Ladies and Gentlemen,It is a great pleasure for me to participate in this conference, concluding a very important project, on how to take conflict prevention "From promise to practise".The right to life, freedom and justice are principles we all claim to believe in. But despite these shared fundamental values, practise is dealt with in very different ways."The right to life" could not save the 800 000 thousand, killed in Rwanda."Freedom" could not avoid oppression of minorities, ethnic cleansing and the wars in the Balkans."Justice" rings hollow to the Palestinians in the occupied territories.Building security and preventing conflict require visions and values. But that is not enough.The developments the last decades have made this obvious. The end of the Cold War, and good signs in the nineties, gave hope for greater security and a better future. Dictatorships fell and democracy and human rights spread and gained increased respect. Globalisation created new opportunities for people all over the world.But the new Millennium has got a darker start.We can see how international terrorism threatens the open societies. Civilian victims in all parts of the world show that nobody can feel safe. We can see how the growing insecurity threatens to trigger a new arms race, both of conventional weapons and of weapons of mass destruction. We can see a number of internal conflicts, civil wars and regional conflicts, often due to ethnic or religious tension, often risking to spreading to other countries. We can see how bad governance, lack of democracy and human rights in week and failed states, give space for organised crime such as trafficking in women and children, drug-production and spread of small arms, increasing tension in already fragile regions. We can see a growing gap between rich and poor, and that more than one billion people live in absolute poverty. Values and visions have to be implemented through solid systems, democratic institutions and effective instruments.Failure to prevent violent conflicts leads to human suffering, to devastated societies and huge economic costs.Knowing this, still, resources for preventive action are very hard to mobilise. One reason is that prevention has to be paid for in the present, while the benefit lies in the future. Another is the interpretation that national sovereignty makes conflicts only a national concern. A third reason is the difficulty to design decisive measures at an early stage.I could see an obvious example of our shortcomings when I visited the Democratic Republic of Congo a month ago. A country, torn apart by fighting. A country, which in reality is rich, but still plagued by poverty and devastation. A country, where youngsters are not "the hope for the future", as they have the right to be - but illiterate and ignorant after years of war – for about 10 000 of them as child-soldiers. A country where you truly realise how important education is for development.A young boy, in a centre for reintegration, told me this: "As a child in an African village you are brought up to obey everyone that is older than you, no matter what they demand from you. But suddenly someone puts a Kalashnikov in your hands - and you don’t have to obey anyone anymore. You are someone. Now I am trying to learn to be someone, without a gun in my hand."- - -"Conflict prevention" is a relatively new term, but the concept has always been at the heart of the United Nations.In 1992, the report "An Agenda for Peace" was presented, marking the beginning of a more active role for the UN in this respect. This was further explored in the Brahimi-report on Peace-operations, crucial in developing ideas on effective and necessary action.The Secretary General's report on the Prevention of Armed Conflict was a milestone in the process. It further developed the concept and included concrete short- and long-term measures and recommendations to the Member States and to the UN system.At the regional level, the European Union is further developing its potential in crisis management. In June 2001, as a direct follow-up to the SG:s recommendations, the European Council in Göteborg endorsed a Programme for the Prevention of Violent Conflicts.Sweden was the first country to adopt an action plan "Preventing Violent Conflict" in 1999. On the initiative of Prime Minister Göran Persson, Sweden will be hosting an intergovernmental conference on the prevention of Genocide, Conflicts, and Terror, in Stockholm in January 2004. The conference will be the fourth in the Stockholm International Forum-series, which started with the Holocaust-conference in 2000."- - -Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, in his Nobel Peace Price lecture in 2001, that"…peace belongs not only to States or peoples, but to each and every member of those communities. The sovereignty of States must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of human rights."For many years collective security was seen as the security of states, and primarily defined in military terms. Decisions on measures were reactive, rather than preventive. Today, security is seen in a broader perspective. Human security must be the point of departure in any discussion on crisis management.When discussing prevention you often meet with the suspicion that it is a matter of wanting to interfere in internal affairs. I can see that risk increasing if prevention is mixed up with pre-emption, and that it might become a North-South issue. Civilian preventive measures are a way to avoid military pre-emption. I believe that countries that fear conflict prevention instead should use it as an argument for increased development co-operation and poverty eradication.Global security must be based on economic and social development, good governance, rule of law and respect for human rights.And all efforts and measures to promote peace and security must be based on respect for human rights and the rule of law, also in our common fight against terrorism. Unfortunately, this is not always the case today. The measures we use should underpin, not undermine, the fight against terrorism.What we need to do is clearly listed in the goals of the Millennium Declarations. The norms and principles are well established, but the actual implementation is the challenge.- - - Some key steps, for the future, are:1) We need to increase the international and regional capacity for early action. Within the UN, a systematic follow up of signals of early warning could build on the information shared in the Framework Team for Co-ordination. And in the EU, it could be to add triggers, to activate preventive measures if a country enters into a higher level of risk, to the Union's "Watchlist over potential conflict areas". There are positive examples such as Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, where early action and a close international co-operation could prevent war.2) We need to improve the regional capacity for crisis management and conflict prevention, not the least to encourage a long-term perspective in commitments made. The experiences by the OSCE, to use field presence and to focus especially on ethnic conflicts through a High Commissioner on National Minorities, should be further explored and utilised.The African Union, SADC and ECOWAS are already developing their capacity and could serve as an example for others. I look forward to the outcome of the conference on these issues hosted by the African Union in the beginning of July. And also the OAS and ASEAN could be effective forums for conflict management.We also need to continue to develop a rapid response capacity, both military and civilian, within the UN, and to tie existing capacities, such as those developed within the European Union, closer to the institutional knowledge of the UN. One example of the EU-UN co-operation is the new peacekeeping operation in Congo. The Swedish Parliament yesterday voted for contributing a special force to this mission.3) We must continuously update our understanding of root causes of conflicts. Today, environmental degradation, ethnic tension and injustices are widely accepted as root causes for conflicts. But still, fundamental issues, such as access to clean water, remain unsolved. And new and unexpected security threats such as HIV/Aids arise. We need to improve mechanisms for exchanging information, for example by enhanced economic and cultural co-operation, in order to stem emerging threats in time.4) We must reduce the means of violent conflict. We often discuss measures against weapons of mass destruction, but must not forget that today, an estimated 500 million of small arms are in circulation. Far too easy to come by and to conceal, simple to use but difficult to control, they are part of any conflict. We see the terrible consequences in Sierra Leone, in Afghanistan and in our own schoolyards. A child soldier often knows how to operate a machine gun, but is unable to write his name. We must take joint action to prevent the spread and illicit trade of these weapons.5) We must continue to develop multi-functional peacekeeping. Although military personal remains the backbone of most peacekeeping operations, proportionally larger numbers of civilians work alongside them. Civilian police is an increasingly important component, and forensic and correctional experts, judges, and specialists on rule of law are likely to be among the next categories. Integrated, comprehensive missions require broad competence, with personnel trained for military operations, policing, human rights, humanitarian assistance and dealing with refugees. The first months after a cease-fire or peace accord are the most critical for winning the peace. Opportunities lost during that period are hard to regain.6) We need to expand the role and contribution of women in peace operations, among staff and in decision-making at all levels. Women and children constitute the majority of victims in armed conflict, as well as of the world's refugees and internally displaced persons. A gender perspective must be incorporated in the mandates and activities of all peacekeeping operations. And we must make sure that women’s equal rights and value are respected when societies are reconstructed after a conflict.7) We must charter the gap between words and war. This means tailoring measures to put pressure on regimes, groups or individuals that violate human rights or threatens peace and security. Designing targeted – smart - sanctions is one way. The result of the international process to develop guidelines for the use of smart sanctions, the Stockholm Report, "Making Targeted Sanctions Effective" was presented to the Security Council a few months ago.To be successful, all these steps must be carried out in close co-operation with the civil societies and NGO:s. Organisations such as the IPA are essential in the work for conflict prevention.8) During the last 14 months the Member States have been working on the content of a resolution, as a follow-up to the report of the SG. The negotiations have now reached an advanced stage and I hope that the General Assembly will be able to adopt the resolution in the very near future.The UN will be at the centre of our focus and of our efforts. The UN is often criticised. But the UN is in fact perhaps more relevant today than ever before. An important reason for this is the excellent work by the Secretary General. His efforts to reform and strengthen the organisation, his new ideas and initiatives, and not the least, his true commitment to the responsibility for peace and security, is a role model to all of us.- - -However, the suggestions I have made this morning will come to nothing if the political will is not there. Too often governments refuse to admit the existence of problems that may escalate. And too often the international community fails to act in time with effective measures. Too many men, women and children are paying the price. And political leaders should know by now that there is neither an excuse nor an escape. It is time to go from promise to practise.Thank you!