YouSaid · the spoken record

Jens Stoltenberg

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20

first

2007-09-24

most recent

2008-09-24

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2

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un-general-debate

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1. “Finally, I would like to say a few words about a fellow Nordic country. For the first time since 08-51851 46 becoming a Member State of the United Nations in 1946 — after 62 years — Iceland is a candidate for the Security Council. Iceland’s candidature reflects the long-standing commitment of all the Nordic countries to international peace and the vital work of the United Nations. Iceland enjoys the active support of its partners in the Nordic group: Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway. I urge members to take that into account.”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

2. “Efforts against deforestation may give us the largest, quickest and cheapest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In the years leading up to 2015 Norway will contribute up to $1 billion to reduce deforestation in the Amazon. This contribution makes Norway the first contributor to the Amazon Fund. The size of Norway’s contribution will depend on how successful Brazil will be in reducing deforestation. In Bali last December, Norway announced a major initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Deforestation must be included in a new global agreement on climate change. Addressing climate change in a fashion that will stand the test of time and the scrutiny of future generations ultimately boils down to us versus the sand in the hourglass. It is a test of maturity for international cooperation.”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

3. “does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play”. And still I would add that health, education and the joy of play form the capital that must grow and spread. Then, and only then, will we reach more equal levels of development and opportunity. I have come here directly from a visit to the great rainforests of the Amazon, in Brazil, a country whose president is committed to lifting his people out of destitution. That has been President Lula’s leitmotif throughout his political life. Norway is a fortunate and developed country. From that follows a moral responsibility. We pursue wider development goals and seek to generate positive incentives for change and improve climate change policies.”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

4. “Let us look for a moment at what is happening on Wall Street and in financial markets around the world. There, unsound investment threatens the homes and the jobs of the middle class. Something is fundamentally wrong when money seems to be abundant but funds for investment in people seem so short in supply. Market mechanisms will not fund schools in Afghanistan, hospitals in Rwanda, vaccines given in the slums and the ghettos. That kind of investment requires political will and decisions. And we must provide the framework that will direct resources towards those ends. When Robert Kennedy was running for president 40 years ago, he said in a speech that a country’s health cannot be measured simply by its economic output. That output, he said, “counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them … yet ...”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

5. “If we succeed, we will build more sustainable societies, reduce conflict potential and provide a better basis for growth. We are making progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Poverty is being reduced. Child mortality is falling. But we have not made any progress at all with regard to maternal health. That is appalling. There can be only one reason for this awful situation, and that is a persistent neglect of women in a world dominated by men. Just think of all the millions of young girls and young women who know, and who fear and dread, that giving life may cause their own death. All this human tragedy is avoidable by simple means, but we have not taken the problem seriously. Money does not seem to be a problem when the problem is money.”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

6. “That is why we will be keeping a watchful eye on how the funds and programmes manage their resources and our contributions. We and other donor countries will have to require improved accountability, transparency and a results-based management system. Reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is our foremost priority. We have assumed a special responsibility regarding MDG 4 on child mortality and MDG 5 on maternal health. We must all dedicate the next seven years to the bottom billion. Several leaders joined me today in presenting a report from the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals. We also presented a plan for the next seven years — an exceptional plan that can allow us to save 10 million lives.”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

7. “The Secretary-General addressed this issue with strong conviction on Tuesday (5th meeting). 45 08-51851 We should support him in that process. I am vesting hope in the ongoing deliberation on system-wide coherence. I co-chaired the High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence, and I am heartened that more and more countries seem to be opting in on the “One UN” approach. Some organizations, funds and programmes are making efficiency gains. They are truly exceptions. Still, Norway is committed to using the United Nations as the arena for our most important international policymaking activities. We allocate 0.98 per cent of our national income to official development aid. We are the seventh largest contributor to the United Nations in absolute terms.”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

8. “We have great institutional capacity. We discuss, we deliberate and we study, but we are too often unable to decide. Often, those countries that want the least are the countries that decide the most. Those that want the least amount of change and progress are able to slow us down and block decisions. Now also the Security Council seems to face difficulties after many good years. All countries, all Member States share the responsibility for the functioning of the United Nations as a decision-making body that serves us, that is for people, that solves global problems and that allows all people to benefit from the rights with which they were born and which are written in the Declaration on Human Rights. To become more effective, the United Nations must reform.”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

9. “This year, we left on the table the unfinished business of the Doha Round of trade negotiations. The break-up of those talks has stalled our efforts to provide billions of people with increased economic opportunity. It is crucial that we restart this process. We face a global food crisis. The Secretary- General has described the effect of that crisis on hundreds of millions of people who do not know if they will have enough to eat tomorrow. Climate and energy are among the biggest issues of our time. They must be on the top of our agenda. These big issues are also all about poverty, inequity and gender. Leadership is called for — leadership here at the United Nations. I believe we face not only a food crisis, an energy crisis, a climate crisis, a trade-talk crisis, but a larger, decision-making crisis.”

   2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

10. “Sixty years ago, in the fall of 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That international bill of rights contains a forceful reminder that force can and will be checked, and that the prime purpose of our work here is to keep the strong just and the weak secure. We will celebrate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights later this fall, and we shall be guided by its wording in everything we do. The rights and opportunities of individuals, groups and countries are fundamental, and the United Nations is at the top of the system that oversees those superior rules. When I come here every year, I am struck by the broad span of items that are discussed in the United Nations. We need to ask, are we focusing on the truly essential, most serious issues of our times?”

    2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)

11. “Rather, we put forward some practical, achievable and effective measures, building on the thrust of decisions already made by Member States. New gender architecture is urgently needed. I urge Member States to demonstrate the required vision and leadership. This will be an important task for this General Assembly. Norway prides itself on being a friend of the United Nations. We support multilateral solutions to common problems, but a true friend does not refrain from speaking out when change and improvement are required. We believe in international development cooperation; we believe in a strong and efficient United Nations; therefore, we would like to reform the United Nations.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

12. “I am pleased to see the progress being made in the eight pilot countries, where the "One United Nations' model is being implemented in practice. I am also pleased to see that these countries have adopted different "One United Nations' processes and models that are tailored to each country's specific situation. This shows that there is no blueprint. United Nations funds and programmes operating in the field are already responding. Increasingly, we see better coordination and stronger leadership. I commend the United Nations bodies that have adopted the new guiding principles, and I appeal to the others to follow suit. The Panel's report sets out a way forward. The United Nations has not broken down, but it requires maintenance; therefore, the Panel did not propose revolutionary changes.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

13. “We have worked with the United Nations system to abolish diseases, such as smallpox, and repressive regimes, such as apartheid. And we continue our struggle to abolish poverty, child mortality, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment - and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Today more and more people are breaking out of poverty. We have never had greater capacities to bridge the gaps between us, but we cannot allow the international community to waste resources or to work towards the Millennium Development Goals in anything but the most effective and rewarding ways. We must focus our work, measure our results and show that development, as organized by the United Nations, pays high rewards. That is why we need to be open-minded, recognizing that the most radical step we can take is to do nothing.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

14. “The Panel set out with ambitions driven by a sense of responsibility, knowing that our most important constituency is not the United Nations itself, but those millions of people who do not enjoy the prosperity and freedom that many of us take for granted. Yet those people, whose life situation gave rise to the Millennium Development Goals, who right now wonder how they will make it through the day - it is for the sake of those poor and destitute people that we must have an efficient United Nations, one that is well governed and well funded and that will remain a global repository of hope. That is why we are under an obligation to take a fresh look at the way in which we have come to build a fragmented United Nations, one that risks being weakened, marginalized and less relevant.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

15. “The Panel held meetings in many parts of the world and listened to countries, regional groups, citizens groups, voluntary organizations and many individuals. In November last year we presented our report (A/61/583) and recommendations to the Secretary-General. They are an honest attempt to boost the Organization's ability to live up to its potential. At the heart of our report, we recommend establishing "One United Nations" in each country: one leader, one programme, one budget and one office, wherever feasible. Also - equally important for a better functioning United Nations: we need a better focused management system at Headquarters level. The Sustainable Development Board aims at precisely that.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

16. “I am also pleased to announce that we are building a network of global leaders to oversee and ensure that the women and children will indeed be given priority. Today, let me also announce that Norway is pledging $1 billion over 10 years to support the Millennium Development Goals on child and maternal health. The global campaign that we launched today, builds directly on the recommendations from the High- level Panel on System-wide Coherence, which I had the privilege of chairing together with my colleagues from Pakistan and Mozambique. We need a strong and efficient United Nations; we need a United Nations that delivers results; we need a United Nations that delivers on the Millennium Development Goals. Addressing these challenges was the mandate of the Panel.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

17. “And not only newborns, but their mothers as well. Each year 500,000 women die in connection with childbirth. Simple, affordable measures can save millions. Today Norway, together with other Governments, agencies and civil society, launched a global campaign to do precisely that: save millions of lives. The campaign's main thrusts are organizing and financing survival; ensuring that health personnel treat more patients and file fewer reports; and changing the financing mechanism so that treating patients becomes a source of income rather than a cost for health systems. Today we are launching an advocacy campaign for women and children to ensure that our message will reach every corner of the world.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

18. “However, unless we make an extra effort, we will not fulfil the promises we made to the people of the world. In particular, we are lagging behind in fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on child and maternal health. Every year almost ten million children die before the age of five. Many lives can be saved using inexpensive and effective vaccines. Norway has contributed to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) since its inception in the year 2000. We have already managed to save more than two million lives through this alliance. But we need to move beyond vaccination. Each year two million babies die before the sun sets on their first day of life. The four million newborns who die in their first month might survive if they were breastfed and had access to antibiotics and health workers.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

19. “Therefore, they must also take special responsibility for bringing the global emissions of greenhouse gases back to a sustainable level. Our long-term goal should be to avoid temperature increases above two degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial level. Meeting the challenge of climate change is within our reach. However, it requires that our response be strong and coherent. We need to provide the worldwide private sector with strong incentives for cutting emissions. That is why it is essential to put a price on carbon emissions and to expand the carbon market. Seven years ago, I was one of the 189 heads of State or Government who signed the Millennium Declaration. We undertook a commitment to deliver on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)

20. “Two days ago, world leaders met here in this Hall and made strong statements on the urgent need to address climate change. We heard the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Mr. Pachauri, present compelling evidence on the state of the world climate. He outlined a dire picture of the future state of the planet if strong and joint action is not taken. We have no time to lose. It is imperative that we reach a comprehensive post-Kyoto agreement. The new agreement must be firmly anchored in the United Nations, and it must include all major emitting countries and all major sectors. When we meet in Bali in December we should agree on the roadmap for the coming negotiations. The industrialized countries bear a special responsibility for the current state of our atmosphere.”

    2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)