Sixtieth General Assembly

Plenary

4^th Meeting (PM)

General Assembly summit focuses on quest to relieve crushing poverty,

need to boost un’s ability to live up to founders’ ideals

Thirty-Six Presidents, Prime Ministers Address Afternoon Session of World Summit

The quest to relieve the crushing poverty of a billion people worldwide and the need to boost the United Nations ability to live up to the ideals on which it was founded took centre stage as world leaders attending the General Assembly’s 2005 World Summit called for collective action to secure long-term development, human rights and human dignity for all.

Stressing the interdependence of nations in the wake of more than a decade of rampant globalization, Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, said both developed and developing nations must accept their collective interests and responsibilities, including attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, a set of agreed targets, ranging from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and to providing universal primary education, all by 2015.

There was no greater challenge facing humanity than poverty and underdevelopment, he said.  In sub-Saharan Africa, conditions were predicted to worsen by 2015, which was unacceptable.  What had gone wrong?  Were the Millennium targets overambitious or was international commitment to them overestimated?  Whatever the case, the global community must do things radically differently and in an expeditious manner, using clear and practical means of implementation.  Recalling Rwanda’s experience, he called on the international community to put in place early warning mechanisms and ensure that preventive interventions were the rule rather than the exception.

Expressing a stronger view, Owen Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados, said the Summit should not become a “theatre of the absurd” -– an occasion for complaining about what had not been achieved in the past, or agreeing to new commitments that everyone knew would not be honoured in the future.  “It is time that we begin to hold some common ground and use it as a beachhead from which to launch our drive for progress”, he declared.

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the south-eastern American Gulf Coast, coming just one year after Hurricane Ivan wreaked similar destruction throughout the Caribbean region, had powerfully illustrated the need to create and implement an action plan for global development that would alleviate the suffering of the poor, wherever they may be.  “The world can do better”, he said, stressing that the Summit should strive for new commitments that were built on compassionate global development and drew on humankind’s best values.

“As political leaders, we must have the courage to choose a model for international partnership that does justice to the tasks confronting us”, said Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands.  The global community needed an effective multilateral system with clear rules and commitments, and strong institutions.  Only that would give it the chance to end poverty and to make the world more secure, just and humane.

“Rather than pretending that the UN is some entity, distinct from us Member States, we should acknowledge that the United Nations is ‘us’ and we together determine whether it is an effective tool or not.  If we do not want the United Nations to be a lame duck, we must dare to give it the wings to fly”, he said.  Five years ago, the international community had promised the world that it would achieve the Millennium Goals.  Now the time had come to fulfil that promise.

“Give people a chance and they will always vote for freedom, prefer tolerance to prejudice, and never willingly accept the suppression of human rights or governance by extremism”, said British Prime Minster Tony Blair, adding that the United Nations must become the visible and credible expression of globalized politics.  The proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons would never end without international consensus, and the global community would fail to protect the environment or promote international trade without working together.

If the international community honoured its commitments on aid, trade, debt relief, HIV/AIDS, and conflict prevention, he said, there would be more democracy, less oppression, more freedom, less terrorism, more growth and less poverty.  It would be following the proper vocation of political leadership, and the United Nations would live up to its name.

Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, said the decisions taken at the Summit would have far-reaching consequences.  States had a solemn responsibility to bequeath a legacy of hope and peace to future generations, and could not afford to fail.  International security could be best promoted when every State saw peace as being in its best interest; when States believed that they could realize their interests through mutual cooperation; and when Member States agreed to utilize the United Nations to harmonize their policies and reconcile their interests.

Member States must also not only be prepared to proclaim their principles, but must defend them all and, above all, live up to them, he said.  Resolutions of the United Nations, especially the Security Council’s decisions, must be implemented. Member States must also evolve a new consensus to achieve disarmament and non-proliferation.  In conclusion, he said that Member States should resolve at the Summit to make poverty history, peace permanent and freedom universal.

Also speaking today were the Presidents of:   Madagascar, Iran, Peru, Palau, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Sao Tome and Principe, Finland, Latvia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Argentina, United Republic of Tanzania, Hungary, Cameroon, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Mexico, and Romania. 

Others who addressed the Assembly included the Prime Ministers of Ireland, Antigua and Barbuda, Malaysia, Haiti, Andorra, Bangladesh, Malta and Morocco.

The King of Spain and Emir of Qatar also addressed the Assembly, as did the representative of Côte d’Ivoire.

The World Summit will reconvene tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Background

The General Assembly this afternoon continued the High-level Plenary Meeting of its sixtieth session.  The three-day event, also known as the 2005 World Summit, brings together more than 170 Heads of State and Government to tackle current global challenges, including reform of the Organization.

Before the Assembly is a summary of informal interactive hearings held with representatives of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector that had taken place at Headquarters on 23 and 24 June (document A/60/331).

Statements

PAUL KAGAME, President of Rwanda, said there had been some remarkable successes in fulfilling the United Nations Charter, but there had also been serious failures.  The Summit was a great opportunity to reflect on the relations and responsibilities of sovereign nations.  Stressing the interdependence of nations that had arisen from globalization, he said both developed and developing nations must accept their collective interests and responsibilities, including attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

There was no greater challenge facing humanity than poverty and underdevelopment, he said.  In sub-Saharan Africa, conditions were predicted to worsen by 2015, which was unacceptable.  What had gone wrong?  Were the millennium targets overambitious or was international commitment to them overestimated?  Whatever the case, the international community must do things radically differently and in an expeditious manner, using clear and practical means of implementation.

Noting the strong relationship between security and development, he said Rwanda’s experience had demonstrated that reckless governance was adverse to development.  Never again should the international response in such situations be found wanting.  Collective action must be taken in a timely manner.  The international community must put in place early warning mechanisms and ensure that preventive interventions were the rule, rather than the exception.

If the United Nations was to fulfil its mission, it must improve coherence, efficiency and effectiveness to promote transparency and accountability, he said.  The reform process should enable States that were not members of the Security Council to participate more actively in its deliberative and decision-making processes, especially on issues that affected them.  A reformed Council should be seen by all States to be more representative, transparent, credible and legitimate.

MARC RAVALOMANANA, President of Madagascar, said that five years ago, eight development objectives set by the Organization had represented significant progress, and now it was important to advance even further.  To achieve that objective, a clear vision was needed -– a global development strategy.  The Millennium Development Goals were interdependent, and international coordination of all the measures was crucial for their achievement.  It was necessary to redouble efforts to help the poorest countries, and that should be done in accordance with a new vision for Africa and a coordinated plan of action.  “A Marshall Plan” for Africa was needed.  With such an approach, the Millennium Goals could be achieved.

Turning to his country’s progress, he said that poverty in Madagascar had been reduced from 80 per cent in 2002 to 74 per cent in 2004, but many people were still going hungry, especially in the south of the country.  School attendance had increased, and infant mortality had been reduced.  That was major progress.  His Government had also launched the national policy to promote gender equality and was taking measures to decrease maternal mortality.  Efforts were under way to stabilize the HIV/AIDS infection rate at 1.5 per cent and reduce the incidence of malaria.

Madagascar wished to protect and preserve nature, he said.  The surfaces of protected areas would be tripled in the next five years.  The country’s efforts to promote good governance had been acknowledged by the donors who had cancelled the country’s external debt.  Measures were being taken to reduce corruption.

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, President of Iran, said that the United Nations must be the focal point of reliance, hope and participation for all peoples and governments, and a forum for dialogue, understanding and cooperation to achieve peace and tranquillity throughout the globe.  Justice must reign supreme at the Organization.  In accordance with its Charter, all States must have equal rights. Greater power or wealth should not accord expanded rights to any member.  The principles of democracy and ethics should prevail in all organs and functions of the United Nations. The Organization should endeavour to fulfil its responsibility to promote and institutionalize justice at the international level.  The host country should not enjoy any right of privilege over the rest of the membership, and the Headquarters must be easily accessible for all.

The United Nations must lead in the efforts to promote spirituality and compassion for humanity, he said.  Only through that could real unity of nations be realized.  Acceptance of unilateralism represented the negation of the United Nations and its raison d’être.  Therefore, the Organization should address that problem.  It was impossible to achieve security, peace, stability, prosperity and progress in some parts of the world at the expense of instability, militarism, discrimination, poverty and deprivation of others.  Any licence for pre-emptive measures was in blatant contradiction to the very foundations of the United Nations and the letter and spirit of the Charter.

Turning to the composition of the Security Council, he said that it was necessary to gain a logical and democratic balance.  If permanent membership was accepted for some, an acceptable mix of representatives of all continents and major civilizations must acquire permanent seats at the Council.  In that connection, he emphasized his deep dismay that over 50 Islamic countries encompassing more than 1.2 billion people did not have a permanent seat in the Council, nor did Africa with its huge capabilities and potential.  The vast continent of Asia with its ancient civilizations had only one permanent seat.

ALEJANDRO TOLEDO MANRIQUE, President of Peru, said his country had committed itself to the Millennium Goals in a State policy that went beyond the Government.  As such, its commitment would not end with the current administration.  In meeting those Goals, the country had instituted economic and social policies to create conditions for sustainable decentralized economic growth, which would have positive effects on social expenditure, as well as individual income.

He said the Peruvian Government was applying specific policies in the areas of employment, income, health, education, and nutrition to assist the poorest.  Recognizing that the main priority was tackling poverty, the Government had laid down policies in such areas as employment, housing, and sanitation, without awaiting the benefits of economic growth.  Adding that about a million Peruvians had emerged from extreme poverty between 2001 and 2004, he had noted that the country had risen six points in the most recent United Nations human development index.

TOMMY REMENGESAU, President of Palau, said that, in the year of his country’s tenth anniversary as a United Nations Member, it was time for the international community to move beyond conducting studies on sustainable development for island nations and to move forward with a specific programme agenda.  Such an agenda must recognize what he called the “smallness” and “distinctive diversity” of small island developing States.  Island nations had small economies that lacked fiscal diversity.  “ Oceania is second only to sub-Saharan Africa in being ‘off track for nearly every [Millennium] Goal, and falling back in some areas’”, he said, quoting Jeffrey Sachs in the Millennium Project report.  Among the mounting challenges faced by this region were global warming and its effects on corals and the land; overfishing; and threats to the marine biodiversity that placed the diverse culture of the islands into jeopardy.

While developed countries must continue to expand their annual contributions and improve disbursements, developing countries must establish environments that would maximize the effectiveness of the contributions.  That was because strong recipient performance would lead to greater donor contributions, he said.  Towards that end, good governance must be treated as a mechanism towards expanding development assistance.  In particular, island economies would require international assistance and funding to help survive spiralling fuel prices caused by recent international events, which threatened to compromise the economic gains made over the past 10 years.

He expressed continued support for Japan’s bid for permanent membership on the Security Council, where it could employ its knowledge of the Pacific island region in that body’s deliberations.  He also voiced support for Taiwan’s membership in the United Nations as a “significant regional friend to Palau”.

Finally, he expressed the desire of his country and that of other Pacific countries for United Nations representation to be located in Palau, to help the United Nations to gain knowledge of the unique culture and economy of the region.

ABDOULAYE WADE, President of Senegal, said that the review of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals had shown that there were many obstacles on the way to their achievement.  Some of them originated inside the developing countries, including the lack of peace, bad governance and the AIDS pandemic.  At the same time, greater efforts were needed on behalf of the developed countries to increase official development assistance (ODA) and provide financing for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

Turning to his country’s situation, he said that Senegal had a growth rate of 6.3 per cent with spectacular results in agriculture.  There had been a drop of the HIV/AIDS rate to 0.7 per cent.  Some 40 per cent of the budget had been allocated to education and 10 per cent to health.

Science and technology were irreplaceable means for achieving progress, and the Secretary-General had convened a world summit on information society in Geneva at the end of 2003.  There, Africa had proposed creating a fund for digital solidarity, which had now been adopted by 193 countries.  The fund would function on the basis of voluntary contributions.

Among other means of increasing assistance for development, he supported the proposal by President Jacques Chirac to charge a small fee for air tickets for that purpose.  Regarding Security Council reform, he said that Africa had suffered a historic injustice, which had to be corrected by giving the continent a permanent seat with the right of veto.

JOHN AGYEKUM KUFUOR, President of Ghana, said that despite an emphasis on addressing the special needs of Africa in the five years since the Millennium Goals were put forth, very little had been achieved on that continent.  Efforts at achieving the objectives of the Doha Round should be accelerated because such a system would minimize the dependence of developing countries on aid and other assistance.  Initiatives like the Millennium Challenge Account of the United States Government and the proposed creation of an international finance facility to provide additional resources for the developing world were to be commended.  The cancellation of the debts of some Heavily Indebted Poor Countries at the recent Group of 8 Summit was a positive development, and he expressed hope that that concession would soon be extended to all African countries.

He also said the United Nations was in need of substantial reforms to meet the challenges of the new millennium and called for the strengthening of UN institutions.  The most important action would be the expansion and restructuring of the Security Council.  Reiterating the African Union’s position that it should receive two permanent seats on the Council, he said such an action would reflect the increased membership of the Organization and inspire the full confidence of Member States.

He also offered his country’s support of converting the Human Rights Commission into a Human Rights Council.  His country would also welcome the establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission to help countries in conflict transition from war to peace and rebuild.  Ghana supported the decision to establish a Democracy Fund as a way to promote and protect human rights.

Focusing on terrorism, he said its emergence posed one of the most serious threats to peace and security and called for a new paradigm of security consensus, based on multilateral action, reaffirming his country’s commitment to multilateralism as embodied in the United Nations Charter.  The issues of disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, illicit small arms and light weapons needed to be addressed.  He said that in the past decade, such small arms had claimed the lives of more than 20 million people in Africa, many of them women and children.

MWAI KIBAKI, President of Kenya, said that attainment of the Millennium Goals was a collective responsibility, and he called on the international community to lend its full support in meeting the commitments made in 2000.  Achievement of the Goals had been uneven and pointed to several roadblocks, including heavy debt burdens, low donor aid, and limited access to the markets of developed nations. 

He said many countries, including his own, had made significant achievements in laying the groundwork for attaining the Goals.  He noted that good governance had increasingly taken root in Africa, with leaders there trying to improve the lives of their citizens.   Kenya had made progress in several specific areas, as evidenced by rising economic growth and primary school enrolment that had reached 99 per cent.  Among the education challenges the country still faced were overcrowding, overstretched physical facilities, and high pupil-to-teacher ratios. 

Noting tremendous progress in controlling the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus, he credited policies and institutional arrangements put in place with the help of development partners for the drop in prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection from 18 per cent in 2000 to less than 7 per cent in 2004.  Nonetheless, the country’s health sector still faced serious challenges from malaria and other diseases.  Health-care sector expenditures rose from 8.6 per cent of government expenditure in 2004/2005 to 9.9 per cent in 2005/2006.

He said Kenya continued to struggle financially, with about 30 per cent of its export revenues going to service the external debt.  A recent assessment of what was needed to meet the Goals by 2015 found that the financial requirements were way beyond what the country could afford.  Debt relief and increased development assistance could put his country on a sustained growth path.

IVAN GASPAROVIC, President of Slovakia, said it was evident that the satisfaction of the most elementary human needs could not be taken for granted in a large part of the planet.  The right to a dignified life was still only a right and not an everyday reality.  The world was at a crossroads, and maintaining the status quo could lead to the United Nations losing its relevance completely.  If the United Nations could not be reformed, Member States would look for other ways to promote their interests.  The Organization and its institutions could only regain their prestige and accountability when they proved themselves able to adopt operational decisions for solving imminent problems.

The draft outcome was a basic starting point for a more effective multilateralism whose central role was played by the United Nations, even though it did not fully reflect the ideas and ambitions regarding the depth and forcefulness of measures for a reform of the United Nations system.  The document was not a solution to today’s situation, but was only a guide to its resolution.  Completion and strengthening of the human rights pillar, as well as the renewal of dynamics of negotiations and measures in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation, continued to be challenges.  He added that he was convinced that in the upcoming period, the international community would find enough political will and determination to solve those issues in the interest of strengthening the role and authority of the United Nations in the system of global relations.

EMOMALI RAKHMONOV, President of Tajikistan, said that joint efforts were needed to deal with what he viewed as interlinking problems -- environmental degradation, terrorism, the illicit drugs business and the modern slave trade.  The illicit drug trade was a feeding ground for terrorism and a barrier to sustainable development in the Central Asian region.  As such, the illegal drug trade should be given global focus in the form of a global anti-narcotics partnership under the auspices of the United Nations.

He said that the social and economic development of his country depended on assistance from the international donor community, and that debt proved a serious obstacle to progress.  An effective mechanism for solving the debt problem would be necessary for his region, in particular debt cancellation -- an idea that “remained outside the scope of donor States, including those of the G-8”.  If instituted, the resources released through such a mechanism would go towards combating poverty and achieving other Millennium Development Goals.

Regional cooperation would also play a significant role in development, he continued.  To further aid the region’s development, any multifaceted regional cooperation must consider Afghanistan and its post-conflict rehabilitation, to better establish a common vision for peace and stability within the greater Central Asian region.

Finally, noting that the desiccation of the Aral Sea had resulted in “water stress” in Central Asia, he proposed that a mechanism for coordinating the efforts of international organizations and the donor community, under the aegis of the United Nations, be formed to deal with that issue.  A regional pilot project for the Aral Sea basin could be implemented within the context of that proposed mechanism.  In addition, he proposed that an international freshwater forum be convened in 2010 to be hosted by Tajikistan, to evaluate the international agenda on access to drinking water.

JUAN CARLOS I, King of Spain, noting that the Summit had the ambitious agenda of assessing progress on the Millennium Goals, said that all nations recognized that the global community was still far from reaching those objectives.  The world was struggling between progress and inequality, and still lacked the tools to equally distribute any benefits.  The enormous needs, injustices and suffering faced by millions were heartbreaking, especially when they affected children and the most vulnerable.

Emphasizing also the need to strengthen peacekeeping worldwide, he said that no State could resolve the myriad threats and challenges facing it alone.  Terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, illegal arms trading and serious violations of human rights required a collective response based on solidarity, which should be duly reflected in decisions adopted at the United Nations.

Adding that the United Nations must be reformed if it was to adapt to new challenges, he said that Spain supported the creation of a Human Rights Council; revitalizing the General Assembly; reforming the Security Council to make it more democratic and ensure compliance with its decisions; strengthening the role of the Economic and Social Council; creating a Peacebuilding Commission; and strengthening Secretariat management.

FRADIQUE BANDEIRA MELO DE MENEZES, President of Sao Tome and Principe, said the United Nations had undergone dramatic changes since its creation 60 years ago.  Now, the UN must adapt to those changes and reform itself.  There were many new challenges and threats confronting the world, including the degradation of the environment, the spread of infectious diseases, international crime and corruption, the proliferation of weapons, terrorism and human rights violations.  What was at stake was mankind itself.

He said multilateralism was the basis of our action for international security, sustainable development and solidarity.  The response to the South-East Asian tsunami demonstrated the success of the international community working together to achieve one goal.  Sao Tome and Principe supported the creation of a UN early-warning tsunami coordination centre and called for the end to hunger and extreme poverty, the development of global partnerships, a reduction in infant mortality.

The Millennium objectives were attainable if the world community worked together.  He cited his country’s strategic plan to reduce poverty, adding that much more needed to be done.  More than double the increase in funding was needed to support those objectives by 2015, and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must be involved in any plan for UN reform.

He called for research into different conflicts, particularly in Africa, where the United Nations intervened, but it was not enough, resulting in social and economic devastation.  An economic recovery plan aimed at protecting democracy should be established, and his Government also supported the establishment of a commission for peace.  The risk of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction should concern the world community.

He concluded by saying his country was committed to peace and international development that fell within the United Nations Charter.  The world must act together to ensure all the objectives for the next Millennium were met, but in order for that to be done, reform within the United Nations was necessary.  All nations must be represented, and that had not yet occurred with Taiwan.

TARJA HALONEN, President of Finland, said security, development and human rights went hand in hand and were key to creating a more just world.  “Today, more than ever before, the opportunities for doing good are enormous.  We have the capacity, and we have the knowledge and resources.  We only lack delivery”, she said, but stressed that with effective cooperation, the global community could reform globalization and make it an effective tool to eliminate poverty and inequality, to promote sustainable development, to improve the rights of women and to ensure respect for children’s rights.

She said the international community had begun to understand the importance of the social dimension of globalization.  Employment had been made a global goal, and access to decent work and education for all were now seen as critical to lifting peoples and nations from poverty to prosperity.  She added that the international community must ensure that HIV/AIDS was viewed as a broad social challenge worthy of a multi-sectoral response.  Ensuring reproductive health and rights were also critical aspects of development.

On the work of the Summit, she said that although she was pleased with the outcome document approved yesterday by the General Assembly, she would have liked to see a firm commitment to fighting terrorism to be accompanied with progress made in disarmament and non-proliferation.  Finland was in favour of comprehensive United Nations reform, and she stressed that the Assembly had to find a solution to Security Council reform during this session.  The Council must be expanded with both new permanent and non-permanent members.  The reform of the United Nations economic and social machinery must also continue apace.

Finland also welcomed the establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission and believed that the proposed body’s work should begin by the given deadline.  Moreover, Finland believed it was particularly important to strengthen the status of human rights matters in the United Nations.  The proposal to set up a new Human Rights Council was welcome, but all the modalities needed to be resolved as quickly as possible.  And to ensure real progress, the Assembly must ensure that women fully participated in the work of both those new bodies.

VAIRA VIKE-FREIBERGA, President of Latvia, said the international community must find the political will to forge ahead in implementing its collective decisions.  To that end, the United Nations had reaffirmed its commitment to achieve the Millennium Goals of reducing poverty and disease, promoting children’s education and gender equality, fostering sustainable development, and creating an international climate of peace and security.  Any aid programme must be administered responsibly through good governance in an honest, open and transparent manner.

Commending the agreement to set up a Peacebuilding Commission by the end of the year, she said that body could fulfil a vital role in post-conflict recovery and consolidation of sustainable peace.  She was also pleased with the decision to establish a Human Rights Council, but stressed the need to give it genuine authority.  Adding that human rights went hand in hand with democracy, she said the proposed Democracy Fund could provide valuable aid to nations consolidating democratic political systems and the rule of law.

She noted that no consensus had been reached on how to proceed with Security Council reform, and that that issue promised to be one of the more difficult to resolve.  The global community should not abandon its efforts to reach a feasible accord on such reform by the end of the year.

FESTUS G. MOGAE, President of Botswana, said the Summit must move forward in key areas, including the implementation of previously agreed international development goals, overcoming threats to international peace and security, ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law, and achieving long-sought institutional reform.  The Monterrey Consensus provided a framework for the global community to mobilize financial resources.  Progress would also be enhanced if the commitments made at the recent Group of 8 Summit in Scotland were fully and expeditiously implemented.  He welcomed the commitment of a number of developed countries to increase their development expenditure to 0.7 per cent of the gross national income by 2015.  He encouraged progress in the current Doha Round negotiations, which could pave the way for the Round to be concluded next year.

The High-level Panel of Eminent Persons had reconfirmed the inter-relationship between development, human rights, peace and security, he said.  It was the responsibility of the international community to find further consensus on those issues in the context of new threats and opportunities of today’s globalized world.  Condemning terrorism in all its manifestations, Botswana believed that the international community should be able to agree on a comprehensive convention on terrorism on the basis of a common definition and understanding of what constituted terrorist acts.  The current session should endeavour to reach agreement on those related issues.

Turning to conflicts on the African continent, he said that their resolution could go a long way to ensure the economic and social development of the wider African region, as well as the affected countries themselves.  There was a need for greater cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union to strengthen conflict prevention and peacekeeping mechanisms.

Regarding the reform of the United Nations, he said that the time was now ripe to move forward on the Security Council reform. It was necessary to transform that critical organ in order to make it more representative of the world today, through increased membership and improved working methods.  The recommendations of the High-level Panel provided the international community with a guide for consensus.  No position should be embraced as if it were dogma, for the status quo was not in the Member States’ collective interest.  It was also necessary to reassert the role and authority of the General Assembly, and its President should play a greater leadership role in refocusing its agenda.   Botswana also supported measures intended to strengthen the focus on human rights issues, including the creation of a new Human Rights Council.  He also embraced the concept of “responsibility to protect” and supported the establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, President of Pakistan, said the decisions taken by Member States at the Summit would have far-reaching consequences.  States had a solemn responsibility to bequeath a legacy of hope and peace to future generations, and could not afford to fail.  International security could be best promoted when every State saw peace as being in its best interest; when States believed that they could realize their interests through mutual cooperation; when the supremacy of equitable principles was established over the realities of unequal power; and when Member States agreed to utilize the United Nations to harmonize their policies and reconcile their interests.

The Security Council should work openly, on behalf of the general membership.  The Council should become more representative, not by adding a new elite, he said, but by reflecting more fully the entire spectrum of the United Nation’s membership.  That could be achieved only through patient dialogue and general consensus.  Member States must also not only be prepared to proclaim their principles, but must defend them all and, above all, live up to them.  Resolutions of the United Nations, especially the Security Council’s decisions, must be implemented.  It was also necessary to fight terrorism in all its forms, and outlaw and eliminate it.  Member States must also evolve a new consensus to achieve disarmament and non-proliferation.  In conclusion, he said that Member States should resolve at the Summit to make poverty history, peace permanent and freedom universal.

ROBERT GABRIEL MUGABE, President of Zimbabwe, said that his country’s efforts had been seriously affected by recurrent floods and droughts, HIV/AIDS and unilateral sanctions imposed by the countries that “do not wish us well”.  As a result, Zimbabwe was lagging behind on many of its targets.  While the challenges were great, so was his country’s commitment to achieving its Millennium Development Goals, even with limited means.   Zimbabwe’s achievements in the area of universal primary education were a testimony to that resolve.  It was also committed to addressing extreme poverty and hunger by redistributing land to the majority of its citizens, who had been condemned to conditions of squalor by years of colonialism and its vestiges.

“In reviewing the progress made towards the attainment of the Millennium Goals, we must have the courage to go beyond the mere posturing that is characterized by name-calling, finger-pointing and false accusations”, he said.  Developing countries should be accorded policy space to develop their own strategies tailored to their needs within a framework providing for accountability, transparency and integrity in the system.  The simple fact was that every Government had the primary responsibility to promote and safeguard the economic and social development of its people.  International efforts should only complement national programmes.  Also, not enough had been done to fulfil the commitments undertaken in various United Nations conferences and summits, he said.  He was concerned about the continuous, significant and clearly calculated decline in ODA in recent years and reiterated the urgent need for a substantial increase of ODA as agreed at Monterrey.

Deliberations on the institutional reform of the United Nations should be conducted in an open, transparent and consultative manner that would deepen and consolidate multilateralism, he continued.  It was important to address the root causes of present insecurity, which could be found in poverty, hunger and disease, as well as intolerance, double standards, xenophobia, selectivity and self-righteousness.  A reformed United Nations must play a key role in coordinating developmental issues.  Such concepts as “humanitarian intervention” and the “responsibility to protect” required careful scrutiny in order to test the motives of their proponents.

Organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council, must be restructured to reflect the full will of nations, great or small, he added.  It was necessary to avoid situations where few countries, by virtue of their privileged positions, dictated the agenda for everybody else.  The international community needed to return to the drawing board to rediscover, reassert and pursue in a practical manner, the agenda for peace, security and development for all through fostering genuine cooperation, based on respect or the sovereignty, equality and territorial integrity of all States.  He called on the international community to remain true to the original principles and objectives of the United Nations Charter.

ABDELAZIZ BOUTEFLIKA, President of Algeria, said the United Nations required serious reform if the Organization was to reflect today’s reality.  Such reform should consider the important role of the General Assembly, as well as other institutions throughout the system.  It should uphold the principles of the Organization, as well as the rule of law and international agreements.

He said injustices to the Palestinian people provided further proof of the bankruptcy of international order over the past few decades.  The triumphant era of globalization should lead to every possible action in assisting all sectors of humankind.

NESTOR CARLOS KIRCHNER, President of Argentina, said that the achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals were far from satisfactory.  A large part of the problem lay in the lack of correlation between statements and action.  That was obvious in such areas as debt and trade.  The prevalence of the ideological component in the policies of international financial institutions was distressing.

With great effort, Argentina was returning to the path of development.  After emerging from crisis, the country’s indicators showed growth in economy, and its exports were growing.  The levels of unemployment and poverty had fallen and opportunities for foreign investment were being created.  Also on the rise were literacy rates and women’s participation.  Infant mortality was on the decrease, and public health programmes were being implemented.  In particular, the Government planned to cover the whole population affected by AIDS with medicines at an affordable cost.  Unfortunately, however, that process of recuperation, expansion and transformation had been implemented without the help from the IMF.  Tariffs and barriers continued to restrain the country’s efforts.

He believed that international finances were too important to be left in the hands of concerted interests that affected the stability of markets, discriminated against the small investor and spawned pro-cyclic policies.  That was why, in various forums, Argentina had put forward certain proposals to increase the transparency of international financial system to free the Organization from certain financial lobbies.  Looking ahead, his country had structured a debt-reduction strategy designed to gain degrees of independence in the implementation of its plans for development.  In that regard, he reaffirmed Argentina’s decision that payment of external financial commitments should not be made to the detriment of social programmes, including the areas of education, health, housing and employment promotion.  The country would be firm in maintaining that position when dealing with international credit organizations, and he reiterated his call for increased transparency, democracy and deep restructuring and revision of their policies in order to ensure equity and efficiency.

In reference to the Falklands/Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, he said that the issue must be solved through bilateral negotiations between his country and the United Kingdom.  He once again reaffirmed “the permanent willingness” of his country to reach a final, fair and peaceful solution to that sovereignty dispute, which was a central preoccupation of the people of Argentina.  He, therefore, urged the United Kingdom to promptly fulfil the call of the international community to resume negotiations.

BENJAMIN WILLIAM MKAPA, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, stressed that the international community must remain committed to the Millennium Goals and the basic values and duties they imposed on all nations.  Not only must it remain committed to the Goals, but nations must fully integrate them into domestic policies, as well as international development strategies, policies and actions.

For too long, there had been unnecessary debate about whether the solution to poverty was increased resources, he continued.  Of course, eradicating poverty not only required money, but few strategies would succeed without it.  Good governance was also necessary, although it also was not the only required ingredient.

Stressing the need for all nations to fulfil their commitments, he said developing countries must mobilize domestic resources; reform institutions to respond to national priorities; adopt effective nationally owned economic and social policies to spur economic growth; and make broader commitments to democracy, human rights and good governance.  Developed countries must fulfil their responsibilities to increase and improve the effectiveness of development assistance; ensure the Doha Round was truly development-oriented; embrace wider debt relief; and facilitate technology transfer.

LASZLO SOLYOM, President of Hungary, said the United Nations served a distinct purpose, and without it, the world would not enjoy as much freedom, security, social justice or democracy.  There were still unprecedented challenges and grave concerns; however, that needed to be addressed.  Those included, in particular, the threat of terrorism, civil wars, global poverty, the rapid degradation of the environment, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

He said the necessity for reform within the United Nations was stronger than ever.   Hungary agreed with the Secretary-General’s report that a comprehensive approach towards security, development and human rights was needed.  It was critical to redouble common efforts to combat terrorism, and he expressed hope that the General Assembly would finish a counter-terrorist strategy and conclude a comprehensive convention on terrorism.

The world had radically changed since the establishment of the United Nations, with the advent of new communication and global trade possibilities, but the core values remained the same.  He urged the international community to focus on the environment and called on Member States to maintain the level of environmental protection they once achieved.  The establishment of a United Nations Environment Organization was suggested.

Hungary supported the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and he called for an effective Human Rights Council.  Announcing the creation of a Democracy Fund, he said the International Centre for Democratic Transition had been set up in Budapest and asked the world community to support it.

It was the responsibility of the United Nations to live up to the expectations of its citizens and respond to global challenges in the most effective way. He once again called for reform within the United Nations, and said world leaders must rededicate themselves to the vision of the founding fathers.

SHEIKH HAMAD BIN KHALIFA AL-THANI, Emir of Qatar, agreed with the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change that it was necessary to lay down a new vision for collective security and ensure increased efficiency and effectiveness of international bodies.  He also agreed with the Secretary-General that it was necessary to accord an equal share of attention to development, security and human rights.  One could not be pursued at the expense of the others.  It was high time to grant development the attention it deserved.  It was not a coincidence that the most impoverished regions were the ones suffering the most protracted regional conflicts, where human rights were often trampled and threatened.

Realization of the Millennium Development Goals required the creation of necessary conditions at the national and international levels to mobilize the necessary resources, he continued.  The outcomes of the conferences in Johannesburg and Monterrey were important in that regard.  Developing countries had actually begun assuming more responsibilities by drawing their own development strategies.  However, they were still facing a major problem of the lack of adequate financial resources.  In that connection, it was important to increase financial flows to those countries and honour the minimum level of commitments that developed countries had agreed upon.

The international financing system must accommodate the humanitarian concerns of affected countries by providing more grants and launching more official debt cancellation initiatives as a relief measures to least developed countries and heavily indebted countries, he said.  It was also important to build a global trading system committed to the principles of equality and founded on a standard rule-based scheme that applied equally to all.  He welcomed the August decision of the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which called for full implementation of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  He also stressed the need to conclude the Doha Round by 2006.  The kind of development his country sought depended on promoting good governance based on the respect for the rule of law and promotion of popular participation through the spread of democracy.

Turning to the issue of terrorism, he said that it was important to develop a collective response to that threat.  Qatar denounced terrorism in all its manifestations and was determined to continue to coordinate international efforts to combat that scourge.  The country stood ready to join the much-sought international convention to combat terrorism.  It was important to arrive at a definition of the concept of terrorism that would allow the international community to distinguish between a despicable criminal act and peoples’ right to resist occupation by armed struggle.

While he valued the Secretary-General’s proposal to upgrade the Commission on Human Rights into a full-fledged, but smaller standing council, he feared that the limited smaller body would be not representative of the wider membership.  He believed that the proposal should be further studied.  He also looked forward to further deliberations on the reform o the Security Council and supported the reform of the Secretariat.  Monitoring and accountability mechanism must be put in place to raise the professional competence of international civil servants.

PAUL BIYA, President of Cameroon, noted that members of the South had taken various measures to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in their nations; to improve governance by combating corruption; and to restore their financial systems.  They had done so at heavy social costs, and gratefully acknowledged the efforts of developed partners, particularly members of the Group of 8 and the European Union, in cancelling the debt of several countries.  But those measures were still incomplete in the case of 18 countries, 14 of whom were African.  It was necessary to move quickly and further in the matter of debt settlement, so that the Millennium Development Goals could be achieved in a timely manner.

He urged that trade talks within the Doha cycle be stepped up, to enable more countries from the South –- particularly those of sub-Saharan Africa –- to begin playing a more significant role in international trade.  It was hoped that agricultural subsidies, for products such as African cotton, could be removed, while the special treatment of products such as bananas should continue.  He also urged that the markets of the North be opened further, to allow countries of the South to play an even greater role in the global economy. 

The world’s largest forestry reserve was located in the Congo basin, and the countries of that region were engaged in its sustainable management, he said.  While they were glad to contribute to the world’s improved quality of life in this way, the loss of revenue incurred should be fairly compensated.

Finally, he touched upon issues of organizational reform, noting that Cameroon supported the position held by the African Union on the issue of Security Council reform.  Reform should ensure a fair balance between the various bodies within the United Nations; in that regard, priority should be placed on the revitalization of the General Assembly, as well as the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council.  He also said that the International Court of Justice should be given a more central role in helping to settle disputes and conflicts.  While the implementation of those reforms would require patience and a spirit of compromise, he ended by offering a quote by a current philosopher:  “History teaches mankind of the difficulty involved in major undertakings and the slow pace in achieving them.  But they justify the need for undying hope.”

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, President of Nigeria, said the Millennium Goals had emerged from a collective resolve to address and build on partnerships between the weak and the strong, rich and poor, and among peoples of the world.  In pursuing those Goals, Nigeria had drawn up and attempted to realize set targets in the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy -- a home-grown, people-centred medium-term strategy designed to generate wealth, create employment, reduce poverty and promote value reorientation.  Following implementation of that strategy, agricultural production in the country had grown by about 7 per cent, industrial capacity utilization had doubled, and gross domestic product (GDP) had grown at an average of more than 6 per cent per year.

Despite such progress, poverty and unemployment were still prevalent in rural areas, he said. As a developing country, Nigeria needed an annual GDP growth of about 10 per cent to transform its economy, which would require increased support from development partners and investors.  The primary responsibility for socio-economic development lay with the country itself, but assistance from development partners was needed to achieve the Millennium Goals.

ROH MOO-HYUN, President of the Republic of Korea, said that at a time of uncertainty as to how the global order will unfold, the path that must be chosen remained clear.  The twenty-first century world order should be defined by all nations, large and small, coexisting under shared interests to achieve collective prosperity.  He called for the redoubling of efforts to advance projects aimed at pursuing freedom from poverty and from discrimination.

Of equal importance, he said, was that the world should divest itself of the mindsets and vestiges of imperialism in order to prevent a resurgence of major-power centrism.  Greater self-restraint should be exercised by the leading nations in contemporary international politics.  More efforts needed to be made in respecting neighbouring countries and forging international consensus.  As evidence of the promise such endeavours could hold, he cited the European Union’s experience, in which the continent moved from an order dictated by power to a community of peace and coexistence.  He expressed his hope that North-East Asia could emulate Europe’s path.

He said decisions made in reshaping the United Nations now would be a harbinger of the global order of the future.  Accordingly, a community aimed at serving common interests and respecting the views of member nations should be created.  The Security Council should be reformed in such a manner to enhance its moral authority and facilitate harmony among nations, rather than spark a resurgence of great power politics.

He pointed to his country’s own experience in emerging from the ashes of war with the support of the international community to become the eleventh largest economy in the world.  The Republic of Korea was prepared to do its part in contributing to peace and prosperity throughout the world and promised to undertake the full range of responsibilities and roles, from tackling poverty and hunger to promoting human rights and bridging the digital divide.

VICENTE FOX, President of Mexico, said he wanted to convey a message of hope for the future of multilateralism.  Much had been achieved in the 60 years of the Organization’s history.  However, while the international community had been successful in preventing a nuclear war -– probably the last one in the history of mankind, it had been unable to prevent many more conflicts that had cost thousands of lives.  The concept of security was multidimensional in nature.  Security would be impossible without socio-economic development and respect for human rights.

He welcomed the decision to establish the Peacebuilding Commission, which would allow the international community to address the reconstruction processes.  The draft outcome document contained many elements that would allow for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations.  While progress had been achieved, some problems required further attention, including the issue of disarmament.  He supported a democratic reform of the Security Council that would ensure better representation and greater transparency.  He also supported creation of a Human Rights Council.  It was unfortunate that the international community had been unable to agree on the definition of terrorism, for it would have been useful for the work on the international treaty on the matter.

He invited all Members to renew their work to bring about a true reform of the United Nations and wished the United Nations every success in achieving that reform.  It was important to ensure that the Organization remained the best way of ensuring international peace and security.  That required unity against diversity.  “Here and now, together, we can achieve this”, he said.

TRAIAN BASESCU, President of Romania, said he believed it was entirely possible to reshape the United Nations to serve better the needs and wishes of the twenty-first century’s peoples.  Romania had successfully transformed itself into a functioning democracy and a booming economy and wanted to share its experience with other nations.  The country remained committed to achieving the Millennium Goals as it moved down the path to European integration.

He said security and regional operation were key components of United Nations performance and achievement.  Illicit trafficking in human beings, arms, drugs and counterfeited goods should not be ignored, as they could provide resources to terrorist networks and prolong regional conflicts.  Protection against security threats would involve not just taking a stand at one’s own border, but going to where the challenges originate and pursuing resolute action.  For that reason, Romania participated in the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said Romania wanted to bring its experience as a catalyst for cooperation in South-Eastern Europe to bear at the international level.  In the coming months, the handling of the Kosovo issue would be decisive for overall prospects of lasting stability, integration and prosperity for the whole region.  A better way must be found to deal with conflicts in the wider Black Sea area and in South-Eastern Europe.  That should be a priority concern globally, to the same extent as addressing crises in more troubled areas.

He said the ultimate goal should be that the international community deal with each and every security challenge by better pooling existing resources and capabilities for responding to unlawful violence.  Romania unreservedly supported a Peacebuilding Commission, and was aware it would take a great amount of commitment and resources to make it come true.  The United Nations should not hesitate to address regional threats using all appropriate measures, including action at the Security Council level.  The outcome document represented a huge political investment of trust and hope on behalf of our people.  It would all be in vain unless positive political will in making those constructs come to life is demonstrated.

TONY BLAIR, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said the United Nations must become the visible and credible expression of globalized politics.  The proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons would never end without international consensus, and the global community would fail to protect the environment or promote international trade without working together.  Moreover, humanity today possessed common values.  Give people a chance and they would always vote for freedom, prefer tolerance to prejudice, and never willingly accept the suppression of human rights or governance by extremism.

The United Nations could be the instrument to achieve the global will of the people, he said.  It must give leadership on terrorism, strengthen its policy against non-proliferation, and earn respect through its new Human Rights Council.  The Peacebuilding Commission must become the means of renewing nations, where war and collapsed governments have left their people destitute.  States had agreed for the first time at the Summit that nations did not have the right to do what they wanted within their own borders, and that the international community had a duty to protect people when their own governments would not.

If the international community honoured its commitments on aid, trade, debt relief, HIV/AIDS, and conflict prevention, he said, there would be more democracy, less oppression, more freedom, less terrorism, more growth and less poverty.  It would be following the proper vocation of political leadership, and the United Nations would live up to its name.

JAN PETER BALKENENDE, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, noted that poverty, pollution, terrorism and violence had a worldwide impact, and they were all interconnected.  “Let us not make the mistake of thinking that if threats are far away, they are not our business”, he said.  Such threats could set off a global chain reaction that would affect everybody.  All countries were equally vulnerable -- only united could they transform the world for the better.  Together, they were responsible for taking action.  In 2000, the international community had promised the world that it would achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  Now the time had come to fulfil that promise.

“As political leaders, we must have the courage to choose a model for international partnership that does justice to the tasks confronting us”, he said.  The international community needed an effective multilateral system with clear commitments and rules, and strong institutions.  Only that would give it the chance to make the world more secure, just and humane.  “Rather than pretending that the UN is some entity, distinct from us Member States, we should acknowledge that the United Nations is ‘us’ and we together determine whether it is an effective tool or not.  If we do not want the United Nations to be a lame duck, we must dare to give it the wings to fly”, he said.

Multilateralism worked, he continued.  The outcome document of the Summit in many respects presented much-needed progress.  In other areas, however, the international community must be more ambitious.  He welcomed the establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission to deal with conflicts in a more structural way.  He also applauded the readiness to address deficiencies in the management of the Organization and was pleased with the reaffirmed ambitions on development cooperation.  Also important was the recognition of the contribution of the private sector and civil society.  Public-private partnerships were an effective and indispensable tool in combating poverty.  Those principles should be put into practice.

With the private sector, for example, the Netherlands and Ghana would take up an idea of the Hunger Task Force to support a school-feeding programme, which would increase school enrolment, reduce hunger and strengthen the local economy, he added.  Examples like that showed that it was possible to bring the Millennium Goals within reach.  However, more could and should be done to enhance the international community’s capacity to deal with human rights violations.  The Human Rights Council should be up and running by early 2006.  It was necessary to take appropriate steps to make it a truly effective tool to promote and protect human rights.  Equally pressing was the need to enhance credibility of the multilateral mechanism in the field of non-proliferation.  The document’s deafening silence on that issue undermined the credibility of the United Nations.

OWEN ARTHUR, Prime Minister of Barbados, said it was important that the Summit did not become a “theatre of the absurd” -– an occasion for complaining about what had not been achieved in the past, or agreeing to new commitments that everyone knew would not be honoured in the future.  “It is time that we begin to hold some common ground and use it as a beachhead from which to launch our drive for progress”, he declared.

He said the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the south-eastern American Gulf coast, coming just one year after Hurricane Ivan wreaked similar destruction throughout the Caribbean region, had powerfully illustrated the need to create and implement an action plan for global development that will alleviate the suffering of the poor, wherever they may be.

“It is unconscionable that we should have to live in a world that consists of a permanent coalition of unequals:  the fabulously rich and the desperately poor”, he said, adding that it was particularly unacceptable that the principal agents of international cooperation -– aid and trade -– should be used as instruments to perpetuate underdevelopment.  “The world can do better”, he said, stressing that the Summit should not be an occasion for recommitment to the Millennium Declaration but for a making new commitments to a process of compassionate global development that draws on humankind’s best values. 

For its part, Barbados had accepted the Millennium Development Goals not as an international “test” with requirements to be met, but as an inspiration for its entire peoples to reach for higher economic and social heights.  He said Barbados had proposed not only to meet but exceed the Goals.  To that end, his country had attained a human development index that ranked it above some European countries.  The price Barbados had had to pay for that success was that it had been denied access to some aid and development financing.  At the same time, it did not have access to global markets.

With all that in mind, Barbados believed that the Millennium Goals would only be achieved if all nations committed to a global partnership for development. To that end the Summit should have world leaders commit to providing increased and more predictable resources, the promotion of a universal, open and fair multilateral trading system, and a global governance system that not only allowed for the full and effective participation of developing countries in international decision-making, but which also managed world economies in a manner that would more equitably distribute the world’s resources.  “Anything less will find us all wanting by 2015”, he concluded.

BERTIE AHERN, Prime Minister of Ireland, said his country had always placed the United Nations at the very centre of its foreign policy.  Many Irish soldiers had served under the blue flag, and some had sacrificed their lives in that noble service.  “The many successes of the United Nations make our failures -- failures which at times have been catastrophic -- all the more inexcusable”, he said.  While he regretted that the Secretary-General’s ambitious vision had not been fully realized, he said significant progress had been achieved in several areas.

Reform must continue, and change must happen.  The realities of the world demanded it.  As the first signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Ireland deeply regretted the failure to make any progress on the Treaty on this occasion.  However, Ireland would continue working to strengthen the Treaty.  The international community should also quickly make a reality of the Human Rights Council.  Furthermore, he said that that the Secretary-General had to have the authority and flexibility to manage the Organization and to devote resources where they were most needed, saying that it was not fair to deny him that and then blame him when things went wrong.

Ireland was recommitting itself to reaching the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of GDP in ODA by the year 2012, three years earlier than the agreed European Union target date of 2015, he said.  Ireland was one of the very few donor countries all of whose aid was untied.  Ireland’s aid would remain untied.

The new money would support a doubling of the spending on the fight against HIV/AIDS; major humanitarian emergencies; the new United Nations fund promoting democratic values; and Irish industry and private sector projects in African partner countries.

WINSTON BALDWIN SPENCER, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, extended his country’s “heartfelt sympathy” to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the United States and said that all nations shared a responsibility to help the underprivileged in poor countries.  It was a sign of the reforms that needed to take place in the United Nations, to make it more responsive and timely in dealing with the vulnerabilities of the poor in developing States.

Focusing on the situation in his country, he said that even with the limited resources of Antigua and Barbuda, they had kept their doors open to many immigrants from sister Caribbean countries who faced economic hardship, and had responded to international threats such as narco-trafficking, arms smuggling, money-laundering, and terrorism.  The crippling impact of rising energy costs had left the country’s economy fragile, and thus there was a need to expand the partnership between developed and developing nations.

Citing his country’s limited options of trade in a globalized world, he said that Internet gaming was one of their principal economic options and that the United States opposition to it was rendering the country poorer.  Another essential item for small economies was debt relief.  Without it, small developing countries would remain weak and vulnerable.  The Millennium Development Goals hinged upon that and the determination of stronger nations to strengthen the weak.  Specifically, assistance provided by developed nations of the international community in the areas of information and communications technology, and health-care resources to fight the AIDS epidemic, were essential to achieve the Goals.

ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI, Prime Minister of Malaysia, said that the protection and enhancement of multilateralism must be the most fundamental objective of the United Nations system if the body was to be reformed and renewed.  That was necessary, particularly with regard to multilateralism and the use of force.

He noted that that the use of force as a means of addressing security threats had become a generally accepted idea among Member States, though issues did arise when deciding upon its use in cases of last resort.  He acknowledged that the Security Council was an appropriate body for making decisions of that kind, but that, to guard against unilateralism from within that body, provisions should be made for the General Assembly to oversee such questions, as well.  An empowered General Assembly would act as a check against double standards in the application of power.  “An effective multilateral system, centred upon an appropriately empowered General Assembly, is our best guarantee against exertions of absolute power or disregard for international law”, he said.

He also noted that there was a growing consensus over the use of force to protect civilian populations from genocide and ethnic cleansing.  He added that global poverty, and the injustices suffered by its victims -– who made up around 40 per cent of the world’s population –- also bordered on a crime, and should require a global response to be coordinated by the United Nations.

Poverty had deprived more than 100 million children of a primary school education, he said.  While developing countries must rely primarily on their own efforts for development, there was a need for international assistance for capacity-building purposes.  That was particularly true in terms of access to education, which he described as “the greatest leveller” in bridging the prosperity gap, and that the United Nations was best placed to play a leading role in bringing this about.

Finally, he noted that the fight against terrorism required the widest possible collaboration among all countries, and that, again, only the United Nations could galvanize such an undertaking.  “It is possible to disrupt, capture or kill individual terrorists.  However, unless the root causes are addressed and removed, new recruits will take the place of leaders and groups killed or destroyed in the fight against terrorism”, he said.  The international community must know the minds and mentality of terrorist, not for the sake of compassion or sympathy, but to identify the root causes of their actions, he added.  At the same time, Member States must maintain a distinction between acts of terrorism and the right of peoples fighting for self-determination.  Also, it was unjustifiable to associate terrorism with a particular race or religion -- terrorist must be singled out only by their acts of terror and nothing else.

GERARD LATORTUE, Prime Minister of Haiti, stressed the importance of the reform of the United Nations, expressing support for the enlargement of the Security Council through admittance of new permanent members.  He supported the proposal by the President of Senegal that even if no agreement was reached on the formula of Council reform, at least one permanent seat should be given to Africa.  He also believed that to achieve greater balance, a permanent seat should be given to his region, as well.  Any country that respected good governance, human rights and free election should also be eligible for a permanent seat on the Council.  As a decision-making body, the Assembly should play a more important role.  A greater balance was required for the powers of the Security Council and the General Assembly.  A strengthened Economic and Social Council with a better structure and greater resources should be able to make a greater contribution to the work of the United Nations.

As a country enjoying international assistance, his country, however, could show few tangible results, he continued.  After more than 50 years of cooperation with the United Nations, there was little evidence of all that assistance.  The country’s infrastructure was still in bad shape, electricity remained a luxury for most of the population, the roads were bad, and a large number of people was illiterate.  It was true that bad governance was partly responsible for that state of affairs, but the international community also needed to address that issue in search of a culture of greater efficiency.  It was time to stop the competition among various agencies of the United Nations and their competition with other bilateral and multilateral bodies.

A global revision of cooperation policies and distribution of public assistance for development was needed, he said.  Development aid should be better coordinated at the global level, taking into account the policies defined at the national level.  He also requested a sensible reduction in the percentage of international assistance devoted to remuneration of international exports.  And finally, he wanted to make an appeal for greater coordination between United Nations agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions.  And talking about financing for development, he welcomed the initiative of Presidents Chirac and Lula da Silva, who had proposed new machinery for the financing of development assistance.

ALBERT PINTAT, President of Andorra, said the advent of globalization and major advances in technology have caused all to “gradually merge into a single entity” and asked whether this smaller world would be one where human rights were universally recognized, and a decent standard of living could be enjoyed by all citizens.  The United Nations was the place where smaller States had a forum where their voice could be heard.  There was a need for increased multilateralism and more support for important institutions like the International Criminal Court.

Turning to the issue of UN reforms, he praised the calls for reform, but also stressed that one must not forget about the tremendous achievements of organizations like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and that nations must continue to deal with issues such as the problems of refugees, disease and political turmoil, amid the United Nations’ imperfections.

Addressing his country’s support for the Millennium Development Goals, he said that while some of the Goals might be difficult to meet, “we also recognize that the alternatives are indeed bleak”.  He added that the fight against AIDS, terrorism, abject poverty, the struggle for a sense of common justice, education and gender equality were the goals that linked all nations.  And that was the common struggle to pursue under the UN.

KHALEDA ZIA, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, reported that her country had successfully achieved two Millennium Development Goal targets –- removing gender disparity in primary and secondary schools; and ensuring access to safe drinking water.  Those achievements had taken place within the context of larger progress, and each fell under six socio-economic areas:  the achievement of a GDP growth rate of over 5 per cent in the last 10 years, despite frequent natural disasters like floods; a lowering of the incidence of poverty from over 70 per cent in 1971 to less than 45 per cent in 2002, exceeding that of most developing countries; going from chronic food deficiency to achieving something close to food self-sufficiency; having an enhanced capacity of responding to, and managing, natural disasters; undergoing an improvement in the physical quality of life index due to the high allocation of resources to the education and health sectors each year.

She said the sixth area of progress was itself comprised of achievements within several “key social sectors”:  the highest primary school enrolment rates in the developing world; gender parity in primary and secondary school enrolment; a lowered population growth rate; a decreased fertility rate; a decreased infant mortality rate; and the further empowerment of women, such as through the microcredit programmes which now involved 12 million people.

However, national efforts such as those would not be sufficient unless there was a conducive external environment, she continued.  That would necessarily involve an enhanced market access for products, as well as increased foreign direct investment and ODA from development partners.  While not wishing to remain dependent on financial and technical assistance forever, she noted that ODA was essential in some critical areas, particularly for accelerating economic reform and lifting people from poverty.  She welcomed the establishment of the Democracy Fund at the United Nations, which she hoped would contribute to the capacity-building efforts of Member States.

LAWRENCE GONZI, Prime Minister of Malta, said a mix of contrasts –- unbounded wealth and unbelievable poverty, major scientific breakthroughs and pervasive illiteracy, overwhelming gestures of kindness and atrocious acts of wickedness –- had the potential to seriously destabilize societies.  At the same time, it contained the germ of remedial and healing action.  Malta was experiencing the influx of overwhelming and unregulated immigration flows:  a result of many of the other problems.  The catalytic ingredient to transform all those challenges from threat into opportunity was the readiness to take collective action.  Many of the aspects of the outcome document reflected a sense of solidarity, humanistic spirit and attachment to the rule of law necessary for international relations.

He said he wished the document was even more ambitious and included a more forceful reference to the question of impunity and the important role played by the International Criminal Court.  He would also have wished for more ambitious sections on environment, human rights and disarmament.  However, the consensus achieved on a number of sensitive issues laid a good foundation for further measures of reform.  Enunciation of principles and adherence to values had a necessary counterpart in the collective responsibility to undertake concrete and action-oriented measures.  He affirmed Malta’s readiness to engage itself with vigour and determination in the implementation of those measures.

DRISS JETTOU, Prime of Morocco, said preventing and settling conflicts through peaceful means were the most efficient ways of preserving peace, regardless of the nature of the dispute or differences between parties.  They were also necessary in eradicating tension, strengthening global security and achieving sustainable development, which were fundamental ingredients of regional and international stability.  Morocco had joined international efforts to build peace in the Middle East; contributed to United Nations efforts to build peace and reinforce stability in countries with conflicts; and was committed to regional and international cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Any objective assessment of action by developing countries to honour commitments in the Millennium Declaration would highlight efforts they had made to adopt sound public policies, implement good governance, or mobilize local resources in creating conditions conducive to foreign investment or facilitating integration into the global economy.  However, those efforts must be reinforced by greater assistance for development, customs exemptions should be considered, and the debts of poor countries cancelled or reduced.

Morocco had launched a “National Initiative for Human Development”, which was part of a comprehensive approach to enhance political democracy, economic efficiency and social cohesion, he said.  The country had also been attempting to boost South-South cooperation and promote a policy of effective solidarity with sister African nations.  The policy focused on providing training, opening the Moroccan market to exports from least developed African countries, and cancelling debts such nations owed to Morocco.

LAURENT DONA FOLOGO ( C ôte d’Ivoire) welcomed initiatives launched by Group of 8 and other developed countries in achievement of the Millennium Goals, but stressed the need for greater solidarity and efficiency in reaching them.  There was still an urgent need to open up international trade, for example, where the playing field remained uneven for farmers of the South, particularly for cotton products.  Such issues must be resolved if the global community was to shape a better world.  His country had been listed among the emerging countries of Africa, had been brought to its knees by internal conflict.

He hoped that the country’s struggle with regards to HIV/AIDS, improving the lives of women and children, and reaching the Millennium Goals would be successful once the country had achieved peace and security.  He called on the international community to assist his country and prevent the worst from occurring . Stressing that the United Nations must encourage and promote democracy in the country, he said the international community could not afford to hesitate or fail in intervening with rebel forces.

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For information media • not an official record