Meeting of the Council of Socialist International “International peace and security: the resolution of conflicts and countering terrorism”

Mr. President [George Papandreou]
Mr. Secretary General [Luis Ayala]
Mr. High Commissioner
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all to the Palais des Nations and to International Geneva. I appreciate that you have chosen to meet here. The collective work of all the international actors based here touches every single person on the planet, every single day. They are the people that we are all working for - at different levels and in different contexts. It is essential that our efforts are aligned, that we are working in the same direction, so that we deliver in the best possible manner for them, across our very comprehensive and complex agenda. This is why I have consistently argued for a closer relationship between the United Nations, parliaments and parliamentarians - and that extends to political parties as well, to complement and reinforce our relationship with Member States through Governments. And I am glad that we have this opportunity for exchange.

Over the past couple of decades, we have made much progress in injecting a parliamentary dimension into the United Nations. Now we need to make much more progress in injecting the United Nations into parliaments and political parties, connecting global and local levels, multiplying global messages and mobilizing support for global action with a strong local impact. In our increasingly interconnected world, this link is indispensable, and I hope that your meeting here will help to reinforce it. You can rely on us in that respect, just as we rely on your global commitment and vision.

The focus of your discussions is on international peace and security. The multiple crises of the past year has generated a sentiment of greater global insecurity, and also a sentiment that the structures and approaches we have at our disposal simply are - at best - insufficient and - at worst - ineffective. Conflict and instability continue in Ukraine, Gaza, Central African Republic, South Sudan and in many other places. Sectarian violence in Syria and Iraq has reached new heights. The actions of terrorist groups spurred by violent extremist ideologies have given the terrorist threat a new dimension, and we are still grappling with how to confront it. Terrorism, drug trafficking and transnational crime are growing and feed off each other.

There is no doubt that this combination of threats to international peace and security forces us to look more closely at our crises response mechanisms, our mediation capacity and conflict resolution tools. But this only addresses part of the problem - the more operational part. The constellation of crises must make us review in a more profound manner our conflict prevention strategies and how we react when faced with clear signs that conflict is looming or imminent.

We often talk about the need for better early warning mechanisms, for greater capacity to identify the signs of social cohesion breaking down and instability taking root. The reality is that we do know the signs and that we do see them. The challenge is not a deficit of information; it is a deficit of adequate and timely action in the face of that information.

Billions of our fellow human beings still live in conditions of deprivation, and have no prospect of contributing meaningfully to their communities. Human rights are systematically violated in far too many places; groups and individuals are subjected to discrimination and are excluded from wider societal structures. Lack of political participation foments popular discontent. Violence against women blights all societies. Human trafficking is an increasing concern. Military expenditure continues to expand while development and humanitarian efforts are starved of funding. Inequality is growing - across and within societies. Technology brings the potential for unprecedented empowerment of people in all regions, but also carries the risk of exacerbating and entrenching the already serious divides between those who have access and those who do not. All of this combined – in different measure in different contexts – create conditions where conflict and instability are more likely to occur.

It is when we fail to address these challenges that our prevention falls short. And because of this deficit of prevention, we now have the highest number of people ever in need of humanitarian assistance, [which I am sure that my colleague, the High Commissioner for Refugees will speak to a little later].

And this brings me to my final point: a need to have a deeper discussion of our shared values and principles, and how to ensure respect for them. We experience an increasing disrespect for the rules of the game, and a growing sense of impunity for the powerful. The feeling that many of us have is that “might” equals “right” – which is exactly what the multilateral system was created to avoid. We need to be more serious about building a world where the universal values of solidarity, dignity, equity and justice are respected – by everybody and everywhere. Only by doing so will we be able to counter and reverse the serious trust deficit that we are experiencing across the board today.

This is where national parliaments and politicians, together with Governments, also have such an important role to play - in holding to account, in asking critical questions, in ensuring respect for the rules that we have all agreed to. We share this world, we share the challenges, and we share the responsibility to find meaningful, long-term solutions. We will only have a strong multilateral system to respond to threats to international peace and security if this system is fully supported by all.

Thank you very much.