Sweden, 1997

I sincerely

congratulate the Foreign Minister of Ukraine,

Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly, a most crucial task

which I trust he will execute in a most productive and

creative manner.

Let me also record my admiration and praise for the

way in which his predecessor, Ambassador Razali Ismail,

performed his demanding mission during the whole of the

fifty-first session of the General Assembly. He laid a

unique foundation on the basis of which we must now

make advances towards a better United Nations.

I refer to the statement made yesterday by the

Foreign Minister of Luxembourg on behalf of all

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members of the European Union; my Government fully

subscribes to that statement.

On the threshold of the new millennium, profound

changes are affecting the lives of nations and individuals.

Many are benefitting from open international relations.

Others feel marginalized politically and economically. And

all too many countries are still threatened by persistent

poverty, social injustice and domestic strife.

We need a strong United Nations to counter these

forces, which separate nations and tear them apart. We need

a renewed United Nations to focus on the tasks for which

it was established, and to meet the new challenges of today

and of tomorrow.

This is why we need fundamental United Nations

reform: not piecemeal improvements, but major change.

This is why Sweden wholeheartedly endorses the reform

proposals presented by the Secretary-General. We give our

support as an active participant in all spheres of United

Nations activity and as a major contributor to its

development funds and programmes.

United Nations reform is not a cost-cutting exercise.

Its aim must be to make the Organization strong, effective

and efficient, focusing on its core activities and ready to

meet its future challenges. The Swedish Government

supports the proposal that efficiency savings should be used

for development.

The United Nations cannot be reformed under the

threat of political and financial crisis. It is simply not

acceptable that Member States should set conditions for

fulfilling Charter obligations. The Swedish Government

urges all debtors — including the main debtor, the United

States — to settle their accounts before the end of this year

and to pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and

without conditions.

Securing a sound and viable financial basis must be an

integral part of reform efforts. The idea of establishing a

revolving credit fund could be considered as an emergency

step. We should also enact measures to reverse the current

trend of late payment. Article 19 of the Charter should be

applied more strictly. It is also time to agree on a new scale

of assessments based on capacity to pay. A realistic

proposal has been presented by the European Union.

We, the Member States, should provide political

direction for the reform process. We should take an overall

view of United Nations reform, and avoid getting trapped

in details. We are fully aware that there will be further

steps: reform is a process, not a one-time event.

Today, I will emphasize the need to strengthen and

reform the United Nations in four key areas: peace and

security, sustainable development, human rights, and

disarmament.

First, the United Nations must be strengthened and

reformed to effectively prevent and settle armed conflicts.

This is the purpose for which the Organization was

established. This is where success or failure will

ultimately be determined. Long-term prevention should

address the root causes of conflict: poverty, social

injustice, oppression and violations of human rights. The

United Nations world conferences have established the

close relationship between security and development. The

United Nations must continue to build on this political

platform.

Conflict prevention is a task which requires

coordinated action by the United Nations system as a

whole, including the international financial organizations,

and also by non-governmental organizations. Cooperation

at the regional and subregional levels is increasingly

important for building a security environment based on

common values and norms.

It is equally urgent to strengthen the ability of the

United Nations to act on the threat of an erupting conflict.

The whole range of United Nations instruments, including

those mentioned in Article 33 of the Charter, should be

developed and used to their full potential. Sweden wishes

to cooperate with other Member States to enhance the

United Nations capacity for early warning and early

action. The new generation of peacekeeping operations

must combine political, military, humanitarian and civilian

United Nations action, and strike the right balance

between various forms of response. The United Nations

Humanitarian Coordinator plays a key role in fostering a

response to humanitarian crises. This should lay the

groundwork for post-conflict reconstruction and long-term

recovery of war-torn nations.

The Swedish Government supports efforts to set up

a rapidly deployable mission headquarters within the

United Nations. Together with Austria, Canada, Denmark

and Norway, we are creating the multinational Stand-by

Forces High-Readiness Brigade (SHIRBRIG) to enhance

the United Nations capacity for rapid deployment. In

many situations United Nations civilian police can help

prevent conflict and restore ravaged societies. I therefore

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appreciated the opportunity I had, during Sweden’s

presidency of the Security Council in July, to deliver a

presidential statement on civilian police in peacekeeping

operations. It calls on Member States to make qualified

police quickly available to the United Nations through

better and standardized training.

We need a global security architecture: a web of

organizations capable of dealing quickly with a wide range

of threats and potential conflicts. Regional organizations

will further gain in importance. But the primary and overall

responsibility remains with the United Nations. Conflict

prevention, peacekeeping, peace-building and humanitarian

action to protect the victims of conflicts have to be at the

core of United Nations reform efforts. But the decisive

factor will not be the instruments with which we equip the

Organization, but rather our willingness to use them, to pay

for them and to accept the authority of the United Nations.

My second theme is that the United Nations must be

strengthened and reformed to combat poverty and promote

sustainable development. Fighting poverty, supporting

sustainable development and promoting economic

integration are part of the Organization’s mandate as set out

in the Charter. Sweden sees this crucial task as being in its

own best interest. Our own development has benefited

much from the multilateralism of this century.

The Swedish Government wholeheartedly supports the

proposals of the Secretary-General to reform the United

Nations in the economic and social fields. We want an

empowered and capable United Nations. We want a unified

United Nations presence in the field so that the United

Nations system can be a reliable and flexible partner for

developing countries. We want long-term commitments

from donors and more equitable burden-sharing for

financing development.

Sweden is one of the four countries fulfilling the

United Nations aid target. Over a three-year period, by the

year 2000, we undertake to further increase our aid budget,

challenging the international trend. In spite of a few

difficult years, we have kept up our voluntary contributions

to the multilateral system. In the coming years we foresee

increases. To support debt relief for the poorest countries

the Swedish Government will contribute 295 million

Swedish Krona to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

and World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt

Initiative.

One of the greatest challenges facing the international

community in the coming years will be to achieve global

sustainable development. The industrialized countries

must take the lead and learn how to do more with less

input of resources and energy. Our goal should be to use

energy and raw materials 10 times more efficiently. In

our efforts to combat climate change, the developed

countries should, this December in Kyoto, agree to reduce

the emission of greenhouse gases.

My third theme is that the United Nations must be

strengthened and reformed to protect and promote human

rights. Sweden applauds the Secretary-General’s steps to

integrate human rights into all United Nations activities.

We welcome the appointment of the distinguished Mrs

Mary Robinson as High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Next year the United Nations will celebrate the fiftieth

anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. This historic document establishes the individual

as a subject in international relations, with her or his own

rights and aspirations. Violations of human rights are a

legitimate concern for the international community.

The Human Rights Year 1998 will be an opportunity

for celebration, but also for critical assessment. We

should reform human rights machinery and strengthen

assistance in this field. The implementation of

international human rights standards must be improved.

Public information and fact-finding on human rights

violations are crucial. It is particularly important to

expose any attempt by Governments to silence those who

bravely stand up in defence of human rights and basic

humanitarian principles in their own countries.

Sweden will continue to work hard to combat

torture. We will stand firm in our rejection of the death

penalty, wherever practised. It is an abhorrent practice,

unworthy of our times.

Cooperation must be enhanced to eradicate sexual

abuse, exploitation and trafficking in children and women.

Governments need to take firm action against

discrimination based on gender, ethnic origin or religious

belief.

Next year’s diplomatic conference will be a

milestone in the decades-long endeavour to establish an

international criminal court. The court will play a crucial

role in closing the gap of impunity for those who commit

genocide, serious war crimes and systematic or large-scale

human rights violations.

My fourth and last theme is that the United Nations

must be strengthened and reformed to build security

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through disarmament. Disarmament, non-proliferation and

arms control are central features of any policy aimed at

preventing conflict, promoting peace and fostering

economic and social development. They must become fully

integrated elements in a coordinated policy for peace-

building.

The 1990s have seen impressive progress towards

disarmament, but much work lies ahead. The international

political and security climate now offers a historic

opportunity. It must be fully translated into concrete

actions.

It is imperative that the quest for a nuclear-weapon-

free world continue. Sweden urges the Russian Federation

to ratify the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks II (START II),

enabling the conclusion of START III. This should pave the

way for further reductions, on the part of all nuclear-

weapon States, with a view to the total elimination of

nuclear arsenals, in accordance with Article VI of the Non-

Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The Canberra Commission on the Elimination of

Nuclear Weapons has proposed a series of measures to

achieve a world free from nuclear weapons. Its report

merits in-depth consideration in international disarmament

forums. Let me focus on two timely aspects.

The Commission proposes that nuclear forces should

be taken off alert and that warheads be removed from their

delivery vehicles. I urge the United States and Russia to

apply these measures without delay to all strategic weapons

covered by START II, and subsequently by START III.

Nuclear-weapon-free States have a legitimate right to

assurances that they will not be attacked or threatened by

nuclear weapons. The time has come to elaborate a legally

binding instrument under the NPT, giving such assurances

to non-nuclear-weapon States Parties.

Conventional arms — especially light weaponry — are

at the heart of today’s conflicts. They aggravate tensions,

provoke and prolong wars and inflict human suffering —

sometimes long after ceasefires and peace settlements. The

flow of conventional arms to areas of tension and conflict

must be stemmed. I welcome the high priority given to

such objectives in the Secretary-General’s reform

programme. There is a need for export control of

conventional arms as well as of dual-use products.

International cooperation in this field and the demand for an

international code of conduct for arms transfers are matters

of high priority for the Swedish Government.

From a humanitarian point of view, anti-personnel

landmines are in a category of their own: indiscriminate

by nature, crippling innocent children, women, men and

nations. I am proud to say that Sweden was the first State

to propose a total ban on this terrible type of weapon. I

warmly welcome the Oslo agreement on a convention on

such a ban. I urge all States to accede to it. We must now

make every effort to achieve universal adherence to this

ban.

Reform is necessary to build a stronger and more

relevant United Nations. I have outlined some major

aspects from Sweden’s point of view. As I have

emphasized, but must not look at United Nations reform

in isolation, we must consider why we need the

Organization and what it can do for all of us through all

of us.

Today’s international environment is rife with

contradictions. We have a globalized economy, but we

also have a periphery unable to benefit, and left further

and further behind. We have ever closer international

cooperation, but we also have aggressive nationalism and

xenophobia. We have growing support for democracy and

human rights, but we also have atrocities and blatant

disregard for international law.

In this situation, the purpose of the United Nations

should be precisely what is spelled out in its name and its

Charter: to unite nations and people.