UNITED
NATIONS 
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
PRESS STATEMENT BY
THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
H.E. MR JULIAN R. HUNTE TO
THE
PRESS CORPS
VIENNA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
2 JUNE 2004
Ladies
and Gentlemen of the Press:
As
President of the Fifty-eighth session of the United
Nations General Assembly, I am indeed pleased to be
here in Vienna, an important United Nations Headquarters
city and here at the United Nations Office at Vienna
(UNOV). The agencies hosted here at UNOV are mandated
to address a broad range of critical global issues:
drugs and crime - particularly pressing issues for the
countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); atomic
energy; industrial development and the ban on nuclear
tests.
I
took leadership of the United Nations General Assembly
at a somber time in the life of the organization. Iraq
hung like a dark and ominous cloud over the General
Assembly and indeed the United Nations. Some were questioning
the relevance of the organization. The General Assembly
had remained outside the discussion on Iraq, and none
seem to be sure why it had. The messages coming to me
from the membership was clear - we must give the General
Assembly back its role and authority as envisaged in
the Charter, and focus attention on its development
agenda.
Many
made it clear that this was the time to work in earnest
on revitalization of the work of the General Assembly,
although there was obvious great reluctance to touch
the matter of reform of the Security Council. Yet, all
agreed that revitalization and reform were necessary.
My own view was that any revitalization and reform initiative
had to be directed towards reaffirming the United Nations
relevance as the sole global organization that can take
decisions on all issues on the international agenda,
including the maintenance of peace and security. Revitalization
and reform had to make the United Nations a more credible,
a more representative and a more effective organization.
It
was in this spirit that I took up the revitalization
of the General Assembly and the reform of the Security
Council, presiding over the Assembly's deliberations
on revitalization as President of the General Assembly
and on Council reform as Chair of the Open-ended Working
Group on Reform of the Security Council. Definite progress
has been made in respect of the revitalization of the
General Assembly, in response to the demand of Member
States that it be strengthened and returned to the preeminent
role in respect of international policy setting and
coordination envisaged for it in the Charter.
I
saw our role in the revitalization initiative as providing
leadership, ensuring that we seized every opportunity
for collaboration and cooperation, and bringing to fruition
issues on which there was general agreement. The results
of the Assembly's efforts, as you know, are contained
in resolution 58/126 entitled, "Revitalization
of the work of the General Assembly". Important
measures are incorporated in that resolution.
Issues
such as coordination and cooperation between the General
Assembly and the Security Council; the reporting relationship
of the Council to the Assembly, which is now more clearly
defined; an enhanced position for the President of the
Assembly, through the provision of resources for his
office and by giving the opportunity to incoming Presidents
to suggest an issue on which the annual General Debate
might focus - are issues that have been decided in resolution
58/126.
Further,
the Department of Public Information is enjoined to
better publicise the work of the Assembly, after presenting
a plan for this purpose. The Assembly will begin to
hold more interactive debates; a more focussed, accessible
and comprehensive agenda is to be presented, organized
around broad themes based on the United Nations medium-term
plan; consultations are yet ongoing on a shorter agenda
and a reduction in the volume of documentation. Importantly,
we are seeking to put our reform initiatives into a
framework that would ensure that the Assembly continues
on a dynamic path to revitalization.
The matter of Security Council reform has been more
complex, but we have managed to move away from routine
discussion of Clusters in which delegations year after
year state their positions, without providing scope
for any significant movement.
This
session, we took out six critical issues for discussion,
and this has helped to revitalize debate. Those six
issues were:
Size of an enlarged Security Council;
Question of regional representation;
Criteria for membership;
Relationship between the General Assembly and the Security
Council;
Accountability;
Use of the veto.
We
also had an informative interactive discussion with
the President of the Security Council, H.E. Mr. Munir
Akrim of Pakistan and his colleague Council Members
the Permanent Representatives of Brazil, France and
Romania.
We
are now giving consideration to the framework we will
use to reflect the work the General Assembly's Open-ended
Working Group has done on Security Council reform this
session, and to date.
I
hope that this short overview on revitalization of the
General Assembly and reform of the Security Council
provided you with some insight into our ongoing initiatives
in these areas.
Thank
you.
