PRESIDENT OF SURINAME SAYS AT HEADS OF STATE LUNCHEON, WORLD WILL NEED RENEWED UNITED NATIONS, DEMOCRATIC AND STRONG IN STRUCTURE AND PROCEDURES

Press Release
SG/SM/5793

PRESIDENT OF SURINAME SAYS AT HEADS OF STATE LUNCHEON, WORLD WILL NEED RENEWED UNITED NATIONS, DEMOCRATIC AND STRONG IN STRUCTURE AND PROCEDURES

Following is the text of the toast by the President of Suriname, Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan, on behalf of those present, at the luncheon of heads of State and Government at Headquarters on 24 October:

It is a unique honour and privilege for the Republic of Suriname and for me personally to respond on behalf of all the distinguished representatives of Member States present at this luncheon. You, Mr. Secretary-General, have invited us to come to New York to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

In their addresses, the spokesmen of Member States expressed their congratulations and renewed the commitment of the peoples they represent to the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. They made it clear that all of us are very much aware of the impact of the tremendous developments in the fields of technology for production and technology for communication, and also that all of us are aware of the impact of the opening up of the world as a result of the vanishing of the wall between East and West.

The world has become smaller, in the sense that today all people are closer to one another -- closer than at the time when our Organization was founded. In the times ahead the world will need a renewed United Nations, democratic and strong in its structure and procedures and with sufficient means to contribute successfully to the protection of human life and nature on our planet.

Here at this luncheon we want to pay tribute to the men and women who in the past 50 years have given, and give still, their heart, their intellect, their whole being -- and some of them even their life -- for the Organization of the peoples of the world. We pay this tribute not only to the workers in the political structures, but also to those who have been active in organizations that serve more directly in the field of human development, such

as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), International Labour Organisation (ILO) and many other agencies of the United Nations. We will need men and women to carry on with this valuable work.

In the past 50 years the work of the United Nations has not always been easy. Often, our Organization moved forward only arduously, like a cart on a wet dirt road. Sometimes it even seemed as if the leaders of the United Nations had to carry the heavy burden of the responsibilities of the Organization on their bare heads, with their bare feet in the hot sands of the savannah or the desert.

The voices we have heard during this celebration express renewed hope for the present world and brighter prospects for future generations. It is therefore a singular pleasure for me to invite you to toast this historic celebration and to drink to the health of the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and to the dawning of a new era of global solidarity, cooperation and responsibility.

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