Opening Statement
by
Mr. Antonio Maria Costa
Under-Secretary-General and Director-General
United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV)
on behalf of the Secretary General
13 July 2004
On behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, I would like to welcome you to the General Meeting between the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference secretariats and specialized agencies.
At the outset, I would like to express the United Nations deep appreciation to His Excellency, Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, for his invaluable leadership.
The Secretary-General places particular emphasis on strengthening and enlarging the areas of cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations. The goal is to have a network of effective and mutually reinforcing mechanisms, based on 3 principles: (i) a multilateral approach (ii) compliance with international law and (iii) respect for human rights.
This is the ninth General Meeting to be held between the United Nations system and the OIC. While a great deal has been accomplished through these meetings and cooperation continues to be excellent, we believe that there is still room for further development.
The United Nations and the OIC have common concerns regarding developments in many areas of the globe, particularly Asia and Africa. Let me briefly comment on the 3 main issues, the Middle East, Iraq and Sudan.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict presents the international community, and our respective Organizations, with a significant challenge. Despite the clarity of the Quartet's Roadmap, despite its acceptance by both sides, and despite the reciprocal and reasonable nature of the steps it calls for in order to realize the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in security, efforts to implement it remain unsatisfactory. There is deep frustration over the stalled peace process, continued violence, and the construction of the West Bank barrier which was recently condemned by the International Court of Justice. Nevertheless, the international community must not be discouraged. Both our Organizations must continue to contribute to the goal of achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting solution based on relevant Security Council resolutions, to this tragic conflict.
Iraq has today rejoined the family of sovereign nations. It is now up to the Iraqi Government, as well as the former occupying powers, to establish conditions of security and to carry forward the transition. Iraqis will need to come together in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, through a process of open dialogue and consensus-building, to lay down secure foundations for the new Iraq. The role of neighbouring states and regional organizations like the OIC is crucial in implementing the United Nations mandate in Iraq as articulated under SCR 1546.
Coming now to Sudan, the peace talks have entered their final phase. On 27 June, the parties started to negotiate the modalities for the security arrangements during the transition period. But today, our gravest concern is directed at the catastrophic humanitarian and human rights situation in Darfur. Immediate relief is needed for one million Internally Displaced Persons and the estimated 150,000 refugees in Chad. A total of 2.2 million people in Darfur are expected to require humanitarian assistance this year alone, while the crisis is expected to last through 2005 and well into 2006. The Secretary-General travelled to Sudan and Chad just a week ago to see what needs to be done to cope with the humanitarian emergency. He welcomed the commitments given by the Government of the Sudan and their implementation. The Secretary-General is encouraged by the preparedness of the African Union and the neighbouring countries to seek a speedy political settlement of the conflict in Darfur. He appeals to the OIC and its members to contribute to this effort.
Now I would like to talk about the joint work between OIS and UNODC - We live in an age where the security challenges faced by states are evolving rapidly. Weak governments, massive youth unemployment, social malaise, corrupted private and public practices and conflicts, have become a weapon and a shield for criminals, traffickers and terrorists.
The threats of terrorism, organized crime, corruption, trafficking in drugs and human beings may not be new, but their current magnitude, the opportunities for their proliferation and development as well as the complex inter-linkages between them are unprecedented.
The countries of the Islamic Conference have also suffered because of these phenomena. For example, in Central Asia and West Africa, in some regions of South and East Asia, in the Middle East, and in the Balkans, the nexus between crime, corruption and violence is, having a profound effect on the lives of ordinary citizens. Therefore, I welcome the position of the Islamic Conference that terrorism has no religion and is inconsistent with the basic principles of Islam.
Uncivil behaviours are a threat to peace and security and an impediment to economic and social development. They collide against human rights. Building an effective global response to these uncivil behaviours lies at the heart of the work of the United Nations.
UNODC assists policy makers and law enforcement officials in member countries of the OIC in countering organized crime and corruption, drug trafficking and drug abuse. We also help build effective legal instruments to fight terrorism.
Our experience suggests that two aspects must be emphasised:
First, that while on their own each of these threats constitutes a sobering challenge, combined together they represent a major threat. The activities of organized criminal groups cannot take place without the corruption of states; drugs cannot be trafficked without their profits bolstering criminal organizations; terrorist groups function where collapsed states provide space and opportunity for crime and where the cross-over with criminal activities allows illicit resources to be used to foment violence; and, drug abuse and the trafficking of persons cause suffering and despair, spreading disease (such as HIV/AIDS) and targeting the most vulnerable of society young people, women and children.
Second, and critically, the global nature of organized crime, corruption and terrorism requires a global response relying first and foremost on international cooperation. No longer can single states effectively counter the array of new threats with which they are confronted. Where cooperation is weak, national frontiers serve only as an impediment to governments and an advantage to criminals. Organizations like the Islamic Conference have a vital role to play in forging greater cooperation in fighting these evils, in holding each other to account, and in assisting the weakest states.
In this light, the deliberations between your Organization and the United Nations are critical without effective regional and other partners our ability and reach is, by definition, limited. We look forward to building a closer relationship with the Secretariat of the OIC in areas of mutual interest. I once again welcome you to Vienna and look forward to a productive meeting.