General Assembly Session 55 meeting 8

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will first hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Václav Havel, President of the Czech Republic.

President Havel (Czech Republic)

What will this world, and the United Nations, look like a hundred years from now? There are countless possibilities -- from the most horrific to the ideal. And it would be against our elementary political obligation if we did not seek to pursue the better rather than the worse choices.

What should the United Nations be in the event of a favourable development of the world, and how should it help to advance such development?

First of all, it should probably quickly change from a scene of clashes among particular interests of various States into a platform of joint, solidarity-based decision-making -- by the whole of humankind -- on how best to organize our stay on this planet. Even more definitely, it should transform itself from a large community of Governments, diplomats and officials into a joint institution for each inhabitant of this planet, all of whom should see it as their very own Organization, for which they spend money, not only in order that the Organization shall defend them as individuals, but also in order that, on the authority of the people, it shall look for ways towards the lasting well-being of humanity and towards a genuine quality of life.

Such a United Nations would probably have to rest on two pillars: one constituted by an assembly of equal executive representatives of individual countries, resembling the present plenary, and the other consisting of a group elected directly by the globe's population, in which the number of delegates representing individual nations would, thus, roughly correspond to the size of the nations. These two bodies would create and guarantee global legislation.

Answerable to them would be the Security Council -- or its successor -- which would serve as an executive organ handling, on a continuous basis, some of the crucial problems of the world. The composition of this organ would, of course, have to be different from that of the present Security Council. The qualifications and the personalities of the individual members would probably carry more weight than the circumstance as to which country they come from. Also, the right of veto should probably not be exercisable by any single member.

The future United Nations should have its own permanent military and police force. The superior executive organ should monitor the observance of laws or decisions of the Organization, and seek their enforcement in the areas of security, human rights, environment, alimentation, economic competition, health, finance, local development, etc.

Whenever I encounter any problem of today's civilization, I inevitably always arrive at one principal theme: that of human responsibility. This does not mean merely the responsibility of a human being towards his or her own life or survival; towards his or her family; towards his or her company or any other community. It also means responsibility before the infinite and before eternity -- in a word, responsibility for the world. Indeed, it seems to me that the most important thing that we should seek to advance in the era of globalization is a sense of global responsibility.

Somewhere in the primeval foundations of all the world's religions we find, basically, the same set of underlying moral imperatives. It is within this set of thoughts that we should look for an ethos for global renewal and for the source and energy of a truly responsible attitude towards our Earth and all its inhabitants, as well as towards future generations. Without an ethos emanating from a rediscovered sense of global responsibility, any reform of the United Nations would be unthinkable, and without meaning.

Let me conclude by expressing my great appreciation for the report prepared for this Summit by the Secretary-General. Behind his proposals, I see precisely the same ethos that I have just described.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Isaias Afwerki, President of Eritrea.

President Afwerki (Eritrea)

I should like to pay tribute to the Secretary-General for taking the necessary steps to convene this Millennium Summit. The advent of the new millennium comes at a crucial time. Globalization and rapid advances in information technology offer humankind vast, unprecedented opportunities to improve the quality of life. Yet these opportunities may also be fraught with undesirable consequences. They may exacerbate marginalization and induce a widening of the technological gap in our global village. Thus, there is a need to harness the forces of globalization by fostering a deep sense of communality, international cooperation and human solidarity.

For almost half of the past century, my people were forced to shoulder the burden of a long and costly war. It took the sacrifice of two generations to get rid of colonial occupation so that we could enjoy the benefits of independence and freedom. Yet now, only a short time after its hard-won independence, my country is forced once again to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

I have no intention of dwelling on the conflict that has wreaked havoc on our region. Yet the conflict impacts on the core values enshrined in the United Nations Charter and re-affirmed in the Summit Declaration, regarding respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of States; the sovereign equality of all Member States; non-interference in the internal affairs of any State; and the resolution of disputes by peaceful means.

It is gratifying to note that the conflict has been halted and that an Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities has been signed in Algiers. In this respect, I wish to express my Government's gratitude to all of our partners, in particular to the Government of Algeria, the African Governments involved in the Organization of African Unity peace process, the United States Government and the European Union, which have done so much to promote peace. My Government is also gratified by the goodwill that has been demonstrated and wishes to thank all those who have already pledged to contribute troops or other appropriate support to the United Nations peacekeeping mission.

The most daunting task facing our societies is the elimination of poverty and the creation of an enabling environment for steady and sustainable development. Multi-faceted support from our development partners, and the appropriate institutional adjustments that are being contemplated to enhance the effectiveness of this support, will be vital in overcoming this challenge. But these injections, however robust, will not guarantee sustainable development unless they are accompanied by our own vigorous efforts.

In this respect, my Government believes that the primary focus should be on human resource development in the broadest sense of the term. This is not a simple matter of rapid skill development, but includes a host of social and political measures which impact on each other. We need to narrow the gap in our own societies between those living in urban and those living in rural areas so as not to create pockets of affluence and privilege in a sea of rural poverty.

We must evolve appropriate forms of decentralization and devolution to enhance grass-roots participation in decision-making and to maintain cultural diversity in a framework of national unity. We need to introduce and develop, if necessary through short-term affirmative action, meaningful measures to empower women in order to ensure their all-round participation at all levels of our national development. We need to eliminate killer diseases, such as malaria and HIV, which affect vast segments of our deprived societies. We need to eliminate official corruption, foster a culture of accountability and cultivate the values and institutions that favour enduring democracy and constitutionality.

My Government has made remarkable strides towards achieving these goals and aspirations, although the current conflict has affected the pace of the progress under way. But even in the best of circumstances, we recognize that these aims cannot be achieved in the short haul. There is thus the need to see these interconnected goals as processes, rather than as quantifiable measures that can be achieved within very tight, specified, time-frames. Above all, we have to see these goals and aspirations as joint-venture engagements. The fact is that there is a communality of views and shared values with our development partners. To the extent that there are differences, they are matters of timing or of a methodological nature, which are not problematic in themselves.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Sir Orville Turnquest, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

Sir Orville Turnquest (Bahamas)

I am deeply honoured to address this Millennium Summit, the only one for 1,000 years, as we, the heads of State and heads of Government of our Member nations, come together to discuss and to share our vision of the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century.

I wish, on behalf of the delegation of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, to extend warm congratulations to the Co-Chairpersons on their election. Over the past three days, they have displayed great ability in steering these important deliberations with prudence and with sensitivity.

More than half a century has passed since the United Nations was established following a devastating global conflict. In that period of 55 years, we have seen the United Nations confronted with many a regional war and skirmish and having to deal effectively with such social challenges as health, welfare, the law, education, labour and practically every other human condition affecting the welfare of the United Nations constituent States and territories. With each challenge, it has been important that, for the most part, the United Nations propositions and solutions were relevant to the times.

Current times and conditions demand that we at this Millennium Summit attempt to answer the burning question: What are the prospects for the United Nations in the twenty-first century? Because the world has, particularly in the final quarter of the twentieth century, advanced tremendously in the areas of science and technology, and we have allowed the human spirit of freedom to flourish, it is undeniable that the prospects are greater today to be better educated, to live healthier and longer lives and to achieve a greater degree of economic well-being.

Those are the prospects, but to what degree has the world truly been able to achieve improved standards of living? We are still for the most part trapped in a pernicious syndrome of the haves versus the have-nots, because those very factors which have contributed to improved standards for some have likewise contributed to the extreme impoverishment, dispossession and marginalization of millions of others around the world. Those same factors which have enhanced the existence of some have caused serious environmental degradation in the backyards of others and in some cases have actually threatened the peace and security of humanity to an unexpected degree, which is quite an ironic twist of fate when one considers the noble and lofty precepts which went into the establishment of the United Nations 55 years ago.

There is, however, hope because those lofty ideals and goals of the United Nations are yet intact and are supposedly held sacred by all of us. With the United Nations leading the way, we can yet address the myriad challenges to international society in the twenty-first century, in which we must somehow rescue from extreme poverty the nearly 50 per cent of the world's population who are obliged to survive on $2 per day and the 1.2 billion people compelled to survive on less than $1 per day.

The United Nations of the twenty-first century must lead the way in rescuing the world's 140 million workers -- most of them in developing countries -- who are unemployed or under-employed. The United Nations of the twenty-first century must, in a meaningful way, address those inequities in the global economy in which the 1 billion people in the developed world earn 60 per cent of the world's income and in which the 3.5 billion people in the developing world earn less than 20 per cent.

The United Nations of the twenty-first century must find a means of diverting much of the $56 billion spent annually on health research to the 90 per cent of the world's population who so desperately need it, who are plagued with serious health problems such as diarrhoea, tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia and the deadly HIV/AIDS, but who sadly are availed of a mere 10 per cent of that $56 billion.

The United Nations of the twenty-first century must address the continuing litany of environmental degradation, human rights abuses, violence against women and children, drug-trafficking, the rampant spread of crime -- particularly organized crime -- and the illicit traffic in firearms, all which threaten to destabilize our societies and our world. Yes, the United Nations of the twenty-first century must address these security threats with the same vigour that this body has traditionally demonstrated with regard to threats to traditional peace and security.

At the end of the twentieth century, globalization became a ubiquitous catchword signifying a concept and a conduit for bringing prosperity to the world at large. Ideally, globalization heralded significant opportunities and benefits, but the truth is that the ideal has never really been manifested. Opportunities and benefits have not been evenly distributed. Indeed, globalization has come at a great cost to developing countries, and now there is need for serious debate on the issue.

In point of fact, the concept of globalization was recently brought sharply into focus when small States such as the Bahamas attempted to take advantage of the benefits of globalization by developing financial services sectors, only to encounter serious challenges from developed countries. The Bahamas continues to emphasize the necessity for greater and more inclusive discussion of all those issues whose outcomes have significant implications for the well-being of concerned developing countries, with the United Nations given a role in resolving these issues.

This Millennium Summit provides us with a unique and historic opportunity to bring a qualitatively new approach to proposals and initiatives, to bring together the world's disparate peoples -- the haves and have-nots to whom I referred earlier -- the developed and developing States -- the world of the twentieth century and that of the twenty-first. The opportunity is there and it is imperative for the United Nations, with a democratic and transparent and accountable Security Council, to play the role delineated in the Charter, better to embrace this important opportunity.

The United Nations of the twenty-first century must commit to ensuring the promotion of a new world order in which the whole is truly more than the sum of its parts, where every part -- every human being -- has an opportunity to develop his or her full potential.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Teburoro Tito, President and Prime Minister of Kiribati.

President Tito (Kiribati)

I bring warm greetings from the people of Kiribati to our wonderful hosts, the President and the people of the United States, and to all leaders and peoples of the world present here today. On this occasion, I also want to add my congratulations to Tuvalu on being admitted as a Member of the United Nations.

This unprecedented Summit is a great opportunity for us to come together as members of the global family to celebrate the achievements of the last millennium and to chart a new course for the new century. To this end, I wish to thank the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for providing us with very useful information and proposals, as outlined in his report entitled "We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century". Because of time constraints, the more extensive views we want to share are expressed in the text that has been distributed.

Twelve months ago, when Kiribati was first admitted to this global family, I expressed our faith in and support for the noble principles that this body stands for, as enshrined in its Charter. I also expressed our hopes and desire for a more democratic, a more united and a more proactive United Nations to help in the building of a better world, and also our readiness to contribute with whatever we have, little though it may be, towards the tasks of the United Nations.

Reflecting back, much was achieved in the last century, and there is much to be grateful for. The greatest achievement has been the success in freeing humanity from the painful threat and fear of another world war, and the provision of a relatively peaceful world within which major scientific inventions and technological innovations needed for the improvement of human life have been made possible. Nevertheless, there is still much that must be done to improve this world and the lives of those who live in it today and for future generations. Hence, I would now like to focus on the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century and the need for cooperation and mutual understanding between the United Nations and its Member States, and also between developed countries and developing countries.

I support the view already expressed by many speakers that the vision of a better world can be achieved through a shared commitment and responsibility between Member States and the United Nations, between developed and developing countries. The Member States need to do all they can within their mandates to make life better and alleviate the sufferings of their peoples. On the other hand, the United Nations must do everything it can to support the Member States, by tackling international dimensions beyond the reach of individual Members.

It is therefore very important that there be mutual support and encouragement between the United Nations Secretariat and the Governments of the Member States to ensure that both parties are strongly committed to playing their respective roles. It is equally important that developed countries and developing countries have mutual understanding and be able to work together in friendship.

I would respectfully like to propose that the aims, objectives, organizational structure, scope and emphasis of this Organization should be updated to reflect the situations and circumstances of these times, which are obviously very different from those of the 1940s, when the United Nations was first formed.

Thus, Kiribati fully supports the move to democratize and rationalize the organizational structure of the United Nations, in particular the expansion of the Security Council, the creation of the Pacific regional grouping and the inclusion of at least one representative from each regional grouping in the membership of the Security Council.

I also agree with the view that the United Nations could be a more effective organization if it tried to understand the problems that continue to plague many countries from the perspective of the countries concerned. We in Kiribati believe that the advocated economic and financial models intended to enhance gross domestic product growth and provide better living standards for all in most instances tend to advantage those more able to compete for limited space, markets and resources regardless of political systems, cultural values and the nature of the playing field. The outcomes normally favour those already advantaged, hence breeding ill feeling and leading to undesirable behaviour and conflict for those not part of the success.

Thus, we argue that current economic and financial theories originating in industrialized countries support the urbanized structures of those societies, their institutions and peoples, founded on individualism and the unlimited accumulation of wealth.

The people of Kiribati perceive communal or village ways of life, protection and sustenance of human life and the glorification of human values to be as important as becoming wealthy. We have a saying in Kiribati: "The rich and the cultured, or the cultured rich".

It has been my long-held observation that in our eager pursuit of economic prosperity, coupled with the rapid changes many of us are often pressured to adopt, we have seriously overlooked the significance of social and cultural values. Subsequently, there is continuous erosion of the family and community fabric essential for peace of mind and happiness. I believe in blending the models advocated by the main international organizations with our own specific circumstances, and we are doing just that in Kiribati. This of course requires mutual understanding between ourselves and those who believe in imposing their economic models.

In this respect, I am pleased to learn that the United Nations and other regional agencies are currently developing a more suitable model of development for communal societies, and I would request more support to be given to this important area, because I can assure the Assembly that Kiribati will be the first to accept that model.

Another area needing mutual understanding is human rights. We applaud the great contribution that the United Nations has made in this field. However, there are differences of opinion between those from the so-called developing countries and the developed nations. The former strongly argue that many of the conventions forming the international human rights regime are biased in favour of the beliefs and the practices of the latter.

On the other hand, the latter criticize the former, saying they lack the commitment to effectively implement human rights policies and practices. A good example here is the fact that Kiribati does not believe entirely in all of the human rights for children that are set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Kiribati has expressed reservations on this subject, because we believe our concepts of human rights for the child are much, much better for our community, and we would like to convey that to the international community. We are known to have been like that for thousands of years. Our children look after their families and parents, and parents look after children very well, without any adverse effects. We would like to alert the international community to the fact that there are still civilizations as old as some of those in the West that believe strongly in the stability of their families and communities.

Let us also remember the extent of the damage done to our environment, mainly by technological and economic advances. We are thus called upon again to work together with mutual understanding. Globalization is advocated as the order of the day; however, it can have adverse effects that can cause irreparable damage if corrective action is not taken immediately. For a small island State like Kiribati -- which is made up of narrow strips of coral atolls rising no more than 2 metres above sea level -- global warming, climate change and rising sea levels seriously threaten the basis of our existence, and we sometimes feel that our days are numbered. I join other small island States in pleading the cause of endangered peoples, and I urge all concerned to save this planet from any further damage or harm, to ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy the resources and beauty of this planet.

These are some of the thoughts I wished to share from the bottom of my heart and from the people of Kiribati at this gathering, which aims to build a more caring, peaceful, prosperous and just world for all. I sincerely believe that together we can build a better world. May God bless the United Nations and the peoples of the world.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Abdikassim Salad Hassan, President of the Somali Democratic Republic.

President Hassan (Somalia)

It is with great pleasure that I am participating in this historic Millennium Summit, which has brought together the largest-ever number of heads of State or Government. The participants in this meeting are to make critical choices in the unfolding human drama.

On behalf of the Somali Republic, I would like to express well-deserved appreciation to the Secretary-General for spearheading effectively the holding of this meeting and for preparing his comprehensive report on the state of humanity and on the emerging challenges, which are truly global. Only through collective deliberations and decisions will we be able to cope with the complexities of the new century.

The role of the United Nations has been important over the past 55 years. Its role in this new era of sobering interdependence is bound to be central. Somalia pledges to associate itself with those who are committed to a renewed, energized United Nations which articulates and affirms a vision of global governance based on participation and accountability.

The United Nations itself has to be a symbol of good governance. The deliberations and decision-making process of the United Nations have to be made accessible to worldwide civil society, whose views, opinions and expertise are to be channelled through new pathways to be established and maintained. People-centred strategies are needed to solve human societies' profound, interrelated problems of peace and security, sustainable development, human rights, environment and globalization. The democratization of the United Nations and the enhancing of its effectiveness are requisites for a renewed and energized United Nations.

It is gratifying for me to bring back Somalia to the United Nations. It has taken us 10 long years to bury the hatchet and to start healing our self-inflicted wounds. When my brother, President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, submitted his Somali peace initiative during last year's session of the General Assembly, it was received with complete scepticism. Many other initiatives have foundered on the intransigence of warlords and their inability to rise above their gamesmanship and zero-sum orientation. Despite the misgivings of those more familiar with our case, President Ismail Omar Guelleh persevered with his peace initiative. Segments of Somali civil society, including traditional elders, businessmen and intellectuals, were brought together at Arta, Djibouti. Over 2,500 individuals stayed together for more than four months in Arta to examine the causes of the Somali conflict, to assess its damaging effects and to explore ways out of the tragedy. There were days of gloom when peace and national reconciliation appeared to be beyond the reach of the participants. The goodwill and generosity of the people of Djibouti, their resourceful Government and the tenacity of President Ismail kept Somali hopes alive and succeeded in precluding the failure of the peace initiative.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh and his dedicated officials were competent facilitators and caring compatriots, but ultimately it was Somali civil society which found in itself a reservoir of wisdom and the willingness to forgive. Traditional Somali methods of peacemaking and bridge-building were instrumental in leading to the selection of 650 individuals as official delegates. The delegates assigned the responsibility of drafting a national charter to a small group. A national Charter which enshrines the rule of law, decentralized democratic self-governance, human rights, the recognition of the rights of women and minority groups, and a market-led economy was passed by the Assembly of delegates.

The next step was the selection of the 245-member Parliament. After protracted negotiations, the segments of Somali civil society surprised themselves and the world by selecting their representatives to Parliament. The members of Parliament quickly elected the Speaker, Deputy Speakers and other officers of the House. The Parliament discharged its responsibility of electing the President of the Republic with unexpected maturity and dispatch. In a word, the election of the President was free, fair and very transparent.

As president-elect, I took a large delegation of more than 90 members of our parliament and other prominent citizens to Mogadishu and Baidoa. The reception by the people, despite the misgivings of many, was overwhelmingly positive.

One of my constitutional responsibilities is to appoint a Prime Minister, who will in turn form a national Government fairly soon. With the formation of a national Government, Somalia will finally be on its feet and will take its rightful place in all international forums. What remains for us to do within the country is to bring aboard those who did not participate in the Arta peace and national reconciliation conference. We would like to rely on our proven methods of openness, goodwill and ongoing dialogue to resolve all outstanding political issues. The Somali people, however, have spoken, and their principled position is to have a representative Government of national unity, regional autonomy, equitable access to national resources, rule of law and human rights.

A democratic Somalia which is at peace with itself and with its neighbours will be a strong and productive Member of the United Nations. Somalia's association with the United Nations has been significant, though it has been troubled in recent years. The collapse of the Somali State and the ensuing civil strife created serious difficulties for a United Nations presence in Somalia. The generous attempts of the United Nations to respond to the humanitarian disaster in the country have, unfortunately, led to loss of life for United Nations staff. We regret deeply the loss of life of United Nations personnel; on behalf of the Somali Government and the people of Somalia, I would like to extend my condolences to the families that lost loved ones in the line of duty in Somalia.

A Somali Government which is the offspring of the efforts of Somali civil society is bound to be responsive to the demands of a renewed, democratized and energized United Nations. The new Somalia and its Third Republic are willing to rededicate themselves to an international legal framework which values the rights of the child, which is committed to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and which is ready to pledge full support for the effective institutionalization of the International Criminal Court at Rome. Segments of Somali civil society and Somali State actors are willing to be part of the global policy networks which are in a position to address global policy issues of poverty, debt relief, conflict prevention, humanitarian assistance, environment and sustainable development. A renewed, energized and democratized United Nations will take the lead in the eradication of poverty, in ushering in freedom from fear and in facing confidently the challenges of globalization.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency The Honourable Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada.

Mr. Mitchell (Grenada)

A gathering of such significance convened so early in the new millennium gives hope for the strengthening of cooperation among Governments so that humankind, especially the poor, can be better served. This historic occasion affords us an opportunity to reflect on the unique nature of the United Nations as the body that recognizes the sovereign equality of all States.

At this point, Grenada would like to join the rest of the civilized world in mourning the loss of United Nations staff members in West Timor.

Since its inception, the United Nations has had a major influence on shaping the modern world and on raising the standard of living of millions of peoples. Today, the people of Grenada thank the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and all the other bodies that have positively influenced our lives, and we praise them for their decolonization achievements.

Severe poverty, crippling debt servicing, diseases including HIV/AIDS, disrespect for human life and disregard for the natural environment continue to threaten human progress. Debt forgiveness will go a long way to bringing relief to poor countries. Debt forgiveness is not a financial loss to the global economy. It provides an opportunity for the economic stimulation of the depressed and stagnant parts of the world's economy. Debt forgiveness is a necessary prerequisite for the furtherance of globalization and economic development. Grenada requests lending countries, financial institutions and funding agencies to proclaim complete debt forgiveness for all developing countries, especially for the heavily indebted poor countries.

Grenada also advocates the establishment of a disaster relief fund to facilitate quick responses for victims of the hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters that strike us with such frequency and ferocity. I also want to place on record the support of the Government of Grenada for the proposal by the Commission on Global Governance that a well-equipped standing United Nations volunteer force be established.

Grenada renews its commitment to the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, until the basic needs of life -- food, shelter, health and education -- are satisfied, universal attainment of all human rights will remain very elusive. We urge greater effort in those areas.

The widening gap between developed and developing countries in the midst of these rapid technological advances must be narrowed. The people of Grenada, therefore, in this age of information and communication technology, call on the United Nations, through consultations, to establish programmes and activities that will assist developing countries to bridge this digital divide.

A cartel of powerful high-tax nations has launched a destructive high-powered attack on low-tax countries, accusing us of "anti-competitive" tax measures. They have used adverse publicity techniques deliberately to condemn and harm our economies. They have threatened various sanctions and have sought to block access to capital funds in multilateral organizations, as well as to impose financial protectionism and total ostracism. As a small island economy without much leverage, Grenada requests that this forum call on the G-7 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries to multilateralize their approach and to involve the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization to serve the interests of all concerned.

I cannot leave this podium without paying tribute to the Government and the people of the Republic of China on Taiwan for the assistance given to countries like Grenada in agriculture, fishing, health care, education, culture and infrastructure. Indeed, the Republic of China on Taiwan truly subscribes to the words of that great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, who said, "Give a man a fish and you satisfy his needs for a day; teach a man to fish and you supply his needs for many, many days." This is why the Government of Grenada continues to advocate full membership for the Republic of China on Taiwan in this body.

Finally, in today's world of rapid technological advances we must never allow technology to take precedence over humanity. The Government of Grenada stands ready to work with civil society to ensure that the United Nations has the ability to respond to the needs of the people in the twenty-first century.

Let the people be always our priority, and let us be guided permanently by Almighty God.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency The Honourable Barak Sope Maautamate, Prime Minister and Minister for Public Service of the Republic of Vanuatu.

Mr. Maautamate (Vanuatu)

The people of the Republic of Vanuatu, whom I am honoured to represent here, are proud to be part of this Millennium Summit on the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century.

When the Republic of Vanuatu was formally admitted as a full Member of the United Nations in 1981, the fundamental ideals and principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter became part of the framework for our nation-building strategy and a source of inspiration in our common endeavours to create a better world for our future generations.

For the United Nations to maintain credibility in its central role of promoting a just and peaceful world in the twenty-first century, it will be important and necessary that its structures, its decision-making processes, its plans of actions, its focus and its directions relate to the daily interests and concerns of the majority of ordinary people on this planet -- including children, the disabled, women and unemployed youth -- and not just the interests and concerns of the richer and the more powerful Members of our Organization.

The millennium report of the Secretary-General, which we commend, provides this Summit a good background as well as clear options for us to redirect and refocus the United Nations in its primary functions of assisting Member States in raising the standards of living of their respective populations.

From our small island perspective, we feel it is also important to further stress the crucial place of a number of issues, including the following. At the current rate of population growth in developing countries, including Vanuatu, greater and easier access to education for our growing populations will become the greatest challenge for us all in this millennium. Other important issues include: providing improved health services to the poorest and most remote parts of our nations; increased gender equity at all levels of societies; better cooperation and rationalization of resource use between the United Nations and other multilateral bodies; a global village fully committed to peace, justice, law and order, mutual respect and tolerance; and a recognition of and respect for the fundamental right to self-determination.

Over the past 50 years much progress has been achieved in economic and social advancement globally, and the role of the United Nations, other multilateral agencies and bilateral partners in this regard deserves our full recognition and continuing support. Much more, however, remains to be done. It must be a priority for the United Nations to fully address the issues raised at this Summit.

The Pacific region and its development needs deserve due consideration in the new millennium. The region covers the largest area of ocean, contains huge marine resources, and has dynamic and diverse cultural and traditional values and a young and growing population. An earlier proposal for a separate Pacific grouping within the United Nations warrants serious consideration.

The recent admission of Tuvalu, as the 189th member, is greatly welcomed by the people and the Government of Vanuatu. It is our prayer that this millennium will see a further increase in the Pacific-island membership. We would also like to suggest that the decision-making processes of the United Nations and related institutions based in the Pacific region that concern development programmes for our islands should be fully reviewed in the context of priorities established by the Pacific-island Member countries. We are concerned that some powerful countries are using regional institutions and programmes to promote their own interests in our region. We must not allow this trend to continue.

Despite our meagre resources, the Republic of Vanuatu is proud to be able to participate for the first time in United Nations peacekeeping missions, in East Timor and Bosnia, in addition to our small contribution to regional peace-monitoring missions in the Pacific region. The recent tragic killing of three United Nations personnel in West Timor by militant groups must be condemned by this Summit. We urge the Indonesian Government to take appropriate steps to positively and effectively address the situation.

As world leaders, we have time and time again expressed serious concerns and dissatisfaction because certain decisions and actions by the United Nations or its organs were not consistent with the purposes and intentions of the Charter. However, nothing has been done to right the wrong. At this Summit, we must recognize that when such errors are identified it becomes our joint responsibility -- and it is in the best interest of this, our international family of nations and peoples -- to make sure that the most appropriate actions are taken, and taken soon, to rectify such errors, so that we can embark on the new millennium with a clear conscience.

In this context, as an active member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, which is committed to promoting and safeguarding the Melanesian identity, values, traditions and rights, the Republic of Vanuatu calls on the United Nations to review the political and legal basis of its own undertakings in the 1950s and 1960s in relation to the fundamental rights and fate of Melanesian brothers and sisters in the Asia-Pacific region, in particular in West Papua.

The continuing disputes and concerns raised about the legality of the United Nations-endorsed instruments which had been concluded during those years, such as the New York Agreement of 1962 to govern the United Nations administration of the so-called Act of Free Choice in West Papua, is a clear example of challenging the integrity and validity of United Nations resolutions at that time. This is simply a mockery of the fundamental principles of human rights and self-determination clearly enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

The United Nations cannot and must not in this new millennium continue to turn a blind eye to its own past failures, which have lead to three long, agonizing decades of injustice, abuse of human rights and guerrilla warfare in West Papua. It is morally, politically and legally wrong to do so. The United Nations has competent agencies and institutions, such as the Committee of 24 or the International Court of Justice, which should be tasked with looking into this or give an advisory opinion. The Netherlands, as the former colonial authority, should also recognize that it has some responsibility in helping to resolve the unfortunate situation of West Papua in a peaceful and transparent manner.

The resolutions we will be adopting on the new directions we are setting for the United Nations for the new millennium can have a significant impact on the future of our global relations and the lives of the world's people, particularly in the small and poor countries. It is a challenging responsibility. We do not want to fail this time around.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Lamine Sidimé, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea.

Mr. Sidimé (Guinea)

At the outset, may I inform the Assembly of the serious events that have occurred in my country, Guinea, over the past 48 hours. In fact, as we met to take up the challenge of international cooperation in a peaceful and civilized fashion, my country, Guinea, a Member of the United Nations since 12 December 1958, a country that hosts more than 800,000 refugees among a population of 7 million inhabitants, had just undergone attacks on its international borders by assailants coming from Liberia and Sierra Leone. As I speak, fighting is going on to drive back the attackers. Through appropriate procedures, Guinea will soon be taking this matter up with the Secretary-General, the Security Council, the Secretary-General of the Economic Community of West African States and the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity. Guinea calls on the international community to join it in condemning unreservedly that unjust aggression.

I would like first to fulfil the lofty mission, Mr. President, of conveying to you the warm greetings of the people, the Government and the President of the Republic of Guinea, General Lansana Conté, whose commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter has never wavered since our admission to the United Nations family in 1958. The delegation of the Republic of Guinea is pleased and honoured to be taking part in this Millennium Summit together with illustrious world leaders, whose presence in such great numbers undoubtedly attests to the influence of the United Nations and the continued interest in its action.

To all those who have made this event possible, we extend our deepest thanks. In particular, we thank Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and we welcome his untiring efforts to strengthen the Organization. This is also the time and place to pay a tribute to all those whose clear-sightedness and vision have made it possible to establish this wonderful instrument for cooperation among nations, which for more than half a century has been seeking to provide a new basis and new guidelines for international relations.

We are duty-bound to keep alive the dream of these eminent visionaries and to improve the instrument that they developed to serve a better, fairer, more humane and more brotherly world. The people and the Government of Guinea have faith in the United Nations, but it is our conviction that after all the upheavals that have taken place since 1945, and given the challenges facing mankind for the future, the time has come to readapt the missions and the structures of our Organization.

Guinea pleads for more humanity and less exclusion in the United Nations. I say less exclusion because it is high time that the various parts of the world were equitably represented in the Security Council. In particular, the under-representation of Africa, Asia and Latin America among the permanent membership of the Security Council needs to be reviewed. Failure to do so would be ignoring the achievements in relations among States of the world over the past 50 years, and it would mean continuing to live on the basis of the ideas and views of 1945.

I speak of greater humanity because the United Nations must be given sufficient resources to enable it to intervene in the struggle against poverty and the suffering of peoples and States in a large part of the world. After having committed itself to peoples to carry out decolonization, the United Nations must now be put in a position to carry forward its humanitarian and life-saving mission, which would make it possible for the community of nations to achieve what has been the driving force of the spread of progress in the nations of the North: the liberation of energies and access for the greatest possible number of people to knowledge, employment and consumption.

The means exist today, and Secretary-General Kofi Annan has highlighted this in his important report "We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century". These means include, inter alia, the available savings accumulated by nations, technological and scientific progress, and the renewal of a humanism that is broadly shared by the people of our times with the aim of safeguarding and promoting human dignity. These achievements of all mankind must help improve the lot of the disadvantaged people on earth.

Guinea was one of the first African countries to join the United Nations and has been a member since 12 December 1958. Guinea, classified among the least developed countries, has a per capita income of $575, and alone, without any assistance, for more than 10 years has been meeting its international and humanitarian obligations while bearing the burden of subregional insecurity and the human, environmental and economic burden of the presence of more than 800,000 refugees, of which almost 12,000 new arrivals were registered last week alone.

Among the community of nations, Africa and its problems do not seem to be a major area of concern, despite professions of good faith. In spite of everything, there is room for hope, because the ideas and generous solutions contained in Mr. Kofi Annan's report are fully supported by my country, which will work with those who share those values and approaches to ensure that they are implemented.

I conclude by wishing us all every success in our work. Long live international cooperation! Long live the United Nations!

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Nagoum Yamassoum, Prime Minister of the Republic of Chad.

Mr. Yamassoum (Chad)

At the outset, I convey the greetings of the President of the Republic of Chad, His Excellency Mr. Idriss Deby, its Government and people, and express the hope that this exceptional Summit will lead to exceptional decisions measuring up to the event.

I also congratulate the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on his important and happy initiative in organizing this Millennium Summit to mark the entry of our world into the new century. Let us pay tribute to him for the clear and objective way in which he expressed the exceptional concerns of humankind in his report (A/54/2000) before us at this Summit. It gives us the opportunity to review together the past century and consider the prospects for this century so that the world may be more just and more human for the vast majority of its inhabitants.

The picture emerging from more than 50 years of communal life in our global Organization, whose main objective is international cooperation for the elimination of war and poverty, is very dark. How can we be happy with an international system which has reduced more than 3 billion human beings to almost complete poverty, while fewer than a billion people hold nearly 70 per cent of the revenue of the planet? The consequences are that millions of men, women and children know nothing of the joy or inner peace of satisfying the most elementary needs.

The millennium that is coming to an end has undoubtedly been the hardest in the history of humankind, with its wars, tensions, epidemics and catastrophes. Our world in the new millennium has an enemy named poverty, an enemy with two faces: extreme poverty and insolent opulence. Until we succeed in bringing these two extremes together and introducing more humanism into their relations, the third millennium will be no different from the second.

Those most deserving our consideration are the most numerous: the developing countries, particularly those of Africa, whose situations continue to deteriorate while the others continue progressing towards ever more growth and prosperity. Let us take care that this does not become fatal.

We, the leaders, certainly have our share of responsibility, because we are not managing to meet all the expectations of our peoples. But is our will alone enough in a universe where all the economic, financial, industrial and technological powers escape our grasp and transcend the frontiers of national States, or even groups of them? What can we do when our own resources, however big they may be, do not, because of the selfishness of the richest, enable us to respond to the legitimate expectations of our fellow citizens?

The past century was essentially dominated by injustice resulting from an uncontrolled chase after profit. The one that is beginning should learn the lessons of the past to construct a better world. To do this, it must be based on humanism and justice. To ultimately overcome the scourges from which most of humanity suffers, let us try at least to reduce and mitigate their effects. Today's world has the intellectual and material means to do so. There is only one thing missing -- the will to achieve it. This Summit provides us with a historic occasion to set the milestones for a new world.

The vision and ambition that we nourish for humankind are the same as we have for our country. The Government of Chad has been trying for more than a decade to respond to the demands for liberty and well-being of a people which has been deprived since independence. On this subject, the Doba oil project, which has caused such great controversy throughout the world, reflects the great plans we have for our country. This project is unusual in that it involves two States, Chad and Cameroon, financial international institutions and civil society. It is seen as a pilot project for development, typical of the new partnership that should underpin international relations.

Our Government has made efforts to overcome the reluctance about this project because the people of Chad have been waiting for oil for over 30 years. Moreover, we need the resources of this oil to promote vital sectors, such as health, education, rural development, the environment and infrastructures, which cannot be financed indefinitely by foreign aid. Finally, economic and social progress in Chad is the only way to support freedom and democracy in the country. I take the opportunity of this Summit to restate the gratitude of the people of Chad to all States, institutions and persons who have contributed to the happy outcome of this project.

It is unanimously accepted that democracy and poverty often do not go well together. Nevertheless, the Republic of Chad, which has been classified as one of the poorest nations in the world, has for more than a decade kept up with democracy. The presidential and parliamentary elections to take place in a few months will, through the transparency and legality that we intend to give them, mark our determination to support democratic practices in Chadian society. Shall we have the support of all our friends and partners to keep up and resist possible upheavals that could provoke poverty in any emerging democracy?

The system of consensual management of public affairs, which our country has adopted, shows our wish to create conditions of stability and calm, which are necessary for progress. Peace and stability are the foundation of development, which in turn reinforces them. We hope that calm and peace will prevail in the whole of the African continent and the rest of the planet. The many conflicts presently rending Africa, particularly the de facto break-up of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia, the fratricidal wars in Angola, Sierra Leone and Burundi, or between Ethiopia and Eritrea, or the tragic events recalled by the previous speaker, are unacceptable and anachronistic.

The Republic of Chad solemnly appeals to all belligerents to pull themselves together and think of the millions of women and children who are terrorized every day, and who are asking neither for gold nor diamonds -- sometimes, not even freedom -- but simply peace, and even more simply, life.

We also appeal to the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity to act with more conviction and firmness, if necessary, to put an end to these ruinous and murderous wars in Africa.

While the rich countries continue to spend billions of dollars on weapons of all kinds to fight -- we really do not know whom or what -- the poor nations, particularly of Africa, are fighting, almost empty-handed, against a real, even if invisible, enemy: the AIDS virus.

My country, while welcomimg the latest measures taken by the World Bank and the multinational corporations to fight this epidemic, feel that more and better can be done.

If only a quarter of the expenditure on weapons were to be directed towards the fight against HIV/AIDS, particularly to care and research, the pandemic would already have been eliminated.

Chad calls upon the international community as a whole, and the industrialized countries in particular, to show more understanding for the economic difficulties of Africa.

In particular, this concern could begin by dealing with the debt problem which is such an obstacle to economic and social recovery in Africa and perpetuates the vicious circle of poverty. Palliative measures consisting of rescheduling or alleviating the debt will not solve the basic problem.

If we sincerely want to reduce this flagrant inequality afflicting Africa, the developed countries and international financial institutions must take bolder measures by simply cancelling the debt. And that is not all. These initiatives must be accompanied by greater aid and greater foreign private investments if we truly want Africa not to be marginalized in the world's economy.

Political and social reforms introduced in most of the countries of the continent in the past decade should encourage such measures.

Putting an end to human suffering and to the lack of understanding among men and States and preserving nature are the great challenges that we will have to face with greater conviction and which require new rules in relations among nations.

From this standpoint, the United Nations is an irreplaceable tool to calm conflicts, increase cooperation, eliminate poverty, injustice and arbitrary actions: in brief, to reconcile mankind with itself.

To do this, it must be restructured and be given enough resources to face the responsibilities and hopes placed in it. It must also be restructured in order better to perform one of the basic purposes for which it was created, namely, peacekeeping.

This activity has developed considerably in recent years and has become multi-faceted and multi-dimensional and includes various kinds of preventive action. It has to rely on the entire machinery for settling disputes peacefully, but in the last resort more curative action may be needed which requires more resources and firm determination to give it deterrent force and make it productive.

The succession of recantations and tomfoolery that we have seen in recent years, in Bosnia and Sierra Leone, is unlikely to strengthen the credibility of our Organization.

The peacekeepers must be given sufficient means to impose peace and, if necessary, by force. There must be clear unequivocal resolutions on the use of force in peacekeeping because the peacekeepers must not serve as easy prey for warmongers of all kinds.

The United Nations must also operate on an egalitarian basis that respects the present structure of the world. Nobody can ignore the fact today that power is no longer solely a matter of military force. The international system cannot continue to function with its eyes closed to the emergence of new Powers, to the changes in the position of the old Powers and to the far-reaching changes which have taken place in international society since the end of the Second World War, changes in the very concept of power.

For all these reasons, the Republic of Chad is in favour of the reform of the Security Council. An expansion to include other continents would bring about greater democracy in its decision-making and more equity in its international relations and would reflect the real situation in international society.

These principles, which are so dear to us, must lead us to admit the Republic of China, Taiwan, to our Organization. This would constitute justice for a State which, more than many others, fulfils all the conditions of State power and which contributes to peace and development in the world.

I should like to conclude by expressing the hope that through our initiatives and decisions, this Summit, which is inaugurating our entry into the new millennium, will be different from all others, and leave its mark on international cooperation.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State of the Holy See.

Cardinal Sodano (Holy See)

I have the honour to convey to the Assembly the cordial greetings of His Holiness Pope John Paul II and his encouragement to the representatives of the world's countries assembled here in New York to reaffirm their confidence in the work of the United Nations. It is the fervent hope of the Holy See that, at the dawn of the third millennium, the United Nations will contribute to the building of a new civilization for the benefit of all mankind, a civilization which has been called the "civilization of love".

The first duty of the United Nations is to preserve and promote peace. This was the essential aim of the founders of the Organization and it remains an imperative today. Still too often war brings affliction and suffering to peoples. In the face of new outbreaks of violence, especially civil and ethnic conflicts, the United Nations is duty-bound to intervene within the framework of its Charter to restore peace.

In the name of the Pope I pay tribute to all that the United Nations has already done in this field, and I pay homage to the memory of the soldiers and civilian personnel who have died in the course of peacekeeping operations.

The second duty of the United Nations is the promotion of development. Even today a significant part of the world's population lives in conditions of poverty, which is an offense to human dignity. Furthermore, other evils, such as war, the destruction of the environment, natural disasters and epidemics are often exacerbated by the presence of poverty. How can we not draw attention to the fact that the majority of these scourges affect Africa in the first place and how can we not ask that Africa be given special attention and that efforts be made which are really capable of meeting its needs.

The third duty of the United Nations is the promotion of human rights. The struggle for human rights is never ending and I would make special mention of the first of these: the right to life, which is so endangered today. Pope John Paul II expresses his support for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance to take place next year in South Africa and he encourages every initiative aimed at preventing the spread of racism and intolerance, but, in addition to this concrete approach to human rights, human rights must be brought into sharper focus by giving them a solid ethical basis for otherwise they will remain fragile and without foundations.

A fourth duty of the United Nations is that of guaranteeing the equality of all its Members. It is imperative that all be heard when common decisions are taken. In this respect I would recall the position of the Holy See with regard to sanctions imposed by the Organization. A process of revision should be put in place in each case, so as to ensure that these measures will not weigh most of all on innocent segments of the population.

Christians, who this year have been commemorating the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, feel solidarity for the efforts that the international community is undertaking so that the world of the future may be delivered from violence, injustice and selfishness. The Catholic Church proposes to contribute to this immense work above all through its proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, since, without spiritual progress, the material progress of nations will be vain and illusory. This conviction has guided the Church throughout its history, and it is also its commitment for the third millennium.

The Co-Chairperson (Namibia)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Sabo Nassirou, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration of the Niger.

Mr. Nassirou (Niger)

Mr. Tandja Mamadou, President of the Republic of the Niger, who would have liked to be here today, has, to his great regret, been unable to travel to New York. He has therefore asked me, on his behalf, to transmit the following message to the Assembly:

"Whereas mankind has achieved considerable technical and technological progress and has raised the production of goods and services to an unprecedented level, billions of individuals are lacking the vital minimum because of poverty. The problem of poverty represents one of the major challenges that the authorities of the Niger have resolved to take up because it is true that they undermine the foundation of all national economic and social development policies and strategies.

"Investigations carried out nationally show that 63 per cent of the population of the Niger lives in poverty, and 34 per cent in extreme poverty. The poverty threshold has been defined as $100 per annum per capita in an urban environment, and $70 per annum per capita in a rural environment. As to the thresholds of extreme poverty, they have been set at two thirds of these sums.

"The great majority of the poor in the Niger live in a rural environment. The signs of this poverty are clear at various levels of the national economy. Thus, one person out of three has access to a health centre, one child out of three goes to school, one adult out of five is literate, and only 50 per cent of the population have access to drinking water.

"In addition to this most alarming picture comes a high population growth rate and low income. Thus, the overwhelming majority of the people of the Niger are among the billion inhabitants of our planet who live on less than $1 per day.

"In terms of poverty, it is easy to see that the social sectors and subsectors that are most affected are those of basic education -- primary education, literacy, training -- health, population, drinking water, hygiene, sanitation and living conditions. The vulnerable target groups are essentially women, who are crushed by the weight of domestic tasks, and young people, victims of underemployment and forced to seek work outside of the country. These vulnerable groups are also subject to illiteracy, especially in rural areas.

"On the whole, all these aspects contribute, to a large extent, to signing away the policies and strategies for development, to making the national economy a low-performing one and to accentuating the deterioration of an environment already made too fragile by the climatic hazards found in Sahelo-Saharan regions like ours.

"This is why, on the basis of our experience in the management of natural resources, we have produced a national plan oriented towards the fight against desertification, water and sustainable development, energy, urban environment, biodiversity and climate change.

"The Niger has already acceded to the new strategic framework to combat poverty proposed by the Bretton Woods institutions during the Summit on growth and poverty in Africa, held in Libreville on 18 and 19 January 2000. That Summit, in which many African heads of State or Government participating in this Assembly took part, aimed to examine the prospects of the continent at the threshold of the new millennium and the challenges to be taken up to accelerate economic growth and eliminate poverty.

"Strengthened by the legitimacy and institutional stability emerging from the free and transparent elections held last November, the Niger started a very open participatory process, with a view to elaborating, in the very short term, a strategic document to combat poverty. This new framework, beyond any doubt, is a most dynamic and effective measure in the fight against poverty because it is based on greater participation of citizens in its elaboration and on a better reading of the complex diagnosis of the nature of the determining factors of poverty.

"Our strategy for fighting poverty gives priority to the search for a better fit between healthy economic management and sustainable human development, based principally on the agro-pastoral sector. This strategy is the backbone of the future economic and social development plan for 2000-2004, which the Government has just started putting together in order to respond to the many challenges of the millennium. In this endeavour we are fully aware that outside effort cannot replace domestic effort.

"This is why we are so firmly convinced that, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, particular attention must be devoted to giving concrete form to the universal vocation of the world Organization. Peace, security and sustainable development are highly important concepts that require the much-desired expansion of the Security Council, and shall no longer simply be the exclusive responsibility of a club of military, economic and financial powers.

"Because Africa is the subject of a large share of international initiatives and intends to become an active player, it must take a significant role in the reformed Security Council. And in Africa, there are countries that are able to play a determining role."

The Co-Chairperson (Finland)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Yerodia Abdoulaye Ndombasi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr. Ndombasi (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

I ask the interpreters to forgive me for not having submitted a text. I did not do so because I would like to depart from the beaten path.

What can one recommend to the United Nations to make its peacekeeping work more effective? I should like to link that question to the ideas that a great mind of this century developed in a text entitled Civilization and Its Discontents, which led him to believe that there was a death wish among speaking beings. Unfortunately, that same death snatched the pen from his hand, and he was unable to further elaborate on the idea of the death wish and the discontent in civilization.

There is indeed a discontent in civilization. It is not new. It is always reflected in a phenomenon whereby appearances are constantly shifting and concepts are caught up in a mad dance. That is what happened in the case of the League of Nations. The author of Civilization and Its Discontents wondered how the hordes that came from the place where such wonderful works as the "Emperor Concerto", the "Musical Offering" and the "Ode to Joy" were written could have brought about that discontent in civilization, the First World War.

Here I should like to jump ahead to say that civilization does not of itself dispel any discontent. The United Nations is also experiencing this shifting of appearances and the relentless devaluation of certain phrases, such as "respect for national borders". Today there is no compunction about violating this principle, as our country can testify: for two years, as the Huns did in days gone by, hordes that are apparently civilized -- to judge by their songs, which are gentle murmurs, and which I personally adore -- have been trampling under foot concepts such as "respect for borders", "respect for national sovereignty" and "respect for national resources". Those people are here in this Hall. They have been in our country for two years and have given no indication that they have any intention of leaving. They remain in our country, thus violating the principles on which this Organization was founded. No one is forcing them to leave, and they have impertinently announced that they are not ready to leave.

Patriotism and nationalism dictate that with our limited means we must do everything we can to put an end to this violation of the United Nations Charter and the Charter of the Organization of African Unity. I say this to the Africans present: "It is staring you in the face: the crossing of your borders, the threat to your national independence and the raiding of your countries' wealth; it does not affect us alone. This new race of Huns could do the same thing to you tomorrow, because the discontent in civilization today demonstrates that civilization in itself is not enough to dispel this unhappiness, and so it will continue."

Given our experience, therefore, what must we tell the United Nations so that henceforth it will not be satisfied with merely observing what is happening, but will implement its own resolutions? We are not going to wait 40 years, as in the case of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) on Palestine; only now are attempts being made to implement that. We are not going to wait 40 years for a Camp David-style meeting to take place, or 40 years for the President of the United States to act before Security Council resolutions 1234 (1999), 1291 (2000) and 1304 (2000), which affect us, are implemented. We are not going to wait that long. Our patriotism and spirit of nationalism demand that we put an end to the violation of those principles that have brought us all here. Such violations make those who have occupied our country for two years unworthy of participating in this millennium celebration.

Fortunately, the millennium has not yet begun; it will begin on 1 January 2001. The United Nations still has time to ensure the fulfilment of our declaration that we will not enter the third millennium as an occupied and humiliated country. That is the plea that I am making to the Assembly on behalf of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who is dealing with the business of war because of the occupation, the seizure of our wealth and the violation of our borders, and therefore cannot join us. Just as some prayed on the Acropolis and others on the Golden Bridge, I offer up my prayer on the banks of the Hudson, where I invite all present, whatever continent they are from, to ensure that those who are still in our country return home and give us a chance to remedy the damage caused by the satrap of whom all are aware, who for 32 years devastated our country, polluted minds and destroyed the morale of our people. Help us to send these people back home. Help us to put an end to the war.

How do wars end? How did the war of 1939-1945 end? Through direct talks between the Allies and the Nazis. How did the Viet Nam war end? The American eagle had to go to see the Viet Cong and talk to them. How did the Algerian war end? General de Gaulle himself yielded to the need to speak with the Algerians so that the war could be ended. How has the war between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, which has gone on for centuries, begun to come to an end? Through direct talks between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. What about the war between the victims of aggression in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundi aggressors?

How will it all end? Through direct talks between aggressed and aggressor. If other subterfuges are resorted to, it is because there are some who do not want the war to end. War is a profitable business for the aggressors. They are occupying our country, waging war against us and stripping our soil of the diamonds, gold, cobalt and prized lumber that their countries do not have. It is a rapacious war. If the United Nations asks us how to help it make its actions more effective in the future, I would respond by referring to other activities in which we approach a subject thinking we know what we are doing. We only think we know, but this is a lesson taught by delirious psychotics.

We are facing a situation in which people are leaving their country without provocation. None of our soldiers is abroad. These people enter our country and declare deliriously that they are there to stay. Since we have suffered misfortunes, they come and settle in our country. This is counter to the principles that have brought us here.

It is therefore quite futile to list and diagnose the evils underlying the re-emergent malaise in our civilizations if we do not operate on the basis of principles such as absolute respect, in keeping with the United Nations Charter, for the borders of others, and absolute respect, in keeping with the United Nations Charter, of the national and political independence of others. If we do not base our actions on those principles, this malaise will continue and those psychotics will bring nothing to the United Nations. Our task is to ensure that the United Nations works effectively and does not appear to be going around in circles.

Whatever the consequences, we are determined to defend our rights and to eject by all means necessary those intruders in our country who insist on staying put. Our presidency will paraphrase the words of Corneille, spoken by Auguste: Has destiny, to injure us, chosen yet another of our loved ones to seduce? Let fate enlist the devil to the task -- we are masters of ourselves and of our country.

The Co-Chairperson (Finland)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bahrain.

Shaikh Al-Khalifa (Bahrain)

I have the pleasure to address this important international gathering on behalf of His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Amir of the State of Bahrain, and to convey to all participants his greetings and hope that this Summit will achieve its noble goals and strengthen the role of the United Nations and adherence to its Charter and noble principles.

Bahrain truly feels fully part of this vast gathering of this open and diverse United Nations community, for my country, throughout its history, has embodied these very values as a member of the great family of humanity through its tangible and continuous coexistence with various cultures, beliefs and principles. Bahrain continues, as it has throughout the ages, to take the lead and to serve as an example of this among its neighbours and within its region. Bahrain has consistently confirmed its pioneering role in free trade and economic openness. Furthermore, it has been a symbol of ideal coexistence and lasting peace with all its neighbours, as proven by over 5,000 years of history. This is a responsibility that Bahrain will willingly continue to bear in the future, as it has in the past.

Having become a Member of the Organization in 1971, after attaining full political independence and the exercise of full sovereignty over all its islands, territory and territorial waters, as endorsed by the Security Council, the State of Bahrain has fully and actively participated in all meetings and activities of the United Nations. It has fulfilled all its membership obligations, both regionally and internationally, as was manifest during its term as a member of the Security Council in 1998 and 1999.

Today, as we, the leaders and representatives of the States Members of this Organization, meet here to contemplate our future course, it is incumbent upon us to take this opportunity to reflect on our present situation and on the challenges posed by political, economic, scientific and cultural developments and changes. These developments and changes not only have their positive aspects, but also give rise to certain concerns and apprehensions, for example with regard to globalization and such issues as international peace and security and the fight against poverty, organized crime, terrorism, extremism and threats to the environment.

Our gathering should offer an opportunity to identify the future priorities of the new century, in particular the issues of maintaining international peace and security and achieving peaceful and amicable solutions to all regional and international conflicts, given the negative effects of such conflicts on world progress and prosperity. The conflict and wars witnessed by the Middle East region for over half a century have proved, through their draining of the resources and potentials of States and peoples of the region and their hindering of development projects, the necessity and importance of such solutions.

Today, while efforts are ongoing in the search for a solution to this conflict, we hope that the efforts of the sponsors of the peace process, the United States of America in particular, along with other regional and international parties, will succeed in achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace that will ensure the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people in establishing their own independent State with Jerusalem as its capital. The negotiations and contact between the parties to the peace process have proved that Jerusalem is the key to peace, because of its distinguished status for Arabs and Muslims. Israeli withdrawal from the Syrian territories occupied since 1967 is an important element in achieving a comprehensive, just and durable peace.

Attention to the future of humanity and safeguarding it from other dangers such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction should also be among the priorities of the future and the new century. Ensuring respect for human rights while ensuring that such rights are not exploited as a political pretext for interfering in the internal affairs of other states, promoting dialogue and mutual enrichment between civilizations, and the establishment of regional and international cooperation based on partnership and mutual interest should also be among these priorities.

The lofty purposes and principles set out in the United Nations Charter in order to achieve justice, peace, security and stability throughout the world require us to strengthen the role of the United Nations and to restructure and reform its organs and work, in particular the Security Council, which requires transparency in its work and equitable representation in its membership. The role of the General Assembly in dealing with peace, security and justice, should also be confirmed.

In conclusion, we would like to commend His Excellency, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his sincere and unceasing efforts to strengthen and invigorate the role of the United Nations in enhancing security, stability and peace throughout the world.

May the peace and grace of God be upon you.

The Co-Chairperson (Finland)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Mamadu Iaia Djalo, Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Communities of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.

Mr. Djalo (Guinea-Bissau)

It is a great honour and privilege for us to be present at the Millennium Summit representing His Excellency Mr. Kumba Yalá, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, who transmits to you the following message.

"Gathered at the highest level at the Millennium Summit, our momentous meeting conveys our loyalty to common ideals and objectives, and recognizes the validity and importance of the principles and norms upon which our collective action is based, as defined in the Charter of the United Nations.

"The spirit of shared responsibility that drives our Organization and inspires our work is a precious conquest that we must preserve, reinforce and adapt to the new times.

"It is imperative to Guinea-Bissau that the capacity of the United Nations to carry out an ever-increasing role in international relations be strengthened. In this respect, we attribute great importance to the revitalization of the General Assembly and the rationalization of its agenda, just as we urge the reform of the Security Council with regard to an increase in the number of permanent and non-permanent members, keeping in mind the profound change the world has undergone, resulting in the greater representativeness of that organ and encouraging the principles of transparency and democracy in its work.

"With the political landscape undergoing rapid and profound changes, the current times show that those transformations, far from being temporary, are part of a process that results from the need of nations to develop in an evermore interdependent world. With globalization, the ties and interconnectedness of human destiny favour the emergence of objective conditions for the effective participation of all members of the international community in the search for solutions to the problems of the contemporary world.

"Efforts aimed at the establishment of peace and stability cannot, therefore, be dissociated from the efforts toward the economic and social development of the less fortunate.

"These efforts should be undertaken as a global action, coherent and united, based on a structural transformation of the economies of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, with a view to establishing the basis for sustainable socio-economic development.

"This position should, obviously, be based on our own efforts, as much as in the capacity to reorient development policies in the direction of greater rationalization and efficiency, as in the search for definite solutions for the conflicts that still plague the world.

"While Guinea-Bissau has been shaken by turmoil throughout its history, the consistency of the path of our diplomacy is proof of the unequivocal continuity of our commitment to the grand ideals of the Charter of the United Nations.

"In this sense, our country is dedicated to the search for the right answers on the way to resolving the numerous crises that prevail in the different areas of the planet, particularly in our subregion of Africa.

"It is based on these principles that our country, Guinea-Bissau, reiterates its firm determination to contribute, in cooperation with the countries represented at this Forum, to the full realization of the noble objectives and the materialization of the ideals of the Charter of the United Nations, in this, the threshold of the New Millennium."

The Co-Chairperson (Finland)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Hersey Kyota, Chairman of the Delegation of Palau.

Mr. Kyota (Palau)

Good afternoon and thank you for the privilege of addressing you all today. Before I continue, I would like to extend the warm greetings of His Excellency Kuniwo Nakamura, the entire leadership and the people of the Republic of Palau. It is truly an honour and special privilege to be here with so many leaders on the auspicious occasion of the Millennium Summit. This Summit represents a very special opportunity to review the great achievements of the United Nations, take note of the vast global change which has occurred since the inception of the United Nations, examine the challenges which such change poses, and consider how to ensure that the United Nations can best meet the goals and serve the purposes set before it in the new millennium.

The Republic of Palau, being the last Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under the Trusteeship Council to achieve independence, obviously had no opportunity to be heard when the original collaboration on the direction of the United Nations occurred. However, this is a new world with a new order, and a genuine need has arisen for new directions for the United Nations. Palau is extremely pleased to welcome this opportunity to be heard on the subject this time around. The Republic of Palau firmly believes and hopes that the United Nations will strive to embrace the remaining non-member countries around the world, and to enable "We the peoples" together to forge a stronger international will and commitment to face all challenges before us in this new century.

As a former Trust Territory under the administration of the United States of America, Palau had the advantage of being able to safely observe the sometimes rough-and-tumble developments of the post-Second World War, post-colonial, nation-building era which followed the establishment of the United Nations from beneath the protection of a super-Power's umbrella. We were able to observe the many different models for addressing and adapting to the sea -- changes which accompanied the period, while avoiding the need to adopt any one model ourselves. We thus were able to learn without the process of trial and error and all the costs and harmful effects which frequently come as a consequence of such a learning process. The stewardship of the United States of America provided Palau with the secure environment we needed to prepare ourselves to fully participate in the global community. For that, we express our sincere gratitude to the United States of America.

While part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Palau did not slumber. As noted, we were actively observing the world around us, noting its changes and marking the pros and cons of various systems as they rose and fell with the ever-shifting realities which surrounded them. We concluded -- as virtually all international actors, governmental and non-governmental, have come to realize -- that the most stable system, the one most resilient to change, the one most capable of growing from and even embracing dramatic change, is the system which offers the greatest opportunity for active participation by the widest margin of its members. Time and again, the flexibility required for such a system to operate on its own right enabled the system to effect a positive response to external challenges, including paradigm shifts outside its membership. This observation suggests to Palau two salient points for the future operations of the United Nations.

First, participation in the United Nations must be as wide as possible. The papers prepared by the United Nations Secretariat for this Summit correctly indicate that the old view of discrete nation-States has been overtaken by the realities of modern life. As it used to be said that no man is an island, the vast growth of transnational communications, multinational corporations, regional integration and non-governmental organizations now makes it possible to state that no island is an island either. In a very real and practical sense, there simply is no such thing as an entirely independent State today.

In the light of that fact, the standards for membership in this body must be revised and made more inclusive. There are a number of international actors which play a vital role in regional and global developments and will continue to play such a vital role for the foreseeable future, yet are denied participation in this body. At least one such actor, the Republic of China on Taiwan, also meets the criteria set forth in standard, traditional definitions of a State, yet still has no recognition in the United Nations. That is simply untenable and compromises the inclusive objectives of the United Nations, objectives repeatedly acknowledged in United Nations Secretariat papers. Instead, and in order to maintain and further the effectiveness of the United Nations, we should acknowledge the passing of the old view of the international community and provide for full, formal participation in the United Nations based on practical considerations of the significance of an entity as an international actor.

The second point which needs to be made is that participation must be as substantial as possible. By that, Palau means that decisions at every level of the United Nations must be open to real participation, that is, effective participation, on at least a representational basis by all Members. As the most obvious example of the failure of the United Nations to meet that need, we need only review a few basic facts concerning the Security Council. While the membership of the United Nations has increased from 51 at inception to 189 today, the membership of the Security Council has grown by only 10 members, none of which are permanent. The number and, more importantly, the identity of the permanent members have remained unchanged. As a result, the vast majority of all Members are denied genuine participation in what is arguably the most important organ of the United Nations. This, too, is untenable. There needs to be real reform of the Security Council, with a view to expanding real participation in that body. The Republic of Palau foresees that a significant step towards this goal would be to welcome Japan and a few others as new permanent members of the Security Council.

Palau maintains that the steps suggested today are extremely important if the United Nations is to maintain and further its institutional effectiveness in the new global system. With that in place, we can then effectively address the challenging development issues facing the world in the new century. One primary challenge in the work of the United Nations is the issue of the environment. We must all individually demonstrate the necessary political will, from each and every Member State, to effectively combat environmental problems once and for all.

One alarming environmental issue we have inadequately provided remedies for and which threatens the survival not only of small island States but also that of every country in the world is environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability is everybody's challenge. Industrial activities and agribusiness production continue to have an adverse effect on our soils and waterways. In many developing countries, massive deforestation, harmful farming practices and uncontrolled urbanization are major causes of environmental degradation. All those specific problems must be collectively looked into and provided with a scale of solid efforts whereby every country continues to meet its economic needs without compromising the ability of our planet to provide for the needs of future generations.

In particular, my country strongly believes that every country must unequivocally demonstrate a rigorous political commitment to addressing one alarming environmental phenomenon, which is climate change. Evidence continues to mount and to demonstrate the inevitable reality of the impact of the emission of the so-called greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming. The earth's atmosphere is warming at an alarming rate, and sea levels have risen at an unprecedented rate. The Republic of Palau, in recent years, has witnessed a devastating portent of this global phenomenon. The rising sea level has invaded our taro patches and our agricultural land, subsequently destroying some of our prime sources of daily nourishment. Some of our neighbouring Pacific countries have had an even more disastrous experience with rising sea levels. Many have been displaced from their homes and have statistically become part of the estimated 25 million "environmental refugees" forced from their homes.

The Republic of Palau, currently in possession of the chairmanship of the 16-island-member-State South Pacific Forum, is gravely concerned about the devastating impact of climate change on some of these island nations. As the inhabitants of a fragile ecosystem, we appeal to the rest of the international community to face up more aggressively to this inescapable reality.

Climate change is a global problem whose full devastating impact can be minimized only if all countries willingly contribute on the basis of common but differentiated responsibility. In connection with our differentiated responsibilities, a particular sense of urgency attaches to the implementation of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. For there to be a genuine advance in our collective effort to combat climate change, the industrialized countries are called upon once again to commit themselves to the verifiable emissions limitation and reduction targets called for in the Kyoto Protocol. Such a commitment continues to be lacking, but it would essentially complete our first step towards reducing global warming. To demonstrate that global commitment, each of us must continue to remind ourselves that the challenge of addressing climate change is everybody's business. We, as responsible citizens of the international community, must collectively forge a solid political will to make the necessary changes, specifically those that are called for in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The Co-Chairperson (Finland)

Before giving the floor to the next speaker, I once again appeal to representatives to be kind enough to keep silent and to listen to these very good speeches; this will also enable us to move forward more smoothly. I thank members for their kindness and cooperation in this regard.

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Panapasi Nelesone, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tuvalu.

Mr. Nelesone (Tuvalu)

It is a great honour and privilege to address the Millennium Summit on behalf of the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, who unfortunately has had to leave the Summit owing to some unforeseen but unavoidable urgent matters at home.

As the youngest member of this great family of independent nations, Tuvalu places the highest value on the work of the United Nations. Over the past three days, the high spirit of goodwill and commitment that has been enunciated as Member States have reflected on the future role of the United Nations has indeed given Tuvalu great inspiration and a sense of pride in having joined this Organization. It has also given Tuvalu the highest expectations, and great hopes for the success of the United Nations in promoting peace and prosperity for all mankind.

Peace is the absence of threat to the security and the survival of a nation. Without peace, there is no development and no progress. As with many of our island sisters and brothers in the Pacific and other regions, Tuvalu's severe capacity limitations and extreme environmental and economic vulnerability to external forces constitute the most serious threat to our survival. While we welcome the vast opportunities for all countries to be gained through the process of globalization, international indifference to the situation of Indo-Pacific societies has only led to the undermining of our small economies. Tuvalu therefore strongly supports the full development and adoption of an environmental vulnerability index that can better reflect the extreme capacity limitation and vulnerability of small island developing States.

In the same vein, the compelling findings about the consequences of global warming and climate change, in particular rising sea levels, are of the greatest concern to Tuvalu and to many other small island developing States. Already, some of our valuable land has totally disappeared, washed away by high seas. Even as this historic Summit progresses, our peoples face the real threat of being inundated by sea water. In keeping with the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, therefore, Tuvalu urges Member States and the international community at large to take serious heed of the pleas of small island States with regard to climate change, and to combat this threat more aggressively before it is too late. To that end, we also fully support the further promotion of frameworks for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) as a means to promote and further ensure the security and survival of our peoples.

In joining the United Nations, Tuvalu could not but notice the extent to which strong champions of democracy and human rights, and those that have genuinely contributed to the development of the prosperity and well-being of the international community, such as the Republic of China, are being excluded from the United Nations. Tuvalu strongly believes that the United Nations cannot be universally representative of the democratic peoples of the world until the question of the representation of the Republic of China in the United Nations is addressed by the General Assembly.

Also of concern to us is the continued suppression of some peoples of the world by colonial means. Tuvalu therefore calls for the conflict in West Papua New Guinea to be properly addressed.

Tuvalu has the greatest hopes that the work of the Millennium Summit and of the General Assembly will lead to constructive reform of the United Nations to make it a more meaningful and representative organization as it moves into the new century. May God bless the United Nations, and may God bless the dreams of its peoples.

The Co-Chairperson (Finland)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Amraiya Naidu, Chairman of the delegation of Fiji.

Mr. Naidu (Fiji)

It is my profound privilege to deliver the greetings of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Fiji, who deeply regrets not being able to share this momentous occasion of the Millennium Summit with all of us here at the United Nations. His Excellency Ratu Josefa Iloilo is nonetheless with us all in the spirit of this historic occasion to bid farewell to the second millennium and usher in the third millennium and the twenty-first century.

Fiji takes great pride in its membership of the United Nations, and will continue to commit its spirit and resources to the peaceful goals and the principled ideals of this international family. As a sibling of the South Pacific family of nations, Fiji is proud also of the expanding membership of the United Nations community thanks to the admission of its fellow South Pacific nations in recent years.

It is therefore with deep humility and reflection that Fiji takes the floor as the last speaker from the Government delegations, and immediately following Tuvalu, to offer its familial congratulations and embrace to Tuvalu, our sister nation from the Pacific.

Indeed, every family meets with successes and shortcomings at different stages in life. The United Nations is no different. There is no question that the goals it aspired to 55 years ago have been achieved. There is therefore great cause for celebration today as we come together to close the twentieth century.

The United Nations will be all the richer at the end of this day, with wisdom, commitment, thoughts and ideas expressed as the way forward for the Organization. This day has offered a remarkable opportunity to appraise what has been accomplished, as well as to look for ways to work together towards getting tangible results on issues affecting humankind.

In its achievements, the United Nations is also continually refining its goals through the values and principles that are consolidated in the United Nations Millennium Declaration. In this process it is also redefining its mandates, structures, processes and resources to meet the rapid global challenges which are far more sophisticated today, and will be in the future, than those faced 55 years ago.

It is this spirit of humble achievement that Fiji intends to bequeath to our future generation with the guidance of a United Nations, well equipped and well resourced to continue to rise to its future challenges.

As family is the bedrock of social and political institutions, it therefore behoves each of us here to ensure that the United Nations remains intact, stronger and robust. Fiji is confident that these goals are attainable through the proposed reforms within the Organization being engineered by the Secretary-General, to whose dynamic leadership Fiji pays particular tribute.

The United Nations family has enabled smaller, least developed or developing countries such as my own to contribute to world peace in our own, albeit small, way. While there have been measurable benefits of United Nations membership, there is also positive scope for much more equitable changes.

My small country has contributed troops and civilian police to United Nations peacekeeping missions for over two decades and has in the process paid the ultimate price of the loss of 35 lives in the maintenance of peace. We have had a presence in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon since that Mission began, and we continue to have a contingent there. Our civilian police are serving in Bosnia and Kosovo. Military observers are in the Iraq-Kuwait Mission, and more recently our troops have been sent to East Timor. Our soldiers in the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) are serving with troops from Ireland and New Zealand in Suwai in East Timor, which borders West Timor. We know the area since Wednesday has been far from calm.

Like any member of a family, Fiji has had its share of difficulties and triumphs. It is to the credit of the United Nations that the neighbourly feelings of respect, comradeship and understanding would prevail unimpeded in the halls and corridors of this building, even in times of conflict for its Member States.

The laudable vision of the Secretary-General in the report "We the peoples" is the torch that will guide the United Nations and illuminate its steps for a holistic and collective journey into the twenty-first century. Let us seize this moment. This juncture is ours. Humankind is called on to leave this world better than we found it. Let us pause, look back at things that went wrong and strengthen our resolve to steer for a better future. There is no better time for this task than now, at the crossroads of two millenniums.

The Co-Chairperson (Finland)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Esmat Abdel Meguid, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States.

Mr. Meguid (League of Arab States)

I am delighted to participate in the Millennium Summit. It is a unique, historic event. I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate the Co-Chairpersons and the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan. We congratulate him on convening this eminent Assembly, which has brought together the leaders of the world under the auspices of the United Nations, this Organization that personifies the conscience and the aspirations of the world.

The League of Arab States was one of the first regional organizations. It was established in 1945, at the end of the Second World War. The League is entering the third millennium, and it welcomes its greater role in its new partnership with the United Nations. We think this event is of overriding historical importance in international relations. It is an opportunity for the leaders of the world to learn lessons and to benefit from the experience and achievements of the United Nations, as well as its shortcomings, in order to give it a new momentum as we proceed to the next millennium.

Turning to the Organization's future agenda, we need to delineate the objectives more clearly in order to improve United Nations bodies, such as expanding the Security Council membership to make it more democratic and representative of the international community so that the United Nations can become a centre for international policy and international legitimacy. The Organization must abandon selectivity and double standards and must come up with creative solutions in order to preserve international peace and security, ensure respect for human rights, promote democracy, guarantee that there is dialogue among civilizations, combat problems such as disease, poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation and terrorism and narrow the gap between countries of the North and those of the South. The developing countries should be assisted in attaining economic development, reducing their foreign debt and avoiding the negative effects of globalization.

Throughout its history, the United Nations has achieved enormous successes, including the settlement of various conflicts throughout the world and resolutions adopted to try to resolve the Middle East problem and to restore peace to the region, such as Security Council resolutions 181 (II) of 1947, 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 425 (1978) and others.

We believe that the faithful, total implementation of these resolutions is the way to realize just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. This will be brought about through total Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territories it has occupied since 1967, enabling the Palestinian people to return to their homes, to regain their legitimate rights and to establish their own independent State, with Jerusalem as its capital. It will be brought about by Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan to the lines of 4 June 1967 and by dealing with the effects of Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, including the release of Lebanese detainees from Israeli prisons. Israel should also pay compensation for damages done as a result of its occupation of Arab lands.

I would like to pay tribute to the constructive role played by the United Nations in its supervision of the implementation of Security Council resolution 425 (1978), regarding Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. We reaffirm the Arab position, which calls for disarmament in the region, particularly nuclear disarmament, to make the Middle East a nuclear-weapon-free zone and a region free of all weapons of mass destruction.

The United Nations is the international forum for international legitimacy where efforts are made at regional and world levels to achieve the aspirations of the whole of humankind. The Arab League, which is the expression of Arab aspirations and legitimacy, is keen to solidify and strengthen its links with the United Nations.

In conclusion, I hope that this historic Summit is successful and that it will lead to a future vision and better future for humanity. We also hope that Member States will renew their total commitment to the implementation of the Organization's resolutions and the Charter's provisions.

The Co-Chairperson (Finland)

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission.

Mr. Prodi (European Commission)

This Summit embodies the commitment of the world's political leaders to strengthen the foundations of the United Nations, to renew it and to reshape it to fit the needs of a new century. It marks a time of hope and a time of expectation to cope with global issues such as fighting poverty, achieving sustainable development and seeking peace, security and human rights for all. We need global solutions based on global cooperation.

The United Nations is uniquely placed to mobilize common action. The Secretary-General's excellent report and his statement prepared for this gathering make that conclusion crystal clear.

As a European, I am aware of how much the map of Europe alone has changed with the end of the cold war and the further development of the European Union. Europeans now have a unique opportunity to create a 500-million-citizen Europe that is truly whole and truly free, the largest community of democracies today. This is a first in recorded history.

Much has changed in other parts of the world, too. Age-old rivalries are being replaced by cooperation. Dictatorships have fallen, to be replaced by democracies. Conflict remains in all too many places, but the march of freedom can be detected around the globe. This is not a prognosis we could have made 20 years ago.

This Summit is taking place at a time of unprecedented hope, but also of unprecedented challenges. An age-old problem that is still with us is the gap between rich