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<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <meta name="DATE" content="9/12/1996"> <title>MR. AXWORTHY - ADDRESS TO THE 51ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS - NEW YORK, NEW YORK</title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 96/37 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE LLOYD AXWORTHY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO THE 51ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS NEW YORK, New York September 24, 1996 Mr. President, distinguished delegates: Forty years ago, in the depths of the Cold War, the United Nations General Assembly authorized the setting up of a peacekeeping force in the Suez. Thus emerged an important tool for the international community, one that has since served the cause of peace in many different forms around the world. Canadians take a special pride in peacekeeping because the concept was developed in part by our Foreign Minister of the time, Lester B. Pearson, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. As we reflect on this, the 40th anniversary of UN peacekeeping, there are certain conclusions to be drawn: the UN has played a crucial role throughout the world by dint of its peacekeeping role; innovation is both necessary and possible within the UN; and in our time, different as it may be, the spirit of internationalism, of commitment to co-operation, calls to us once again. In a new and changing global environment, internationalism is ever more important for all nations -- large or small, weak or powerful -- both as an organizing principle for international relations and as a means to deal with crises. Changing times have set us a new and broader agenda, which includes focussing on the security needs of the individual -- in other words, sustainable human security. Unfortunately, new times have not sufficiently been reflected by a rededication to the UN as an expression of the spirit of internationalism. There remains too often a tendency to act according to the old power configurations of the Cold War era, rather than to seek out collective approaches that address the roots of conflict and attempt to resolve them through common action. As a consequence, the UN suffers, and its ability to meet the broad security needs of people around the world is damaged. The need for recommitment to the UN is clear, and so, too, is the need for the renewal, restructuring and refocussing of the organization and its various bodies and agencies. In implementing this agenda of UN renewal, we will no doubt encounter difficulties and differences of opinion. But this should not discourage us. We need the courage to innovate on two fronts: in grappling with a new and complex world agenda, and in restructuring the UN to respond effectively to this agenda. Mr. President, the basic mandate of the UN at its foundation was the prevention of international conflict. As peacekeeping has changed over time, one can see the evolution of the security agenda itself, from a simple buffer between states to various forms of mediation, observation, protection and early warning to the maintenance of order and involvement in reconstruction. The range of activities in recent times is impressive: from Haiti to Cambodia, from the Golan Heights to El Salvador, from Bosnia to the peace accords now being signed in Guatemala. This range demonstrates that the international response to threats to security has gone well beyond the initial definition, which was limited to dealing with cross-border aggression. Rather, in a continuum of threats, there is an increasing focus on conflicts that take place within borders but that have severe ripple effects throughout a region or even the entire international system. These types of conflict are still, in peacekeeping terms, largely uncharted waters, and there are differences of view on how best to respond. What is clear is the need for a new tool-kit for the UN to respond to a variety of different situations. In this context, I am glad to note that most of the recommendations made in the Rapid Reaction study tabled by Canada last year are being implemented. The key recommendation was the establishment of an operational-level headquarters by the UN as a means of better responding to crises. Canada will continue to support the UN's efforts to establish a headquarters, which will enhance its ability to respond rapidly and with flexibility. But this is only one tool. Many more are needed, especially in the area of prevention of disputes and in the arduous and complex task of building peace. The failure of conflict prevention in Rwanda, as outlined in the Rwanda Evaluation Report, has made abundantly clear the need to enlarge the concept of peace-building to embrace prevention as well as peace-making and post-conflict reconstruction. Preventive action will require greater commitment from UN members to intervene early. To make a difference, both prevention and reconstruction will require a greater commitment from the international community to be engaged in peace-building actions. In Canada, we are currently focussing our approach to these issues. We have started to rework our own tool kit to improve our ability to initiate and support peace-building operations in areas such as preventive mediation and dialogue; human rights monitoring and investigation; media and police training; judicial reform; and demobilization. We look forward to co-operating with other nations that are also exploring innovative approaches to peace-building. Mr. President, the search for new tools and means to use them collectively cannot be a substitute for the reinforcement of existing mechanisms to build peace. We are about to take an historic step forward on the nuclear disarmament agenda. Today the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty [CTBT] was opened for signature. This Treaty is the result of decades of hope and effort, by people around the world, to end nuclear testing. This morning, I signed the Treaty on behalf of Canada; it will soon be ratified. We call upon all member states of the United Nations to do the same, so that the Treaty can enter into force well before we enter the 21st century. The adoption of the CTBT marks a watershed in nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The children of tomorrow should, hopefully, never have to know what a nuclear test is. If we can succeed in this, and if we can vigorously pursue the goal of systematically and progressively reducing nuclear weapons, with the ultimate goal of eliminating them, we can ensure that they know less and less about this terrible scourge on humanity. Mr. President, if the world can focus its energies on ending the testing of sophisticated and expensive nuclear weapons, we believe that there is real hope for setting ourselves the goal of ending the use of the most simple, cheap and, on a daily basis, destructive weapons in use today: anti-personnel land mines. We have all witnessed the suffering, death and horrifying mutilation caused by anti-personnel mines. Canada, along with many countries and organizations, is engaged in mine-clearance operations and victim-assistance programs. But the simple fact is that anti-personnel mines are being laid far faster than we can pull them out of the ground. This is not just a disarmament issue: it strikes at the very heart of development efforts, and the thousands upon thousands of victims affected every year pose a stark challenge to humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts worldwide. Canada will host an international strategy session this fall, bringing together like-minded governments, international agencies and non-governmental organizations [NGOs] to provide impetus and direction to international efforts for a global ban on anti-personnel mines. I hope this will help to motivate efforts to build consensus on a strong, forward-looking resolution to the 51st session of the General Assembly. As such, it can provide further impetus to multilateral negotiations for such a global ban. A third milestone in this area is the Chemical Weapons Convention, the first international treaty that aims for a complete global ban of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. It is of the greatest importance that it be brought into force as soon as possible. Canada urges all non-signatories to sign, and all signatories who have not already done so to ratify this treaty as soon as possible. Mr. President, in the aftermath of the Cold War, we have re-examined and redefined the dimensions of international security to embrace the concept of sustainable human security. There has been a recognition that human rights and fundamental freedoms, the right to live in dignity, with adequate food, shelter, health and education services, and under the rule of law and good governance, are as important to global peace as disarmament measures. We are now realizing that security cannot be limited to the state's domain, but must incorporate civil society. These realizations stemmed in part from a growing sense of insecurity in response to newly emerging but equally deadly threats -- what one writer has termed the "underside of globalization." These include: Environmental degradation: Deprivation and depletion of resources cause conflict, while the spread of toxins directly attacks human life. International crime: Drug traffickers and their allies in money laundering spread misery and destabilize entire societies. Terrorism: The 1994 UN declaration on measures to eliminate international terrorism was the catalyst for a broad range of concrete and targeted measures to combat terrorism. But we still need to tackle the poverty and despair that are at the root of terrorism. Lack of equity: Growing disparities in wealth stand in stark contrast to the achievements made in extending a global trade and investment framework, with all its potential for generating wealth. The recent series of UN conferences in New York, Rio, Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing and Istanbul have served both to define the concept of sustainable human security and to bring home the growing challenges to the security of the individual. The road map is clear; we do not need to study it any further. Now is the time to move forward in a concerted, comprehensive way. There are already many examples of notable achievements in advancing sustainable human security by the UN system. These range from programs to advance the health of children and provide a framework under international law to protect their rights; strategies to combat environmental threats such as the depleting ozone layer, desertification and the dumping of hazardous wastes at sea; and initiatives designed to advance the needs of development, including the Cairo and Beijing programs of action. Important as these advances are, there remain far too many paper commitments instead of real progress on the ground. Currently we are swamped by a plethora of agendas, blueprints and plans that run the risk of exhausting the ability of donor nations to respond, while having little impact on those most in need. Too many bodies are established to implement these plans, creating jurisdictional confusion and implementational overlap. We need to recognize that, in the realm of sustainable human security, governments are not alone. The groups and networks that have emerged around the world representing women, children, indigenous people and disabled people, along with business and finance, are now major players. We need a system of governance that recognizes this, and brings them into partnership with us. One example of a new system is the Arctic Council, which was inaugurated in Ottawa last week. This multilateral regional body brings together Arctic nations and indigenous groups to co-operate in the sustainable development and environmental protection of a unique and precious part of the globe. The Council represents a new model of international organization, bringing together people and states to share their energy and resources in a common cause. The upcoming Food Summit organized by the FAO [UN Food and Agriculture Organization] provides another opportunity to combine governmental and non-governmental efforts. Clearly, food security and sustainable food production are among the most fundamental aspects of human security. As a major agricultural producer, Canada looks forward to working with other nations and with non-governmental groups and representatives on solutions to the problem of food security through innovative approaches to technology transfer, financing and land reform. Recognition of the role of non-governmental actors is not the only sea-change in the economic and social development work of the UN. As private trade and investment flows into developing countries increasingly outweigh the significance of official development assistance, issues such as terms of trade and debt take on an ever-greater importance. At the same time, new and complex issues are emerging, which existing international structures are not well-placed to address. In striving for greater effectiveness, the UN needs to improve co-ordination with other major multilateral institutions. The unprecedented meeting of the heads of the World Bank, IMF [International Monetary Fund] and WTO [World Trade Organization] with the UN Secretary General last June provided welcome impetus in this respect. One major emerging issue is the relationship between trade and labour standards. We are pleased to see the ILO [International Labour Organization] focus on core labour standards, including work toward an international convention on the elimination of forced labour by children. There can be no clearer example of an issue in which co-operation and dialogue with other international and regional organizations -- particularly between the ILO and the WTO -- and with non-governmental groups, is required to produce synergy rather than overlap, and effective solutions rather than a plethora of competing agendas. Sustainable human security means providing basic needs in both economic and political ways. It means ensuring quality of life and equity, and it means protection of fundamental human rights. Recent intra-state conflicts have demonstrated by negative example that respect for human rights and democratic principles is fundamental to the prevention of conflict and to post-conflict reconstruction. Nowhere has this lesson been learned more clearly or more grimly than in Rwanda and in Bosnia. Last year, Canada commissioned work on the human rights components of the United Nations field operations. I am pleased to announce today that we will immediately begin creating a roster of qualified Canadian human rights experts available for rapid deployment as part of larger peace-building operations or as individuals to undertake specialized human rights tasks. We look forward to co-ordinating our efforts with those of Norway and others, to ensure coherent, focussed support for UN efforts to address future such complex emergencies. In 1998, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This will be an occasion not only to reaffirm our commitment to its principles, but also to consider further what practical steps remain to be taken by governments to implement them. Canada believes that sustainable human security cannot be achieved without this commitment and effort. One step we will take is to promote, as part of the 50th anniversary preparations led by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, an international dialogue on means to combat hate propaganda, so often the trigger of human tragedies such as genocide and "ethnic cleansing." Mr. President, establishment of the international war crimes tribunals in the Hague for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda represent a critical element of the necessary progress we must make in the field of human rights. As part of an ongoing international reassessment of the rights and responsibilities of the individual, these tribunals have affirmed the principle that individuals responsible for atrocities cannot be offered the protection of the state. They signal our determination to hold accountable all individuals who are guilty of committing atrocities, be they officials of the state or extra- or para-state actors. Above all, they signal our determination to break the cycle of hatred. In Central and Latin America, and in South Africa, we can see concrete demonstrations of the importance of justice for past wrongs in the work of reconciliation and reconstruction. It is for these reasons that Canada strongly urges the prompt establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court as a new instrument in the fight against massive human rights violations. There is one aspect of human rights that my government and I personally have decided to make the utmost priority: the rights of children. Let me take this opportunity to once again thank the Swedish government and to commend the organizers of last month's World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which was held in Stockholm. It is Canada's fervent hope that this Congress will lead to implementation of the most effective practical measures, as well as to the adoption and ratification of legally binding international instruments to combat child slavery and the commercial sexual exploitation of children. We should move resolutely to conclude negotiation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. Bilaterally, Canada is working in partnership with a number of developing countries to protect children, strengthen their rights and assist victims of the sex trade. Education, poverty alleviation and provision of economic alternatives play a key role, and we intend to use our development budget to support these goals. Nothing has given me greater satisfaction as Foreign Minister than my visit to a Canadian-sponsored project in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. It assists former child prostitutes and children of prostitutes in growing their own food -- a very simple project, but one that gives these children a chance to begin new lives. Mr. President, the concept of sustainable human security requires a commitment beyond respect for human rights to include a commitment to democratic development. The word "democracy" does not appear in the UN Charter, but it is not foreign to the history of this organization, and the promotion of democratic institution-building is entirely consistent with the principles upon which the UN is founded. In the last decade, we have seen the UN involved in the promotion of democracy in many parts of the world, from Cambodia to South Africa to Haiti. Other multilateral organizations also play an important role, such as has been done by the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] in the recent elections in Bosnia. Recent conflicts have demonstrated repeatedly the importance of stable democratic structures in promoting sustainable human security. They have also highlighted the need to distinguish between legitimate democratic aspirations and dangerous tendencies toward fragmentation. Attempts to structure political participation around culturally or ethnically "pure" mini-states must be resisted by the international community. Haiti has been a critical test for the United Nations in promoting democratization as an integral part of enhancing security. It has shown the need for concerted international co-operation in support of democracy, not merely for one leader or even one election, but in the ongoing process of building the institutional and social structures upon which democracy rests. This is where the UN can play a special role, as the builder of peace. We must recognize this, and make the commitments necessary for the UN to work effectively for long-term peace and stability in Haiti. Nigeria, Burundi and Burma are among the most recent challenges to our collective ability to support the democratic aspirations of peoples. Canada remains firmly committed to the restoration of democracy in these countries, as well as to working to this end with our partners, bilaterally, multilaterally and within the Commonwealth and La Francophonie. In both Nigeria and Burma, the democratically expressed will of the people must be respected and championed by the international community; otherwise, the legitimacy of our commitment to UN values will be called into question. Mr. President, the explosion of information technologies presents great dangers but also great opportunities for sustainable human security. Extremist groups can spread their message of hate and intolerance more easily using these new means. And we have only to look to Bosnia and Rwanda to see the tragic effects of a verbal demonizing of one part of the community. Yet at the same time, these technologies have placed powerful tools for the strengthening of civil society in the hands of millions of individual citizens and groups. Governments, too, need to start using these technologies to spread the message of democracy and good government. The development of information technologies raises many other questions, issues of access, of countering abuses such as the transmission of child pornography, and of the potential impact on development, cultural diversity and economic stability and sovereignty. ECOSOC [UN Economic and Social Council] has mandated a study of these issues. Canada has some expertise in the area in terms of jurisprudence and technological questions, and we look forward to contributing to the debate on the global implications, for good and for bad, of these new technologies. Mr. President, I have outlined some of the major issues that require conceptual innovation on the part of the UN. The counterpart to conceptual innovation is innovation in renewing existing UN structures and developing new ones. We should not hesitate to eliminate those programs or bodies that no longer serve any useful purpose; to reorient those whose mission requires it; to consolidate and eliminate the duplication and overlap that has developed among funds, programs and agencies. Nor should we hesitate to create new instruments, within existing resources, to deal with the challenges of the day. Reform is more than just cost-cutting, though that aspect must not be ignored. That is why Canada is contributing actively to the work of the Carlsson Group of 16 countries drawn from around the world, which is dedicated to strengthening compliance with the obligations of the UN Charter, and to accelerating the pace of multilateral renewal. Our first priority is the ongoing financial crisis that the UN faces. We have seen some encouraging progress in the establishment and early results of the Efficiency Board, and in a second year of zero overall budget growth. Perhaps more importantly, there is a growing awareness of the need for financial and administrative restructuring. But much remains to be done. I cannot simply content myself here with calling yet again for all members to pay their dues unconditionally -- in full and on time. I have to ask why it is that over half of the members are failing to meet this standard, and some are failing entirely to pay. Pressures on government budgets is no excuse; Canada has in recent years undertaken some of the most severe expenditure cuts of any developed country. Yet we maintained our commitment to pay our UN dues in full and on time, because we believe that the UN responds to key international priorities. Perhaps some members are withholding dues as a form of blackmail, hoping to pressure the UN into reforms through fiscal starvation. This is both wrong-headed and short-sighted. An organization in crisis will not have the energy required to tackle genuine reform. What is required here is political will, both in paying dues and in moving forward the difficult task of reviewing the scale of assessments to better reflect capacity to pay. Canada hopes that others will join us in demonstrating that will during the current session of the General Assembly. Another priority is to strengthen the effectiveness of the Security Council by giving it greater accountability, representativeness, transparency and responsibility. Canada attaches particular importance to the need to ensure meaningful participation in decision-making by those members whose nationals -- military or civilian -- are in the crossfire of the conflicts over which the Council is deliberating. The Council needs to address two issues: its role and its composition. On the former, if the Council is to come to terms with the more complex nature of international peace and security, it must be prepared to assume a greater role in conflict prevention. This will require co-operation among the Security Council, other branches of the UN system, and other governmental and non-governmental actors in identifying and addressing emerging crises. On the latter, the Council can address those criticisms of it as a closed body whose membership does not fully reflect changes in the world since 1945, by increasing the number of seats. The distribution of those seats should take into account in the first instance the contribution of members to the broader purposes of the UN Charter, and also the need for equitable geographic representation. Membership has its privileges, but more importantly, it brings with it a special responsibility and commitment to the principles of the UN Charter and to sustainable human security. Expansion of the Council that does not reflect this need will result in a further eroding of its legitimacy and the credibility of the UN system as a whole. Equally important is the revitalization of the General Assembly. The UN General Assembly is the one body that brings together on an equal footing all nations of the world in their full diversity. It represents on a global scale both the essence and the challenge of democracy. There is no better place for consensus to be developed and decisions taken on the new human security agenda. But this will require a change of outlook and of culture, and a move away from general plans of action to the actual work of implementation. The General Assembly needs to take the lead in promoting sustainable human security, which combines the need to husband natural resources, to generate growth and to ensure equity and peace. Mr. President, I have outlined today some of the steps that Canada has taken to advance thinking, improve existing practices and develop new ones. And I know that other member states have been working to the same end. We now have many options to consider and discuss. But plans, proposals and studies are not enough. The poet Yeats said "in dreams begin responsibility." It is easy to dream; it is harder to act. We have a renewed vision of multilateralism, and a renewed mandate not just for the prevention of conflict, but for the nurturing of peace. We have started work on making that vision a reality. We all recognize how daunting this task is as we embark upon it; but we must persist, for the task is as vital as it is difficult. We must show ourselves capable of restoring the spirit of 1956 when, in the deepest freeze of the Cold War climate, the UN gave birth to peacekeeping, and changed international relations forever. We need to find in ourselves the ability and the will to innovate, and the persistence to implement our innovations. It is in the interest of each one of us, as much as it is in the interests of all of us, to do so. Thank you. </body> </html>

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