Non-Paper by
H.E. MR. HARRI HOLKERI
President of the General Assembly
on the Implementation
of Millennium Declaration
23 October
2000
1. The United Nations Millennium
Declaration articulates a set of values, principles and goals for the entire
international community in the early decades of the 21st century. It was adopted
by acclamation at the highest possible political level, and has been well received
by the media and public around the world.
2. A concern that has been widely expressed is that the Declaration not be allowed
to drift slowly into collective memory, but that it serve as a platform for
concrete actions, stimulating and focusing new as well as existing programs
at national and international levels alike.
3. In deciding to add an agenda item on the implementation of the Millennium
Declaration the General Assembly has accepted that challenge. The purpose of
this "non-paper" is to facilitate a dialogue among Member States about how to
move forward. After consultations with and comments by Member States, I will
undertake to prepare a draft resolution on the follow up, a 'road map' on how
the implementation of the Declaration could take place. It is my intention to
schedule the consideration of the new agenda item and the resolution in the
plenary towards the end of November.
Framework for implementation
4. The aim should be a comprehensive and balanced approach in the follow up,
both in substance and procedure.
I National level
5. Governments bear the main responsibility for action. Cooperation
among international, regional and subregional organizations is needed, as is
a new partnership and cooperation with the civil society at large, including
the private sector.
6. The United Nations system as a whole should take it upon itself to help implement
the outcome; the input of the Secretariat is crucial in this respect.
7. I believe that within the United Nations system we should use existing structures
and mechanisms and upcoming events to the maximum extent possible.
8. After a careful consideration of existing modalities and identification of
possible gaps, the need for resource implications should be considered.
II The work of the main committees and other organs of the GA
9. The main committees of the General Assembly have already been invited to
look into how the outcome of the Summit could be reflected in the work of the
committees, and to a certain extent this 'mainstreaming' is already happening.
III Upcoming Events
10. The Member States and the Secretariat could ensure that the commitments
undertaken in the Millennium Declaration are fully reflected, as appropriate,
in upcoming debates and special sessions of the General Assembly as well as
in related conferences and events and in their final documents. Numerous such
opportunities exist, as illustrated in Table 1.
11. Indeed, the General Assembly could ask that it be kept informed about how
the Millennium Declaration features in each of these deliberations, and how
each contributes to the Declaration's implementation.
12. The General Assembly could also request the Regional Commissions to take
into account the particular commitments and proposals contained in the Declaration
that are relevant to their own work programs.
13. A similar request could be made of the Specialized Agencies, the Bretton
Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization.
14. I will also consider convening informal discussions, possibly in a round-table
format, on these and other proposals to advance the successful implementation
of the Declaration.
IV The role of the United Nations system
15. The entire United Nations system should be prepared to assist Member States
in every way possible in the implementation of the Declaration. This might require
that some activities, programmes and medium-term strategies, as well as resources
for their implementation, may need to be strengthened or adjusted
16. The comprehensive scope of the Millennium Declaration reinforces the need
for an integrated and coordinated approach in the implementation of the commitments
made.
17. Within the framework of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC)
one might identify innovative ways of enhancing co-operation and consultations
towards the implementation of the Declaration.
18. In the implementation process it is important to aim for policy coherence,
better co-operation and complementarities between the UN, its agencies, the
Bretton Woods institutions and other multilateral development institutions
19. The United Nations system would need in particular to review and assess
the broad range of its engagement in Africa, with a view to intensifying support
to processes of conflict prevention, democratisation and development.
20. The Secretary-General could be asked to coordinate the preparation of a
longer-term "road map" on how best to achieve the main targets and commitments
of the Millennium Declaration, thereby facilitating the work of individual Member
States, the General Assembly and other international bodies.
21. The General Assembly also may wish to give thought to how the implementation
of the Millennium Declaration should relate to the biennial budget process and
the medium-term plan.
V Role of the civil society
22. The Millennium Declaration calls for strong partnerships with the
private sector and civil society organizations in pursuit of development and
poverty eradication. The possible involvement and potential contributions of
these social actors should be borne in mind in the events and processes referred
to above.
23. To ensure effective overall implementation there is a need for enhanced
partnership and cooperation between United Nations, governments and the relevant
actors of civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the private
sector as a whole. Within the United Nations we need to try to find innovative
ways to do this in order to ensure that their contribution to the implementation
is possible already at an early stage.
VI Review and reporting
24. Paragraph 31 of the Millennium Declaration calls on the General Assembly
"to review on a regular basis the progress made in implementing the provisions
of this Declaration," and it asks the Secretary-General to issue periodic reports
as a basis for further action.
25. The process of reviewing the implementation of the Declaration also gives
an opportunity to appraise the reporting system with a view to strengthening
its coherence and integration, in particular with regard to crosscutting themes
on development and peace and security.
26. There may also be a need to strengthen the United Nations capacity to gather
and analyze information and to develop indicators.
27. To be most useful to Member States, the Secretary-General's report should
exhibit the following features:
· It should reflect the broad array of goals and commitments enunciated in the
Millennium Declaration, though each annual report could look in greater depth
at one or two areas covered in the Declaration;
· It should focus on results achieved, help identify "best practices" in achieving
them, define the major gaps in implementation and suggest strategies for reducing
and eliminating these gaps;
· It should make every effort to explore and highlight relationships across
issues and sectors, and not merely report on individual subject areas;
· It should draw on the work of the entire United Nations family of organizations,
including the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as the World Trade Organization.
28. The cooperation and active involvement of all Member States will help achieve
these aims.
TABLE 1:
POSSIBLE VENUES FOR IMMEDIATE FOLLOW-UP TO MILLENNIUM SUMMIT
DECLARATION, INDICATIVE
|
DECLARATION
THEMES
|
EVENT
/ FOLLOW-UP
|
|
1. PEACE, SECURITY & DISARMAMENT
|
Nov 2000 (1st tranche) Tentatively July/August 2001 (prepcoms 8 -30 Jan, 19 -30 March) |
|
2. POVERTY ERADICATION & DEVELOPMENT
|
|
|
3. PROTECTING OUR COMMON ENVIRONMENT
|
COP-4,
Bonn, 11 -22 Dec 2000 COP-6, The Hague, 8 -26 April 2002 COP-6, The Hague, 13 -24 Nov 2000 COP-12, Ouagadougou, 11 -14 Dec 2000 2002 |
|
4. HUMAN RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY & GOOD GOVERNANCE
|
12 -15 Dec 2000, Palermo 31 Aug -7 Sept 2000, South Africa (2nd prep com April 2001) |
|
5. PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE
|
On-going 19 -21 Sept 2001 (prepcom 26 Jan -2 Feb, 11 -15 June) On-going |
|
6. AFRICA
|
General Assembly to debate 1 Nov 2000; ECOSOC, July 2001, OEWG |
|
7. STRENGTHENING THE UN
|
Nov 2000 (1st tranche) 30 Oct 2000 |