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Mr.
President
Your
Excellencies
I
would like to offer my congratulations to our
President on his election, In doing so, I assure
all our fellow members of Brunei Darussalam's
continued strong support for the United Nations.
Mr.
President,
Much
of the attention at almost every great
international meeting for the past four years
has been given to the inhuman acts of global
terrorists. Inevitably, this has focused on
specific events. This is understandable, of
course and we in Brunei Darussalam again add our
voice to the condemnation of all such actions.
We offer our deepest condolences to the families
of all who have suffered loss.
Nevertheless as we meet our respected fellow
members of the United Nations, we again state
what we have continued to state ever since the
onset of the current wave of global terrorism.
These brutal attacks extend beyond personal
grief and national condemnation. They are
symptomatic of many grave threats the people of
the world face today. As such, they constitute
nothing less than an attack on world order.
For this reason, Mr. President, we believe it is
high time world order asserted itself in modern
terms.
In other words, a new, revitalized United
Nations is called for - not for us as Heads of
state; nor for our diplomats; nor for any of us
who are privileged and have the means, the
education, and the opportunity to live in hope
and confidence. A new United Nations is needed
by the ordinary citizens we are privileged to
represent here.
If world order is indeed under attack, that
means ordinary people and their families are
under attack and, in far too many ways, it is
not merely an attack. It is a full-out assault.
It comes not merely from criminal terrorists. It
comes from many aspects of globalization; from
international crime; from new technology; from
social and cultural disruption; from a rapidly
degrading environment; and from the grave
threats posed by the possible spread of fearful
new diseases. In real, immediate human terms, it
comes from fear, injustice, a loss of absolute
values and from sheer rage. It is revealed in
feelings of hopelessness and an almost total
loss of confidence.
Many of us here, especially those from small
developing nations, are therefore convinced that
world order must be dramatically strengthened.
As I stated at the high level plenary meeting
two days ago, there is no greater way to begin
this process than for each of us to achieve the
millennium development goals. For this reason,
we in Brunei Darussalam will do whatever we can
to achieve them in our own country and help our
neighbours do likewise.
Mr.
President,
In
setting the millennium goals, we have recognized
that, to re-establish world order, the root
causes of anger, despair, injustice and hatred
must be addressed. I would therefore once more
like to commend the Secretary-General and his
staff and all the United Nations agencies, both
professional and volunteer, for all they have
done in the field to deepen our understanding of
these causes.
These have become clearly defined in all their
urgency. They are political, social, cultural
and economic. In each case, we do not believe
that solutions can be imposed. When the
international community is so gravely divided on
matters such as nuclear development, arms
proliferation, globalization, the environment
and social injustice, this body must be the
judge of whether international conduct is
acceptable. Solutions to international problems
must come from a truly United Nations acting in
concert.
In other words - an efficient world organization
committed to solving root causes and to
insisting that dialogue and negotiation are the
sole means of settling disputes, no matter how
long it takes, and no matter how frustrating the
process may be.
The global crisis arising from finding the best
way to deal with modern, technologically-fuelled
terrorism highlights this need.
For many years, we have maintained that
understanding root causes must be a very
important part of any long-term approach to
terrorist activities.
Of course, every possible form of bilateral and
multilateral cooperation is needed to deal with
the criminals involved. But condemnation is not
enough and legislation is never sufficient. Any
justification for acts of terrorism must be
resolutely countered, not by exchanges of
opposing definitions of evil but by
determination to remove any possible root cause
that some may wrongly see as justifying such
acts.
That is very difficult. It requires consensus
here at the United Nations as to what
constitutes injustice, especially historic
injustice and what constitutes unfairness.
That, in turn, demands a new reformed United
Nations.
Mr.
President,
We are
a small nation. Our interest lies in working
closely with all other members. For this reason,
we shall offer whatever help we can to building
the broadest possible consensus in all the many
far-reaching decisions that this organisation is
currently called upon to make.
The most important of these decisions at present
concern the question of United Nations reform.
Like many fellow members, we have long given
this our strong support. In recent months,
however, we have held discussions with many
colleagues that go far beyond matters of
principle. They deal with specific proposals.
Most of these aim at re-designing the structure
of the organisation up to and including the
security Council. Our response has been the one
we have always offered. We will listen with
respect; we will acknowledge the good faith of
all fellow members; and we will help in any way
we can to achieve the broadest possible
consensus.
This, we think, is not a matter of opting out of
the hard decisions that have to be made. On the
contrary, we believe it serves to recognize how
hard those decisions are and how important this
body is to the world.
The consensus that was reached sixty years ago
was a strong one. It served the world well for
many decades. It now appears very clear that,
although its structure is still in place, the
world has changed enormously. A new consensus is
being sought.
Unlike the one reached at the end of World War
Two, it is not directed at the means to maintain
peace. It is aimed at creating the conditions
for lasting peace. We see this as the only way
for the United Nations to bring all the forces
of violence and inhumanity back within a strong
and just world order.
When it is time for this assembly to decide, we
in Brunei Darussalam will be considering any
motion in this light.
Thank
you. |
