General Assembly Session 61 meeting 84

The President

I now give the floor to the representative of Qatar to introduce draft resolution A/61/L.51.

Mr. Al-Sulaiti (Qatar)

I have the honour to report to the General Assembly on the successful outcome of the Sixth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies, which was organized by the Government of the State of Qatar from 29 October to 1 November 2006, in cooperation with the United Nations. More than 100 Member States participated in the Conference, together with parliamentarians representing 69 countries and representatives of 100 civil society organizations.

I now have the honour to introduce draft resolution A/61/L.51, entitled "Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies". Let me express the deep appreciation and profound gratitude of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, President of the General Assembly, whose distinguished presence, active participation, warm friendship and effective support at the Doha Conference enriched and added depth to its deliberations.

The International Conferences of New or Restored Democracies began a distinct movement to promote democratic values, stimulate a new brand of international cooperation in favour of democratization. They bring a new focus to the international development agenda. The previous five important International Conferences were held in Manila, Philippines; Managua, Nicaragua; Bucharest, Romania; Cotonou, Benin; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The Sixth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies reaffirmed the core principles and values of democracy and offered new perspectives and dimensions regarding the need to promote, preserve and consolidate the democratization process throughout the world. The Conference had two main objectives: to enhance the linkages among democracy, peace and social progress on the global development agenda and to initiate systematic implementation and follow-up measures to consolidate the achievements and recommendations resulting from the previous important International Conferences of New or Restored Democracies, the first of which was held in 1988.

A major feature of the Sixth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies was its interactive dialogues, round tables and forums, which brought together Government representatives, parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organizations. The Conference had three substantive outcomes: the Doha Declaration, adopted by the Governments; a Joint Statement of Government representatives, parliamentarians and representatives of civil society; and a final report to be prepared by the United Nations.

The Doha Declaration reaffirmed the resolve of numerous United Nations Member States to adhere to universally relevant democratic values, principles and standards. It also reflected the support of concerned member States of the Conference for the establishment of follow-up steps to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the International Conference movement. The Doha Declaration requested the Chair of the Sixth International Conference to take the necessary measures to guarantee appropriate implementation and follow-up of the recommendations of the International Conferences, with the assistance of an advisory board, over a three-year period.

The Joint Statement of Government representatives, parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organizations announced the commitment to cooperate and build effective partnerships among those three prominent groups in pursuit of core democratic values and principles. The Joint Statement welcomed the Doha Declaration and called for the establishment of a democracy advisory commission and an international steering committee to implement the recommendations of the Parliamentary Forum and the Civil Society Forum, respectively. The final report of the Conference is being prepared in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat.

The Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations recently submitted several communications to the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and all Permanent Missions to the United Nations. On 14 November 2006, the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar sent a letter to the Secretary-General (A/61/581) transmitting the Doha Declaration and the Joint Statement. On 16 November 2006, the Permanent Mission sent a letter to the President of the General Assembly (A/61/235) requesting the inclusion of an additional item in the agenda of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. That request was approved with the addition of agenda item 157, entitled "Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies". Finally, the text of a draft resolution was transmitted on 29 November 2006 to all Permanent Missions, and several informal consultations were held earlier this month with many Permanent Missions. We are grateful to our partners for their support.

The draft resolution before members today, entitled "Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies", draws on agreed language, particularly from General Assembly resolutions 60/253, 58/13 and 58/281. The draft resolution has four objectives: to provide information about the concrete outcomes of the Sixth International Conference, that is, the Doha Declaration and the Joint Statement; to emphasize the close cooperation in that regard between the United Nations and Governments, as well as among parliaments, civil society and Governments; to highlight the special focus of the Sixth International Conference, which was the need for systematic implementation of the recommendations of the International Conferences; and to request the Secretary-General to include in his report to the General Assembly at its sixty-second session a summary of the outcomes of the Sixth International Conference under the item entitled "Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies".

The Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar would like to express its deep appreciation and gratitude to all those Governments that participated in the Doha Conference and to those who cooperated with us in preparing the draft resolution. I should like to announce that, since the introduction of the draft resolution, the following countries have joined the list of sponsors: Albania, Andorra, Angola, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, the Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Maldives, Mali, Malta, the Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Nicaragua, the Russian Federation, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Tajikistan, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Republic of Tanzania. I thank all the countries that have become sponsors of the draft resolution.

The President

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/61/L.51. May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt the draft resolution?

The President

I shall now call on the representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, who wishes to speak in explanation of position on the resolution just adopted. May I remind delegations that explanations of position are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats.