Sixty-second General Assembly

Plenary

1^st Meeting (PM)

‘GLOBAL CHALLENGES DEMAND MULTILATERAL SOLUTIONS’, SAYS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

PRESIDENT; AS SIXTY-SECOND SESSION OPENS AT HEADQUARTERS

 

Urges Member States to Focus on Priority Issues of Climate Change,

Development Finance, Anti-Poverty Goals, Counter-Terrorism, UN Reform

Calling today for a renewed push to strengthen the General Assembly, the world body’s incoming President, Srgjan Kerim of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, urged Member States to work together to tackle shared concerns at the heart of the United Nations agenda:  poverty alleviation, climate change, financing for development, counter-terrorism and implementing globally-agreed development goals.

“More than ever before, global challenges demand multilateral solutions,” said Mr. Kerim as he opened the Assembly’s sixty-second session.  “This is why the revitalization of the General Assembly deserves our highest attention.  To revitalize this house is also to renew our faith in each other, our common values and destiny,” he declared.

“You have asked me to show leadership and I will do it,” said Mr. Kerim, who has been holding consultations with Member States since his election in May.  Laying out his priorities for the session, he said:  “True revitalization will only happen if together we address, amongst others, the five priority issues I have identified:  climate change; financing for development; achieving the Millennium Development Goals; countering terrorism; and the reform agenda –- to renew the management, effectiveness and coherence of this Organization.”

Briefly touching on some of those critical issues, he said that the climate change challenges were so extensive, its impacts so notable and wide ranging, that the international community could no longer wait.  “Science has spoken and the time has come to take action,” he said, noting that Heads of State would have an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment on 24 September when they gathered in New York for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s High-Level Meeting on Climate Change.

Another pillar of the sixty-second session was the question of development, he said, adding that time was “against us”.  The Millennium Goals had not yet been attained, particularly in Africa, and the international community was confronted with an emergency situation.  Financing for development was another priority and he planned to convene an informal meeting of the plenary on 20 September to discuss innovative approaches and preparations for the high-level dialogue.  It was imperative to comprehensively review progress on achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

He stressed that the Assembly must take the initiative and strengthen its central position in the multilateral system.  “We must use every opportunity to spread our message,” he said, calling on the world’s nations to forge a lasting consensus -- a global alliance for action -- by bringing together Member States, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and civil society.

“In doing so, we can also help to overcome the underlying misunderstanding between cultures and religions that is at the core of many of today’s problems.  In this context, the high-level dialogue on interreligious and intercultural understanding provides an additional opportunity,” he said of the two-day event, set for 4 and 5 October.  Member States could further support those objectives and promote human security, by strengthening the Peacebuilding Commission and making progress on the disarmament agenda, he added.

“If we want the United Nations to play its full role, we will have to do more and do it more effectively -- both operationally at the country-level, and management at Headquarters”, he continued, adding:  “We also need the courage to move to a new stage leading to concrete results on Security Council reform.”

Confronted with widening gaps in the ability to deliver on important issues, Member States had to work together to strengthen the Organization’s capabilities further, he said, calling for progress in areas such as modernising management and implementing greater coherence across the system.  “To achieve this, we all have a responsibility to seek out bold compromises.  We must strive to build a system of international relations based on multilateral cooperation, mutual respect and international law,” he said.

In other business today, the Assembly decided that the following United Nations programmes and bodies would meet during the sixty-second session (document A/62/338) on the strict understanding that such meetings would have to be accommodated within available facilities and services:  The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The Assembly also approved meetings for:  the United Nations Disarmament Commission; the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories; the Administrative Tribunal; the Executive Board of the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW); and the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

The Assembly also appointed the following States to serve on its Credentials Committee:   Angola, Chile, China, Namibia, Russian Federation, Singapore, Suriname, Switzerland and the United States.

Also, the Assembly took note of a letter from the Secretary-General (document A/62/342) which informed the body that seven Member States were in arrears in the payment of their financial contributions to the United Nations under the terms of Article 19 of the Charter.  Those States included:   Central African Republic, Comoros, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia and Tajikistan.

[According to Article 19 of the Charter, a Member State in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization will have no vote in the Assembly, if the amount of those arrears exceeds the amount of the contributions due from the preceding two years.]

The Assembly will meet again at a date and time to be announced.

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For information media • not an official record