International rules-based order in jeopardy Australia’s Foreign Minister tells UN assembly
Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, told the General Assembly today that while the United Nations had been established to build an international rules-based order for peaceful dispute resolution, “we are now in a time when the challenges to that order are increasing.
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“The most egregious example is North Korea,” continued Ms. Bishop, pointing out that the country is openly defying the UN Security Council, putting millions of people at risk. It is crucial for all UN Member States to strictly implement the Council’s sanctions to compel Pyongyang to abandon its “illegal programmes.”
Other threats highlighted by the Foreign Minister were the increasing activities of non-State actors, terrorism and violent extremism. “Global terrorism – and the extreme Islamist ideologies driving it – must be confronted and defeated,” she stressed. Ms. Bishop maintained that terrorism can be effectively battled, and beaten, if everyone worked together, sharing knowledge and resources.
Ms. Bishop drew a link between security and economic development, saying that one cannot be achieved without the other. She endorsed a UN development system more focused on sustainable economic development that provides opportunities and facilitates partnerships with the private sector.
Noting that economic resilience can be undermined by natural and man-made disasters, she cited the 2030 agenda, Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and the World Humanitarian Summit's Grand Bargain as “a blueprint for global action on those problems which can only be addressed by working together on challenges that don't respect national borders.”