Results of the Regional Hearings in Preparation for the "Millennium Assembly"
A People-Centered United Nations Stressed
As part of the process leading up to the Millennium Assembly, the Secretary-General requested the five regional commissions to organize regional hearings, with the involvement of the Member States, civil society and non-governmental organizations. The regional perspectives, providing an overview of the regional opinions on the challenges facing the United Nations in the new century, will be utilized for the preparation of the Secretary-General’s report for the Millennium Assembly. All of the five regional hearings were structured along the themes of sustainable development, peace and security, and human rights.
The hearing for the ECE region took place on 7-8 July 1999, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, under the chairmanship of H.E. Mr. Guido de Marco, President of Malta, with more than 400 participants from a cross-section of organizations and Governments.
The strongest and most recurrent message put forward by the participants was the need for the United Nations to put the human dimension at the centre of all of its activities. While this might be implicit in the field of Human Rights, it is less obvious in matters of security where the broad concept of "human security" is emerging, and in the economic sphere which cannot be dissociated from its social implications.
While the United Nations had been successful in adopting a whole range of extremely valuable norms, standards and conventions, these were perhaps not publicized enough and certainly not sufficiently implemented. To be effective in the next millennium, the United Nations needs to make implementation and compliance its top priorities.
Participants also believed that the United Nations needs to adapt to evolving concepts and practices. One such example is the concept of sovereignty. New actors are appearing on the international stage that must be contended with—parliamentarians, local authorities, business and civil society—and the United Nations needs to define new partnerships accordingly. Particular attention was given to the issue of cooperation with regional organizations including NATO, the Council of Europe and the OSCE. On the institutional front, participants agreed that the United Nations should address the problem of its "democratic deficit". Reform of the Security Council topped the agenda in this respect. Participants also stressed the evident need for the United Nations to enjoy adequate resources.
A more people-oriented, "holistic" United Nations may be better able to respond to the challenges of the millennium. This was one of the conclusions of the regional hearing organized by ESCAP and hosted by Japan on 9-10 September in Tokyo.
Ideas that were also discussed were a global parliament, the need for more timely dispute settlement, a stand-by force for peacekeeping, reform of the Security Council and establishment of a subsidiary organ of an NGO forum as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council.
Participants agreed that the international and regional communities must deal with the major issues of development, and the targets pledged by them at United Nations major international conferences organized in the 1990s, ranging from environment and development to children’s rights. In the discussion on human rights and good governance, it was underlined that good governance requires a system of government that is transparent, accountable, just, fair, democratic, participatory and responsive to people’s needs. "The United Nations has played an important role in developing international law to ensure that these goals are met. And we want it to enhance this role in the future."
The ECLAC regional hearing, held on 1-2 September in Santiago, had the participation of 26 Member States as well as representatives from close to 100 regional, subregional and national networks of NGOs, academic institutions and other institutions from civil society.
The participants agreed that the United Nations must ensure that international instruments to guarantee and protect human rights are put into practice and that verification mechanisms in each of its Member States are set up. There was consensus around the negative impact of unilateral military interventions outside the framework of the United Nations. Participants also expressed the hope that respect for international law and the fight against poverty would have the same priority in the coming century as decolonization or the fight against apartheid had in the second half of the 20th century. Further recommendations were that the United Nations should establish more equal relations with NGOs by overcoming the donor-recipient model, facilitate South-South exchanges and increase awareness of its successful programmes. Participants agreed that the United Nations is uniquely positioned to provide intellectual leadership in ensuring that the advantages of economic globalization are equally shared by the world’s population, and that its negative effects are mitigated. The United Nations System must play a critical role in bringing together governments, business organizations, labour unions and civil society to develop a conceptual platform so the 21st century turns out to be the "people’scentury".
In order to be adequately equipped to meet the regional and global challenges of the 21st century, the United Nations should be reformed, strengthened and refocused. This was concluded by the participants at the African regional hearing on the Millennium Assembly held in Addis Ababa on 24-25 June. The challenges cited included globalisation and its negative effects, and a review of the norms of global governance—including those of the UN itself. The need for a more democratic Organisation was also reiterated by the participants, who included African member States, academia, the private sector, the media, and NGOs.
Key recommendations that emerged
from the hearing revolved around the need:
to reform the UN Security Council to
reflect as wide a geographical distribution as possible;
for the UN to address the problem of
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
to develop a system for financing
global programmes through corporate taxation;
for all human rights issues to
constitute the global agenda in the next millennium;
to strengthen the ECA, Organisation
of African Unity and the African Development Bank so as to enhance their ability to
represent African interests in international forums; and
for the UN to rise to the challenge
of governance and to support a culture of tolerance and diversity.
ESCWA
region
The regional hearing for Western Asia was organized by ESCWA in Beirut on 23-24 May. It brought together over seventy prominent Arab civil society representatives and ESCWA member States representatives who gathered in Beirut.
The views from participants centred on the need for the United Nations to redefine its role in light of the changing world. There was broad criticism of the hegemony exercised by the remaining superpower over both the General Assembly and the Security Council. Civil society representatives felt that the source of the predicament in the Arab world was not to be found exclusively in exogenous factors, but also in the lack of democracy, human rights and good governance.
Among the recommendations put forward by participants were, the need for the United Nations to be more committed to the concepts it had promoted; to resist all political pressures; and to find alternative ways to encourage regional development through education and capacity building. It was stressed that such an endeavour should not be at the detriment of local cultures. The United Nations, according to participants, should begin by increasing public awareness of human rights instruments, follow-up and mechanisms of implementation, promoting human rights education and securing greater protection from persecution. It was stressed that "human rights must be a thread which is woven into the culture of the country—otherwise they remain symbolic".
ESCWA was called upon to establish a "tripartite committee that would be mandated with an in-depth review of the state of civil society in the region and to design a cooperative framework to allow the contribution of NGOs in the work of the Commission."
