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UN Values,
Canadian Values
Remarks by Hon.
David Kilgour, Member of Parliament
for Edmonton Southeast
University of
Alberta High School Model United Nations
Crowne Plaza
Hotel, Edmonton
20 February 2004
Ladies
and Gentlemen: Permit
me to address you now not as the high school students you are at present, but as
the future doctors, politicians, lawyers, businesspeople, and UN delegates that
you will become. Values
In
1997, I had the opportunity to see first hand some of the results of the
genocide in Rwanda and I have nothing but respect for General Roméo Dallaire,
the Canadian soldier who headed the UN mission in Rwanda. He acted heroically in
Rwanda when so many of the world's governments averted their eyes. From
time to time, Dallaire would send platoons into the countryside to provide help
and obtain information. One came upon a village whose inhabitants had recently
been slaughtered by one of the marauding militias. It was a scene from the
apocalypse - people were dead or dying, lying in ditches, even children
decapitated. It was well known that the village had a high incidence of AIDS,
and if the soldiers helped the wounded and dying they would face the risk of
exposing themselves to harm. The
dilemma for the platoon leader was whether he and his troops should get out of
their vehicles, get down in the ditches and help those who could be helped - at
real risk to their own safety. Or should they just move on to the next village,
and see if they could be of some assistance there? They chose to stop and help
those who could be helped. Later,
the platoon leader reported what happened to Dallaire. He called the troop
leaders from the 26 countries under his UN command into his office. He told each
of them the story and asked, "Would you get down in the ditch, and help
out, risking your own well-being, or would you move on to the next
village?" Twenty-three of the twenty-six replied that they would move on.
Three, however, said they would stay and help:- Ghana, Holland, and Canada. Where
do you get your values? The question is as relevant in Canada as it is in
Rwanda, because the values we have really do shape the choices we make. As
future leaders, your values will help shape the world. Canadian Values:
The UN
As
Canadians, some say the UN is part of our national DNA . Canadians have helped
to shape the UN as we know it:
In
the past, Canadians like Pearson and Humphreys invested in the UN because they
believed that it could change the world. But
now the question is up to you: Do you believe that the UN can still change the
world? UN Failures
There
is no doubt that the UN has failed many times in the past 40 years-- with tragic
and sometimes horrific results. Kosovo,
where ethnic Albanians were being massacred by Serbians, is one example. The UN
Security Council could not agree on a course of action, and NATO had to step in
with air strikes to stop the slaughter. The strategy backfired, and 1.5 million
Albanians were forced out of their homes.
East Timor
East
Timor is an even more compelling example. It was invaded in 1975 and proclaimed
Indonesian territory. The people were victims of food shortages, disease, and
military violence, and approximately 120, 000 lost their lives. The UN averted
its eyes. In 1999 the UN supervised a referendum for independence. When the
people voted to become independent from Indonesia, chaos consumed the territory.
Indonesian militias and the army terrorized the country by killing
independence supporters, burning buildings, and driving people out of their
homes. The UN had received clear warnings from its own officials that something
like this would happen, but it did not listen. Tens of thousands suffered as a
result. Rwanda
The
most famous instance of UN failure was the genocide in Rwanda. Roméo Dallaire
is scarred for life. An extremist government had organized a massacre against
the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutu, and Dallaire could do little to stop it.
He had an insufficient number of troops and weapons, and when he asked for
reinforcements from the UN, he was rejected. Key governments, including
Canada's, turned essentially a blind eye to what was about to happen. As a
result, 800,000 Rwandans of all ages lost their lives during a "hundred
days of hell." The
action, or lack thereof, of the UN in Rwanda was not just a failure. It was an
atrocity of unimaginable proportions. The UN has made a commitment to the worth
of human beings. When it breaks that commitment, the results are devastating.
The UNO needs to be active, because in many cases, lives are at stake. UN Successes
The
story of the UN, though, goes much further than its failures.
UN Peacekeepers, many of them Canadian, have become an international
icon. They have prevented violence and protected democracy and political
stability by closely monitoring elections in over 80 countries to ensure that
they are free and fair. Over
the past 50 years, the UN has negotiated about 172 peaceful settlements.
El Salvador, Cambodia, Macedonia, Mozambique, Namibia, Cyprus and many
others have experienced peace because of UN support and intervention. UN
initiatives have touched nearly every realm of life. At this conference, you
have had hands-on experience with the UN's work on biological weapons,
terrorism, human trafficking, education, and new technology. Allow me to mention
some other areas where the UN has changed the world's landscape. International
Criminal Court
Did
you know that in the past fifty years the UN has developed more international
law agreements than anyone or anything else in history? It has drafted over 400
legal agreements signed by hundreds of nations. The UN's work has resulted in
the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This court has the
capacity to bring war crime perpetrators to justice when national courts are
unable or unwilling to do so. Those who committed genocide in Rwanda and the
former Yugoslavia are now being called to account before the ICC. The hope is
that other dictators and mass murderers will be deterred by this example of
justice in action. World Health
Organization
The
World Health Organization (WHO) has contributed to the eradication of smallpox,
and has made significant progress in the reduction of polio, leprosy, cholera,
malaria, and tuberculosis. These are all diseases that you don't have to fear,
thanks in large part to the work of the WHO.
Through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), it has worked
towards universal immunizations, saving the lives of approximately three million
children each year. The
WHO has suddenly become much more relevant to Canadians in light of the recent
outbreak of SARS. It has the ability to issue quarantine requirements to avoid
the spread of such infectious diseases. WHO also works with governments to
promote better health care standards and management. Finally, and perhaps the
most important, is the WHO's role in the management of AIDS. This is so
important when we look at an entire continent plagued by the disease. Non-Proliferation
Treaties
The
UN has been influential to the reduction of the spread of arms, especially
nuclear and chemical weapons. Most people don't know this, but in 1961 the UN
adopted something called the McCloy-Zorin Accords, which essentially entailed
complete disarmament between the US and the Soviet Union. This would have meant
the elimination of all the weapons of mass destruction that overwhelmed the
world with fear during the Cold War. The
Accords were obviously not followed, but in the same spirit of peaceful
resolution, the UN has dedicated itself to disarmament throughout the world.
This is evident in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is an agreement
to general and complete disarmament for the countries that have ratified it,
which are greater in number than any other disarmament agreement. The UN has
also established the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that countries
are using nuclear technology for peaceful means. Some
other things that the UN has accomplished include:
The
list goes on and on. One of the
most amazing things about the UN is its ability to do all these things and more
on the small budget that it has, which is about $1.3 billion a year. This pays
for the basic structure and its 8,900 employees. To put things in perspective,
the states of Wyoming and South Dakota have higher budgets than this, and they
have the lowest budgets of all the United States. Yet, the UN seems so often to
be taken for granted. Try
to imagine the world without the UN. Its presence is not only beneficial : it is
fundamental. This has become especially true with the changing nature of the
globe. The world has become more interconnected than ever. Geographic proximity
matters less and less, and multilateralism, interdependence, and genuine
cooperation matter more than ever. Isolationism
Unfortunately,
some countries today are gravitating towards isolationism. The United States is
the obvious example of this. It has turned its back on the UN in multiple ways,
most notably when it and other nations attacked Iraq. The issue here is not
whether the attack was justified, but rather that cooperation was made
impossible, and the United Nations was not included except in humanitarian
matters. This not only hurt Iraq, it hurt the UN. Rifts were created between
those who praised the UN and those who condemned the Security Council for
refusing the US-led coalition permission to attack Iraq. The UN has lost a
degree of international cooperation. It has also lost some credibility. Both
these things can make the UN less capable of giving help to those countries that
need it. For many, this is not a major concern. Let me assure you that it is a
major concern. Conclusion
This
is where all of you come in. The United Nations has honourable goals, but some
of its methods have become ineffective. By understanding how it works, you can
understand how to make it work better. If the UN wants to be a truly world body,
it must undergo some changes. After participating in a program such as this one,
I'm sure you have many ideas about how to change and reform the UN. I'd be most
interested to hear about them from you, and I look forward to talking with you
here or via e-mail on my website at www.david-kilgour.com.
Now
is no time to give up on the UN. As
Alberta Senator Doug Roche recently pointed out in his book The Human Right to
Peace "it is seldom credited with averting bloodshed in Lebanon, Georgia,
Western Sahara, the Ivory Coast and many other places through its skilful use of
negotiation and mediation. The U.N.
has saved countless lives through developing and distributing affordable
medicines, water supplies and sanitation methods. It has put the inherent dignity of each individual at the top
of the international agenda. It has
provided a catalogue of information on the interdependence of world systems
never before available." The
UN remains the world's best hope for peace.
Providing a forum for discussion and problem-solving, the last few years
has seen the UN adopt specific commitments to ensure lessons from the last
century are put to task. Your voices and values are critical if the UN is to
remain relevant and overcome its weaknesses in the next century. -30- |
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