Media Library

Speeches

ADDRESS to the SPECIAL SESSION TO MARK THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

ADDRESS by THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND MARY ROBINSON MARK THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The 51 states who founded this organisation in 1945 wrought well. The U.N. has become the first universal organisation of states in human history; and it has shaped the whole structure of international relations through the second half of the 20th Century.

But our Special Commemorative Session will be an empty ritual, quickly forgotten, if we limit ourselves to celebration. This is a time to adapt and renew what we have inherited; a time for vision, equal now to that of half a century ago; above all a time for Member States to make a new commitment and carry it through in action.

We are close to the end of a century and near to the opening of a new millennium. Was there ever a time of such possibility? Was there ever a time for such concern? Humankind now holds the fate of all other species in its hand; it fills the planet; it owns the earth.

How shall we organise ourselves to meet this awesome responsibility? Human nature will not change. But through history humanity has also shown a deep capacity for compassion and for solidarity - initially to family, and then to wider kin, to clan, to tribe, to city and to nation. Can we now learn to extend our solidarity and compassion to the whole human family in all its rich diversity; and beyond it, to all other life on the planet, which is now ours to conserve or to destroy? Fragile and transient we may be as individuals but we are stewards for all the life we know and for the earth which bears it.

Those of us who exercise leadership of nations at this time will have to understand and accept this enormous responsibility. We must see both the danger of the time, and the potential beyond the danger. But hope and vision will not be enough. Concern and compassion must be translated into action in the real world through effective institutions. We will have to start from where we are and with what we have.

We live in a world of sovereign states: a world where conflict is a constant danger and weapons grow endlessly in power; a world where states on occasion collapse in anarchy and where the passion and fear aroused in ethnic conflict can lead to genocide. It is a world where problems of ecology and climate and resources are global; where population grows; where poverty, hunger and injustice oppress hundreds of millions.

This is our world in the late 20th Century. We cannot expect it to change fundamentally in the new millennium. What we can do is to work together in co-operation to resolve its most serious problems through effective international institutions to which we give our full support.

At the centre we need an effective universal organisation which will address global problems in the common interest; which will avert or end war; advance human rights; establish a rule of law based on justice between states; mobilise the human capacity for compassion and solidarity to help the disadvantaged; protect the defenceless; and promote human freedom and potential.

We have such an organisation in place and we can adapt and develop it. But let us be honest and speak plainly.

Today, on its 50th birthday, the UN is in crisis; the whole future of the United Nations as an effective global organisation is in question. Its authority is uncertain, its financial situation dire. Its Member States give it tasks which exceed its present capacity, they stint and limit their support and then blame it for lack of success in enterprises which their own lack of support has doomed to failure. I have just come from a visit to Rwanda and I know at first hand the tragic consequences which can result. If we do not act together soon to change this, if we do not infuse the U.N. and the family of organisations which has grown around it with a new strength of purpose and a new sense of direction - a genuine global ethic - then I fear that the praise we give to the UN from this rostrum over these days will come in time to be read as its epitaph.

It is the view of the Irish Government, that four steps could be taken in this year to transform the situation and infuse the UN with new vigour. We could then look beyond these first steps to see what further changes and adaptations are necessary.

First must be finance. The UN is grinding to a halt for lack of it. Just imagine if each of us who comes to this rostrum were to limit what we say to 16 words "my Government has met all its assessed contributions in full - we have paid what we owe".

What an impact that would have, what an anniversary gift for the organisation!

Later perhaps we might begin to study various proposals which have been made for other, more autonomous means of financing the United Nations and its agencies in their peace-keeping and humanitarian work to see how far they may be practicable and acceptable.

Of course, one accepts that there is room for greater efficiency in the United Nations as in many large public service organisations throughout the world. But this can in no way excuse the failure to pay due contributions.

Second The Security Council, in conjunction with the Secretary General and drawing on his advice, should examine, clarify and codify its procedures for undertaking and running peacekeeping operations and enforcement action. To restore its authority it must ensure that the decisions it takes and the mandates it gives are clear and that there will be both a determination and a capacity on the part of all concerned to carry them through.

Third It is time to consider seriously how to ensure that, in the early stages of a crisis, when a peacekeeping operation is urgently needed, and when it may be most effective, the UN will be in a position to respond. We should consider what more can be done to provide stand-by units - military and police. For example, is it not possible to think about proposals which have been made for a modest international volunteer force at the disposal of the Secretary General under the direction of the Security Council ?

Fourth It is time now to take decisions on the enlargement of the Council to make it more representative and thereby increase its authority. The issues have all been debated at length. Decisions, leading to the necessary amendments of the Charter should be taken within the next year.

These steps, in the view of the Irish Government, would be a beginning. It is a modest programme; it is feasible and realistic; and it would give us confidence for the many further changes which will be necessary to strengthen the authority and the capacity of the UN and fit it to address the problems of the new millennium.