General Assembly Session 50 meeting 39

The President

This morning we hold the fifth meeting of the Special Commemorative Meeting of the General Assembly on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

Let me begin by reminding all delegations that today is 24 October, the fiftieth birthday of the United Nations. I would like to stress this fact, and to express the hope that our final meetings of today will help us celebrate these 50 years of the life of the Organization. All the peoples of the world, who join with us in this commemoration, hope that the United Nations will be able to continue to serve humanity so nobly in the future.

Before calling on the first speaker, I should like to make an announcement regarding the programme of the last meeting of the Special Commemorative Meeting this afternoon.

After hearing statements by all Member States, the Assembly will proceed to take action on the draft resolution which appears in paragraph 2 of the report (A/50/48) of the Preparatory Committee for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations and which contains the Declaration on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations.

The Declaration is expected to be adopted by acclamation.

Thereafter, the Assembly will hear the remaining speakers, and the Secretary-General and I will make closing statements.

The President

The Assembly will next hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan, President of the Republic of Suriname.

President Venetiaan (Suriname)

It is an honour for me to address the General Assembly today, on the birthday of the United Nations. In the past 50 years the United Nations has guided the peoples of the world past the cliffs of the cold war between East and West, through regional conflicts and the many eruptions of uncounted dormant controversies among groups within a given nation, and also through the dark depths of poverty, disease, discrimination and ignorance.

In confronting these challenges the United Nations has given individuals and institutions, Governments and non-governmental organizations the opportunity to come forward and distinguish themselves as true servants of humanity, and as workers for peace, for justice and for well-being. The contribution of our Organization of nations has ensured that the suffering of the world owing to natural disasters and caused by human beings themselves has not become a source of despair for humanity. The endeavours of the United Nations have generated positive expectations for harmony among human beings and for harmony between humankind and nature.

In this spirit, the Government and the people of Suriname congratulate the United Nations on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, and, filled with hope, they face the future together with the Organization. This, however, does not mean that Suriname wishes to ignore the reality of the many threats which endanger our world and the problems the United Nations has to face within its own structure.

There are still many obstacles to overcome in the political, economic and social spheres and in the quest of the international community for a more just, equitable, secure, peaceful and democratic world. The eruption of extreme nationalism, ethnic strife and excessive religious zeal multiplies tension, tears societies and States apart, and threatens world security. Economic and social imbalances still deprive the majority of humankind of development and progress.

Agreed strategies, such as those aimed at curbing population growth or at protecting the environment, are sometimes, for reasons of political or economic competition, affected by hidden agendas, with a view to controlling the political and economic progress of developing countries.

The United Nations system has proven to be a major mechanism at the international level, creative enough to put a common vision and a common approach into effect through multilateral cooperation combining collective action with respect for national sovereignty.

We call upon the international community to contribute fully to the definition and implementation of the new role of the United Nations, which undoubtedly is of a humanitarian nature, and aims at protecting and preserving life on our planet and at raising the standard of living of all peoples, through the establishment of a new, balanced and equitable international economic and social order.

There is no doubt that unless we overcome and rectify certain shortcomings of the United Nations, this Organization will not be able to play its fundamental role in the management of the new world order; neither will it be able to realize its noble principles. Thus, a most urgent task for the international community now is to reinvigorate, restructure and democratize the United Nations and to give it a sound a financial basis for the fulfilment of old and new tasks, in order to relieve international relations of suspicion and hostility, to bring an end to violence, and to fully activate the creative potential of the United Nations for the sound development of the peoples of the world.

We, the family of nations, with political will and in a spirit of understanding, can successfully chart the course of the world towards an order which will be more responsive to the needs and interests of humankind.

The President

I thank the President of the Republic of Suriname for his statement.