Address by H.E. Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai,
Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand,
on the Occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations, United Nations
Conference Centre,
Bangkok, 24 October 2005

Ms. Joana Merlin-Scholtes, United Nations Resident Coordinator,
Mr. Shigeru Mochida, Deputy Executive Secretary of UN-ESCAP,
Dr. Manaspas Xuto, President of the United Nations Association of Thailand,
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

          I am deeply honoured to be here representing the Prime Minister, H.E. Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra, at this landmark anniversary for the United Nations. Sixty is an auspicious number for Thais and many of our Asian neighbours. For the UN at 60, therefore, I wish, on behalf of the people and the government of Thailand, to sincerely offer our heartfelt congratulations for the remarkable accomplishments and best wishes for greater success in the future.

            Since acceding to the Organization in 1946, Thailand has never ceased making our active contribution toward the good work of the Organization. Our active participation, collaboration and cooperation with the UN ranged from the many law-making conferences such as all the 3 Law of the Sea Conferences in 1958, 1960 and 1973 to the Indochinese refugees crisis in the 1960s, the elections in Cambodia in the 1990s, the continuing reconstruction of Afghanistan, and most recently the massive humanitarian relief following the Indian Ocean Tsunami, to name but a very few. It is a relationship that we, together with other Member States, must continue to strengthen if we are to overcome the challenges and crises facing us today and tomorrow.

            The world today is altogether a new different landscape from the post war 1945. The world today is altogether more complex and interdependent than the one in 1945 when our Charter was signed. Inevitably, many of the challenges and crises of the world today are different from those in the founding year and the years that followed. Yet, despite the six decades of highly commendable accomplishments of the United Nations, some of the challenges to mankind remain with us in the 21st Century. Poverty is one. Act of aggression is another.

           Today, in the era which we call "globalization" these challenges and crises are not just numerous, they are more intertwined, more complicated and more difficult to resolve. They demand more prompt and effective responses. They demand greater and even more efficient management. And they require a more dynamic organization that is flexible but totally committed, both on its own part and its membership, to the principles and objectives enshrined in the Charter to solve.

           The United Nations retains the potential to be our most valuable agent of progress and change. Today, it faces new challenges: international terrorism, nuclear security, health pandemics, human rights abuses, new tensions and simmering conflicts in addition to the more than a billion that still remain in poverty across the world.

           As the processes of globalization continue to unfold before us, the United Nations must look to the dangers and opportunities of our weakest citizens. As we turn away from our reliance only on international financial assistance to harnessing the power of private investment, international trade and the inherent economic potential of people, the United Nations can identify new dangers and find new solutions to ensure everyone may benefit.

          A call for UN reform cannot be more timely.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

           The 60th anniversary today will mark the beginning of the new era and the new role for this global body.

          Two years ago Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced that our organization had come to a fork in the road. .

          Early this year, in his report, he succinctly indicated in three words which branch of the fork our organization should be taking: In larger freedom, reiterating the preamble of our Charter.

          Last month in New York, the leaders of all UN membership made their commitment on how this generation and those of our children will live their lives in larger freedom. The Outcome Document adopted at the end of that historic World Summit is a significant step towards a reinvigorated and reformed organization. One that can better address our fears and fulfill our aspirations. One that can better address the challenge of matching the structure, capacity and our commitment to the organization with its responsibilities and potential.

          In arriving at the forthcoming reform, the World Summit reaffirmed the commitment of Member States to an efficient, effective and accountable Secretariat. We must now build on this commitment to see its promises fulfilled. It is essential that secretariat and management reform at the UN be taken in the right direction to make the institution more effective, more efficient, more transparent and more accountable in the activities it undertakes.

          This means, for example, taking the initiative to review mandates created by General Assembly resolutions. It also means having the courage to take concrete action based on what we learn from the review. It means allowing senior staff the discretion to exercise increased managerial authority and leadership while being held accountable for the results they help to produce through credible oversight mechanisms. It also means having a Secretariat that is accountable to the General Assembly and to all stakeholders, and that fosters integrity and transparency in all its activities.


        Secretary-General Kofi Annan has pledged a number of reforms of the management and to make them a reality. As he begins this mission, Thailand and all the Member States must be working closely with him to ensure that everyone will have trust and confidence in the reformed management that makes the Organization most adept to carry out its reformed tasks.

       The Thai Government is fully supporting the Secretary-General's endeavour to drive the process of extensive management reform of the secretariat. Having successfully been through several major reforms of our Thai bureaucracy in the last four and a half years, we understand the need, the difficulty, the immensity of its obstacles and the magnitude of this mission.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

         Human rights, security and development are the three pillars of the reform. The creation of a Human Rights Council will no doubt help improve all our efforts to promote and protect human rights for all mankind. But promotion of human rights is not a matter of finger-pointing alone. To succeed, the new Human Rights Council must devote a large proportion of its tasks to human rights promotion through greater education and understanding. Human rights and democracy are inextricably part of one another. To promote one is to promote the other. But the prerequisite to human rights and democracy lies first and foremost with human dignity where the human race is free from fear and free from want. Without human dignity, human security is hard to achieve. To live with human dignity, a citizen needs to have the basic needs and necessities of clean water to quench his thirst, food to feed his hunger, medicine to cure his illness, clothing to cover himself, and a shelter to cover his head. Meeting the requirements of these basic needs will lead to more freedom for our people.

          Therefore, human rights, human security and development cannot be considered in isolation of each other. By the year 2015 which is the target of the Millennium Development Goals, sustainable development is no longer an aspiration but a reality.

         To do so, the United Nations, our United Nations, must be truly a world citizen-centred organization in its outlook, its perception, its tasks, its actions and its responsibilities.

         The UN has a broad array of tools at their disposal but their effectiveness is a function of coordination of their agencies, between their agencies and other international financial institutions, and between their agencies and Member States. All agencies must coordinate to utilize their unique strength of network for the benefits of the citizens of the world, especially in areas of security, poverty reduction, disaster relief, and the spread of pandemics. For example, standby arrangements on disaster relief linked with the Security Council may strengthen and speed up coordination among UN agencies and Member States. Furthermore, a special system and real-time coordination between UN agencies and Member States will create an effective prevention of avian flu. For these are issues which have no political boundary, and can emerge and spread at "a speed of light". The UN must be responsive to the diverse requirements of different peoples, different situations, different circumstances, different culture and different socio-political environment.

         We must create effective mechanisms for both the North-South and South-South partnership. As much as financing for development is required, a free and fair multilateral trade system is indispensable to enable the countries in the South to stand on their own feet and to achieve development through self-help. An effective self-help, based on people-centred approach, depends also on a partnership between the government, the people, the civic society and the private and business sector.

          While the announcement by the G-8 in Gleneagles on debt relief is greatly welcomed, we all have to work together on jobs and revenue creation. Debt relief without ability to generate jobs and income will leave the poor in the same debt situation within a short period of time. Thailand is ready and willing to share our experiences in various job and income creation programmes such as the One-Village-One-Product scheme known as OTOP, or the launching of a village-based repair shop known as Fix-It Center, with the UN and our friends from developing countries. Development initiatives including those related to the creation of jobs and income are programmes in which the United Nations and Member States can work closely together in partnership with multi-stakeholders so as to be tailor-made for each sub-region and each country.

        Countries of the South can form partnership between themselves, starting from partnership in the neighbourhood, partnership in the sub-region, partnership in the region, and partnership between different sub-regions and between regions. These partnerships, when linked with the UN system with a more effective mechanism, can bring real change and real action to the sustainable development process.

      Thailand has been an active and reliable partner of the UN on this front. Just last month, the United Nations Country Team in Thailand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand launched a new report entitled: Global Partnership for Development: Thailand's Contribution to Millennium Development Goal 8. The Report reveals, among other things, that Thailand offers more open trade concessions and provides more aid as a proportion of its income to least developed countries than many developed countries. Still, we are ready to do more to fulfill the development promise of the World Summit Outcome.

          Fully convinced and committed to the notion of partnership for development, in the last few years when I was Foreign Minister, Thailand has initiated a tripartite partnership with a number of developed nations to work in partnership with Thailand, using our different comparative advantages, to offer assistance programmes to third countries in various regions.

        The need for the Peacebuilding Commission is long overdue. Its creation is a recognition of the need to ensure that once armed conflict has ended, a country would not fall into the same situation again. All infrastructure for peace must be installed and strengthened immediately. The linkage between Peacebuilding Commission and the Bretton Wood Institutions must be established for peace to be sustainable.

         TTerrorism also poses threat to development. But at the same time, poverty and economic deprivation could be a breeding cause of terrorism. Either way, Thailand agrees with the Secretary-General in his address to the 60th General Assembly just over a month ago when he urged all members to forge a global counter-terrorism strategy that weakens terrorists and strengthens the international community.

         Greater progress has still to be made on the reform of the UN's existing organs. Reform of the Security Council has been discussed for many years and continues to be an important element in creating a more effective institution. Proposals for its expansion often appear to generate far more controversy than they do progress. Given its powers and responsibilities under the Charter, its continuing effectiveness is of great concern to us all. While continuing discussion is welcomed, it must not be allowed to undermine or derail the broader reform process.

        Similarly, the General Assembly has enormous potential to speak on issues of international concern with clarity, legitimacy and pertinence. But with 191 member states facing a great many pressing issues it must do more to structure its debates, streamline its work, and prioritize its resolutions. As for ECOSOC, we welcome its role in the realization of the Millennium Development Goals. It must now realize its potential to coordinate the UN's many agencies, the international financial institutions and other international stakeholders through the adoption of more efficient decision-making processes and the search for more innovative partnerships and approaches.

         In our efforts to reform this great Organization, accountability should be our motto. And we should be careful that this means the right thing in the right context. The accountability of the UN as an institution is a matter of strategic partnership, effective management and shared objectives. The accountability of its institutional management is one of honesty and integrity. And the accountability of the UN's activities and initiatives to citizens is a matter of political courage, requiring transparency and opportunities for dialogue and democratic choice.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

          The United Nations and its various agencies can also be incubators for new ideas, clearing houses for sharing experience, resources for national and local experimentation for the benefit of the world. Only with the sustained commitment and engagement of Member States can the UN serve these great purposes. Today more than ever, the United Nations must be well-equipped to tackle new and serious challenges facing the international community that must be addressed with commensurate wisdom and determination.

       Prime Minister Thaksin has made it clear when he spoke at the World Summit last month that it is "We the peoples", as enshrined in the Charter, who the UN is representing. We believe in and shall totally support the reform process that renders the United Nations a genuine global citizen-centered organization. We believe in the reform process that renders a more effective, more efficient, more transparent and more accountable United Nations to take us through the challenges of the new millennium. And we do not believe in any reform process that shall render a divisive United Nations.

         Having been invited by the Swedish Prime Minister, as President of the 60th Session of the General Assembly, to join the 14 nation "Leaders' Network in Support of UN Reform", a forum initiated to provide political impetus to UN reform in all areas, Prime Minister Thaksin is hoping to contribute many of his practical views of reforms and management to the discussions and the work of the Network. In addition, Thailand has also been invited to join in a small study group on management reform, whose results will be provided to the new Secretary-General in early 2007. It is hoped that Thailand, with its just right economic and political profile in the international community, is well placed to bridge the developed and developing countries both in Asia and outside Asia to lead to the practical implementation of the UN reform.

         Thailand is committed to support the UN and other Member States during this crucial time. We believe that the UN reform is an agenda for shared vision and thus shared responsibilities. It requires commitment of all Member States. It is a test of the leadership of our time for the future of our children. It shall be an inheritance this generation shall leave to the world and the next generations.

         Since this year also marks the centenary of the birth of one of our great Secretary-Generals, Dag Hammarskjold, allow me to conclude in his honour. In 1956, he said, "The governments signatories to the Charter have formulated here a policy which, in the light of history, may well come to be regarded as one of the most significant landmarks of our times." In paraphrasing the great Dag Hammarskjold, the governments of the Member States today will have done a reform which, in the light of history, may well come to be regarded as one of the most significant landmarks of our times. And, as he said in 1959, "in this, they have embarked on a career entirely in the spirit of the age, and one which belongs to the future".

           I thank you for your attention.