From the southern tip of the world comes a call for renewed international action in pursuit of peace and development. Dina Ezzat catches the echo "We share the widespread concern about Israel's nuclear programme and Iran's nuclear activities. We call upon Israel to join the Non- Proliferation Treaty [NPT] and to place all its nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] safeguards." With such a forthright Middle East statement even a politician from far and away, like Helen , prime minister of New Zealand, can attract attention -- approvingly or otherwise -- in this part of the world. was in Cairo over the weekend for the inauguration of her country's embassy in Cairo; a serious attempt, as she told Al-Ahram Weekly, to build strong bridges between New Zealand and the Middle East. On the Middle East, had much to say both in speaking to the Weekly and in the course of an address to a selected audience of the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement. 's interest in this part of the world is consistent with her country's foreign policy priorities -- the call for de-nuclearisation among the highest. "Our strong preference is to seek a diplomatic solution to the problem with Iran, fearing that any attack on Iran would only make matters worse." "New Zealand promotes nuclear disarmament internationally through a range of forums, most notably those of the NPT, as well as through the UN General Assembly and the Conference on Disarmament," said. New Zealand and Egypt are both members of the New Agenda (NAC) which has been working for close to a decade to make the NPT review cycle an occasion to take stock of the efficiency -- or lack thereof -- of the non- proliferation regime. has her eyes on the 2010 NPT review conference. She is hoping that by then the world, including the Middle East, will have achieved significant progress in de-nuclearisation. In line with that objective, this year New Zealand started to promote an initiative in the UN General Assembly calling for action to lower the operational readiness of nuclear weapons. "Maintaining nuclear weapons at a high-level of alert obviously increases the risk of them being used. So, lowering that operational readiness is a concrete step which can be taken to reduce the risks of nuclear war," said. It came as no surprise to that nuclear- armed states were generally not supportive of her country's proposal. However, as she said, "the overwhelmingly positive vote for it sends a clear message to those states about the expectations of the vast majority of countries." "Obviously nuclear proliferation remains a major concern and a threat to the Middle East. New Zealand is a supporter of the proposal for a Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone," stated. While living one whole day's air travel away -- prefers to say, "only one day away" -- from the region, the New Zealander is not hiding her worry over a war against Iran. Reflecting of what she comfortably qualifies as an "illegal" American war on Iraq, and eloquently outlining the appalling consequences of that war, both for Iraq and the region, says openly that she uses the seat of her albeit small country in many sub-regional and regional meetings to call on peers -- mostly from East Asia and the Far East -- to press for the restoration of effective multilateral diplomacy by which all countries would settle disputes through peaceful means. "As a small country, we have to support the multilateral system," said, arguing that it is through multilateralism that the attempt of dominant countries to force their way is contested by the firm collective unity of many small countries. However, for multilateralism to work, she added, it "has to have rules". When these rules are overlooked it becomes possible for "bad countries to do bad things". It then becomes the duty of other countries to act collectively to restore the rules -- namely multilateralism. believes that the war on Iraq was just such an obvious failure of multilateralism. The success of the world in resolving the nuclear standoff between the West and Iran, she argued, would be a victory for multilateralism. For , peaceful conflict resolution is always possible if sufficient effort is invested in collective action. "The UN Security Council remains the key decision-making body on matters of international security, but it too can only be as effective as its members and processes allow it to be," said. She added, "it has done some many valuable and constructive things, particularly through the exercise of moral and legal pressure, including through the imposition of sanctions, and through peacekeeping mandates." 's commitment to the cause of peacemaking, she said, follows from her consciousness of being a citizen of the post-World War II order. It is also compatible with what she believes are the requirements of harmonious co- existence. Above all, peacemaking is at one with the cause of development, both at a national and international level. Wars drain budgets, and worse drain human energy. When wars are stopped, argues, there will be wider room for "a greater equality of opportunities". The prime minister of New Zealand said she is proud of her country's effort to pursue the cause of development through peaceful co-existence and equal opportunities approaches: "You don't want people to always feel at the bottom of the ladder. Everyone has to feel that they have a stake," she said. The "success stories of New Zealand and the Nordic states" in this respect, argued, could be emulated at the international level. "[The world] needs to [come together] to support development, not just through aid but through opening markets to products and labour." In this, believes that effective multilateralism goes beyond the New York-based Security Council, with the veto power of its permanent members, to organisations like the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation. As a prime minister who is also responsible for the portfolio of culture and heritage, added that there is a definite role for agencies like the Paris-based UNESCO in promoting peace- based development and tolerant co-existence.
