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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

USIS Washington File

27 February 1998

TEXT: KOFI ANNAN ADDRESS TO LIONS CLUB AT UN IN NEW YORK CITY

(UN SecGen says MOU with Iraq strengthens UNSCOM's work) (1870)
United Nations -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says that in the
post-Cold War era, some may think "we need no longer fear or focus on
weapons of mass destruction. But the danger has not passed; it has
simply changed its face.
"That is why it is so important," he said February 27, "for the United
Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) -- the Special Commission
established after the Gulf War -- to continue its work in Iraq, with
free and unfettered inspections.
"The UNSCOM, in partnership with the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), has advanced the cause of disarmament on several
fronts," Annan told the Lions Club in a speech read on his behalf by
an assistant. "It has destroyed more weapons than were destroyed
during the Gulf War. It has highlighted the dangers of dual-use
technologies. And the experience has led the IAEA to review its
guidelines for inspections in other countries.
"I have great hope," the Secretary General said, "that the agreement I
reached with Iraq will prevent tragedy, safeguard the United Nations
achievements and enable the international inspectors to finish their
work. Let me remind you that the United Nations has a peacekeeping
operation along the Iraq-Kuwait border and also carries out a major
programme of humanitarian assistance for the Iraqi people. The
alternative to an agreement would have ended UNSCOM's work. The
Memorandum of Understanding has strengthened it."
Annan said Iraq is "far from the only target of the international
community's efforts to control the spread of weapons of mass
destruction. Last year saw a momentous act of peace: the entry into
force of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans an entire
category of weapons."
The United Nations, he said, "is also fighting the proliferation of
small arms and light weapons. These have been the primary or sole
tools of violence in almost every recent conflict dealt with by the
United Nations."
Following is the UN text:
(begin text)
27 February 1998
UNITED NATIONS CANNOT ACHIEVE GOALS WITHOUT 'RICH TAPESTRY' OF
PARTNERSHIP, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN ADDRESS TO LIONS CLUBS
Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan's address to the twentieth
annual Lions Day with the United Nations, observed at Headquarters in
New York on 27 February, delivered on his behalf by the Assistant
Secretary-General for External Relations, Gillian Sorensen:
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the United Nations. This
is the twentieth annual Lions Day here at Headquarters, but the ties
between our organizations date back much further, to the conference in
San Francisco in 1945, at which the United Nations was founded. There,
the Lions themselves left an imprint on the Charter by making sure the
drafters recognized the potential of close ties with non-governmental
organizations.
Today, relations between the United Nations and civil society are more
dynamic than ever. This is as it should be. The United Nations cannot
hope to achieve its goals without partnerships involving the rich
tapestry of environmental groups, private businesses, religious
figures and humanitarian service organizations. Since taking office, I
have tried to open the United Nations more fully to these forces.
I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to your own
strong commitment to the United Nations. The Lions' programmes around
the world are justifiably renowned. The World Health Organization
estimates that without efforts such as the "Sightfirst" initiative,
cases of preventable or reversible blindness would grow dramatically.
And, thanks to your support of the "school-in-a-box" programme, the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) brings low-cost educational
materials to street children and others deprived of school because of
violence and natural disasters.
This is a solid record of achievement. I look forward to your
participation two years from now, when the United Nations convenes the
Millennium Assembly and the non-governmental organization community
stages a parallel Millennium Forum to discuss the challenges and
priorities of the twenty-first century.
In the brief time that we have together today, I would like to direct
your attention to three subjects: disarmament, human rights and drugs.
Each is an area in which civil society groups have distinguished
themselves. And in each, the current year promises major steps
forward.
Disarmament, of course, is the reason I undertook the mission to Iraq
from which I have just returned. One might think that with the end of
the cold war, we need no longer fear or focus on weapons of mass
destruction. But the danger has not passed; it has simply changed its
face.
That is why it is so important for the United Nations Special
Commission (UNSCOM) -- the Special Commission established after the
Gulf War -- to continue its work in Iraq, with free and unfettered
inspections. The UNSCOM, in partnership with the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA), has advanced the cause of disarmament on several
fronts. It has destroyed more weapons than were destroyed during the
Gulf War. It has highlighted the dangers of dual-use technologies. And
the experience has led the IAEA to review its guidelines for
inspections in other countries.
I have great hope that the agreement I reached with Iraq will prevent
tragedy, safeguard the United Nations achievements and enable the
international inspectors to finish their work. Let me remind you that
the United Nations has a peacekeeping operation along the Iraq-Kuwait
border and also carries out a major programme of humanitarian
assistance for the Iraqi people. The alternative to an agreement would
have ended UNSCOM's work. The Memorandum of Understanding has
strengthened it.
Iraq is far from the only target of the international community's
efforts to control the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Last
year saw a momentous act of peace: the entry into force of the
Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans an entire category of weapons.
The United Nations is also fighting the proliferation of small arms
and light weapons. These have been the primary or sole tools of
violence in almost every recent conflict dealt with by the United
Nations.
Among the deadliest of small weapons are anti-personnel landmines. The
awarding of last year's Nobel Peace Prize to the International
Campaign to Ban Landmines shows just how powerful civil society can
be. A world with less weapons and less spending on arms is necessarily
one in which human rights can be more easily realized.
Human rights is the field in which civil society organizations are
most visible, vocal and influential. I am thinking not only of
well-established international organizations such as Amnesty
International, but also of newly formed groups in places such as El
Salvador and Mozambique. There, as part of peacekeeping efforts, the
United Nations tried to foster an environment hospitable to the rights
and freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This year marks the Declaration's fiftieth anniversary. In half a
century, we have made great progress in setting human rights standards
for women, children, refugees, minorities, indigenous peoples and
others. We have adopted legally binding treaties on torture, genocide
and racial discrimination. We created the new position of High
Commissioner for Human Rights, now occupied by Mary Robinson, the
former President of Ireland and a well-known expert in the field.
However, there is an enormous gap between laws on the books and facts
on the ground. Every day, hundreds of millions of people experience
some serious violation of human rights. This anniversary year must be
dedicated to improving their daily lives and well-being. Human rights
are inherent to all humans. They belong to every individual. They are
not a subsidy to be taken away by governments or any other power.
I am pleased that in this anniversary year, and at the end of this
bloody century, we are about to realize a long-held goal: the
establishment of an International Criminal Court to deal with the
crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Such a
Court has been called the missing link in the international legal
system. Its promise is great indeed, for justice today and to deter
the war criminals of tomorrow. I urge you to pay close attention in
June when delegates gather in Rome for the culmination of
negotiations.
The month of June will also see the General Assembly convene a special
session on international drug control. I have been speaking to you
about civil society. But there is also what I call "uncivil society"
-- the drug traffickers, money launderers and other criminals who take
advantage of open borders and open markets, and who thrive where laws
and institutions are weak. They are a menace, and must be fought at
every turn.
Drugs are tearing apart our societies, spawning crime, spreading
diseases such as AIDS, and killing our youth, our future. Today, there
are an estimated 190 million drug users around the world. Equally
staggering is the size of the illegal drug trade. At an estimated $400
billion, it is larger than the oil and gas trade, larger than the
chemical and pharmaceutical business and twice as big as the motor
vehicle industry.
While the majority of illegal drugs are consumed in industrialized
nations, drug addition is no longer a rich nation's problem or a poor
man's affliction. It crosses national, ethnic, religious, class and
gender lines. Addicts range from white-collar professionals to rural
farmers and street children.
No country is immune. And alone, no country can hope to stem the drug
trade within its borders. The globalization of the drug trade requires
an international response. The United Nations Drug Control Programme
is just that, established in 1991 to coordinate drug control
strategies at the regional and global level. The renowned Italian
crime fighter Pino Arlacchi is the programme's new Executive Director.
Already, he has brought it new vitality and credibility. The upcoming
special session should sustain that momentum: a large number of heads
of State and government are expected to attend and voice their support
for a renewed attack on the scourge of illegal drugs.
Friends, partnerships have been crucial to all we that have achieved
and all we hope to achieve, in ridding the world of weapons of mass
destruction, in securing for people their basic human rights and in
battling drug abuse and drug trafficking.
What we are doing in these areas, we can do all across the United
Nations diverse and urgent agenda. But I cannot do it alone. As I said
earlier this week upon my return from Baghdad, when "we, the peoples"
of the world pull together and work together to solve a problem, we
can make a real difference.
So let me leave with you a plea, a message I hope you will take back
to the heartland of the United States and to all the other nations,
groups and affiliations represented here today. As I hope I have
demonstrated, it is everyone's interest to be a committed, active,
visible and constructive player at the United Nations. Lions Clubs
around the world know this already. I look forward to working with all
others who wish to join us in this mission.
Thank you.
(end text)




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