Speeches
Finding global solutions to global problems
Speech by Foreign Minister Winston Peters to the United Nations Association of NZ
Annual symposium
Bureta Park Motor Inn, Tauranga
Thank you for the invitation to address this symposium on the United Nations and the Community.
Few people would disagree with your choice of the sub-theme, "global problems need global solutions".
New Zealand, as a relatively small and geographically isolated nation of four million people situated on the edge of the South Pacific, looks to the United Nations as a fundamental mechanism for providing order and stability in world affairs.
The newer challenges to international peace and security, broadly defined, are trans-boundary in nature and they demand global solutions. They include terrorism, pandemics, climate change, people smuggling, trans-national crime, and natural disasters, to name a few.
International cooperation is also required in the pursuit of values that New Zealanders hold dear: values such as fair and equitable economic development; human rights; disarmament; non-proliferation, and arms control.
To be an effective international player on all these issues, and to protect and promote our own interests, New Zealand needs the United Nations. We played an active role in its formation, and we have been a committed participant in its evolution over the last 60 years.
That said, New Zealand is pragmatic in its approach to multilateralism. It must be results-driven and effective. Not every issue needs to be considered by the UN – regional solutions can sometimes be a better option.
There is no doubt, however, that the world would be infinitely worse off without the United Nations.
By strengthening global relationships through the UN, countries recognise the shared interest they have in each other's economic, social and physical security.
Former Secretary General Kofi Annan talked about the United Nations resting on the three pillars of peace and security, development, and human rights.
The number one role of the United Nations, as enshrined in the Charter, is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. It is against this basic yardstick that the United Nations is most often judged.
It is true that the Security Council does not operate in an optimal way. Key issues can get locked up in debate, with the ever-present threat of veto in the background. As a result, resolutions are sometimes not as hard-hitting as we would like.
New Zealand continues to work with a group of five other nations on reform of the Security Council's working methods. These are things that might seem obvious, but are not, such as better consultation with the broader UN membership.
That said, for all its present limitations, the Security Council has shown that it can act effectively.
Terrorism is being addressed through a series of resolutions, while the Security Council has sent strong signals to North Korea and Iran about nuclear proliferation.
North Korea has responded by returning to the Six Party Talks to discuss suspension of its nuclear programme. Hopefully Iran will also see the sense in cooperation and suspend its nuclear programme.
The United Nations has a central role to play in the coordination of
international assistance to Afghanistan and also to Iraq.
While military assistance is mainly provided through other channels, the UN coordinates the provision of non-military assistance and works closely with the
governments of Afghanistan and Iraq and with international donors.
New Zealand assistance is heavily focused on Afghanistan, but we contribute
to the UN missions in both countries.
The ongoing crisis between Israel and its Middle Eastern neighbours is of grave concern.
The futile yet on-going cycle of reciprocal violence underscores the fact that there is no military solution to this conflict.
New Zealand's practical contribution to peacekeeping and stabilisation in the Middle East region, particularly the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, and more recently the UN Mine Action Service in Lebanon, is longstanding and substantial.
But the United Nations alone cannot solve the conflict. Over the longer term, a radical change in attitudes and expectations on the part of both Israel and its Arab neighbours will be necessary if a lasting peace is to be negotiated.
Since the September 11 attacks in the United States, there has been growing international support for interfaith meetings to build respect for all cultures and faiths.
The UN’s Alliance of Civilisations is a key initiative aimed at bridging the gap between the Muslim world and the West, a task for which the UN is uniquely placed to take the lead.
New Zealand is a strong supporter of regional and multilateral interfaith and inter-cultural initiatives, and the Prime Minister will host a high level symposium on the Alliance initiative in Auckland in late May.
In Africa, the United Nations is facing a significant challenge in trying to finalise plans for a strong joint UN and African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur that is capable of protecting civilians there.
Progress has been stalled by the Sudanese Government's lack of approval for this operation, and so the UN contribution has so far been limited to a small, inadequate, support package.
Very recent events, however, suggest that the stance of the Sudanese may be changing. Late last month it issued a joint statement with the UN in which it pledged to give full support and protection to humanitarian operations in Darfur.
Just this week, the Sudanese government also approved a stronger UN presence in Darfur, of up to 3000 troops and police as an interim step to a full force.
However Sudan remains at the crossroads and we must be cautious about the real intentions of the Sudanese Government, and maintain the pressure of international expectations.
Hostilities continue, civilians and peacekeepers are still being targeted in the fighting, and the security and humanitarian situation remains dire.
We hope that the Sudanese government honours its commitment to protect humanitarian workers, and that every effort is made to allow a full UN peacekeeping presence into Darfur as soon as possible. The humanitarian disaster there cannot be allowed to continue.
We strongly support the UN mission in Darfur and we are already providing support for relief agencies operating there.
Closer to home, the Pacific demands and receives substantial ongoing engagement from New Zealand.
New Zealand Forces have been deployed in Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Bougainville, with each situation calling for a unique response. We have consistently worked closely with Australia in the region.
The Timorese people, their leaders, and the international community have made a huge effort over the past year to return Timor-Leste to a more secure and stable path.
We have participated by contributing personnel to the International Security Force (ISF) and to the UN Mission in Timor-Leste, and through working in partnership with the Timorese government on development programmes.
The UN Mission's presence in Timor-Leste is a practical demonstration of the UN's commitment to the world's newest nation. It is also delivers a reassuring message to ordinary Timorese – that the international community cares about building them a better future.
The link between peace and security and the UN’s second pillar – development – cannot be overstated. Kofi Annan put it succinctly when he said, “there can be no security without development, and there can be no development without security”.
Eliminating poverty, a goal that New Zealand strongly supports, has never been higher on the international agenda.
We have to use the Millennium Development Goals, to which world leaders recommitted at the World Summit in 2005, to take forward the wider global development agenda.
The UN can play a pivotal role in this, but its development system is in drastic need of reform.
New Zealand is heavily involved in efforts to improve system-wide coherence at the UN in the fields of development, humanitarian issues and the environment.
We want to ensure that the focus remains on outcomes for the poorest and most vulnerable. In the field, this involves working in Vietnam with the ‘One UN’ approach where UN agencies have agreed to work together as a single agency.
No significant advances can be made in reducing poverty without strong global partnerships.
For relatively small donors like New Zealand, partnerships with the Untied Nations development agencies, such as UNICEF and UNDP, enable us to support countries and issues that we do not have the resources to work on directly ourselves.
An example of an effective New Zealand-UN partnership has been our $3.8 million contribution to the joint UNICEF, WHO and Rotary polio eradication programme.
The WHO announced this year that the number of countries with indigenous polio has dropped to an all time low. In a small but important way every New Zealander has contributed to this success.
Good governance and economic and social development remain key areas of focus for New Zealand’s work in the Pacific.
We have partnerships with UN development agencies in the Pacific to help address areas such as human rights, sexual and reproductive heath, HIV/AIDS, child immunisation and women's leadership. These programmes are aligned to regional and national Pacific strategies and goals.
The third pillar of our engagement with the UN is human rights.
Promoting and protecting the human rights that we all take for granted has always been high on New Zealand’s foreign policy agenda. This is what most New Zealanders would expect.
The most effective way in which we can progress the human rights agenda internationally is by working in concert with other countries who share similar values to us.
The UN's human rights work is split between New York and Geneva. One of the outcomes of the World Summit was the establishment of a new pre-eminent human rights body in Geneva, the Human Rights Council.
New Zealand has decided it will seek a seat on the Council for the period 2009–2011, because we want to build a credible and effective human rights organisation to replace the discredited Commission on Human Rights.
That said, we have already had our successes in the human rights field.
We played a leading role in finalising a new Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – the first new comprehensive human rights treaty of this century.
The Convention, signed in New York late last month by the Minister for Disability Issues, Ruth Dyson, stands to benefit over 650 million people with disabilities, many of whom are among the most marginalised people in the world.
We can be proud that New Zealand championed and chaired this process.
New Zealanders also place a high value on protecting and enhancing the environment both on the home front and internationally.
New Zealanders, justifiably in my view, expect their leaders to contribute fully to meeting the challenges of global sustainable development, including climate change, ozone depletion, collapsing fishing stocks, and the conservation of biodiversity.
These are international issues that cannot be considered in isolation from other major global issues.
With climate change, the United Nations system faces a twin challenge.
Firstly, to deliver an effective and durable solution that avoids dangerous human interference with the climate. Secondly, this solution must be fair and equitable in the way it treats countries in different stages of economic development and with different national circumstances. This is no easy feat.
Some progress has been made through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and its Kyoto Protocol. But more action is needed to respond to what the latest climate science is telling us.
New Zealand will play its full part in a future international solution and the process to get there. Only the United Nations can deliver this.
This year, New Zealand is working to build international research cooperation on reducing emissions from agriculture. And we are continuing our efforts to encourage the major emitters of greenhouse gases to come together in the UN to forge a truly global solution to tackle climate change.
New Zealand's interests in the UN also have an impact on our role as a trading nation.
The agreements of the World Trade Organisation are not merely technical rules with which we seek to advance our national interests.
They embody important principles that aim to make the world a more equitable, prosperous and peaceful place – linking to what the United Nations is trying to achieve.
On the one hand, the United Nations’ role in peace and security enables us to do business in places that might otherwise be impossible to work in due to armed conflict.
On the other hand, trade liberalisation promoted by the WTO, and the greater economic activity that derives from it, increases wealth, which enables societies to meet their economic needs and become less likely to lapse into conflict.
Linkages between key multilateral institutions are complex and wide ranging. It is important for us to acknowledge their overarching goals.
For all its many achievements, it is easy to criticise the United Nations. The international environment has evolved enormously since 1945, and the UN has not always moved with the times.
The implementation of key reforms agreed at the 2005 World Summit will be critical to ensuring that it remains an effective global body, capable of addressing the challenges of the 21st Century.
This is no small task. Resources are not keeping pace with a growing multilateral agenda. The interests of 192 member states have to be weighed and balanced. Interaction and cooperation among states can be a fraught business. But it is vital if all three pillars of the United Nations work are to be upheld and furthered.
There remains a huge amount of work to be done. Tonight we have covered only a few of the efforts underway – Security Council reform, counter-terrorism work, the Human Rights Council, developmental reform, and system-wide coherence.
There is, for example, the new Peacebuilding Commission. Although good progress has been made in setting up this body, we have yet to see how it will perform.
Management reform is another issue. The UN employs around 9000 staff, yet its management practices have not kept pace with 20th Century business practices, let alone those of the 21st Century.
Perhaps New Zealand’s experiences of economic/public sector reform, undertaken well over 20 years ago now, could be drawn on to useful effect.
The reality is that governments, UN associations such as yours, academics, and civil society, can all play a positive role in ensuring that the United Nations is well equipped to meeting contemporary challenges.
The United Nations Association of New Zealand is to be heartily commended for keeping United Nations’ issues on the public and political radar here.
Page Last Reviewed: 26 April, 2007
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