Saying the United Nations needs to return "common humanity" to the core of its agenda, Prime Minister Paul Martin called for specific rules to intervene in humanitarian disasters.

Martin, who addressed a more than half-empty UN General Assembly on Wednesday, criticized the world's slow response to the situation in Sudan, which has reportedly left 50,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands more homeless.

Paul Martin addresses the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York .(CP photo)
Paul Martin addresses the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York .(CP photo)

The UN needs specific rules for intervention based on humanitarian grounds, said the prime minister. Helping Darfur cannot be bogged down with legal definitions.

"They are hungry, they are homeless, they are sick and many have been driven out of their own country," he said.

"Put simply, there is still no explicit provision in international law for intervention on humanitarian grounds."

Critics say the Sudanese government has been supporting Arab militias accused of carrying out a brutal campaign to drive out the local population. In a resolution last Saturday, the UN Security Council told the Sudanese government it might impose sanctions if it does not do more to protect its citizens in the Darfur region.

Martin offered $20 million to help with the humanitarian disaster in Sudan, and called for the international community to follow Canada's lead.

The UN must remain vigilant in protecting human rights, including new forms of abuse such as human trafficking and the child sex trade, said Martin. The international community must work to combat "poverty, disease and global insecurity" by developing good governance and economic institutions.

"We must ... take the time to do it right," said Martin. "In a nutshell, development depends on governance."

The prime minister also outlined the rest of his ideas on reform, including the UN's responsibility to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

"We need more rigorous controls on sensitive nuclear technology, and the Security Council must be prepared to deal with non-compliance effectively," said Martin.

The prime minister also spoke out against the weaponization of space, saying it would be a "tragedy" if space became the scene of a new arms race.

"In 1967, the United Nations agreed that weapons of mass destruction must not be based in space. The time has come to extend this ban to all weapons," he said.

Martin's minority Liberal government has agreed to enter into talks with the U.S. concerning Canada's role in U.S. President George W. Bush's controversial missile defence program. The NDP, which opposes Bush's plan, has warned Martin that division on the issue could put his minority government at risk.

After his speech, Martin said Bush's proposed ballistic missile plan is a land or water-based defence system, and that Canada won' t take part in putting weapons in space.

Later Wednesday, Martin will meet with the president of Nigeria. The country is in charge of the African Union military force in Darfur.

Hours before Martin's speech, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale announced Canada was cancelling the debts owed by Senegal, Ghana and Ethiopia. It totalled about $9 million collectively.

Canada has already erased the debts of Bolivia and Honduras.

U.S. President Bush is calling for an international force of 75,000 peacekeepers, initially from African countries, and trained by Group of Eight nations, to help in Sudan.