The humanitarian imperative

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am grateful to the President of Kyung Hee University for the opportunity to speak from this prestigious academic rostrum in South Korea.

I am greatly privileged to have the honour to receive an honorary doctorate.

This occasion is significant for me since. It is the first official visit of a Norwegian prime minister to the Republic of Korea.

Bilateral cooperation between our two nations has been steadily increasing since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1959. Our collaboration is both dynamic and comprehensive. It covers a wide range of matters in the political, the economic and the cultural fields.

The aim of my official visit is further to strengthen our close relations.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The world is in the midst of a transformation. Changes take place at a dramatic speed. The world is becoming more closely interlinked.

Yet, the world is also vulnerable. The events of September 11 ^th> in the United States have made the threat of international terrorism dramatically clear.

Since September 11 ^th>, we have formed a global alliance - an international coalition against terrorism irrespective of race, religion and nationality. We have formed that coalition because we cannot accept evil, because we believe in peace and democracy. We believe in the respect for human dignity.

International terrorism is complex and multi-faceted. We can only defeat it through a sustained and comprehensive approach. We are doing our utmost to bring humanitarian assistance to those who have long suffered at the hands of terrorists and their supporters. We must get at the breeding grounds of terrorism, and we must employ all the means at our disposal - political and legal, military and financial.

The people of Afghanistan have suffered from war and misrule for more than twenty years. Now a new chapter is starting in Afghanistan, that of reconstruction and reconciliation. The quest for peace, human rights and human dignity in Afghanistan has become our common challenge.

As chairman of the Afghanistan Support Group this year, Norway and my Government will do our utmost to assist in these efforts. We have to succeed, for the sake of the people of Afghanistan, the region and the global community alike.

Ladies and gentlemen,

President Kim Dae-jung, in his Nobel lecture, said, “I believe that democracy is the absolute value that makes for human dignity, as well as the only road to sustained economic development and social justice.”

These words are so true.

At the heart of a democracy stands respect for human beings. The majority rules in a democracy. But it does not rule over the minority. When the majority makes its decisions it takes the minority point of view into account. This is why democracy is so difficult.

During the Nobel Peace Prize centennial in Oslo in December, I had the honour and pleasure of meeting several Nobel Laureates, including President Kim.

These meetings represented a ray of hope at a difficult time. The world is a better place because of men and women like Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Elie Wiesel, Aung San Suu Kyi, Rigoberta Menchú and Kim Dae-jung. They have dedicated their lives to fighting for the best for their people, for the best for all of us, for human dignity.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The thoughts and ideas of another Nobel Laureate, my countryman Fridtjof Nansen, have been an inspiration to many Norwegians over the last century.

Fridtjof Nansen was born in Norway in 1861 and died in 1930. In his lifetime he achieved more than most can hope for. He was a scientist, explorer, writer, sportsman, statesman, yet above all, a humanitarian.

Nansen firmly believed in the dignity and worth of every human being. He felt a moral obligation to take action wherever people were suffering – regardless of their ethnic background, religious beliefs or political convictions. For Nansen, “Love of man was practical policy,” as he himself put it.

After the First World War, Nansen helped to repatriate almost half a million prisoners of war from more than twenty different countries. He also organised the largest relief operation the world had ever seen, providing food, shelter and medical care for millions of people in the wake of the 1921-22 Soviet famine.

His relief programme is said to have saved a staggering six to seven million lives. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

As the first High Commissioner for Refugees, Nansen established the "Nansen Passport", an identity document that was eventually recognised by more than 50 governments.

Today we enjoy the benefits of Nansen`s achievements.

In the refugee area, the rudiments of international protection first defined by Nansen have been developed into an elaborate legal framework. Nansen, a practical idealist who believed deeply in the importance of international cooperation, would be heartened, I am sure, to see how universal humanitarian law has become.

I am equally sure that he would be appalled to see how little the nature of humanitarian problems has changed.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In recent decades armed conflicts have been occurring more often within countries than between them. Five per cent of the casualties in World War I were civilians. In today’s armed conflicts 80 to 90 per cent of the casualties are civilians. Many of them are children. The causes of armed conflict are often linked to poverty and under-development, to oppression and to the violation of human rights.

The refugees of today are victims of persecution. They are also victims of the kind of social dislocation and conflict that Nansen knew all too well. The collapse of old political orders, the rise of new nation states and nationalist ideologies, social tension generated by poverty and deprivation are all problems that ravaged Europe during the last century.

These factors continue to plague the world today. Political, socio-economic, cultural, religious and racial tensions are all too often exploding into uncontrollable cycles of aggression and revenge, of frustration and despair. Such conflicts have been most acute in developing countries with many ethnic groups, scarce economic resources, weak state structures and non-representative forms of government.

Consequently, people flee from persecution and conflict, and from economic deprivation and despair.

The developed world cannot and should not build barriers against this human tide. The revolution in transport and information technology has shrunk our world. The solution to these problems can only be found in international cooperation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

No challenge is more urgent than the plight of war-affected children. During the last 10 years almost two million children have been killed in armed conflict.

More than four million children have been disabled.

More than one million orphaned.

The traumas of abduction, detention, sexual assault and the brutal murder of family members have psychologically scarred over 10 million children.

The world community has a moral duty. It has a moral duty to do its utmost to help resolve conflicts and punish genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Such evil crimes must never be seen to pay off. The culprits must be punished. The International Criminal Court will represent a vital new instrument. I trust that the Statute establishing this institution will soon enter into force.

The world community has a moral duty to help the victims. This is a matter of human dignity and solidarity. This is part of the struggle against injustice and poverty. This is the humanitarian imperative.

Assistance must be organised. We must prevent renewed outbreaks of hostilities and new conflicts. We must help communities to mitigate and prevent the effects of natural disasters. But humanitarian assistance should never be a substitute for political action. It should be a supplement.

The fight to eradicate poverty is an urgent challenge. Poverty leads to conflict and violence. Conflict leads to poverty. Breaking this vicious circle requires leadership.

The world community must unite to advance the cause of development, education and health, to advance the cause of peace and the cause of human rights. World leaders made major commitments during the United Nations Millennium Assembly.

We have all agreed on the goals for international development. We have the knowledge and the resources to achieve them.

We need to act.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This need for action applies to the situation on the Korean peninsula. The division of this peninsula has been prolonged for over half a century. The longstanding division and discord have planted scepticism and pessimism in the minds of the Korean people. The humanitarian situation in the North gives reason for serious concern.

Despite this, there is hope of long-term peace and reconciliation between the two Koreas. This hope is founded on an idea, a vision that has been transformed into practical policy. This policy has been developed over several years. It has been built on patience, on a step-by-step approach and on a number of confidence-building measures.

The Sunshine Policy is primarily the creation of your president, Kim Dae-jung. He has made resolute efforts to promote peaceful reunification with North Korea. He has taken a number of important steps. He has initiated inter-Korean contacts and dialogue. He has urged the heads of state and government of other countries to improve their relations with North Korea.

The historic summit in Pyongyang in June 2000 was the fruit of this policy. It started what I hope is an irreversible process. It has already reduced tension on the Korean peninsula. The policy has given promise for the development of peace and stability.

The implementation of the Joint Declaration from the summit would represent a giant step towards bringing the two Koreas closer.

I am aware that the process will be long. It will be full of obstacles. I am sure you will succeed in the end.

I was myself present at the first meeting where families were reunified after more than fifty years of separation.

I will never forget this occasion. It was moving. It called forth some of the strongest human emotions. This served indeed as a symbol of the deep-felt wish for unification in Korea.

Norway strongly supports the process that was initiated at the summit. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2000 to your president was well deserved.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The challenges we face in our efforts to build a peaceful and more humane world requires a tool.

That tool is the United Nations.

We must give the UN the strength and resources it needs to accomplish the tasks we have assigned it. We need the UN to be at the forefront of our efforts to devise a long-term international strategy for combating international terrorism.

The United Nations must deal effectively with the changing nature of conflict, to detect the seeds of conflict at an early stage, to manage conflict when it cannot be prevented, to mandate and equip peace operations that can deal with the complex nature of modern conflict.

The UN should be empowered to provide post-conflict rehabilitation, to alleviate the suffering and protect the rights of innocent civilians, of innocent women and children.

Freedom from fear. Freedom from want. These words are at the centre of the call to the international community.

And first and foremost the humanitarian imperative means, in the words of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, that we must “put people at the centre of everything we do.”

We must realise that, unless we heed the danger signals and move ahead, we will lose our chance to create a less dangerous and a fairer world for future generations.

Let us not underestimate the challenge confronting us. We must combine idealism with realism; we must be practical idealists.

With a clear vision we must commit ourselves to international cooperation and solidarity. It is in our own interest to lay the foundations of our collective security. This is a matter of human dignity.

Thank you for your attention.