General Assembly Session 59 meeting 58

The President

I give the floor to the representative of China to introduce draft resolution A/59/L.30.

Mr. Cheng Jingye (China)

It is my honour to introduce draft resolution A/59/L.30, entitled "Enhancing capacity-building in global public health", under agenda item 55.

Enhancing capacity-building in global public health is an important element of the Millennium Development Goals. Three of the eight goals are health-related, and Goal 6 specifically states that we are to halt and to begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of malaria and other major diseases by 2015. The promotion of capacity-building in global public health will certainly facilitate the early realization of these Goals by the international community.

In this increasingly globalized world, the danger of infectious disease is definitely not going to be confined to one State, one region or one continent. Once the disease breaks out, it might immediately threaten the whole world. The harm done to mankind by an epidemic such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, SARS or avian influenza is all too obvious. Only by joining hands can the international community better equip itself to respond to and prevent these diseases.

This is the second time that the Chinese delegation has proposed a draft resolution with the same title. With resolution 58/3 as a base, the following elements have been added, after broad consultations with other delegations.

The Assembly would take note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration. It would note with appreciation the work of UNAIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the holding of the XVth International AIDS Conference, and would note with concern the recent outbreak of avian influenza, recognizing its impact on human health as well as on the economy and welcoming the joint ministerial statement issued by the States concerned in that connection. The Assembly would note the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, which brings together more than one hundred and twenty partners to provide timely and high-quality technical support. In the operative portion, the Assembly would encourage Member States, as well as United Nations agencies, to actively support capacity-building in global public health and health-care institutions, such as through the provision of technical and other assistance to developing countries, as well as countries with economies in transition.

At the request of Benin, Chairman of the Group of the Least Developed Countries, I propose the following revision to the draft resolution, after consultations with interested parties. In operative paragraph 7, delete the words "including the least developed countries". The paragraph now reads:

Mr. Cheng Jingye (China)

"Encourages Member States, as well as United Nations agencies, bodies, funds and programmes, in accordance with their respective mandates, to continue to address public health concerns in their development activities and programmes, and to actively support capacity-building in global public health and health-care institutions, such as through the provision of technical and other relevant assistance to the developing countries, as well as countries with economies in transition;".

Mr. Cheng Jingye (China)

The draft resolution, issued on 15 November, listed 126 countries as sponsors. Forty more countries have joined since then as sponsors. They are Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Brazil, Cape Verde, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Ireland, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Seychelles, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Yemen.

On behalf of the Chinese Government, I would like to sincerely thank all the sponsors and hope the General Assembly will adopt the resolution as already revised, by consensus.

Having introduced draft resolution A/59/L.30, I wish to make a few remarks on the items under consideration today. The Chinese delegation would like to thank the Secretary-General for his reports on agenda items 45 and 55, and it welcomes the joint debate on these two items. The Chinese delegation endorses the statement to be made by the representative of Qatar on behalf the Group of 77 and China.

By resolution 58/291, adopted in May this year, the General Assembly decided to convene a high-level plenary meeting in September 2005, with the participation of heads of State and Government, to undertake a comprehensive review of the progress made in the fulfilment of all the commitments contained in the Millennium Declaration and the outcomes of all the major United Nations conferences. It will be a summit of critical importance to the future of the United Nations, to the strengthening of multilateralism, with the United Nations as the centre, and to our concerted efforts for world peace, security and prosperity. To ensure the success of the summit, all Member States should start now, in earnest, to prepare for it.

First, we have to work actively for the implementation of the Millennium Declaration. It is a crystallization of the strong determination of Member States to strengthen the role of the United Nations and to uphold the United Nations Charter.

In the past few years the United Nations and the Member States have worked hard to realize the goals enshrined in the Declaration, and some positive results have been achieved. However, the Secretary-General has rightly pointed out that the magnitude of the tasks before us is huge. In some countries the pace of implementation of the Millennium Development Goals is worrisome. The international community needs to redouble its efforts to ensure the implementation of the commitments contained in the Declaration. It is essential to further mobilize resources and increase inputs to development, so as to help all countries, developing countries in particular, to make greater progress in implementing the goals.

Secondly, it is necessary to ensure, through integrated and coordinated efforts, that there is a comprehensive and balanced implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields. We agreed to that series of recommendations in the Secretary-General's report. In that connection, I would like to stress the following points.

First, it is necessary to carry out needed reforms in the social and economic fields, reorient the focus of our work and streamline the agenda. The basic purpose of the reform is to enhance the coordination strategy of the United Nations in the economic field.

Secondly, the Economic and Social Council should formulate a multi-year work programme as soon as possible and strengthen its coordination and monitoring of its implementation in the economic field. We support continued dialogue between the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council on the one hand, and the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization on the other, in an effort to make the dialogue yield more positive and concrete results.

Thirdly, it is necessary to establish an effective mechanism to assess and monitor the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits. Next year will be the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. Preparations for the celebration by the Chinese Government and relevant non-governmental organizations are now under way. Protecting and promoting the rights and interests of women is an important part of implementing the Beijing Declaration. We stand ready to work with all other delegations to further implement the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Finally, we believe that next year's summit meeting of the General Assembly should review in a comprehensive manner all questions related to peace, development and reform and make forward-looking and visionary decisions at the political and strategic level, which will serve as guidelines and principles for our work in the years to come.

Preparations for the summit should be open, transparent and inclusive. The drafting and negotiation of its outcome document should involve all Member States, with particular attention to the voice and demands of the developing countries. The report of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, the Secretary-General's comprehensive report on the Millennium Declaration and the report of the Millennium Project will be three basic documents for the preparation of the summit next year. We believe that the three interrelated reports can be directly considered in an integrated manner in the plenary with a view to producing a package of resolutions for future negotiation.

The Chinese delegation agrees in principle to the recommendations of the Secretary-General regarding the dates, format and other organizational matters. We hope the Assembly will adopt a resolution as soon as possible on this issue and work out a road map and timetable to ensure an orderly preparatory process. The Chinese delegation is ready to work, in close cooperation with other States, for the comprehensive implementation of the Millennium Declaration and the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits and for a successful summit next year.

Mr. Al-Bader (Qatar)

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, I would like to thank the Secretary-General for the comprehensive and useful reports provided under agenda items 45 and 55, which are contained in documents A/59/282, A/59/224 and A/59/545. The issues dealt with in the two substantive reports highlight the main aspirations of all nations in the areas of development, the environment, peace and security, humanitarian needs, human rights, and special concerns of various countries.

Our leaders have agreed upon certain common goals that are clearly articulated in the outcome documents of various United Nations conferences and summits, including the Millennium Summit. All our leaders agreed that those common goals must be achieved. Regrettably, the report on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration points out that many of us are being left far behind, and to those countries those goals are becoming increasingly distant. Those goals include the objectives defined in the areas of development, peace, security, and reform of the international system.

To address and reverse this trend, the Group of 77 and China would like to emphasize the following points.

First, the Millennium Declaration must be implemented in its entirety. All its goals are equally important and should be given equal priority. The goals, as they stand, do not negate one another. For example, development and peace and security are inextricably interlinked. Security without sustainable development is inconceivable, and there cannot be sustainable development without sustainable peace. We have seen the erosion of multilateralism in these areas. Of primary concern is that the issues of peace and security should be addressed through strengthened multilateral policies and actions. The global problems of our times require collective action as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and reaffirmed in the Millennium Declaration.

Second, realization of Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals requires greater collaborative efforts by the international community. The Millennium Declaration highlighted not only our goals but also our responsibilities, which will help fulfil our aspirations. Whereas developed nations were urged to honour their commitment towards the allocation of 0.7 per cent of their GNP to official development assistance (ODA), developing nations were urged to improve governance. We continue to improve our governing systems and procedures and expect developed countries to live up to their commitments in ODA.

Simultaneous implementation of our goals will be possible only if vital resources are made available. While some countries have met their commitment to provide 0.7 per cent of their GNP as ODA, a large number of developed countries have fallen far short of meeting this target.

At the same time debt relief remains inadequate, as does access to the markets of developed countries, especially in areas of export that are of interest to developing countries. Trade is now a main avenue of financial resources that can help developing nations achieve their development goals, yet we continue to lack resources, despite the promises made. As a consequence, we continue to lack the basic resources that can empower us to participate fully in the global trading system.

Such trade policies have also contributed to denying a large number of developing countries the benefits of globalization. Globalization has brought with it many opportunities as well as challenges that are unique to the current phase of this phenomenon. Comparing the lack of liberalization in labour forces to the significant progress in financial liberalization indicates an asymmetry that is contradictory and unacceptable in a world that is becoming increasingly borderless in economic transactions.

We therefore call on the international community to provide the United Nations with the resources that would enable it to play its role effectively, whether in the field of development, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, or humanitarian affairs.

The Millennium Declaration is no doubt important, but equally important are the outcomes of other United Nations conferences and summits. Those conferences dealt with diverse issues such as social development, sustainable development, advancement of women, financing for development, human rights and advancing the rights of children. They have provided a rich global policy consensus in areas that impact various aspects of our lives, and their outcomes also laid the foundation for the adoption of such an historic document as the Millennium Declaration.

The goals of those conferences are intimately linked with the objectives of the Declaration. For that reason, implementing those outcomes is crucial to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In fact, they are the foundation on which the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved. Therefore we, the international community, should try our best to ensure that the implementation and follow-up processes are pursued coherently through a comprehensive framework.

We believe that, in pursuing the implementation of the Millennium Declaration and the outcome of the major international conferences and summits, their distinct identities should be maintained, while at the same time recognizing the need for thematic coherence in the process. This will not only help in promoting synergies and ensuring efficient utilization of resources, but will also lead to an optimal process of integrating the goals through themes that are common to the outcomes of the summits and conferences.

The 2005 high-level plenary meeting will be critical to furthering our common purpose. At that meeting, therefore, we should clearly identify those obstacles that are impediments to implementing the outcomes of our conferences and summits. At the same time, we should recommend some concrete steps that could overcome those challenges and renew our commitment to achieving our common goals.

While the Group of 77 and China will address the substantive issues related to the 2005 meeting at the appropriate time, at this stage we would like to comment on the modalities of the meeting.

General Assembly resolution 58/291 states that participation in the high-level plenary will be at the summit level. The Group of 77 and China also stresses the importance of the participation of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, as well as the international monetary, financial and trade institutions. The Group supports active participation by civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the business sector. Such participation should help in the intergovernmental decision-making process, in accordance with relevant General Assembly rules and procedures.

The Group of 77 and China would also like to emphasize that a clear focus and priority should be given to development issues. It is our view that there should be a mix of plenary and interactive debates. Moreover, the preparatory process should be inclusive, open-ended and transparent. It should also benefit from input from different United Nations system-wide processes.

The Group feels that the outcome should be intergovernmentally negotiated. The outcome should be all-encompassing, emphasizing the implementation of commitments of major United Nations conferences and summits and the Millennium Development Goals. The outcome should also reaffirm previous commitments and agreements and not seek to renegotiate outcomes of previous conferences and summits.

As far as the timing of the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development is concerned, the Group of 77 and China is of the view that this should have high-level participation of all stakeholders; it should be visible and send a message of strong political commitment to this issue. We would like to see the issue of financing closely interlinked with the development agenda, and for this purpose the dialogue should receive maximum attention from our leaders and policy makers.

The suggestions made by the Secretary-General in his report on modalities provide a good basis for further work in clarifying these details, and the Group looks forward to working on these issues under your leadership, Sir. We are confident that the two facilitators appointed by you, Mr. President, will take into account the concerns of the Group of 77 and China.

The realization of the goals of the Millennium Declaration has gained increasing importance in the wake of the new realities that have emerged over the past years, which were so eloquently defined by the Secretary-General in his seminal address to the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly. He said that we have come to a "fork in the road", and there is a need for action to address the challenges that confront humanity. He also announced the establishment of a High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and while doing so he said, "The United Nations must confront all these threats and challenges -- new and old, 'hard' and 'soft'. It must be fully engaged in the struggle for development and for poverty eradication, starting with the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals; in the joint struggle to protect our common environment; and in the struggle for human rights, democracy and good governance." Our Group looks forward to the report of the Panel, which, we are confident, will provide us with concrete suggestions to address those challenges.

Our Group believes that the 2005 meeting provides us with an historic opportunity to strengthen multilateralism and to provide stronger basis for collective action against the threats to security and the menace of poverty and underdevelopment. It is our duty to realize the dream of the founders of this Organization to save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to raise living standards of humanity.

The President

I now call on the representative of the Netherlands, who will speak on behalf of the European Union.

Mr. Van den Berg (Netherlands)

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union, and the candidate countries Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Croatia, the countries of the Stabilization and Association Process, and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro align themselves with this statement.

We welcome this joint debate on the related topics of the integrated follow-up to the major United Nations conferences and summits, and the follow-up to the Millennium Declaration. These issues are indeed very closely linked, especially as in 2005 we will review them together. The joint debate is in the spirit of General Assembly resolution 57/270 B, the continued implementation of which we consider very important.

On the follow-up to the major United Nations summits and conferences, we agree with the Secretary-General that these were indeed the basis of the Millennium Development Goals, and that their follow-up should remain closely linked to the follow-up to the Millennium Declaration. We welcome the Secretary-General's report on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration and share its findings. We appreciate the balanced overview of progress on implementing the Millennium Declaration and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The report shows progress made and also that there is no room for complacency.

The year 2005 will be one of tremendous opportunity. When we review the implementation of the Millennium Declaration at the summit in September, we will have a chance to devise solutions to the major issues the world has to deal with, and, at that meeting, we will in particular have the chance to re-energize multilateralism in an increasingly interconnected and complex world, with a strong and more efficient United Nations system at the centre. To recommit ourselves to achieve our goals, in particular in the economic and social area, including sustainable development, and to state new guidelines, policies and arrangements where necessary to deal with the emerging challenges to peace and security, including violent conflict and terrorism. The European Union agrees with the Secretary-General that this review should indeed be at the summit level.

We need this review in order to make sure that our instruments are on a par with the many major challenges of the twenty-first century. And, of course, we have major challenges to face in the areas of development, peace and security, environmental and social issues and human rights.

We, the European Union, are willing to recommit ourselves to the agenda set at the United Nations. We are willing to consider and to suggest steps, whether on policies or institutions, that bring closer the attainment of our goals. We are also willing to be ambitious in view of the needs. As the great Michelangelo once stated:

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

I will now address the outcome of the Summit. It should be comprehensive and should discuss development, peace and security, the environment, social issues, human rights and the changes needed in order to achieve our goals and effective multilateralism. The outcome should be a succinct, comprehensive and politically meaningful declaration, focusing on implementation, endorsing progress that has been made and containing a clear reaffirmation of the goals set, as well as the commitments to respond to problems that need to be addressed by the world community.

More specifically, the outcome should contain the following three objectives: first, a clear set of guidelines and policies on the challenges of collective security in its broadest sense; secondly, agreements to enhance our implementation of the commitments undertaken in the Millennium Declaration and through the Millennium Development Goals, as well as through the major United Nations conferences. We should acknowledge the crucial linkages between implementing the Millennium Declaration, achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the follow-up of United Nations summits and conferences. Thirdly, the objective of the outcome should include decisions on organizational reforms needed to help us achieve our goals.

On the subject of the preparatory phase, the European Union welcomes and supports the report of the United Nations Secretary-General on modalities. It has clarified the process. We also welcome the position taken by the President of the United Nations General Assembly on the process at the recent informals. We would like to suggest the following phases in the preparation of the event. First of all, in December 2004, we should adopt a resolution on modalities. We are now awaiting the draft resolution to be prepared by the General Assembly President, which will help us set the stage for the summit and to settle some key organizational issues before the end of 2004.

Secondly, from January to March 2005, we should enter into an informal exchange of views on the major issues at stake, including those identified in the High-Level Panel report and the Millennium Project report. Obviously, these reports and the discussions surrounding them will provide important input to the preparations for the summit, in particular as input for the report of the United Nations Secretary-General, which is due in March 2005. They should be informally discussed in New York, in capitals and at the regional level, in order to test the waters for the steps proposed.

Thirdly, in March 2005, the presentation of the Secretary-General's report for the event will help us frame discussions. Hopefully, the Secretary-General will also indicate how we will take forward the recommendations of the High-Level Panel and other documents, and which recommendations in particular need attention from the summit. The report should also clearly demonstrate the interconnectedness between the agenda of the major United Nations Conferences that underpinned the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). After all, even though the major United Nations conferences were, of course, not limited to MDGs, the road to the MDGs goes through places like Monterrey, Johannesburg, Beijing, Copenhagen and Cairo.

Fourthly, after the presentation of the report in March 2005, additional transparent and inclusive consultations should be held on the basis of the previous informal discussions. Then, on the basis of elements to be suggested by the United Nations Secretary-General in his report next year, the General Assembly President could, in due course, present a draft declaration to Member States. There should be a comprehensive process of consultations, leading, in the final stage, to one process to negotiate the outcome document. We welcome the leadership role of the President of the General Assembly in the full preparatory process.

Preparations should make full use of existing mechanisms that can provide input. The High-level Dialogue of the United Nations General Assembly on Financing for Development, the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS, the Economic and Social Council spring dialogue with the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organization, the 2005 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, the 2005 United Nations Environment Programme Governing Council and the functional and regional Commissions should play an important role. Statements or presidential summaries could include a focus on 2005 and give messages to the high-level event. The 2005 spring meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions should also be part of the input on the development side of the 2005 event.

Financing for development, in particular, is essential in the comprehensive review of progress made towards fulfilling the Millennium Declaration and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. We welcome the report of the Secretary-General in this regard, and we feel it is a good basis on which to build. The meetings in 2005 that address financing for development will convey important messages. We see value in addressing financing for development at a major meeting in the preparatory phase, as well as providing for a specific focus on financing for development in the context of the summit itself. The Secretary-General's report and its recommendations provide a good basis for achieving closure on this before the end of 2004. We look forward to other countries' comments on these proposals.

On the summit itself, as General Assembly resolution 58/291 mandates and as the report on modalities states, the summit should be a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly, with the participation of Heads of State and Government. We also support the suggested dates. In order to ensure maximum participation by all stakeholders, the EU would welcome examining innovative ways of involving them, including civil society, the business sector and the international financial and trade institutions.

The proposal for hearings is a very welcome one. We would be ready to consider building on this, for example by providing for some civil society participation in the summit round tables.

To conclude, the European Union is committed to a good outcome and will, in particular, continue, through its own external policy and practice, to see what further improvements can be made to ensure that the objectives of achieving the MDGs are fully taken into account.

I spoke about the opportunities that the summit in September 2005 has to offer. But the consequences of not seizing those opportunities are very clear to us as well. We need to reinvigorate our multilateral system in view of the challenges ahead. We need a United Nations Organization that is as effective as possible. To quote Mahatma Gandhi,

"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."

I trust that we will be those determined spirits and that our mission will make the best use of the opportunities that 2005 has to offer for achieving our aims. That is the least that the struggle against poverty, injustice, environmental degradation, terrorism, conflict and insecurity requires.

Mr. Hackett (Barbados)

On behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member States of the United Nations, I have the honour to make this statement on agenda items 45 and 55, on integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields, and on follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit.

CARICOM States support the statement made by Qatar on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. However, we would like to provide some additional comments. We consider that the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals is essential for ensuring a safer and better world. That is why we attach the greatest importance to the high-level plenary meeting of the Assembly, to be held at the commencement of its sixtieth session, to review progress in the implementation of the Millennium Declaration. We would like to use this occasion to offer our views on the process.

Let me first, however, thank the Secretary-General for providing us with two very good reports on the two items in the joint debate, namely, documents A/59/224 and A/59/545.

We find that the recommendations in the first report for further action to promote an integrated and coordinated approach and to strengthen ongoing activities for the implementation of the outcomes of conferences and summits represent a good basis for moving forward. Indeed, we agree with the Secretary-General in his analysis that an integrated approach should facilitate the forming of coherent, cross-sectoral alliances around common themes and goals for joint action at the national and international levels.

It is generally agreed that the issue of integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences has to be closely linked with the implementation of the Millennium Declaration. What we believe needs to be emphasized now is the nature of those linkages. In this regard, we have a few suggestions to make.

First, it will be particularly important for the Economic and Social Council to finalize soon -- and hopefully no later than June of next year, as suggested by the Secretary-General -- the identification of the cross-cutting themes common to the outcomes of major United Nations conferences and summits. The themes would then be used as a basis for the implementation of the outcomes of those conferences in an integrated and coordinated manner. Given the constraints of small island developing States, CARICOM member States would like to suggest that the whole question of vulnerabilities should be one of the cross-cutting themes.

Secondly, given the primary responsibility that the regional commissions have in assisting Member States within their respective regions in the implementation of the conference outcomes, we would also like to suggest that the links between the regional commissions and a reformed Economic and Social Council should be strengthened. In our view, that will call for more dynamic debates within the Council on the reports of the regional commissions in the presence of the Executive Secretaries of the regional commissions, whom we expect to be held accountable for ensuring that all of the subregions within their area of responsibility are fully and effectively covered. The Council may also wish to assign to members of its Bureau focal point responsibility for liaising with the regional commissions, including participation, on behalf of the Council, in the work of their intergovernmental bodies, particularly on issues relating to the follow-up to conferences. That, we believe, should help solidify the links between the Council and its functional and regional commissions.

A third area of concern is the coordination of the activities of the funds and programmes of the United Nations system. Given the significant role that organizations of the United Nations system play in assisting Member States in the implementation of the outcomes of the international conferences, it is particularly important that there be greater consistency and coherence among the strategic development frameworks of the funds, programmes and specialized agencies, including, in particular, the Bretton Woods institutions, since those frameworks invariably form the bases upon which programmatic activities are undertaken.

In its resolution 57/270 B, this Assembly undertook to assess annually the implementation of the outcomes and summits and the achievement of the goals and targets set by them, as well as to provide the necessary guidance for further implementation of and follow-up to those outcomes. The beginning of the sixtieth session next year will be the occasion for the Assembly to undertake a first comprehensive review of the progress made in the fulfilment of all the commitments contained in the Millennium Declaration and the outcomes of other major United Nations conferences and summits.

In that regard, we eagerly look forward to the Secretary-General's promised comprehensive report on the Millennium Declaration early next year, since it will enable Member States to begin their preparations for participating in the summit. We concur with the Secretary-General's stated intention to draw on the findings of his High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, given the interconnectivity among peace, security and development.

In analysing the interconnectivity among those three issues, we have come to believe that global peace and security are under constant threat, largely because of wide-scale and persistent poverty and the absence of a good system of global governance that would help to manage world economies in a manner that would distribute the world's resources more equitably. Given such a link, it is clear that solutions for one are dependent on solutions for the other. It is against that background that we believe that the two reports -- the report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, and the Secretary-General's comprehensive report on the Millennium Declaration, which will focus on those issues -- should be examined together if the correct linkages are to be made with respect to the critical decisions that the General Assembly will make following their consideration.

The two reports to which I have referred are, however, not the only ones that should be considered by the summit. As item 45 clearly indicates, there are other major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields whose outcomes will also need to be reviewed within the context of the Millennium Development Goals. They include the high-level meeting of the Assembly on HIV/AIDS to be held in June next year, the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council, the 2005 review by the Commission on the Status of Women of the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women, the review by the Commission on Social Development of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, and the report of the International Labour Organization's World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, entitled, A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All.

Given the development constraints of the small island developing States, which make them particularly vulnerable, the outcome of the 10-year review of the Barbados Programme of Action at the international meeting to be held in Mauritius in January next year will also need to be considered. That will help to ensure that the decisions taken at that meeting are incorporated into any integrated implementation plan that results from the Millennium Summit follow-up conference.

The Secretary-General's report on the modalities, format and organization of the high-level plenary meeting of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly (A/59/545) clearly sets out his views on the issue, and we believe that it represents a very good basis for decision-making.

CARICOM countries agree with the proposal to hold the summit over a period of three days, from 14 to 16 September, with participation at the level of heads of State and Government. We also believe that representatives of civil society should be provided with the opportunity to make their contribution to the high-level plenary meeting. That can effectively be accomplished by having a representative of the Civil Society Forum address the summit.

Regarding the format and structure of the summit, we agree with the proposal to hold plenary meetings and four interactive round tables. We believe that each round table should cover the entire agenda of the summit, which has essentially already been broken down into three major themes, namely, the Millennium Development Goals, peace and security, and institutional reform. These, we believe, can provide a sufficiently broad focus and framework for discussion in each of the round tables.

The preparatory process is probably the most important aspect for ensuring the summit's success. We therefore agree with the Secretary-General that it should be open, inclusive and transparent, with a view to reaching an outcome that represents clear and concrete decisions that are action-oriented. We also believe that the Assembly President should lead the preparatory process. We therefore do not support the idea establishing a steering group. Should the President need assistance in carrying out his role, he may wish to appoint a number of facilitators who can work on his behalf.

Finally, regarding the high-level dialogue on financing for development, we believe it should be held before the summit. We find the proposal of a two-stage approach to be attractive, for we see great merit in having a more in-depth dialogue around the end of June or in early July -- around the time of the session of the Economic and Social Council -- with a short meeting immediately before the summit to convey to the summit the report of the dialogue on financing for development. We also believe that, if the dialogue were to be held in New York, it would provide the opportunity for a larger number of countries to be represented and to participate in that important meeting.

The CARICOM countries offer those suggestions in the hope that they will assist the President and the other members of the Assembly in taking final decisions on all aspects of the preparations for the high-level event in September next year. For we believe that the sixtieth session of the General Assembly will be a major landmark in the history of the Organization and that its outcome will enable us to choose the correct path as we seek to move beyond the fork in the road.

Mr. Dauth (Australia)

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