Representatives of 180 Member States, including 36 Heads of State and 19 Prime Ministers, voiced their aspirations for the next millennium and presented their views on the future of the United Nations in this last general debate of the century. The need for a peaceful world and the development of humankind were at the centre of their concerns.

In the light of recent humanitarian crises, world leaders, speaking at the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly, believed that stronger multilateral mechanisms were needed to respond to the global challenges of the twenty-first century. There was general consensus that globalization and international law were redefining the notions of state sovereignty and human rights. The Secretary-General, highlighting the question of humanitarian intervention at the outset of the debate, urged the international community to move “from a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention”, stressing that the Organization’s main challenge was to unite the world in defence of human rights.

Some States, such as Australia, Denmark, El Salvador, Gambia, Hungary and Thailand, remarked that absolute sovereignty and non-interference were no longer tenable in cases of serious human rights violations. The President of the United States reasoned that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s actions in Kosovo followed the “clear consensus” spelled out in several Security Council resolutions. “Had we chosen to do nothing in the face of this brutality”, he said, “we would have risked discrediting everything the United Nations stands for.” The President of Colombia called the effective application of the UN Charter the “rational response to interventionist or isolationist tendencies”. Italy’s Foreign Minister said the world’s response to future challenges should be “dictated by respect for universal principles rather than by a balance of power”. The Foreign Minister of Poland said “Rwanda demonstrates what Kosovo might have become, had we not intervened in 1999, and Kosovo demonstrates what Rwanda might have been, had we intervened in 1994”.

A number of States, including Malaysia, Samoa, the Sudan, Suriname and Syria, feared that unilateral interventions outside the enforcement mechanisms sanctioned by international law threatened developing countries and undermined the existing security system. The President of Algeria, also representing the Organization of African Unity (OAU), criticized the blurring of humanitarian aid and interference in internal affairs, saying that OAU member States remained “extremely sensitive” to any undermining of their sovereignty, because they had “no active part” in the decision-making of the Security Council. The Foreign Minister of Cuba said attempts to impose humanitarian intervention violated “the letter and spirit of the Charter”. China’s Foreign Minister said any deviation from the universally recognized norms governing international relations would “lead to the rule of hegemonism”.

Afghanistan, Cote d’Ivoire, France, and Gabon, among other States, criticized unequal consideration given to regional problems by the international community. Brazil’s Foreign Minister said Angola and East Timor offered “two glaring examples” of what amounted to a “clear pattern of one-sided and unequal attention”. Similarly, the President of Djibouti noted that the “lack of resolve, vision and action” exhibited by the international community towards Somalia was “indicative of the failure of global governance to serve poor countries in the developing world”.

A large number of delegations, including Armenia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia and Mali, highlighted the dilemmas of globalization’s “two faces”: prosperity and poverty. Many pointed out that one fifth of humanity could not take advantage of the new opportunities and faced the risk of being marginalized. There was agreement that globalization would not develop its potential unless benefits were shared equitably. The President of the United Republic of Tanzania noted that the average African household today consumed 20 per cent less than it did 25 years ago. “Are we globalizing prosperity or are we globalizing poverty?” he asked.

Poverty was universally seen as the root cause of some of the world’s most serious problems, such as conflict, crime and environmental degradation. A number of States, including Botswana, Mauritania, Monaco and Mozambique, singled out the external debt burden as a major impediment to development. The President of Nigeria, stressing that debt relief was “an urgent matter of social and economic justice”, called for a concerted international effort to reverse the illegal capital flight from the developing world.

Chile, Liberia, Mauritius, the Philippines, Tunisia, Viet Nam and others criticized the shortcomings of the international financial and monetary system. The Foreign Minister of Mexico stressed that the Bretton Woods institutions needed to “develop early-warning mechanisms and expand their resources” to help imperilled economies in a timely and appropriate way. The Foreign Minister of Indonesia criticized imbalances in multilateral economic forums, leading to the “neglect of core development issues”. Guyana, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77, said “special and differential treatment” should be granted to least developed countries and structurally weak economies, in particular to the small island developing States.

There was agreement on the need for general and complete disarmament. Many States, including Argentina, Guinea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Oman and Ukraine, called for strict adherence to international instruments, in particular those on nuclear disarmament and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, as well as for effective control of the proliferation of small arms. The Foreign Minister of Iran said the global arms race threatened others “through the accumulation of conventional and mass-destruction agents of death, the formation of rival military blocs and the unbridled race to expand spheres of influence and domination”. Sweden’s Foreign Minister, stressing that the nuclear Powers had “a responsibility to complete nuclear disarmament”, called on all countries to become parties to the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Similarly, Ghana’s Foreign Minister, noting that conventional weapons were “the tools of violence and conflict in Africa”, urged international support for the moratorium on small arms and light weapons in West Africa. In the context of United Nations reform, many States, including Namibia, Senegal, Spain and Uzbekistan, singled out reform of the Security Council as a “key aspect” of enabling the United Nations to meet the challenges of the new century.

There was strong consensus that enlargement of the Council would make it more representative and responsive to future challenges. The Foreign Minister of Germany, describing the current veto practice as “neither democratic nor transparent”, suggested that permanent members of the Council should be obliged to explain to the General Assembly their reasons for exercising their right of veto.

Virtually all States remarked that that the United Nations could not perform effectively without funds, resources and competent personnel. There was a clear consensus on the obligation of all Member States to pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without preconditions. The Foreign Minister of Finland, speaking on behalf of the European Union, stressed that the world needed “an efficient and effective United Nations”, which had “a stable financial basis”. The Prime Minister of France reasoned that a “responsible attitude on the part of contributing States” would advance the reform of the Organization. Japan’s Foreign Minister said there was “an urgent need” for budgetary reforms to enhance the fairness of assessed contributions.

Egypt, Iceland, Lebanon and others addressed the plight of children, especially the phenomenon of child soldiers. The Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, speaking of the “depravity and cruelty” of using children in armed conflicts, called for targeted sanctions against non-State actors who conscripted children as soldiers. The President of Mozambique, highlighting “the plight of children as the main victims”, urged support for the initiative to elaborate an international convention outlawing the use of children under the age of 18 in armed conflicts. The Foreign Minister of Thailand, noting that human security should be more comprehensive, urged giving “equal importance to providing children with basic benefits in times of peace”.

Many States, including Benin, Luxembourg, Nigeria and Swaziland, expressed grave concern about the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa and other regions. The Prime Minister of Lesotho said that the combination of AIDS and malaria was “closely associated with increases in maternal mortality and the significant reduction in life expectancy in many African countries”. The President of Zambia, noting that the disease “continued to overwhelm” the African continent, called upon the United Nations to provide the “necessary leadership” in enhancing global cooperation in fighting the disease.