In the 54 years since its establishment, the United Nations has done outstanding work promoting peace, democracy and development. It has been a tireless advocate for human rights, decolonization and international understanding. The Organization has helped to bring peace to conflict-torn nations like Guatemala and Mozambique and has helped to over-see the transition to democracy in such countries as Nicaragua and Cambodia. It was the United Nations that brought together the nations of the world to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and, since then, it has helped to enact many international agreements on political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. Through the World Health Organization, the United Nations played an instrumental role in the eradication of smallpox, and through the United Nations Children's Fund, it ensures a brighter future for the children of the world. In these and many other ways, the United Nations has made the world a better place. And its successes have not gone unnoticed: the United Nations and its specialized agencies have won the Nobel Peace Prize five times.

By any standard, these are remarkable achievements. Unfortunately, however, the effectiveness of the United Nations was hindered by superpower rivalries during the first 45 years of its existence. When the cold war ended a decade ago, many people hoped and expected that the Organization would finally be able to realize its true potential as a forum through which the challenges facing the international community might be resolved. But over the past ten years, it has come under attack from short-sighted defenders of absolute State sovereignty, and it has often seemed that the United Nations is struggling to find a role for itself in a world increasingly racked by internal conflicts and ethnic unrest.

As the new millennium dawns, the United Nations must rededicate itself to the noble principles on which it was founded, and seek innovative and imaginative responses to the complex challenges of our day. And because the Organization is the world's foremost international institution, it must lead the way in crafting global solutions to global problems.

Atrocities in the Balkans point to the need for an international criminal court. Global warming and rising sea levels point to the need for coordinated action in defense of the environment. Periodic financial crises point to the need for stabilization mechanisms in the world economy. High levels of poverty point to the need for new economic and human development programmes. The rapid spread of AIDS points to the need for international public health and education initiatives. And wasteful military spending around the world points to the need for disarmament and demilitarization.

We must also confront an unethical global weapons trade that puts profits before principles. Much of my recent work has focused on this important issue, and 16 Nobel Peace laureates have joined me in endorsing an International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers, to prevent undemocratic regimes and Governments that abuse human rights from acquiring deadly weaponry from abroad.

To guarantee the success of its efforts, the United Nations will have to deepen its ties with the growing community of non-governmental organizations. By sharing resources and expertise with NGOs, the United Nations will make its operations more effective. Moreover, it will have to seek the support and cooperation of the peoples of the world, ensuring that they understand the importance of the Organization's work. The existence of a strong, trans-national coalition that is conscious of the need for action on a global scale would encourage UN Member States to give their full backing to the Organization in its efforts to address important international concerns.

As the third millennium begins, the United Nations and the international community as a whole face many troubling challenges. But we must see this moment as a time of opportunity and hope. By focusing our energy on the tasks at hand and by approaching each difficulty with a spirit of idealism and a sense of possibility, we will surely be able to overcome every obstacle. The United Nations has an important role to play in this ongoing effort to build a better world. It made incalculable contributions to the causes of peace, justice and human dignity in the nineties and, with a renewed commitment to the ideals outlined in its Charter, the United Nations will achieve even more in the twenty-first century.

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