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Presidential and Ministerial Statements - UN Finance - Global Policy Forum Presidential and Ministerial Statements
on the UN Financial Crisisat the 52nd Session of the UN General Assembly 1997
Excerpted from Statements Made during the opening General Debate
ERIK DERYCKE
Minister of Foreign Affairs of BelgiumSeptember 25, 1997
"This year, the financial crisis of the UN must be solved. It is and remains unacceptable that Member States do not pay their dues in full and attach conditions to payment of dues.
Every participant in the General Debate should be able to proclaim from this very podium that he or she not only wishes to make the UN work more efficiently and supports the Secretary General in his efforts to achieve that goal, but also that his or her contribution are paid on time, in full, and without conditions. That is the way to prove our commitment to the goals of our Organization and to our common agenda."
JACQUES F. POOS
President of the Council of the European Union,
Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, External Trade and Cooperation of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
September 23, 1997 "Mr. President,
Necessary though it is, the reform exercise on which we have embarked will not bear fruit until the United Nations Organization has the necessary financial resources required to fulfil its mandates.
For several years the UN has been embroiled in a financial crisis that began as a cash-flow problem but has become structural. That crisis undermines the necessary sense of partnership between Member Statesand compromises implementation of the Organization’s programmes in many areas.
The European Union has often stated that this crisis cannot be resolved until all the Member States have agreed to meet their obligations under the United Nations Charter in full, by discharging the arrears which they owe and by paying on time and without conditions the full amount of their mandatory contributions to the Organization’s regular budget and to the budget of peacekeeping operations.
The Member States of the European Union, whose contributions represent 35% of the regular budget and 38% of the peace-keeping budget, have always honoured their financial obligations promptly, fully and unconditionally.
The European Union has put forward a package of coherent proposals designed to put the Organization on a sound and predictable financial footing.
They relate to measures to speed up the payment of arrears, tighten up the system for paying contributions, monitor UN spending more closely, and reform the scales of assessment so as to better reflect the principle of ability to pay.
It is important that together, at this 52nd General Assembly, we find a constructive and viable solution to these questions, which are fundamental if we wish to make sure that our Organization has the capacity to fulfill its mandate in future."
HUBERT VEDRINE
Minister of Foreign Affairs of FranceSeptember 24, 1997
"2. Financial Reform
The financial reform of the United Nations is particularly complex. In any case, it is a shocking situation that the U.N. should be living precariously and therefore under a system of financial and budgetary dependence with respect to its debtors. I believe that we will be able to make progress toward a solution if we take as our basis three principles: what is owed the United Nations must be paid in full, on time and unconditionally.
Lastly, payment of assessments should not be a way to exert pressure on the Secretary-General and the other member States.
With these principles as the basis, France is open to discussion on all aspects of the problem. It will be necessary this year to decide on the basis of assessment among all the member States. No one is perfect but some are not as good as others. The notion of each State's capacity to pay, which has been the object of a consensus from the beginning, still seems to us today simple, logical and fair. On that basis, a solution can be reached which takes into account the needs and interests of each one. France will do its utmost to facilitate the settlement of the financial crisis. We know how to be both imaginative and conciliatory--as the European Union's plan is. But our efforts will succeed only if there is respect for the rules I have mentioned, which reflect our Organization's impartiality and credibility. If the U.N. were forced to comply with the unilateral demands of one of our number, both in regard to its financing and functioning, then how in the future can it be convincing in terms of its impartiality and fidelity to the principle of equality of all before the Charter, and obtain respect for its own decisions?"
KLAUS KINKEL
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany
September 24, 1997 "The world is not ours alone. We have to preserve it for future generations as well. And this we can only achieve through a united effort. For we are only one world community who have to survive together. There is only one boat for all, our vulnerable blue planet, and there is only one common future, good or bad.
That is the reality we face as we cross over into the third millennium. It is the rea son why policies deriving from a sense of responsibility are not utopian. Indeed, in our age they are the only realistic approach.
The world organization's programmes and funds, that is to say those of UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA and WFP, together dispense more than 4.6 billion dollars a year in the form of economic and social aid. That comes to about 80 cents for every person on earth.
By contrast, in 1994 the world's governments spent about 767 billion dollars on arms, which was roughly 134 dollars per person. This gross disproportion is intolerable.
We must all look beyond the rim of our national interests. There is no more time to lose. We cannot simply come here, make and listen to speeches, then return to business as usual for another twelve months.
...
Two years ago, on the organization's 50th birthday, we solemnly pledged to hand on to the next millennium a United Nations equipped and funded for its task. That promise has to be kept by all. This means, first and foremost, paying our contributions on time.The European Union has submitted its proposal for changing the scale of assessment. Its purpose is to ensure a fair distribution of burdens."
LAMBERTO DINI
Minister of Foreign Affairs of ItalySeptember 25, 1997
"7. To function properly the Organization has to be able to rely on adequate resources. Assessed contributions must be paid in full, on time and without conditions by Member States. Italy has always complied with this fundamental rule. Nevertheless we believe that the time has come to agree on a realistic new scale of assessments, based on Member States’ capacity to pay and making the Organization less dependent on the contributions of a single country.
However, let there be no confusion about our support for a review of the scale of assessments. There can be absolutely no link between members’ contributions and Security Council reform, lest the impression be created that permanent seats are up for sale."
ANGEL GURRIA
Minister of Foreign Affairs of MexicoSeptember 24, 1997
"With regard to the Secretary-General's proposals, we welcome them and view with special interest the idea of strengthening the Secretariat by creating a post of Deputy Secretary-General and establishing a strategic planning unit. We do not believe, however, that the objective of cutting costs should guide the reform process.
Avoiding duplication and implementing the programme of the Organization in an optimal way are the objectives that should guide our work. Mexico has repeatedly maintained that the financial situation the Organization is experiencing stems from a failure to comply with the obligations derived from the Charter. The current financial situation has no link with the assessment system. The road to dealing with it is full, timely and unconditional payment of the assessments the General Assembly assigns to Member States.
The financial crisis of the Organization should not lead us to take decisions that distort the spirit of reform we share. Carried to the extreme, this logic would call for the designation of Ted Turner as a permanent member of the Security Council, with the right of veto."
MOHAMMAD NAWAZ SHARIF
Prime Minister of PakistanSeptember 22, 1997
"The UN today stands at the brink of bankruptcy. The reform cannot and must not be victim to the narrow strategic, political and administrative preferences of a chosen few as a means of regaining the Organization's solvency. True reform has to take into account the interests of all.
The United Nations is a universal organization of one hundred and eighty-five states and their six billion people. The purpose of its creation was to serve the interests of all humankind. This should be the guiding principle for its reform.
A central weakness of the United Nations is that some members are expected to pay their contributions to its budget fully, unconditionally and on time while other delay payments. The principle of "capacity to pay" is fair; it should not be unilaterally discarded. At the same time alternate sources of funding have to be explored in order to make the United Nations immune to pressure, unhealthy influence and hostile onslaughts."
DOMINGO L. SIAYON, JR.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines29 September 1997
"Into the Financing Fray
Talking of reform is good. But our talk will lead nowhere if our Organization does not have the resources required to improve and revitalize itself. We survived the balance of terror of the Cold War. Let us now work on balancing our checkbooks in the post-Cold War era.
There is much irony in this. The end of the Cold War should also have meant an end to the astronomical finances spent on deterrence.
It might have been reasonable to expect that a fraction of those finances could now be spared to help the U.N. promote world peace, progress and prosperity. Yet this is obviously not the case.
The Secretary-General's proposed revolving credit fund of one billion dollars to be financed though voluntary contributions or other means -- if it materializes -- may provide temporary relief. However, there is a real danger that this proposal will encourage those in arrears to delay further their payments to the Organization.
The Philippines is in favor of reform. But reforming the United Nations should not be seen as an opportunity to hold our Organization to ransom. We are all in favor of reforming and strengthening the United Nations. But setting "benchmarks" of reform should not be a precondition for a Member State to pay its assessed contributions."
YEVGENI M. PRIMAKOV
Foreign Minister of the Russian FederationSeptember 23, 1997
"Reforming the UN with an eye on its increased efficiency would, of course, be inconceivable without overcoming financial problems faced by the Organization. Unfortunately, we cannot fail to observe that UN financial problems have become chronic. It should be emphasized that all Member States are responsible for the UN financial health and that all of them must pay their dues properly."
ROBIN COOK
Foreign Secretary of the United KingdomSeptember 23, 1997
"Sorting out UN finances
Let us also put the UN’s finances on a sound basis. Speaker after speaker yesterday referred to the need for us to cooperate to defeat those who make fortunes from organised crime and to contain the drugs trade, second only in value to the oil trade. We cannot defeat these well-resourced menaces to the modern world through a UN that staggers from year to year on the verge of bankruptcy.
We need a solution based on the ability to pay. The most equitable means of sharing the burden is to base contributions on share of global GNP. But that measure will only be accepted as equitable if it is updated regularly to reflect the rapid changes to the world economy. And it is not equitable that some members pay their contributions while other members do not. Britain pays in full and on time. Britain expects every member state, however large or however small, to do the same.
These three issues - institutional reform, Security Council reform, and financial reform - are critical to the UN’s future. Let us commit ourselves to progress on all these issues by the end of 1997, and solutions by this time next year. Next time we meet, let us celebrate a modern United Nations that can face the future with confidence, rather than looking back on another year of agreeing about all the questions but not being able to agree on any of the answers.
Then the UN will be able to get on with its job. There are three key areas in which the UN has a vital job to do - promoting sustainable development, promoting peace, and promoting human rights. Those are not separate challenges, but different faces of the same challenge. There can be no real and sustainable development or respect for human rights without peace. And there will be no permanent peace where there is only poverty and injustice."
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