ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT GRATIFIED BY OPEN LETTER TO NEW YORK TIMES EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
GA/SM/30
ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT GRATIFIED BY OPEN LETTER TO NEW YORK TIMES EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR UNITED NATIONS
19980212 The following statement was issued today by the spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), in response to questions from the press about the Assembly President's reaction to the open letter from a large group of prominent American political, public and business leaders that was published in The New York Times yesterday, 11 February:The President of the General Assembly has been extremely gratified to see that such an illustrious group of personalities, including former United States Presidents, members of Congress and cabinet ministers, as well as labour leaders and chief executive officers of major American corporations, have raised their voice in support of the United Nations.
Having been directly involved in the recent consideration by the General Assembly of a far-reaching reform plan submitted by the Secretary-General, the President is particularly heartened by the group's recognition that the United Nations is now "reforming its bureaucracy, cutting costs and becoming more efficient". Mr. Udovenko is also encouraged by the group's conclusion that the vast majority of Americans support the use of the United Nations to address global problems, and he shares the signatories' concern about the acute financial problems of the Organization.
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