General Assembly Session 62 meeting 63

The Acting President

The General Assembly will now resume its consideration of agenda item 116, entitled "Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit", to hold, in accordance with resolution 60/265, of 30 June 2006, a specific meeting focused on development, including an assessment of progress over the previous year.

The Acting President

I have the honour to make the following statement on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Srgjan Kerim, President of the General Assembly.

"Development is one of the three main pillars of the work of the United Nations. This morning, in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, a dialogue on development was held, with participants from academia, civil society, the United Nations system and Member States. The Deputy Secretary-General spoke about the work she is leading on behalf of the Secretary-General to improve the coherence and effectiveness of the development activities of the United Nations, including the objectives of the Africa Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) task force. Distinguished economists Professor Jagdish Bhagwati and Professor Joseph Stiglitz gave their assessments of emerging trends in the world economy that will affect all of our efforts to achieve faster progress to implement the international development goals, in particular the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. By being better informed and by engaging substantively in contemporary issues, we bolster the international standing and authority of the General Assembly.

"In the globalized economy no country or company can insulate itself entirely from international risks. If a problem does happen, we need to be able to deal with it quickly to maintain confidence. The current bout of instability in financial markets demonstrates the sheer scale of global financial flows and how quickly what happens in one part of the world can affect us all. Robust global growth that is resilient to economic shocks and sustainable over the long-term is the best catalyst for development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In the past 30 years no country has reduced poverty without also increasing trade and national wealth.

"The Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals and the outcomes of the 2002 Conference on Financing for Development and the 2005 World Summit made an unprecedented contribution to focusing attention and action on the global fight against poverty and the promotion of human development for all. In many regions good progress has been made on some of the MDGs. However, absolute poverty rose over the past decade in sub-Saharan Africa. The most recent figures by the World Bank suggest that only a third of those countries will achieve a single MDG by 2015.

"There are positive signs, though, and some countries are demonstrating that progress towards the MDGs is possible when strong Government leadership, good policies and healthy institutions are combined with adequate financial and technical support from the international community.

"We must also take into account the interrelationship between the way our economies grow and the impact on the global climate and on our international development goals. Climate change is an issue of justice. It is the world's poorest who will suffer the most, yet they are least responsible for it. The United Nations Development Programme's annual Human Development Report warns that the world's poor face the most immediate and most severe costs of climate change, with the threat of unprecedented reversals in poverty reduction, health and education.

"We now have a crucial window of opportunity. We have reached the midpoint to the target date for achieving the MDGs in 2015, and there is a real need to accelerate progress. Our ability -- partner and donor countries -- to deliver on our promises is a reflection of our commitment to effective multilateralism and to building greater trust among the global community. I look forward to your assessments of progress made in the previous year and what we can expect going forward. Progress is possible. Above all, we must demonstrate political will. Millions of lives quite literally hang in the balance."

I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Dalius Cekuolis, Permanent Representative of Lithuania and President of the Economic and Social Council.

Mr. Cekuolis (Lithuania)

I am honoured to join other Member States at this year's specific meeting of the General Assembly focused on development. May I take this opportunity to make a few remarks on the results of the first Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) of the Economic and Social Council, held this year, as it relates to the overall effort to promote the achievement of the development agenda of the United Nations.

We are half way to 2015, and the AMR shows a glass at once half full and half empty. There are encouraging signs of a global decline in poverty in most parts of the world. There are also positive movements in other dimensions of poverty, such as access to education and health care. Many of the initiatives and actions promoted at United Nations conferences are yielding positive outcomes, and some of the quick-impact initiatives called for by the 2005 World Summit are producing measurable results.

Yet, many countries remain off track to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The overall picture to date shows uneven progress, both across and within countries -- in many cases insufficient to achieve the agreed goals. So here is the main message of this year's Ministerial Review: the strategy for achieving the development agenda is working, but not on the scale required. The strategy must be improved and expanded to enable all to share in the success.

To that end, meeting the goals requires multisectoral approaches and combined efforts across the board. Developing countries need to sustain momentum by elaborating and implementing national development strategies that will accelerate progress, as called for at the 2005 Summit. Those strategies must be aligned with the development agenda through national efforts and with a broad-based and balanced approach to macroeconomic policies aimed at pro-poor economic growth and poverty reduction. The creation of decent jobs, especially for women and youth, is the critical link between growth and poverty reduction.

Those efforts must be supported by adequate financing within the global partnership and its framework for mutual accountability. The Monterrey Consensus identified the critical role in the development of increased official development assistance, debt relief, enabling trading conditions, technology transfer and improved global governance. There is a need to accelerate progress towards a development-friendly outcome to the trade negotiations of the Doha Round, including especially by increasing market access for the agricultural products of developing countries.

A number of critical challenges hamper the effort to eradicate poverty and hunger. The global physical environment continues to deteriorate, with increasing evidence that climate change is reaching a tipping point, with potentially devastating consequences for the world's poor. Desertification is continuing, exacerbated by extreme weather events, and the number of people newly infected with HIV remains about 4 million per year. The AMR provided a platform for discussing the impacts of those challenges and how the international community can and should respond to the threats.

The Council adopted a ministerial declaration by consensus, which highlights the issue of climate change and the decline in official development assistance during 2006. On the positive side, the declaration sends an important message that the international community is united in dealing with the obstacles and challenges to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals, first and foremost poverty and hunger. The declaration rightly recognizes that development, peace and security, and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Nine out of ten countries with the lowest human development indicators have experienced conflict at some point since 1990. Those countries are clearly very far from achieving the goals set out in the United Nations development agenda.

When the Annual Ministerial Review considers countries emerging from conflict, its ultimate concern is how to help them get back on a path of progress towards the development goals. In my view, that basic concern should shape the Organization's overall contribution to peacebuilding and we must unite our efforts to that end. Indeed, progress in development is equally vital to advancing the United Nations pillar of peace and security.

The Ministerial Review was enriched by presentations made by ministers from Bangladesh, Barbados, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Ethiopia and Ghana. Challenges confronting both developing and developed countries in the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the broader internationally agreed development goals by 2015 were discussed. I would like to mention five key policy messages that emerged from those discussions.

First, national development strategies are working, but not at the pace required. We need to accelerate and scale up the implementation process. Secondly, the global partnership should be made more effective in all its dimensions. Thirdly, the global economic environment should be made pro-development and pro-poor. Fourthly, monitoring the implementation of commitments and accountability should be strengthened. Finally, emerging threats -- such as climate change and desertification -- that hamper efforts to realize those goals should be addressed, and addressed urgently.

The high number of countries that have volunteered to be reviewed by the Council next year, including many developed countries, highlights the Council's role as a convener and as the central forum for review of development goals. Next year's voluntary presentations are a step forward, as the Council will undertake a review of countries at different stages of development and different perspectives.

The new biennial high-level Development Cooperation Forum, to be convened by the Council for the first time next year, will help to ensure that development cooperation is guided by a shared set of development goals that are owned by all stakeholders. The most valuable asset of the Development Cooperation Forum is its universal and political legitimacy, which ensures broad participation by all stakeholders in deliberations and discussions. The inclusion of civil society organizations, parliamentarians, local Government and private sector representatives provides for a unique opportunity to garner a wide range of inputs for a deepened dialogue on the international development cooperation agenda.

The challenge to the Forum will be to take advantage of such a distinctive profile by providing ample opportunities for the expression of views, priorities and analysis of developing countries, while at the same time ensuring the continued support and commitment of developed countries. By striking a balance that is agreeable to all stakeholders, facilitated by a focused and high-quality analysis, I believe that the Development Cooperation Forum can make a unique contribution to global dialogue and policy review on major development cooperation issues.

The theme of the 2008 review is "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development". The theme, which encompasses the three pillars of economic growth, social development and environmental protection, broadly covers the commitments made in that area, particularly Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and MDG 7 on environmental sustainability. It will be an important opportunity to ensure that critical issues in those three areas of sustainable development are adequately addressed. It is also an opportune occasion to adopt a more effective and coherent engagement strategy and practical steps for action.

By enabling us to make a comprehensive assessment of progress and identifying implementation gaps, the first AMR demonstrated its added value as a platform to review and define continuing challenges and, on the basis of shared experiences, to discuss the best ways to tackle those challenges. Importantly, it enabled us to bring the individual conference follow-up processes together in order to avoid duplications and ensure the coherence and integration of both policy and action. Such a result-oriented approach of the AMR, I believe, will help us in finding viable solutions to the implementation challenge.

We meet at the time of the official presentation of the United Nations development agenda. For me, as President of the Economic and Social Council, one of its most striking manifestations this year has been the emergence of a new Council as a force for propelling the effective implementation of the agenda.

The task of scaling up efforts for its implementation has never been more crucial. If we want to meet the MDGs by 2015 and realize the United Nations development agenda fully, we have to pursue those goals in an energetic and integrated manner. The World Summit provided us with new instruments, but we must work collectively and intensively to make that approach a reality. I therefore look forward to today's deliberations; in the end, I trust, we are a step closer to bridging the gap between performance and promises made to help lift billions of people out of the scourge of poverty.

Mr. Amil (Pakistan)

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, let me at the outset take this opportunity to thank the President of the General Assembly for convening this specific meeting focused on development.

We reaffirm that the General Assembly should be further strengthened as the highest intergovernmental mechanism for the formulation and appraisal of policy on matters relating to coordinated and integrated follow-up to the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields.

A global economic slowdown with prospects of a possible recession is forecast in the wake of growing global imbalances, falling commodity prices and a weakened dollar. The growing sense of unease about the state of world's economy is reinforced by sudden fluctuations in international financial markets. The good news is that the economic slowdown and the interruption in global growth may not be as acute as originally anticipated because of the strength of some of the developing countries' economies, which is expected to counteract the slowdown and recession in the world economy. This reinforces the case for concerted effort towards unleashing the latent economic potential of developing countries, since economic prosperity in developed and developing countries is interdependent.

Another important lesson that we may draw from the present state of the interdependent and globalized world economy and the looming financial crisis is the growing vulnerability of developing countries to actions and/or omissions originating in the developed countries, over which they have little or no control.

Despite the strong economic performance by a number of developing countries during 2006, many countries are still caught in the trap of poverty, lacking productive capacity, dependent often on a single commodity, vulnerable to external economic turbulence and unattractive for commercially driven investment. The challenges that we face today are complex and daunting. The situation clearly calls for the redoubling of our efforts to highlight the inextricable linkages between peace and development and the central role which the United Nations can and must play in advancing the broad development agenda and in promoting a genuine and enhanced global partnership for development.

The G-77 and China have long argued for a comprehensive reform of the international financial system and its governance architecture. Such governance is currently attempted in restricted forums of the most prosperous nations. Reform must encompass liquidity creation, including Special Drawing Rights, official development assistance (ODA), debt issues, foreign direct investment and portfolio investment.

Official development assistance to developing countries, especially the most vulnerable among them, remains indispensable. Despite promises of an additional $50 billion in ODA, its decline last year and the heavy reliance on debt cancellation and restructuring are a source of serious concern. The forthcoming review of the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Doha, Qatar, in 2008, will provide a valuable opportunity to evolve agreement on a comprehensive and effective approach to meet the resource requirements for the development of the developing countries.

We also need to adopt appropriate measures essential to overcome the technological gap between the developing and the developed countries. In this regard, the global intellectual property rights regime also needs to be reviewed.

The G-77 and China would have wished to use the specific meeting focused on development, as decided in resolution 60/265, to assess the progress over the previous year in the global economic situation and to make concrete recommendations on how best to avoid impending recession and economic slowdown. Furthermore, we would have liked to have this meeting at the beginning of the General Assembly session, rather than towards the end of the main part of its work. We would have preferred to convene this meeting during the general debate, when our leaders, at the highest political level, could reflect on the global economic trends and prospects, as well as assess the progress in the implementation of the goals and commitments.

An important dimension of the development role of the United Nations is in monitoring the implementation of the agreed goals and commitments by the concerned Member States, organizations and other actors. As we have stated previously, implementation remains the Achilles heel of the development cooperation efforts of the United Nations. In this context, consideration should be given to taking steps to redress this situation.

The G-77 and China will continue to work closely with our partners in a constructive and creative manner to address some of the key challenges that we face globally and, in the context of our work in the United Nations, to advance the implementation of the global development agenda.

Mr. Lemos Godinho (Portugal)

I am speaking on behalf of the European Union. The candidate countries Turkey, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the countries of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia, align themselves with this declaration.

For the purpose of efficiency, I will shorten my oral statement. The full text is being circulated.

I would like, first of all, to express congratulations on the very interesting side event on development that took place earlier this morning.

The European Union (EU) is pleased to participate in this debate. It culminates a year-long discussion on how to focus and strengthen our efforts and resolve towards our common pursuits: the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The United Nations has made great strides in keeping these issues on the international agenda. The holding of the first annual ministerial review and the launching of the Development Cooperation Forum of the Economic and Social Council, the informal thematic debate of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General's high-level event on climate change, as well as the Assembly's High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development have been highlights in this year's calendar focusing on development. These events will contribute to the revitalization of the General Assembly and of the Organization as a whole and to the follow-up of the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields.

The European Union is committed to the global partnership for development. The basis for this global partnership is, as stated in the Monterrey Consensus and as reaffirmed at the 2005 World Summit, that each country takes primary responsibility for its own development. The central role of national policies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized. The European Union would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm its strong commitment to the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, and its continued support for developing countries in the implementation of their national development strategies through a partnership that includes, on the one hand, progress towards sound policies, good governance and the rule of law and, on the other, actions on aid volume, aid effectiveness, debt relief, innovative finance mechanisms and trade. Efforts to reach those goals at all levels should be undertaken in an integrated way that promotes efficiencies and reduces duplication and unnecessary competition.

As part of the European Union's actions to implement the Monterrey Consensus, in 2002 we adopted a timetable for our member States to achieve 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) for official development assistance (ODA) by 2015, with an intermediate collective target of 0.39 per cent of GNI by 2006, which we are pleased to say the European Union has since exceeded. We also committed ourselves to improve the quality and effectiveness of aid. In 2005, before the World Summit, the European Union reconfirmed its commitments and set a new intermediate collective target of 0.56 per cent of GNI for ODA by 2010. The European Union has also set new and ambitious targets for ODA for Africa. These significant efforts have led to the Union currently providing 57 per cent of global ODA.

The European Union's positions on development-related issues have been detailed extensively throughout this year. We take this opportunity to reaffirm our previously made statements in the field of development and to raise some complementary points.

Africa is at the heart of the EU development policy. That continent has great potential, as indicated by new economic and political successes over the past decade, with economic growth exceeding 5 per cent, and the New Partnership for Africa's Development and the African Peer Review Mechanism showing a vivid and growing culture of democracy and good governance.

But the continent still has its continuing problems. The lack of resources, adequate technology and effective institutions further limit the capacity of some African countries to adapt and respond to the adverse impacts of climate change, which are already and disproportionately affecting the poorest and most vulnerable countries and groups. That reality is evidenced by the fact that sub-Saharan Africa is off track to meet the MDGs. The European Union is keen to assist African countries in addressing those challenges.

In 2005, Africa received the largest part of European Union aid. Two years after the adoption of the European Union Strategy for Africa, the European Union and Africa will redefine their partnership in light of the profound transformations they experienced over the past few years. The joint Strategy, to be adopted during the second EU-Africa summit, taking place in Lisbon in just a few days on 8 to 9 December, will outline a long-term shared vision of the future of European Union-Africa relations in a globalized world.

The European Union also takes this opportunity to welcome the initiative of the Secretary-General of the Millennium Development Goals Africa Steering Group, which will try to accelerate the implementation of existing commitments. We look forward to seeing the results of the Group's work.

Health is also an essential component of the MDGs and therefore one of the main priorities of the EU development policy. In that respect, the EU is firmly committed to ensuring that, in particular, least developed countries have access to essential medicines at the lowest possible prices, in particular in their fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Council of the European Union recently adopted a decision accepting, on behalf of the European Community, a protocol amending the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which makes permanent a waiver decision on compulsory licenses that allows members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to export patented medicines to third countries with no manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector.

Trade is a powerful engine for economic growth. It is probably the external economic policy with the greatest impact on each and every developing country. The European Union strongly supports a rapid, ambitious and pro-poor completion of the Doha Development Round and EU-African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) economic partnership agreements. The EU also reaffirms its commitment to the ongoing negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreements and to those agreements themselves as development instruments. The agreements, as WTO-compatible agreements, support regional integration and promote the gradual integration of the ACP economies into the rules-based world trading system, thereby fostering sustainable development and contributing to the overall effort to eradicate poverty and to enhance living conditions in the ACP countries. The European Union welcomes the significant progress made in those regions that are close to concluding an economic partnership agreement, and looks forward to progress in other regions as well.

The EU will continue to prioritize support to the least developed and other low-income countries to achieve more balanced global development, as per the European Consensus on Development, and will continue to promote the adoption by all developed countries of quota-free and tariff-free access for least developed countries before the end of the Doha Round.

The European Union congratulates Cape Verde on its graduation from the group of least developed countries (LDCs), which will become effective on 1 January 2008, and recognizes the challenges it faces in order to ensure continued economic growth. In accordance with our commitment to a smooth transition graduation process from LDC status, the European Union will develop a special partnership with the Republic of Cape Verde. The priorities of that plan, as defined by the Council of the European Union, will be political cooperation; cooperation in the field of good governance, security and stability, including cooperation in tackling illegal trafficking of people and drugs; cooperation aimed at sustainable development and the fight against poverty; trade liberalization and regional integration; and cooperation in the field of education, information, research, science and culture, thus promoting a knowledge-based society. Particular attention will be given to environmental aspects.

The European Union takes this opportunity to also congratulate Samoa on its approaching graduation from the list of LDCs, a landmark event that proves that, with concerted effort, developing countries are making progress in their development.

With accumulating scientific proof that climate change has detrimental effects on poverty reduction, responding to climate change is essential to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. As a frontrunner in that field and in the provision of development assistance, the European Union, in its Consensus on Development, emphasizes environment and biodiversity as key pillars of the Union's development cooperation. The European Union Development Days, an event that symbolizes the European Union's determination to enhance public awareness about development cooperation and to strengthen the effectiveness of the Union's development assistance, took place in Lisbon from 7 to 8 November and focused this year on climate change. They reaffirmed the urgency necessary to address the challenges posed by climate change to our development cooperation strategies and activities worldwide and strengthened our resolve to intensify the convergence of visions and the need for partnerships pivotal to our success in the global response to climate change.

In that context, adaptation is crucial. In view of their specific vulnerabilities and their limited capacity to adapt, we will need to step up our activities to support in particular the poorest among us, who have actually played a minor part in the creation of the problem. Adaptation to climate change needs to be part of policy investment decisions by countries, the private sector, international agencies and other relevant actors. Climate change needs to be fully integrated into strategies for poverty reduction, as well as development planning and budgeting.

That is also why the United Nations Climate Change Conference that is currently taking place in Bali is a one-time opportunity. Indeed, Bali is the crucial moment to transform all the international political momentum into deeds and advance current negotiations with a view to agreeing a new multilateral, comprehensive, coherent and effective post-2012 regime by 2009. As I have stated before in the Assembly, the Thirteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bali must establish a clear road map towards the Fifteenth Meeting in Copenhagen in 2009 in order to avoid any implementation gap between the present regime and the future framework.

The European Union looks forward to 2008 as a year full of important development-related meetings and conferences. The upcoming Annual Ministerial Review and Development Cooperation Forum of the Economic and Social Council, the twelfth Conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the mid-term review of the Almaty Programme of Action on the special needs of landlocked developing countries, the Doha Follow-up Conference on financing for development and the beginning of preparations for the future fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, along with important meetings that will take place outside the context of the United Nations, will further the international community's resolve and action in relation to development. The European Union notes that discussions are also under way to consider the status of implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in 2008.

In conclusion, the European Union reaffirms that development is a central goal in itself and that sustainable development includes good governance, human rights and political, economic, social and environmental aspects. The World Summit Outcome highlighted that development, peace and security and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. That vision of interconnectivity is important for all our concrete efforts with regard to sustainable development.

Mr. Al-Fayez (Saudi Arabia)

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aligns itself with the statement made in connection with this agenda item by the representative of Pakistan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Our meeting today is taking place seven years after the convening of the Millennium Summit. This is an opportunity for us to reinforce our ongoing efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015, an objective we all yearn to achieve. In that regard, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believes in the importance of cooperation with the international community and recognizes the immense economic and social hardships faced by many developing nations. We therefore attach great importance to development issues and to supporting development efforts in developing countries. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to contribute to efforts to speed up the rate of development in developing countries, especially in least developed countries. The main goal is to mitigate and eliminate extreme poverty and to assist nations facing special emergency conditions. With regard to natural disasters, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is considered a leading country in strategic response and in providing support to friendly peoples throughout the world.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believes that combating poverty is the primary goal for the new millennium, including assisting least developed countries by providing material and in-kind assistance to develop and upgrade infrastructure for the future of the peoples of those countries. Achieving development and eliminating poverty are both moral and humanitarian responsibilities.

As part of my Government's efforts to support poor countries in their efforts to reduce the level of poverty, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has provided support for the establishment of a special fund in the Islamic Development Bank to address the problems of poverty and its mitigation, contributing $1 billion to the fund. Saudi Arabia's assistance is provided through bilateral development cooperation with developing countries, as well as through regional and international multilateral organizations and specialized agencies. Through the Saudi Fund for Economic Development, we have provided a total of about $6.65 billion in support of 369 development projects and economic programmes in 68 countries. Saudi Arabia has consistently provided annual assistance to the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations Industrial Development Fund, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the Arab Gulf Fund in support of United Nations relief organizations and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. With regard to the latter, Saudi Arabia has announced a contribution of $18 million for the period 2008-2010 -- an average of $6 million annually. It should also be noted that we contributed $10 million to the Global Fund in the previous period. In addition, we have contributed $46 million to the World Programme for Combating River Blindness Disease.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has provided material and in-kind support in excess of $24 billion to more than 14 international and regional development organizations, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the United Nations Trust Fund for African Development, the Islamic Development Bank, the International Development Association and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Saudi Arabia believes in the importance of sustainable development. We therefore pledged $300 million for that purpose at the third Summit of heads of State and Government of member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which was held in Riyadh from 16 to 17 November 2007. That pledge, which is intended to serve as seed money for research in the areas of energy and environmental climate change, attests to our seriousness in supporting international community and underscores the fact that oil can be a source for construction and development instead of dispute and conflict. It also reflects our substantive and genuine interest in addressing climate change and the protection of the environment. Saudi Arabia is continuing to pursue its policy of building bridges of dialogue between oil-producing and oil-consuming countries. Both sides must fulfil their responsibilities to developing countries and to combating poverty. To that end, OPEC has set up a special Fund for International Development. Since its establishment 30 years ago, contributions to the OPEC Fund have been used to assist more than 120 countries. That assistance was in addition to direct assistance provided to OPEC member countries.

Given the great importance we attach to sustainable development, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is considered a leading country in contributing to the achievement of the MDGs. We have more than doubled our allocation of public funds for education, health and social services.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would like to emphasize the central role of the United Nations, especially that of the Economic and Social Council, in supporting international cooperation and efforts to achieve the internationally agreed MDGs. We would also like to underscore the need for national ownership of development efforts by developing countries. There is also a need to strengthen the role of developing countries in global efforts related to strengthen international financing and its mechanisms, achieve universal education, improve gender equality and the empowerment of women, reduce the rate of infant mortality and improve health conditions. The success of sustainable development depends upon the international community's respect for cultural specificities and customs of developing nations and on fashioning development approaches that are appropriate to such specificities.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia considers that efforts to reform international financial, monetary and trade systems should be undertaken by existing institutions. Additionally, transparency should be a priority when dealing with trade and financial matters in order to avoid the current turbulence in international financial markets.

Furthermore, we should build a global economic system on the basis of a new partnership between developing and developed countries, founded on cooperation and interdependence as well as on international economic relations based on justice, equality, mutual benefits, common responsibility and the need for developing nations to have their products reach the markets of developed countries.

In closing, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would like to emphasize that we will not achieve sustainable development and the MDGs without world peace, or without attaining the equality and preserving the rights of developing countries. We need to uphold international law and legitimacy, ensure compliance with them and promote their applicability, without exception, by all countries. We also must resolve disputes and wars in this current century by diplomatic and peaceful means.

Mr. Heller (Mexico)

The Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit recognized the importance of the existing relation between international migration and development, as well as the necessity to meet the challenges and opportunities resulting from migration. Given its magnitude and complexity, finding effective solutions has become a real challenge for the international community. Mexico places particular priority in this area because, in our territory, each and every one of the migratory manifestation can be found. Due to our geographic location, Mexico is a country of origin, destination, return and transit.

The dimension and characteristics taken on by the migratory phenomenon, within the framework of globalization, and the fact that these flows will continue in the future make it incumbent upon the international to analyse deeply the challenges presented by these movements of people. Today, it is clear that countries cannot continue to face migration with control and management measures that do not account of the complex causes of the phenomenon as well as its impact abroad, including the contributions made by migrants to the States in which they are located.

For this reason, Mexico has expressed in a number of bilateral, regional and multilateral forums the need to promote a new, comprehensive understanding of migration that favours an in-depth and broad understanding of the phenomenon. It would be through such an understanding that we could promote the positive contributions of migration and in which we could consider the causes and effects of the phenomenon; one in which the migrant, as a person, is placed at the heart of any migration policy or project.

It is essential to set aside partial approaches and short-term answers so as to make room for a broader perspective and long-term, comprehensive answers. In order to do this, it is essential to go beyond the management approach and to recognise that the labour markets cannot be the sole reference point for determining the range and scope of migration programmes, arrangements and policies.

This vision is of particular importance in strengthening the mechanisms for cooperation and international dialogue aimed at guaranteeing fundamental respect for the human rights, human dignity, and non-discrimination against migrants, particularly given the fact of their vulnerable situations.

Bearing this in mind, Mexico supports the proposal of creating a forum that will serve as a continuation of the discussions of the numerous aspects of the migratory phenomenon, with a comprehensive approach, great political openness and action-oriented discussions. Mexico welcomes the results of the first Global Forum on Migration and Development held in Brussels from 9 to 11 July this year and recognizes that these talks should contribute to the discussions to be held in Manila during the second Global Forum in October 2008.

Since the onset of this process, Mexico has proposed a close link between the forum and the United Nations in order to ensure greater coherence and coordination. We have highlighted the importance of enriching the debates with the participation of various actors involved in this issue.

Mexico notes with concern that the recognition of some countries of the need for and the importance of migrants in strengthening their own economies has not gone hand in hand with the recognition of their human rights and that the enjoyment of these rights should be reflected in their migratory status. Mexico believes that, in applying migratory laws and policies, States must develop and apply these policies with the full respect for the human rights of migrants and their families, regardless of their migratory status. This will preserve and protect their physical integrity as well as their life and dignity.

The growing tie between migration, security and borders worldwide must take account international law, particularly, international human rights law, in order to change the approach, which is, now, based strictly on the principle of sovereignty, a principle which alone does not resolve the underlining problems. On the contrary, it has tended to focus on the most negative aspects.

The position of Mexico is shared by a number of countries in this forum; while others have expressed their reservations with regards to substantively discussing the matter of human rights of migrants, saying that such a discussion could become politicized. In this regard, Mexico wishes to state that any measure, policy or programme on international migration that does not take account of the human rights component will be incomplete and will be inconsistent with the human rights structure that the international community has created and consolidated over the years.

Mexico urges States, and the United Nations as a whole, to ensure that discussions held on the question of migration are held within the framework of the Organization, or in forums in which the United Nations participates. These discussions must also be reflected in consistent actions, in accordance with the objectives of the Charter; actions that avoid duplication of efforts and partial approaches and which truly address this phenomenon that is and will continue to be present in an increasingly globalized world.

Finally, I wish to note that, in order to strengthen the links between the efforts of this Organization and of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, my delegation, along with other countries of Latin America, is sponsoring draft resolution A/62/L.25, which recognizes the need to establish a closer link between the United Nations and the Forum. To that end, we have suggested a series of very simple but specific measures to promote a greater exchange of information. We are convinced that this will help enrich the discussion on migration and development in both forums, and we therefore request the international community's support for this initiative.