Signing Ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding
between UNECE and OSCE
Sofia, 6 December 2004
Statement by Mrs. Brigita
Schmögnerová,
Executive Secretary
Mr. Deputy Minister, Mr. Secretary
General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The United Nations and
the OSCE are confronted with the same task:
how to better respond to security challenges
of the 21st century. The Report of the United
Nations Secretary-General’s High-level
Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change,
which is assumed to further stimulate the
United Nations reform, includes economic
and social threats, including poverty, infectious
diseases and environmental degradation,
among the six main clusters of threats with
which the world must be concerned now and
in the decades ahead. It also urges the
United Nations to cooperate more closely
with regional organisations and to recognize
– in an innovative way – the
role of regional organisations in security.
The member States of UNECE and OSCE recognized
earlier that the two organisations working
together could address new security challenges
more effectively than alone. That is why
they instructed us, the Secretary General
of OSCE and the Executive Secretary of UNECE
to sign a Memorandum of Understanding.
By signing this MoU, UNECE
and OSCE are already taking a step towards
implementing these recommendations. We have
a solid basis to build on: the long history
of cooperation between our organisations.
UNECE has since 1996 been providing reports
to the sessions of the Economic Forum on
the implementation of OSCE commitments in
the economic and environmental field. Our
organisations have worked together in implementing
a number of projects, in particular in the
environmental field. The two Villars seminars
co-organised by UNECE and OSCE provided
a useful forum to discuss the complicated
relationship between conflict prevention
and security on the one hand and economic
development on the other, and the recent
Vienna workshop opened discussions on early
warning mechanisms.
The Secretary General and
I are going to appoint, as foreseen by the
MoU, a Joint Working Group as well as focal
points. Their task will be to manage day-to-day
cooperation, like the preparation of the
next review session, the work on improvement
of the review process and the development
of a joint early warning mechanism. We will
explore new areas of cooperation, like joint
work with the private sector to encourage
PPP-s and responsible investment, which
would contribute to stability and security.
UNECE could offer decision-making bodies
of OSCE the economic and environmental information
relevant for security and conflict prevention.
This, in turn, would strengthen the ability
of OSCE to provide clear and relevant political
signals to international financial and other
organisations with economic agendas, as
foreseen by its Strategy Document.
Coordination whenever necessary
– through regular expert level contacts
and high-level meetings as foreseen by the
MoU – and cooperation will I hope
improve the ability of both organisations
to deliver and meet the expectations of
member States.
It is our intention to fully involve member
States in the development of new forms and
areas of cooperation. I stand ready to brief
the Permanent Council of the OSCE or the
Sub-committee on Economic and Environmental
Activities on current work, new strategies
and reform plans of the UNECE. I also hope
that the Secretary General will be able
to address the sixtieth Session of UNECE
in February 2005. We expect member States
to provide the Secretariats with overall
guidance on the main direction and content
of future cooperation between the two organisations.
Finally, I would like to
thank the Inter-Secretariat Task Force for
having prepared and negotiated the MoU and
also Delegates who actively participated
in giving this document its final shape.
I trust that the MoU signed
today will form the basis of a close and
long-term partnership between UNECE and
OSCE. I will work actively with the Secretary
General to take full advantage of the opportunities
offered by this new partnership.
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