STATEMENT BY H.E. Mr. FRANCISCO SEIXAS DA COSTA, AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF PORTUGAL TO THE UNITED NATIONS, TO THE 8th PLENARY MEETING OF THE 56th SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (Agenda item 10: Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization)

NEW YORK, 24 SEPTEMBER 2001
STATEMENT BY H.E. Mr. FRANCISCO SEIXAS DA COSTA, AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF PORTUGAL TO THE UNITED NATIONS, TO THE 8^th PLENARY MEETING OF THE 56^th SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (Agenda item 10: Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization)

Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Portugal thanks the Secretary-General for his report on the work of the organization and commends him and all his staff in the Secretariat and the other parts of the United Nations for the efforts undertaken this year in implementing the agenda of the organization. My delegation is especially pleased that Mr. Kofi Annan will continue as Secretary-General for a second term, giving us the benefit of his leadership and experience in these particularly trying times.

Mr. President,

The terrorist attacks of 11 September present a grave challenge to the United Nations; a challenge which can best be faced by enhancing even further international cooperation in all fields and at all levels. Let us not forget that it is the United Nations that represents the highest and universal expression of this international cooperation and it is, therefore, the United Nations that must remain at the core of all international efforts.

Security, in all its aspects, is clearly our main concern:

How can our peoples feel safe in their homes?

But also, how can our peoples have homes to feel safe in?

How can we help to bring conflicts to an end?

But also, how can we prevent conflicts from beginning?

How can countries help themselves develop?

But also, how can others help countries develop?

How can we secure the rule of law?

But also, how can we protect human rights?

Above all, how can we help those most in need?

The issues touched upon by the Secretary-General in his report – peace and security, humanitarian assistance, development, human rights and international law – all of these matters, in and of themselves and where they intersect, come together as a whole to provide the greatest challenges to the United Nations as well as the very purpose of its existence.

This is made abundantly clear in the preamble to the Charter of this organization. Those powerful words ring as true today as when they were first declared more than half a century ago and they set out clearly what is necessary for us the United Nations to continue to strive for.

First, we are striving for peace and security.

Through the reform of the UN peacekeeping support structures and his report on conflict prevention, the Secretary-General is addressing fundamental needs to ensure the United Nations has the capacity to meet the challenges posed by armed conflict. Work must proceed in erecting the organizational and resource requirements to permit the effective planning, deployment and management of concurrent UN peacekeeping operations in different parts of the world. Particularly important is meeting the timelines established for rapid deployment. The recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations will be crucial to these efforts and Portugal urges the approval of necessary resources by the relevant bodies.

With regard to the report on conflict prevention, its recommendations are being taken up by all organs and agencies involved and we look forward to their comprehensive and coordinated consideration in order to translate them into concrete measures. The Secretariat’s peacebuilding plan of action will also be of great importance here as we now increasingly recognize the need for coherent strategies for peace which run the gamut of activities from prevention to peacekeeping to peacebuilding and back to prevention once again. The Secretary-General is right when he writes of the need for a more effective capacity for analysis of situations. This will lead to a more responsive and effective United Nations.

The dangers in the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, such as biological and chemical weapons cry out for continued international efforts at cooperation in the area of disarmament. It is imperative that these efforts proceed.

The struggle against the destabilizing accumulation and spread of small arms and light weapons also represents an example of the kind of coordinated international action that is needed to address the challenges that face us all.

Secondly, we are striving to provide humanitarian assistance to those most in need.

Natural disasters and conflicts and their toll on our peoples around the world are uppermost in our mind; before anything, we must try to save lives under immediate threat. United Nations humanitarian action must continue to receive the greatest attention from our governments to ensure that the capacity is there to address the increasingly complex situations that pose such a challenge to us today.

Coordination, both at headquarters and in the field, is critical to strengthen this capacity, thereby ensuring that all humanitarian actors are able to use their strengths and particular expertise, avoid duplication of efforts and be most effective in the provision of assistance.

The plight of displaced persons – both within and across borders – continues, deservedly, to receive the attention of the United Nations. Portugal welcomes the Secretary-General’s decision to strengthen the UN’s capacity to deal with internally displaced people, giving due importance to their needs for protection and for improvements in their situation.

Access to the populations in need is, of course, crucial to the provision of humanitarian assistance. This cannot be stressed enough. Access should be unhindered and in conditions of safety and security, both for the humanitarian workers and for the victims.

Thirdly, Mr. President, the United Nations is striving for development.

Poverty is a dire threat to human security and the war declared on poverty by the Millennium Summit must continue. Poverty, social exclusion and inequality lead to tensions and conflict and provide fertile ground for extremism, fanaticism and other violent forms of political expression.

In the globalization of the world’s economies, we must be acutely aware of potential negative effects and globalization must be given "a human face", so that its benefits are distributed as widely as possible. Globalization must be a collective process of growth and progress, seeking to include not exclude, to construct not destroy, to develop not impoverish. A regulated process of globalization, based on free and fair trade, can have a decisive influence in spreading the benefits of growth and contributing to the alleviation of social imbalance and ethnic tensions, as well as of the cyclical crises that affect societies on the edge of development.

The catastrophe of HIV/AIDS must continue to be high on our agenda. The death and suffering caused by this terrible disease are tearing countries apart, particularly in Africa. This alarming situation needs the concerted action of the international community. Portugal fully supports these efforts and commends the Secretary-General for his particular commitment to this critical struggle.

Finally, Mr. President, we are striving for human rights and international law.

As the Secretary-General points out, the reports to the Commission on Human Rights paint a bleak picture of the status of human rights in the world today. We must continue to strive for the universal respect for human rights and the United Nations and its human rights treaties provide the framework for the protection of the rights of individuals, particularly those most vulnerable.

Portugal supports the important work of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, whose office should be provided with the necessary financial and human resources in order to respond to the crisis situations it is faced with on a daily basis. Voluntary contributions to the UNHCHR are, of course, important but it is the regular budget of the United Nations that must ensure the provision of such resources and so avoid disruptive fluctuations in the levels of financing.

Finally, I turn to international law, which the Secretary-General rightly considers the sine qua non of a world of order and justice. Strengthening the respect for the rule of law in international affairs is a crucial task for the organization and we welcome the efforts of the Secretariat in this regard. The ratification of treaties, codifying the commitments undertaken by Member States for international cooperation, and the growth of international law in general are critical to this process.

As is the work of the ad hoc international tribunals and of the International Criminal Court in ensuring that there be no impunity for war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law. The Rome Statute has indeed opened a new chapter in international law and we fully subscribe to the Secretary-General’s appeal to Member States to establish their consent to be bound by the Statute and to support the important cause of the Court.

Mr. President,

I have addressed the four broad areas of the UN’s activities covered in the Secretary-General’s report. Of course, I could not be exhaustive in my comments and many issues I did not mention deserve equal attention from the United Nations. What I wish to stress here today is the importance of concerted, international cooperation in meeting all of these challenges. Thus can we continue to strive to accomplish the aims set out in the Preamble of the Charter of these United Nations.

Thank you, Mr. President.