United States Sees Key Role for United Nations in 2007
09 January 2007
Security Council discusses priorities in meeting with new secretary-general
United Nations -- In 2007, the U.N. Security Council must be ready to deal with terrorism, cross-border violence, widespread and systematic human rights violations, refugee flows and political instability before these issues escalate into wars, the United States says.
U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said January 8 that as the challenges facing the international community grow more complex, the council must act not only to manage conflicts but to prevent them, and then help countries emerging from crisis situations consolidate peace based on economic and political development.
In facing these challenges, said Wolff, the current head of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, the Security Council "must be prepared to act quickly to respond to emerging threats or developing crises; but ... must act in a way that improves the situation on the ground."
Wolff spoke during the Security Council's first meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who began a five-year term at the beginning of January, to discuss the council's priorities for 2007. In 2006, the council grappled with human rights abuses in Burma, conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, nuclear weapons programs in North Korea and Iran, and political and security challenges in Afghanistan and Iraq -- all of which remain on the council's agenda.
The United Nations has 18 peacekeeping missions, with an all-time high of 100,000 personnel and increases scheduled for some missions in 2007. The United Nations is engaged to some degree in another 12 peace operations, the secretary-general reported.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on January 8 announced the nomination of Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to be the chief envoy to the United Nations, highlighting the importance of the organization to the United States. (See related article.)
The challenges facing the United Nations demand a skilled and experienced diplomat with proven ability to lead from principle and to build consensus -- attributes Khalilzad has demonstrated as the current U.S. ambassador to Iraq, former envoy to Afghanistan and former special assistant to President Bush, Rice said.
In a statement from Baghdad, Iraq, Khalilzad pledged to advance "an agenda to promote our common interests -- a world in which we take collective action against threats to security, in which freedom and democracy are expanding, in which the rule of law becomes more widespread, and in which all nations enjoy economic prosperity."
Ban told the council that the Darfur region of Sudan -- where the humanitarian situation is growing worse despite international efforts over the past three years -- is a top priority. One of his first initiatives was to appoint former Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson as his special envoy for Darfur and immediately send him to the region.
Ban said the council must do more to invigorate nonproliferation efforts, including addressing the special challenges Iran and North Korea pose. Terrorism, he continued, demands "urgent, sustained and comprehensive attention from the international community."
Wolff said in the past few years the council increasingly has dealt not only with conflicts between states, but conflicts within states. Citing Darfur as a prime example, he said internal conflicts create unstable borders, increase regional tensions and result in significant economic and social burdens.
"Not only does this council need to act to protect civilian populations that are the targets of their own government, but experience has demonstrated many times over that in today's world, events occurring in one country affect the world beyond its boundaries," the ambassador said.
Wolff also said the terrorist group al-Qaida has issued an explicit threat against the United Nations and its peacekeepers. "We know that terrorists still work to kill innocent civilians around the world and [the Security Council] has a responsibility to meet these threats with unity of purpose and clear resolve," he said.
The 15-nation Security Council is responsible for maintaining international peace and security. Its decisions are binding on all U.N. members. It has no set schedule of meetings and its members are on call at all times.
Members of the 2007 Security Council are Belgium, China, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Panama, Peru, Qatar, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The full text of Wolff’s statement to the Security Council is available on the Web site of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
For more information on U.S. policies, see The United States and the United Nations.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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