Sam Nujoma has been President of Namibia since 1990. A founding leader of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), he was born in a peasant family in Ovamboland. In exile from 1959 to 1989, he was elected Namibia's President in the first free elections, supervised by the United Nations, in his newly independent country. President Nujoma was re-elected in 1994 and 1998.
	Tarja Halonen was elected the first female President of Finland in March 2000. A trade-union lawyer with a Helsinki working-class background, she became a member of Parliament in 1979. Having served as a minister in three Governments, including as Minister of Foreign Affairs, President Halonen is an important figure in the womens' movement and is often considered a role model.
President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland, who will jointly preside over the Millennium Summit, respond to questions from Inga Eggers and Sven Siefken for the Chronicle.

His Excellency Sam Nujoma: The significance and importance of the Millennium Summit lies in the decisions the world leaders will take, and the political will we shall demonstrate, to effectively address the socio-economic constraints confronting the majority of the people of the world, especially in the developing countries and in Africa in particular. The world leaders can shape history by putting people at the centre of the United Nations activities. Our concentration should be where the need is greatest. I see the Summit as an affirmation of the centrality of multilateralism in addressing the global, social and economic needs for the benefit of people living in poverty, especially in developing countries. It is an opportunity for us all to translate our collective vision into tangible deeds. World leaders cannot miss this historic opportunity.

Her Excellency Tarja Halonen: The Millennium Summit offers a unique opportunity to reflect on our common destiny at a moment when we are more interconnected than ever before. It is up to us leaders to identify and act on the challenges ahead. The United Nations can contribute to meeting these challenges, provided its members share a renewed sense of mission. We have ahead of us a real challenge to reshape the United Nations so that it can make a difference to people in this new century.

Do you expect any major themes to be addressed by the Millennium Summit that are new to the United Nations?

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President Tarja Halonen: Globalization is a powerful force, creating opportunities and complex challenges for mankind. We have to do our best for the positive aspects to prevail. I do agree with the Secretary-General when he states: "If we are to capture the promises of globalization while managing its adverse effects, we must learn to govern better and we must learn how better to govern together." I also wish to emphasize that the international community should take full advantage of the modern information and communication technologies in the fight against poverty and in the advancement of human development.

President Sam Nujoma: The problems confronting the world are not new to the United Nations. Poverty, debt, homelessness, hunger, disease, environmental degradation, HIV/AIDS, conflict and insecurity are still with us -- those problems have not changed. What is different is their magnitude and how they affect various regions. The major constraint we have today remains poverty which has many dimensions. I expect a genuine resolve to objectively look at the world's social and economic situation and what we collectively can do to address it effectively for the benefit of us all. There are conflicts, particularly in Africa, taking human life, destroying properties and, on the whole, regressing development. The Summit should draw from the recommendations in the Secretary-General's report on "The Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace in Africa", to promote peace, stability and security in the region.

Today, poverty, homelessness, lack of education and proliferation of arms are all attributes to the recruitment of child soldiers. The situation of the girl child, either as a refugee or a displaced person, is even more deplorable. The misuse of girls, especially as military wives or labourers, is alarming. Who can ever forget the images of child soldiers in Sierra Leone, or the child amputees? Children have no business in armed conflict. They are our future and we need to ensure that they develop to their fullest potential. The Millennium Summit has to address the situation of children, especially those in armed conflict.

Another major problem is the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS, which has become a threat to humanity. It is estimated that Africa, which is home to only 10 per cent of the world population, carries over 60 per cent of the total HIV/AIDS cases. The impact of the social and economic consequences of HIV/AIDS is being felt through the erosion of growth in gross domestic product, especially in the heavily affected countries. Many Governments of developing countries cannot afford the drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Summit should, therefore, heed the call by developing countries, especially those of Africa, for these drugs to be made accessible to developing countries at reduced cost.

What changes do you feel are necessary to strengthen the United Nations and its role in the twenty-first century?

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President Sam Nujoma: We have always maintained that after the collapse of the cold war the United Nations must be well-equipped to deal with the realities of our times. Today, there is a need for a strengthened United Nations -- one that is well-poised to respond to new challenges, such as those of ethnic and religious origins, which had been held in check during the cold war, but have now erupted into conflict. Since its founding, the United Nations has witnessed a vast increase in both its membership and the array of concerns assigned to it. It has grown to 188 members. It therefore follows that we need, among others, a strengthened and a democratic United Nations. Democracy implies representation.

The General Assembly is the most representative organ of the United Nations, consisting of all its members. While the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security rests with the Security Council, the General Assembly, through its Charter obligations, has a role to play in the maintenance of international peace and security. Furthermore, reform measures put in place to strengthen the role of the Economic and Social Council were significant. Now we have to complete the restructuring in other areas.

Since the Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, the permanent membership of the Security Council remains unchanged in terms of numbers. In the twenty-first century, the Council must reflect the realities of our time. Developing countries must be represented in all categories of membership -- non-permanent and permanent.

The imbalance of the composition of the existing Council in relation to developing countries, and particularly the anomaly of non-representation of the whole vast region of Africa in the permanent membership, must be corrected in the interest of equity, justice and the credibility of the United Nations. In order for its decisions, while binding on all Member States, to have legitimacy, the Council's composition must reflect its global nature. It must become a truly representative institution for all regions and all the people.

President Tarja Halonen: The time has come to reform the Security Council by making it more representative. We need better cooperation and coherence between the United Nations, its agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions. Civil society, the private sector, as well as parliamentarians, should have a more active role in the work of the United Nations.

In order to strengthen the Organization, it must be given the financial resources to properly carry out its work. By investing wisely in the United Nations and its activities, the international community can avoid substantial costs later on both, in terms of resources and human suffering.

Both Finland and Namibia have a long association with UN peacekeeping activities. What role should the United Nations play in seeking the resolution of regional conflicts?

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President Tarja Halonen: Today's conflicts are often more intractable, and they cause no less human suffering than the conflicts of the cold-war period. However, they require of us a higher degree of determination, patience, resources and expertise to resolve them. The international community seems to be determined to put an end to impunity and to resolve the humanitarian crises. How to translate this resolve into concrete action is one of the key challenges that the United Nations faces. The United Nations, even though more than a mere sum of its constituent parts, cannot nevertheless act without the political will and resources given by its Member States. Should it not rise up to the challenge, the consequences would be extremely adverse for the Organization and catastrophic for those in need of its help.

President Sam Nujoma: The United Nations is a partner in conflict resolution. UN peacekeepers can keep the peace, but the political will must come from the parties to make the peace. Namibia is one of the UN peacekeeping success stories. This would not have been possible without the political will of the leadership of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) and the people of Namibia, not to mention the assistance from the international community. This political will was translated into concrete and adequate resources put at the disposal of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG). Today, however, there are increasing demands placed upon the United Nations while the resources are declining. Member States have a Charter obligation to pay their dues for the effective functioning of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security. Furthermore, experience continues to show the importance of cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, as stipulated in Chapter VIII of the UN Charter. Article 52 is very clear in this regard.

What role could the United Nations play in advancing human development in the new century?

UNHCR Photo/M. Kobayashi

President Sam Nujoma: Development and peace are built together. Development is a continuing process, without arbitrary limits; we must try to create a new global consensus on development and growth strategies. Underdevelopment remains the most dangerous threat to peace. Our highest priority is to forever eradicate poverty, ignorance and disease, and to multiply real choices towards a rounded enrichment of life on the basis of equal opportunities for men and women. This is primarily the responsibility of each State, but in a globalizing world the international environment must support their efforts through justice and equity in international economic relations. Developing countries cannot realistically be expected to maximize the economic and social prosperity of their people, while confronted by the debt overhang. The world must listen to the repeated calls from developing countries for debt cancellation.

We must share knowledge and information technology. Capacity building in developing countries must be enhanced. The United Nations has proved through its agencies, Funds and Programmes that with adequate resources it can be an indispensable and effective partner in the fight against poverty and for human social and economic advancement. Namibia, as many other developing countries, has certainly benefitted from the Funds and Programmes. We must maintain the universal, neutral and humanitarian characteristics of UN agencies, depoliticize human development -- only then can we respond effectively to the needs of the hungry, the poor and the sick, and those deprived of peace and security. Today, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, among others, affect the lives of millions of people in the developing countries. UNAIDS and the "Roll Back Malaria" campaign of the World Health Organization warrant concrete support by the international community. All UN agencies are indispensable to human development in developing countries, and support to them must be sustained.

President Tarja Halonen: I have come to understand that the United Nations influence derives not from power but from the values it represents. It has played an important role in setting and sustaining global norms in the field of human rights, equality, environment, crime prevention and in many, many other important fields. During the past half-century we have witnessed unprecedented economic gains. However, 1.2 billion people have to live on less than $1 a day.

The combination of extreme poverty and inequality between and within countries is a huge challenge to us. With a strong United Nations, we can meet these challenges. The United Nations can meet these challenges by working together with the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). We should pay special attention to the burdened women of the poorest countries. Women are the key to resolving today's problems.

What innovations in developing, financing and implementing programmes could help realize the United Nations mission?

UNHCR Photo/M. Kobayashi

President Tarja Halonen: I would again emphasize the importance of effective cooperation between the United Nations and civil society, NGOs and multilateral agencies. The United Nations must act as a catalyst and stimulate action by others. Formal institutions must get the support of informal policy networks.

President Sam Nujoma: Clearly, the problems facing us today cannot be tackled by Government alone. The non-governmental actors have an important role to play. This does not place them at par with Government, nor should Governments abdicate their Charter obligations. However, it does recognize the important contribution the private sector and NGOs can play in development. At the national level in many developing countries, NGOs, community-based organizations and the private sector are contributing through their resources to development. It is only logical and human that non-governmental actors at the international level join hands in tackling the developmental needs faced by humanity today.

Please share with us any personal experience that has brought home to you the significance of the United Nations in the world?

UNHCR Photo/M. Kobayashi

President Sam Nujoma: It has been said that if the United Nations did not exist, it would have to be invented. And we in Namibia are firm believers in that wisdom. The hard-won independence of Namibia has strengthened and solidified the faith in the United Nations of the then-oppressed black majority of the Namibian people. We fought a long struggle against a powerful occupationist force. Those were difficult times -- trying indeed to the human mind. But through the African Group of States, and the Non-Aligned Movement in particular, the United Nations kept the legitimate aspirations of Namibia hot on its agenda, culminating in the long-awaited arrival of the women and men of UNTAG. Their dedication and professionalism in creating a conducive atmosphere for an orderly and peaceful balloting process is an experience Namibia will forever cherish. Certainly, there was fear and uncertainty, for parts of the occupationist forces were still on the territory. Notwithstanding, the mere visible presence of UNTAG was reassuring. Reality finally sank in when UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar had sworn me in as the first President of a free and independent Namibia. Tears were shed -- tears of joy for Namibia. The child of the United Nations was born and the international community was watching and sharing in this highly collective, rewarding achievement. Without the United Nations, today's reality in Namibia would have remained a remote possibility.

President Tarja Halonen: We must now continue to build on global norms set and sustained by the United Nations, especially by insisting on the importance of the rule of law. I have worked especially with human rights issues, and I have become more and more convinced that the universal system of the United Nations is a proper base for successful regional and national cooperation. Children's and women's rights are good examples. The United Nations also gives hope to the campaign against the death penalty.