San Marino, 1997

It is my honour to

congratulate you, Sir, on your election and to assure you

of the fullest cooperation of the delegation of San Marino.

May I thank the outgoing President, His Excellency

Mr. Razali Ismail, for his excellent work, and reiterate to

the Secretary-General the best wishes of the Government

and the people of San Marino for a successful fulfilment

of his mandate. The goals that the United Nations is

called upon to achieve are important and demanding, but

also stimulating.

These are times of great expectations for the United

Nations, and the Republic of San Marino is determined to

do everything within its power to help translate these

expectations into concrete and effective actions. We must

recognize that the United Nations has constantly inspired,

promoted and instilled a greater respect for human rights.

It has been building a new law of nations.

The United Nations has made it clear that peace

cannot be achieved and maintained unless serious

imbalances are redressed and all human beings, by virtue

of their fundamental right to dignity, are respected and

not discriminated against because of their diversity.

Equally essential are access to progress and development

for all; the equitable utilization of our planet’s resources;

and the avoidance of mere exploitation and abuse, which

would jeopardize our future beyond repair.

Although in recent decades conflicts no longer break

out on a worldwide scale and in some cases take place

within national boundaries, they nonetheless continue to

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claim innocent victims, cause incalculable damage and

undermine economies, especially those of the less

developed countries. Indeed, the instruments of war have

changed. They have become increasingly sophisticated and

destructive and more easily produced and spread. Just think

of anti-personnel landmines; it has been estimated that

millions of them have been placed throughout the world

and that for each cleared mine, 50 new ones are laid.

In this connection, I stress the urgent need for all

States to accede to the recently drafted Convention on the

Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer

of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

As regards the fight against terrorism, San Marino is

following with great attention the work of the Ad Hoc

Committee charged with drafting an International

Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. The

proliferation of violence and crime, which have become

transnational, demands an adequate response by the

international community.

With reference to drug trafficking, San Marino is

particularly active in the field of prevention. This year, our

Government launched the “Youth Project”, which consists

of a series of initiatives organized by, and dedicated to,

young people, with the purpose of stimulating them to

exploit their creativity and potential in a constructive way.

In this regard, San Marino supports the Secretary-General’s

proposal to convene a special session of the General

Assembly in June 1998 on the traffic in illicit narcotic

drugs.

San Marino acknowledges that the Rio Conference

indeed constituted a milestone in the history of our planet

and revealed the magnitude of environmental degradation

on Earth. Yet San Marino has observed with bitterness that

concrete initiatives have fallen short of expectations. This

was confirmed by the recent special session of the General

Assembly on the review of Agenda 21.

Worthy of praise is the Secretary-General’s proposal

to revitalize the Trusteeship Council by entrusting it with a

mandate of collective environmental safeguard. The

environment is a priority concern for the Republic of San

Marino. At the local level, a project is being undertaken for

the monitoring of the territory which involves students of

various school grades under the coordination and

supervision of teachers. This project aims to enhance our

citizens’ awareness of the fact that environmental protection

is the responsibility of each and every individual.

In the field of the prevention and suppression of

child abuse, San Marino signed the Convention on the

Rights of the Child and believes that the adoption of

decisions aimed at defending children against any form of

aggression, including sexual abuse, is of paramount

importance.

San Marino continues to support the fight against

capital punishment, in keeping with the fact that it was

the first European country to abolish it in the mid-

nineteenth century, and it urges other Member States to

adopt concrete measures to eliminate the use of the death

penalty.

And we must not forget the exodus of the many

refugees who are fleeing their countries because of war,

hunger or in the pursuit of the better future to which they

are entitled.

San Marino, which boasts a tradition of great

hospitality towards refuge-seekers, is deeply concerned

about the situation observed in refugee camps and their

impact on local populations. We are grateful to the High

Commissioner for Refugees, who daily fulfils this

demanding task with efficiency.

The United Nations is adjusting to the process of

change by establishing the conditions for a concrete

response. Its structure, organization and functioning must

be on exactly the same wavelength as the new reality, and

must be strong enough to face the challenges of the

present — and those, even more demanding, of the

coming third millennium. For this reason we appreciate

the work already done by the Secretary-General and urge

him to continue this essential process of renewal of the

Organization.

The United Nations reform package proposed by the

Secretary-General is a good basis for a realistic and

effective response with a view to reaching the lofty goals

of the Organization: peace, social and economic progress,

and safeguard of the rights of both individuals and

peoples. Member States will be able to focus better on

these goals by solving, first of all, the United Nations

financial crisis. To do this, a new and more equitable

scale of assessments is necessary, along with cost-cutting,

the elimination or reduction of bodies and services where

appropriate, and, most important, the avoidance of overlap

with other organizations, including at the regional level.

Small countries are particularly aware of this issue, since

it is increasingly difficult for them to guarantee their

6

participation and contribution — and not only in financial

terms.

San Marino has given great attention to all proposals

for the reform of the Security Council put forward by

numerous countries during the debate. All of them are

equally important and constitute an essential basis for the

formulation of well-considered, comprehensive solutions.

However, it is essential that participation in the conception

and implementation of this restructuring not be confined to

larger States. The future configuration of the United

Nations should reflect a community of 185 countries, each

and every one of them independent and sovereign according

to the principles of universality and equality. Those are

among the reasons that have led San Marino to support an

increase in the number of non-permanent seats on the

Security Council — though, and I stress this point once

more, this is not the only issue.

The reform of the United Nations does not consist of

being present in major or minor bodies, but rather of

shaping the future together through the understanding,

participation, awareness, involvement and support of all.

We shall shape a future where universal peace is

guaranteed and safeguarded by the United Nations.

San Marino is convinced that the United Nations must

fulfil both a monitoring and a protecting mandate, on the

one hand in favour of individuals whose rights and

freedoms are limited or denied by their own States, and on

the other in favour of those countries, especially smaller

ones, whose development could be hampered or influenced.

In this regard I wish to underline how all countries

and the United Nations itself could benefit from the role

played by small States, which can make a significant

contribution to major issues as well, since they have no

military, political or economic interests but rather a heritage

of ideals, culture and traditions to safeguard.

May these objectives be fully attained as the United

Nations approaches the third millennium.