Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

This follows on from a discussion that we had in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs with regard to UN reform. This is the 60th anniversary of the United Nations and the 50th year since Ireland joined the organisation. The United Nations has since occupied a central place in Ireland's foreign policy. A rules-based international order and strong multilateral institutions are essential for international peace and prosperity and are especially necessary to smaller states in the protection of their interests. Moreover, Ireland contributes to human security largely through the United Nations, particularly in the areas of peacekeeping and human rights and through its participation in the UN funds and programmes. It is therefore central to Ireland's interests that the United Nations functions efficiently and effectively.

With the end of the Cold War, there were strong hopes that the United Nations would finally be able to function fully as envisaged in its charter. The organisation, however, faced many severe challenges during the 1990s and the secretariat had to strive to adapt itself to the new conditions. It met some challenges adequately and some, as we know, very inadequately. However, the main problem lay not in the UN secretariat, although there were weaknesses there, but rather in the manner in which the members of the United Nations acted or failed to act through the organisation. It is the members who must act to better equip it to meet the challenges of today.

Making the United Nations a more effective instrument of the international community was one of the aspirations contained in the millennium summit declaration. It had become evident that there was a need for substantial change in the way the UN addresses the purposes for which it was established, namely, the maintenance of international peace and security, the promotion of human rights and the promotion of economic and social progress. The need for improvement in the management of the UN organisation was also evident.

In the five years since, public perception of the capacity of the United Nations to act effectively in fulfilment of the purposes has been further affected by events and circumstances, including the failure of the Security Council in early 2003 to agree on its approach to Iraq and the allegations surrounding the Iraq sanctions regime and the oil for food programme, although the UN secretariat itself bore only a limited share of the responsibility.

In addition, the relapse of a number of states and societies into conflict showed the need for a new approach to states with fragile institutions. The repeated election to the Commission on Human Rights of states whose authorities were responsible for gross abuses of human rights and which made it very difficult for the CHR to censure such regimes demonstrated the need for a new approach to human rights overview at the UN. It also became clear that progress towards the achievement of the development goals was very uneven and that Africa, in particular, was falling behind.

In a statement to the General Assembly in September 2003, Secretary General Annan announced that the United Nations had reached a "fork in the road". He established a high level panel charged with examining current and future threats to peace and security and how collective threats can best address them. The panel reported last year and advocated a new security consensus involving the mutual recognition of threats, including those presented by poverty, under-development and disease as well as by conflict, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

The millennium development project, established by the Secretary General under Professor Jeffrey Sachs, reported last February on means to restore momentum to the achievement of the millennium development goals. While some developing countries have made good progress towards the achievement of the MDGs, others have not, especially in Africa where institutional weakness and civil and international conflict together with funding shortfalls have led many to fall behind.

The Sachs report concludes that the MDGs, including such headline goals as halving of the numbers of those living in poverty and ensuring access to primary education for all, can be achieved by 2015. However, it also points out that this cannot be done on a business as usual basis and sets out a roadmap detailing the investments that will be required in health, education, rural development, road building, housing and scientific research.

Drawing on both these reports, the Secretary General issued his own views in his report, In Larger Freedom, issued last March and containing detailed recommendations for decisions at next September's summit. The summit, therefore, presents an opportunity to restore momentum towards the achievement of the MDGs as well as to enhance the credibility and effectiveness of the United Nations.

The UN Secretary General has identified as a central theme for the summit the rule of law, human rights and democracy. The essential logic running through his recommendations is contained in his proposition that without development there can be no security, without security there can be no development, and without respect for human rights there can be neither.

The Secretary General set out his recommendations in four clusters: development, or freedom from want; security, or freedom from fear; human rights, or freedom to live in dignity; and strengthening the institutions of the United Nations so that they can act effectively in pursuit of these freedoms. The fact that the Government was in a position to support the Secretary General's recommendations in their entirety was one of the reasons that he asked me to become one of five envoys to act on his behalf in the preparation of the September summit. I am the only one who is a serving Government member.

Under the development cluster, developed and developing countries are asked to implement existing commitments to providing the finance necessary for development and good governance to ensure that the aid is effectively used. The European Council has now committed the EU as a whole to reaching the recommended overseas development aid target of 0.7% by 2015, a commitment that Kofi Annan described as putting wind in our sails.

A special focus on Africa and the fight against the HIV-AIDS pandemic is recommended. Other key issues are the early completion of the Doha round of trade negotiations, action on climate change, debt relief and a means of meeting a shortfall in development funding in the years immediately ahead.

Under the security heading states are called upon to renew their commitment to nuclear disarmament and a strengthened non-proliferation regime, and to the control and elimination of other weapons of mass destruction. They are called upon to strengthen the fight against terrorism and reach agreement on a definition of terrorism, the absence of which is delaying the conclusion of a comprehensive convention on terrorism. The Secretary General called for the conclusion of a binding international agreement on the marking, tracing and illicit brokering of small arms and light weapons. He asked for the establishment of strategic reserves for peacekeeping and put forward principles to guide the Security Council when deciding on the use of military force in the maintenance of peace and security.

One particularly important proposal, for a peace-building commission to mobilise resources for peace-building measures to complement peacekeeping efforts and to co-ordinate their application to prevent fragile states from falling back into conflict, has already met with wide approval. The proposal for the creation of such an organ was a central feature of the EU's contribution to the work of the high-level panel prepared by and agreed under the Irish Presidency in the first half of 2004.

Under the human rights heading, governments are asked to acknowledge the principle of responsibility to protect. Some member states regard this as opening the way to interference in their sovereign prerogatives and express concern that it may be used as an excuse for intervention in pursuit of other agendas, which is in contravention of Article 2.7 of the UN Charter. However, it is clear that the international community can no longer stand by when events such as those in Rwanda and Srebrenica and those that recently unfolded in Darfur take place.

Under this principle, individual sovereign states would remain responsible for the protection of their citizens but when a state is unable or unwilling to carry out this responsibility, the international community would have a duty to become engaged, although the use of force would be a last resort. In fact the need for this principle is now well understood by African governments. In essence, it is contained in the founding document of the African Union, and provides the basis for that body's current intervention in Darfur.

The Secretary General has also proposed the establishment of a permanent human rights council to replace the Commission on Human Rights. The new body would function at a higher level within the UN structure, would be directly elected by a two thirds majority of the General Assembly and sit permanently rather than for six weeks each year as the Commission on Human Rights does currently. It would also conduct peer reviews and deal with human rights crises as they arise. It would, however, preserve the best features of the CHR, including non-governmental organisation, NGO, participation. It is also proposed to strengthen of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to allow it to carry out more effectively the task of helping countries to develop their institutions and to implement reforms in the human rights area.

The revitalisation of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council is also very important. The Secretary General laid particular stress on implementing improvements in the management structures of the UN secretariat to allow him to act as a chief executive officer without undue and unnecessary interference from the members while maintaining at the same time a sufficient degree of transparency and accountability.

Following wide-ranging consultations in the General Assembly on the Secretary General's proposals, the president of the General Assembly, my colleague, Jean Ping, the Foreign Minister of Gabon, has drawn up a draft outcome document containing the elements for decision by Heads of State and Government at the September summit. These follow the broad lines of the Secretary General's recommendations. There is some way to go before they receive the assent of the membership in general and success will require significant change in positions traditionally taken by many delegations at the United Nations.

This is why the Secretary General appointed envoys to encourage governments to take the necessary decisions in capitals. As envoy I have met on an individual basis 36 foreign ministers, both European and non-European, and plan to visit a further nine capitals before the end of this month.

The efforts of Ireland and its EU partners will now be directed towards improving the draft outcome document to ensure that it has the elements necessary to restore confidence in the United Nations as a body fit to face the challenges of the 21st century and to restore momentum to the achievement of the millennium development goals.

One matter that is not covered in the draft outcome document is reform of the Security Council. This is a particularly difficult issue and the one that receives an inordinate amount of public attention. The Secretary General has made it clear that it is for the UN members to resolve this matter. He has, however, made clear his view that a decision is necessary this year for the sake of the credibility and legitimacy of the Security Council.

As envoy, I have worked to ensure that the political and public preoccupation with this issue does not divert attention from the critical reform and development agenda that will have a much greater impact on the lives of the world's citizens. I am encouraged by progress so far and I believe that a successful outcome is possible in September. The support of its members is essential for the success of the United Nations which remains central to building a prosperous and peaceful world for future generations.

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