The UN Office in Geneva and the OSCE

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are pleased that the Director General of the UN Office in Geneva has come to the Permanent Council today, especially because the UN is one of OSCE's closest partners. Our Tripartite High-Level meetings symbolize the respect our organizations have for each other and our willingness to work on areas of common interest, without duplication.

A good example of our close cooperation is in Kosovo, where the OSCE and the UN have developed an innovative relationship with a clear division of labor that plays to each organization's strengths. Similar cooperation exists in our field missions throughout the Balkans and South Caucasus on such issues as institution and democracy building, the promotion of human rights, the return of displaced persons, and police training.

The Office in Geneva plays an important role in finding solutions to complex conflicts and emergencies, including through its emphasis on preventive diplomacy. The OSCE also plays its own role in being part of the solutions. Our High Commissioner on National Minorities’ mandate is based on conflict prevention. With that said, our Ministers last week in Porto noted their concern at the failure to achieve political settlements in a number of protracted conflicts in the OSCE region and called for continued efforts to achieve early resolution of these conflicts.

Mr. Chairman, the UN Office in Geneva takes very seriously its commitment to serving the people, placing this ahead of other considerations. This is a powerful reminder that indeed, protecting individuals, their freedoms, and their rights, is a critical element in the OSCE concept of security. Now more than ever, our field missions bring the OSCE to the people that we represent. We should not lose these tools, but rather, find ways to strengthen them and make them more useful to host governments and to their citizens. We hope that governments, which host OSCE missions, will cooperate with us in this regard.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, I would like to note the recent UN celebration of Human Rights Day on December 10. As the UN Secretary-General stated, our vision of the future "must respect human rights, confront the threat of terrorism, and draw as never before upon the resources and legitimacy of multilateral cooperation." We believe the OSCE is playing a fundamental role in this vision, as evidenced by our recent Ministerial commitments on combating terrorism and trafficking in persons, and on the promotion of free and fair elections and tolerance and non-discrimination.

Mr. Chairman, Human Rights Day is not the only day designated to a specific topic. December 3 was the International Day of Disabled Persons. We are pleased the UN is drawing special attention to this important group of people, who unfortunately continue to be victims of discrimination, of being denied equal education, of being denied employment opportunities, and of being denied health care -- all that, in addition to suffering from many other forms of social discrimination. I would like to call on all of us to remember our OSCE commitments on the rights and the protection of persons with disabilities. Again, Mr. Chairman, the United States very much appreciates the work of the UN Office in Geneva, and we look forward to continuing healthy and vigorous future cooperation between our two organizations. Thank you.