Mr President,
In fully aligning myself with the statement by Luxembourg on behalf of the European Union, I will make a few additional remarks.
Let me start by underlining Sweden's strong support for a broad concept of collective security so convincingly outlined in the HLP report. We are pleased to see in the report the link between security and development more clearly acknowledged than perhaps ever before. The fact that the HLP report is presented parallel to the report on the Millennium Project further underlines the need to address the issues of security and development together. Lack of capacity to uphold sovereign functions and to fulfill obligations and responsibilities towards citizens, is in fact a threat to collective security. Affluent countries should make real progress towards reaching the 0.7 % target of official development assistance (ODA). On the other hand, there is also a need in many countries to reform, promote human rights and the rule of law, fight corruption and transform administrations into transparent and truly democratic governance systems. By shouldering those responsibilities, we will build together a world that is more secure for everyone.
I would like to point out just a few issues where we think the HLP has come out with particularly interesting proposals. We need to create a momentum of support for these ideas and together refine them and agree on proposals that can be endorsed by the High Level meeting in September.
The most innovative recommendation in the HLP report is the proposal to establish a Peacebuilding Commission. Supporting states in fragile post-conflict situations is a decisive factor in preventing the resurgence of conflict and assisting them on their way to development. To be successful, peacebuilding activities should be planned, coordinated and implemented in an integrated manner with peacekeeping. The Peacebuilding Commission should thus be linked to the Security Council. But there is also an obvious need to find a way of linking peacebuilding activities to a reformed Economic and Social Council.
The Economic and Social Council indeed needs to be reformed. It has to become a vital organ that is also able to address the links between security and development. ECOSOC should be made more relevant by addressing economic and social issues of current concern of the international community. We support the recommendations in the HLP report on transforming ECOSOC to a development cooperation forum and an arena to monitor progress and measure Member States' commitments to achieve the MDGs. And we are ready to contribute more in detail to a transformation in this direction.
We have to develop a strong system of cooperation between regional organizations and the United Nations. The regional organizations should be able to take greater responsibility for security in their parts of the world. The United Nations should be ready to assist with resources and political backing. And the primary responsibility for maintenance of international peace and security should remain with the United Nations.
The European Union has already welcomed the HLPs strong statement on the collective responsibility to protect people in the event of genocide and serious violations of international humanitarian law. We would like to emphasize that any responsibility to protect must be coupled with a responsibility to prevent.
We also need a collective response to terrorism. We should all be encouraged by the report to agree on a definition of terrorism. We have to assist each other in fighting this evil practice while observing rules of international law and to overcome its consequences. In this context we have to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as well as small arms, and to develop our cooperation in the area of bio-security.
The recommendations of the HLP report with regard to reform of the General Assembly are few and rather general. We should fill this gap in the report by being imaginative in our thinking about how to revitalize this important and basic body of the United Nations.
A broad international consensus on collective security calls for a Security Council that is legitimate and effective and with a more fair representation for all continents. Sweden recognizes that there are some Member States that have valid arguments supporting their aspirations for a permanent seat on the Council. At the same time we must not set aside the interest of those other Member States that greatly contribute to the fulfillment of the objectives of the UN Charter. Reform of the Security Council is a key element for success but we cannot afford to have this issue paralyzing the entire process leading to the High Level Event in September.
Sweden fully supports the idea of further mainstreaming human rights into the work of the Security Council and welcomes the recommendations of the HLP in this regard, including the more active and frequent involvement of the High Commissioner on Human Rights in the Security Council deliberations.
Mr President, the Secretary General has challenged us to make 2005 a year of change for the United Nations. Sweden is ready to assume its responsibility and to work actively with you, the Secretary-General and other Member States to make this come true.
Thank you.