for granted.

The universal character of the United Nations

enables Member States to carry out activities and

achieve agreed goals, regardless of their form of

Government or culture. One cannot underestimate the

contribution of the United Nations to peacekeeping and

peacebuilding, its role in the promotion of the rule of

law and human rights, or its contribution to the

codification of international law.

Poland has always been a firm and reliable

supporter of the United Nations. Effective

multilateralism is an objective reflected in the policies

of my Government and a guiding principle of the

European Union (EU). We note both the heightened

expectations and the criticism with respect to the

United Nations and other international organizations.

We are therefore raising the issue of reform, as we

want the United Nations to be more efficient and better

adapted to the new global environment. If it fails to

meet the hopes and expectations of its Members, it will

suffer marginalization, which might negatively affect

multilateralism, as well as certainty and predictability

in international relations.

Poland has been participating in the ongoing

process of reflection on the accommodation of the

United Nations to contemporary and foreseeable risks

and challenges. In our opinion, the United Nations

should improve its ability to cooperate with other

institutions and organizations, particularly on a

regional basis.

Poland supports efforts aimed at reforming the

Security Council, an organ tasked with preserving

peace and security. We need to take into account

changes in the international system brought about after

the end of the cold war and, at the same time, preserve

the Council’s cohesion and the feasibility of its

decision-making process. We favour an additional

non-permanent seat for the Eastern European group.

We also find interesting and worth discussing the idea

of EU representation. In general, we attach much

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importance to the role of the EU in the United Nations

system. That is why we would encourage non-EU

Member States to support our efforts to ensure a proper

place for the EU, an observer in the General Assembly,

in the form of a resolution.

We attach great importance to the enhancement of

the credibility of United Nations action in the field of

democracy and human rights. Let me remind the

Assembly of the successful meeting of the Community

of Democracies in Krakow in July 2010. Poland is

convinced that promoting universal respect for human

rights throughout the world contributes to security and

to social and economic progress.

In this respect, we applaud the establishment of

the new consolidated gender entity of the United

Nations, UN Women. We also believe that the review

and reform of the Human Rights Council, of which we

are a member, will strengthen the effectiveness of that

body.

Our planet is exposed to an increasing number of

existential threats. Experience shows that no country

can solve the world’s problems alone. A global

response is therefore necessary to meeting global

challenges. The United Nations has the capacity to

justify and, in many instances, generate such a

response. We expect excellence as a standard feature of

the United Nations. In the final analysis, it is only with

the consent and support of its Member States that the

United Nations can deliver such excellence.

The latest world economic crisis demonstrated

the need for globally coordinated economic and

financial policies. These are currently being debated by

the General Assembly’s Second Committee and by the

specialized agencies and United Nations-related

organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund

and the World Bank. Poland expects the United

Nations to be the key forum for multilateral debate on

the issues pertaining to the crisis. We hope that the

current crisis will not hinder United Nations Member

States from achieving the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs).

Various political, economic, social and

environmental problems are making States increasingly

open to deepened cooperation. The complicated nature

of new challenges demands sophisticated expertise and

the integration of efforts. The United Nations

safeguards both. Poland deems the United Nations to

be an appropriate body to address the global issues of

security and economy.

Peace and security are a fundamental issue. Our

goal is a world without nuclear weapons and other

arms of mass destruction; a world without terrorism;

and a world capable of diffusing the threats of war and

conflict. The United Nations should strengthen its

involvement in meeting these objectives, anticipate and

prevent conflicts, where possible, and develop the

capacity to resolve them effectively once they break

out.

The engagement of the United Nations in

peacekeeping operations continues to produce visible

and desirable effects, especially in its political and

humanitarian dimensions. The experience we have

gained from the increased engagement of recent years

allows us to better understand its complexity and

limitations and the challenges ahead. We believe that

peacekeeping reform must continue. We support efforts

that will bring new quality to peacekeeping, and in this

regard we are committed to working towards achieving

a wider consensus on its strategic aspects through a

renewed partnership among all stakeholders.

This year will, we hope, be associated with major

progress in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation.

The success of the Review Conference of the Parties to

the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons (NPT) proved that a consensus is possible in

this specific area of international cooperation. Efficient

and practical implementation of the outcome of the

NPT Review Conference remains a crucial task. We are

convinced that the initiative launched recently by

Australia and Japan, which involves the participation

of Poland and 10 other countries, will contribute to this

goal.

We perceive the NPT Review Conference, the

New START treaty and the Nuclear Security Summit as

significant steps forward, but regard the

implementation of their decisions as a challenge.

Among issues related to nuclear disarmament,

there is one that clearly stands out: the status of

sub-strategic nuclear weapons, the reduction and

elimination of which have not yet been covered by any

legally binding international instrument. A world

without nuclear weapons cannot be achieved if this

challenge is not dealt with.

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The Conference on Disarmament requires our

special attention. We applaud the efforts of the

Secretary-General, who convened a few days ago a

special summit devoted to disarmament. Poland

attaches considerable importance to that body and calls

on all States to redouble their efforts to invigorate the

Conference as a platform for multilateral disarmament

and non-proliferation negotiations.

The impact of the economic and financial crises

continues to affect most countries. The scarcity of

high-quality jobs has become an issue of primary

importance. Efforts are necessary to mobilize resources

and provide opportunities for the benefit of the most

vulnerable segments of society. Satisfying basic needs

is once again at the forefront of global concerns.

The energy sector has become an area of major

attention. Costs, security of supplies and reducing

pollution are some of the sensitive issues. We face the

challenge of making clean energy not only a social

preference but also a market choice.

We need a shift in our thinking about the North-

South dichotomy in order to allow the international

community to move effectively forward. Allowing

ourselves to be defined by our differences is a recipe

for disaster. It is therefore important to focus on

common elements and on the diversity of conditions

and situations of States and to move away from a

claims mentality.

The pace of market globalization exceeds the

capacity of many Governments to ensure global

economic stability. The growing interdependence of

national economies increases the risk of the

transmission of destabilizing shocks between countries.

Economic activities within the United Nations are

today scattered among many institutions. This often

leads to overlapping powers between them. The role of

the United Nations might be to coordinate the

objectives and ensure coherence between the activities

of major international organizations, to provide the

necessary political leadership and long-term strategic

policy framework, and to promote stable and

sustainable development.

The High-level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs

that ended on 22 September reconfirmed the

importance of development cooperation and restated

the commitment of the international community to

attaining the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The Meeting recognized the crucial role of the United

Nations and the United Nations system in the field of

development cooperation and commended their

continued engagement and efforts.

Poland reiterates its support for implementing the

MDGs. They constitute a primary point of reference for

our programme of foreign assistance. We are also

bound by the provisions of the Paris Declaration and

the principle of aid effectiveness expressed therein. We

strongly support coordination among all development

partners.

Our official development assistance is oriented to

serve the pro-growth policies of our partners. The

mobilization of domestic resources, foreign direct

investment and good economic policy are the basic

drivers of development. Development policies should

therefore be implemented in accordance with the

principles of sustainable development and good

governance. We welcome the progress on the MDGs,

which is largely a result of continued efforts by

developing countries. With regard to development

assistance, it is extremely important that the principles

of national ownership and leadership, as well as of

mutual accountability, be strengthened and fully

respected. Poland is actively involved in promoting

global development cooperation.

We are committed to United Nations activities in

the field of poverty reduction and the promotion of

sustainable development. We note with satisfaction the

positive results of the One United Nations reform and

the increased efficiency of assistance provided by the

United Nations. We support the activities conducted by

the agencies of the United Nations agencies, in both

the development and the humanitarian fields.

Poland expects an ambitious, forward-looking

and action-oriented outcome of the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012. We

look forward to attaining all the principal aims of the

Conference, which should also bridge the trust gap

between developed and developing countries evident in

the climate change negotiations. Its outcome should be

a focused political document, universal in nature,

aimed at identifying concrete actions for all countries.

It should be linked to the MDGs, taking into account

the specific needs of developing countries. We call for

a redoubling of the efforts to ensure that institutions

involved in implementing the sustainable development

agenda become more effective and efficient through

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improved synergies and the provision of adequate

resources.

Poland, which played host to the fourteenth

session of the Conference of the Parties to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC) and the fourth meeting of the Parties to the

Kyoto Protocol, will continue its efforts aimed at

building international consensus on a comprehensive

global post-2012 agreement. The role of the United

Nations system is essential to maintaining an effective

and efficient response to challenges posed by climate

change.

In this regard, we would like to thank the

Secretary-General for putting climate change at the top

of the agenda of the United Nations system and for his

numerous efforts to address the negative impact of

such change. Climate change is a global challenge that

can be addressed effectively only through a global

effort within the UNFCCC framework.

Poland believes that the international community

should continue to focus its attention on improved and

enhanced implementation and monitoring of the three

Rio Conventions, developing synergies among them,

and on increasing the efficiency and coherence of the

United Nations system. The consultative process

inaugurated at the eleventh special session of the

Governing Council of the United Nations Environment

Programme on the reform of the international

environmental governance system was an important

contribution to the debate on environmental

governance in the context of the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development. While being

realistic and pragmatic, we should also be ambitious.

In conclusion, I wish to say a few words about

solidarity. It is necessary to understand the relevance of

international solidarity, working closely together,

building new coalitions and bridging old divides to

arrive at common objectives. Our common future is at

stake. There is no guarantee of success, but surely we

risk failure if we do not take action. New partnerships,

building confidence in policy objectives, and positive

engagement among partners are the necessary

elements.