Page 184 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

Many important disarmament documents were negotiated and drafted in the
Palais des Nations or, like the Convention on prohibitions or restrictions on
the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be
excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects of 1980, also signed here.

3. Several generations of diplomats and politicians worked under this roof.
It seems to me that each generation has its own historical mission. It has to
reconsider what has been done before, and to put forward its own vision of the
future. Your generation also has a mission to accomplish. In this connection I
am glad that you have come to honour the 50th Anniversary of the United
Nations. Support of youth is a major prerequisite of success of the UN. Despite
all the differences and sometimes even conflicts between generations, from the
point of view of the development of our civilization there should be some
common design for them to follow. Each of them has to build on the
foundation created by its predecessors. For the last half a century such a design
was provided by the UN Charter.

4. Today, the United Nations, at its 50th year of existence stands at a
crossroads of history when international relations and the whole paradigm of
the world civilization are being rethought and reconsidered. Nearly
everywhere, we are facing new challenges - in the maintenance of peace and
security, the pursuit of justice and protection of human rights, the
improvement of the living conditions of peoples throughout the world, and
global governance. The World Organization is doing a lot to achieve its aims. It
has to take preventive diplomacy actions and conduct peace-keeping
operations, to take care of the world's 20 million refugees and provide
assistance to the victims of natural disasters, to set standards in the field of
protection of human rights, and many other things.

5. Much more is required from the UN and potentially it can
considerably increase its efficiency. However, there are certain
restrictions which the Organization can not overcome. The resources at
its disposal are severely limitated. More than that, many Member States
continue to delay making contributions to the UN budget thus
putting the Organization into a permanent financial crisis. As of 31 May
1995 the total arrears were US$ 2.75 billion - US$ 904 million owed to the
regular budget and US $1.85 billion due to peace-keeping operations. The
situation is further complicated by the obvious discrepancy between
words and deeds of some Member States. For example, while on macro-
revel, the Member States favour peace-keeping operations, on micro- level
many of them are reluctant to provide their military contingents when asked.

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