SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS TOGETHER, UNITED NATIONS AND GROUP OF 77 'CAN MEET CHALLENGES OF OUR TIME'

12 January 1998

Press Release
SG/SM/6435

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS TOGETHER, UNITED NATIONS AND GROUP OF 77 'CAN MEET CHALLENGES OF OUR TIME'

19980112 Emphasizes Need To Revive Political Will For International Cooperation and Development

Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement delivered this afternoon at a ceremonial meeting to mark the formal hand-over of the chairmanship of the "Group of 77" developing countries from the United Republic of Tanzania to Indonesia for the year 1998:

I am so very pleased to be with you today. Allow me at the outset to welcome their Excellencies Ali Alatas and Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and the United Republic of Tanzania. I wish to congratulate Indonesia on its election to the chairmanship of the Group of 77, and to thank the United Republic of Tanzania for its leadership of the Group in 1997. Let me also offer my heartfelt gratitude to Ambassador Daudi Mwakawago of the United Republic of Tanzania, who steered the Group with such foresight and wisdom during last year. I very much look forward to working with Ambassador Makarim Wibisono of Indonesia over the next 12 months.

Over more than three decades, the Group of 77 and China have worked tirelessly to pursue the cause of economic development. Your membership represents the aspirations of the majority of the world's people. Your commitment to the goals of development has been instrumental in giving shape and substance to international cooperation and to the work of the United Nations.

By their very nature, the Group of 77 and the United Nations walk side by side. We share a common understanding: that promotion of development lies at the heart of the Organization. We share a common vision: to offer people economic opportunity and hope. Let us now share a common mission: to give our joint efforts impact and meaning.

1997 was a critical year for the United Nations. We achieved a great deal in laying the foundations of a more effective Organization. Together, we took considerable strides to achieve reforms -- reforms which will strengthen the work of the United Nations. I am convinced of that -- and I know you are, since you gave me your principled support in the General Assembly.

More important, the reforms will enhance our effectiveness and impact in the field of development. We have built a more effective leadership and management structure, which includes the appointment of a Deputy Secretary- General who will raise the profile and leadership of the United Nations in the economic and social sector; we have strengthened the United Nations office in Vienna to combat some of the negative effects of globalization, such as drug- trafficking and organized crime; we have developed a more coherent approach, both in the field and at Headquarters, to providing development assistance.

We have established a new Office for Development Financing; we have set up a strong consolidated economic and social department at Headquarters; we have freed up resources to create a "Development Dividend"; we have given greater opportunity for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to contribute to deliberations at Headquarters.

None of this would have been possible without the steadfast cooperation and strong support of the Group of 77, in particular under the able leadership here of Ambassador Mwakawago.

But our successes do not blind me to the work that remains. One of the biggest challenges still lies before us: reviving the political will for international cooperation and development.

To meet this challenge, we must be prepared to proceed on two tracks: we must pursue our reform efforts further, while at the same time tackling substantive issues more forcefully in a way that breathes new life into the work of the Organization. This not only requires continued leadership and commitment; it requires a willingness to focus our energy on shaping an agenda for the future.

All too often, we have become bogged down by investing our collective energies in processes and formats, rather than in substance. By focusing too much on preserving the status quo, we have run the risk of missing out on opportunities to impact the problems of the real world. Let us now free up that energy and put it to use to build a better future. We have many of the necessary tools at our disposal. Let us now look at how we can make better use of them.

Fulfilling the potential of the General Assembly as the only United Nations body with universal membership requires bold approaches. I am confident that by incorporating the features of recent United Nations conferences, my reform proposals can help bring to bear the full weight of the Assembly behind the cause of development. The Assembly's fifty-second session successfully launched an intergovernmental dialogue on development financing. The Second Committee reaffirmed a proposal for renewing the dialogue on international cooperation for development.

- 3 - Press Release SG/SM/6435 12 January 1998

The Millennium Assembly will be of the utmost importance. By building political momentum ahead of the event, we can seize the opportunity to articulate a compelling vision for the United Nations as a whole.

Much also remains to be done in streamlining intergovernmental processes and subsidiaries. Let us not expend all our efforts on internal bargaining that yields few practical results; rather, let us direct our energy towards addressing the real problems of today and the challenges of tomorrow.

Let us also be prepared to experiment with new approaches, to build new partnerships and to explore new alliances that cut across traditional lines. We must be ready to enlist the support of those actors who increasingly determine the prospects for development. None of this is beyond our reach, if we can muster the necessary political will.

The recent turmoil in financial markets has demonstrated once again that the economies of all countries have become interlinked, that interdependence is a two-way process, that what happens in developing countries affects the developed nations, as well as the other way around. This demonstrates the need for effective multilateralism and a strong United Nations.

Today, I join you in a movement that strives to work for a better world. I am confident that together, we can meet the challenges of our time. Your expertise and continued commitment to the work of the Organization are essential.

I wish you every success, and pledge to you my full support in your struggle to advance the goals of the United Nations for the peoples of this earth.

* *** *