Address by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the opening session of the 10th Doha Forum in Qatar on 31 May 2010

“Insights on Security and Global Stability”

It is a great pleasure to be back in Qatar again. I would like to thank Qatar and especially His Highness, The Emir, for hosting this event.

Over the past two decades, the concept of security has changed considerably. Today, we understand that security is a very broad issue. Similarly than peace is much more than just an absence of war.

Armed conflicts and terrorism are still risks – but today we realize better than earlier that extreme poverty, contagious diseases and natural disasters can also cause serious threats to broad security. And of course, the biggest challenge of all is climate change.

So, our common challenges are becoming more and more multi-dimensional and global. This means that our cooperation must also be global. Therefore, from the different G’s the most important “G” is the G-192 – the United Nations.

In September 2000, we committed ourselves to reduce extreme poverty and to reach the Millennium Development Goals. Now, in 2010, we have to demonstrate our firm commitment to live up to this pledge – also when faced with a contracting world economy.

Even if this is not only an economic forum, I want to mention also fair globalization and the need to accomplish the Doha Round – as means to increase global security and stability.

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Monitoring and reducing military weapons builds confidence and increases cooperation, which is badly needed to resolve regional and global problems. This spring, progress has been made in nuclear disarmament. President Obama and President Medvedev signed an agreement that will substantially reduce the number of strategic nuclear weapons. I congratulate the United States and Russia – and all of us – on the new START agreement.

I hope that this positive example will take forward negotiations on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty still provides a solid framework for our cooperation.

The linkage of nuclear safety to wider nuclear issues must be kept in mind, too. The Nuclear Security Summit in Washington this April was a very good initiative in this respect. I hope good continuation to the Summit.

All countries have, of course, a right to peaceful use of nuclear energy. Our common concern, however, must be to maintain effective security of all nuclear materials and nuclear facilities.

Last year, an IAEA expert team carried out a peer review of the nuclear security system in Finland. Our experience is positive on this kind of work. We strongly recommend that other States consider making use of IAEA services.

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Referring to the incident on the Mediterranean Sea last night, I understand your concerns and thoughts today. I want to express my deepest condolences to the relatives of the victims.

We must have time and patience to focus on conflicts that affect security and global stability. Even long-standing conflicts can be solved. Over the years, the Middle East has experienced many moments of hope, but also setbacks and a lot of human suffering.

As you are aware, the European Union – and Finland as a Member State of the Union – supports the negotiations that would lead, on a basis of a two-state solution, to a democratic and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with the State of Israel. I do welcome that you, in this Forum, will pay attention to this issue.

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Finally, a few words on women. I already mentioned the Millennium Development Goals. As you know, most of them concern women and children.This year marks also other important milestones for gender equality. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted thirty years ago. The United Nations Beijing World Conference on Women took place 15 years ago. And the United Nations Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was adopted 10 years ago.

So, this year is the year when we must step up our efforts to make inequality history. By promoting women's rights we can build a fairer and more sustainable world for everyone.