YouSaid · the spoken record

David Andrews

lines on the record

64

first

1998-09-24

most recent

1999-09-24

sittings or episodes

2

sources

un-general-debate

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1. “What steps have we taken to build on the Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted five years ago by consensus at the Vienna Conference, which specifically reaffirmed the right to development? These are some questions that we might well ask ourselves during the current session of the Assembly. On the question of capital punishment, another important human rights issue is the abuse of the death penalty. Ireland will continue to work for the universal abolition of capital punishment. We welcome the fact that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, again at its recent fifty-fourth session, addressed this issue directly. We also welcome the adoption in July of the Statute for the International Criminal Court at the international conference hosted so effectively by Italy. This is truly a landmark development.”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

2. “In this, the fiftieth anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we must reaffirm our collective commitment to promoting respect for these rights and freedoms by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal recognition and observance. The Universal Declaration, in my view, is as relevant today as it was five decades ago when it was drafted by the representatives of developed and developing countries with important input from members of civil society. It is a universal benchmark. 37 We all have questions to answer. The first might be: How have we lived up to the standards set out in the Universal Declaration?”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

3. “The inexcusable delay in addressing the question of landmines was a glaring failure of the international community to look squarely at an issue of human security which was fundamental to development. Another example is the persistence of expenditure on arms in certain countries, which is out of all proportion to social spending. This state of affairs must cease and the arms trade that feeds it must be curtailed. I would personally like to see it stopped and put out of existence. On the question of human rights, a further and very pervasive root cause of instability and conflict is inadequate respect of the very rights of which I am speaking. There are too many specific instances of human rights abuse in every region of the world. There are hopeful signs — for example, in Nigeria and East Timor — but elsewhere the situation remains bleak.”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

4. “My colleagues and I have therefore prepared a draft resolution which sets out an agenda for the definitive elimination of nuclear weapons for all time and which we ask the Assembly to consider and adopt in the First Committee. On the question of landmines, coincidentally and fortuitously, last week I presided over a landmine conference in Dublin while the International Campaign to Ban Landmines was meeting in my own capital city to develop a civil-society-based landmine monitor. We received the welcome news that the fortieth ratification of the landmines Convention had just taken place. We now have a total ban in place and can set our minds to eradicating these obscene instruments and their consequences.”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

5. “That is why Ireland has, this year, joined with seven like-minded States — Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa and Sweden — to launch the declaration “Towards a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World: The Need for A New Agenda”. The steps called for in the New Agenda are premised on a clear and unambiguous commitment to be undertaken by the five nuclear-weapon States to engage in nuclear disarmament negotiations within an entirely new context. They are also premised on a similar commitment by the three nuclear-weapon-capable States — India, Pakistan and, of course, Israel — not parties to the NPT. This session of the General Assembly provides a unique opportunity to give substance to proposals such as those contained in the Joint Ministerial Declaration of 9 June.”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

6. “Yet, while the past 10 years have witnessed important steps to reduce nuclear arsenals, there has been no clear commitment on the part of nuclear- weapon States to proceed rapidly to nuclear disarmament, as required by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Ireland?s advocacy of nuclear disarmament has been consistent and unrelenting. We have been the strongest protagonists of the achievement of the goals of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Ireland proposed in 1958 and was the author of at that time. We must begin to take certain fundamental steps now to achieve the NPT?s non- discriminatory and universal application. We cannot enter the third millennium with the prospect that nuclear weapons will be considered legitimate for the indefinite future.”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

7. “For its part, Ireland has increased significantly the level of its commitment. I am pleased to say that our Development Assistance Programme now supports 32 funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, compared to 13 just five years ago. I pledge before this Assembly the continuation of Ireland?s support in that regard. Again, the question of disarmament and nuclear disarmament was raised by my Swedish colleague, the previous speaker. The end of the cold war provided the international community with a unique opportunity to accomplish the final elimination of nuclear weapons and to usher in a nuclear-free world.”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

8. “Last week, my Government agreed on a package of debt alleviation measures for developing countries, in the multilateral and bilateral fields, amounting to some $46 million, which is a considerable sum of money for a country the size of Ireland, and I think it was a measure 36 of the bona fides of our intention in this whole area of development cooperation. For Ireland, support for development cooperation means, by definition, support for the United Nations in this vital area. The United Nations has only the resources which the Member States give it. These must reflect our political commitment to confront challenges. I think that is why declining contributions to core resources for United Nations funds, programmes and agencies are a matter of deep and grave concern.”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

9. “I will allude for a moment to Ireland?s development cooperation programme, if I may. As for Ireland?s contribution, it is with some pride that I can say that we have one of the fastest growing development cooperation programmes in the world today. The Irish Government is committed to reaching the United Nations target for official development assistance — that is, 0.7 per cent of gross national product — and I think it?s fair to say that we are fully determined to make further progress towards this goal in the coming years.”

   1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

10. “A new partnership must address not only aid flows but also the crippling problem of debt. It must assist developing countries to participate on a fair basis in the world economy. Development cooperation is not only about reducing unacceptable levels of poverty. All countries, developed and developing alike, must together address shared priorities that affect all our countries and all our peoples. An integrated approach is called for, as previous speakers have mentioned. In this context, I welcome in particular the seminal report of the Secretary-General — I have already welcomed it in a committee today — on the causes of conflict and sustainable development in Africa. We will work actively with other Member States to ensure that this report receives the strongly positive response it deserves.”

    1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

11. “As my Swedish colleague has said, the Austrian Presidency has spoken and addressed the Assembly on behalf of the 15 Member States of the European Union, expressing our position on many issues. Nevertheless, I will focus my remarks on a number of issues which are of particular importance to the country which I represent. We should all acknowledge that there can be no real peace or security without development. Development is about dignity and offering impoverished people around the world the chance of a better life now and better prospects for their children. This is not too much to ask. Its achievement, however, requires a new partnership of international engagement and commitment. All of us must share a determination to break down the walls of exclusion and marginalization that divide our world.”

    1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

12. “More than 1 billion people struggle to survive on less than a dollar a day. Environmental degradation and natural disasters wreak unnecessary havoc on entire nations. Meanwhile, obscenely disproportionate levels of resources are diverted to fuel the arms trade and supply the unjustifiably large arsenals in parts of the world that can least afford it. Human rights remain to be fully respected in all regions. I think that these realities are among the root causes of the conflicts confronting us today. If the new millennium is to open with real prospects of alleviating such conflict situations, it is the root causes which we must together tackle; prevention is always better, and certainly less costly, than cure.”

    1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

13. “Irish people strongly support that commitment. We feel close bonds with the United Nations. With many like-minded countries, we have striven to uphold and develop the universal role of the Organization for the promotion of peace, development, international cooperation and human rights. These purposes are linked in the Charter and they are linked in reality. All around us, side by side with rapid technological and material development, we see in every region of the world uncertainty, insecurity and conflict. Our attention has been gripped this year by the severe economic and financial difficulties which are besetting developed and emerging markets as well as economies in transition. The full effects of these difficulties have yet to play themselves out. We are all affected.”

    1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)

14. “Let me at the very outset extend to Mr. Opertti our warm congratulations upon his election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty- third session. We are particularly pleased to see presiding the Foreign Minister of Uruguay, a country with which Ireland has always enjoyed the friendliest of relations. His rich experience in politics, education, diplomacy and the law will serve the Assembly well as he directs its work for the coming year. Also on behalf of the Irish people, I wish to pay a particular tribute to the Secretary-General for the thoughtful and determined leadership which he has brought from the African continent to the discharge of his most challenging office. Commitment to the work of this Organization is a central part of Ireland?s foreign policy and of her place in the world.”

    1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)