For consideration by the Summit

VII. For consideration by the Summit

362. The purposes and principles of the United Nations are set out clearly in the Charter, and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Their relevance and capacity to inspire have in no way diminished. If anything they have increased, as peoples have become interconnected in new ways, and the need for collective responsibility at the global level has come to be more widely felt. The following values, which reflect the spirit of the Charter, are - I believe - shared by all nations, and are of particular importance for the age we are now entering:

Freedom. Men and women have the right to live their lives and raise their children in dignity, free from hunger and squalor and from the fear of violence or oppression. These rights are best assured by representative government, based on the will of the people.
Equity and solidarity. No individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity to benefit from globalization. Global risks must be managed in a way that shares the costs and burdens fairly. Those who suffer, or who benefit least, are entitled to help from those who benefit most.
Tolerance. Human beings must respect each other, in all their diversity of faith, culture and language. Differences within and between societies should be neither feared nor repressed, but cherished.
Non-violence. Disputes between and within nations should be resolved by peaceful means, except where use of force is authorized by the Charter.
Respect for nature. Prudence should be shown in handling all living species and natural resources. Only so can the immeasurable riches we inherit from nature be preserved and passed on to our descendants.
Shared responsibility. States must act together to maintain international peace and security, in accordance with the Charter. The management of risks and threats that affect all the world's peoples should be considered multilaterally.

* * *
363. In applying these values to the new century, our priorities must be clear.

364. First, we must spare no effort to free our fellow men and women from the abject and dehumanizing poverty in which more than 1 billion of them are currently confined. Let us resolve therefore:

To halve, by the time this century is 15 years old, the proportion of the world's people (currently 22 per cent) whose income is less than one dollar a day.
To halve, by the same date, the proportion of people (currently 20 per cent) who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water.
That by the same date all children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling; and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of education.
That by then we will have halted, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS.
That, by 2020, we will have achieved significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers around the world.
To develop strategies that will give young people everywhere the chance of finding decent work.
To ensure that the benefits of new technology, especially information technology, are available to all.
That every national government will from now on commit itself to national policies and programmes directed specifically at reducing poverty, to be developed and applied in consultation with civil society.
At the international level, the more fortunate countries owe a duty of solidarity to the less fortunate. Let them resolve therefore:

To grant free access to their markets for goods produced in poor countries - and, as a first step, to be prepared, at the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in March 2001, to adopt a policy of duty-free and quota-free access for essentially all exports from the least developed countries.
To remove the shackles of debt which currently keep many of the poorest countries imprisoned in their poverty - and, as first steps, to implement the expansion of the debt relief programme for heavily indebted poor countries agreed last year without further delay, and to be prepared to cancel all official debts of the heavily indebted poor countries, in return for those countries making demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction.
To grant more generous development assistance, particularly to those countries which are genuinely applying their resources to poverty reduction.
To work with the pharmaceutical industry and other partners to develop an effective and affordable vaccine against HIV; and to make HIV-related drugs more widely accessible in developing countries.
At both the national and international levels, private investment has an indispensable role to play. Let us resolve therefore:

To develop strong partnerships with the private sector to combat poverty in all its aspects.
Extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa affects a higher proportion of the population than in any other region. It is compounded by a higher incidence of conflict, HIV/AIDS and many other ills. Let us resolve therefore:

That in all our efforts we will make special provision for the needs of Africa, and give our full support to Africans in their struggle to overcome the continent's problems.
For my part, I have announced four new initiatives in the course of this report:

A Health InterNetwork, to provide hospitals and clinics in developing countries with access to up-to-date medical information.
A United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS), to train groups in developing countries in the uses and opportunities of information technology.
A disaster response initiative, "First on the Ground", which will provide uninterrupted communications access to areas affected by natural disasters and emergencies.
A global policy network to explore viable new approaches to the problem of youth employment.
365. Second, we must spare no effort to free our fellow men and women from the scourge of war - as the Charter requires us to do - and especially from the violence of civil conflict and the fear of weapons of mass destruction, which are the two great sources of terror in the present age. Let us resolve therefore:

To strengthen respect for law, in international as in national affairs, in particular the agreed provisions of treaties on the control of armaments, and international humanitarian and human rights law. I invite all governments that have not done so to sign and ratify the various conventions, covenants and treaties which form the central corpus of international law.
To make the United Nations more effective in its work of maintaining peace and security, notably by

Strengthening the capacity of the United Nations to conduct peace operations.

Adopting measures to make economic sanctions adopted by the Security Council less harsh on innocent populations, and more effective in penalizing delinquent rulers.

To take energetic action to curb the illegal traffic in small arms, notably by

Creating greater transparency in arms transfers.

Supporting regional disarmament measures, such as the moratorium on the importing, exporting or manufacturing of light weapons in West Africa.

Extending to other areas - especially post-conflict situations - the "weapons for goods" programmes that have worked well in Albania, El Salvador, Mozambique and Panama.

To examine the possibility of convening a major international conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers.
366. Third, we must spare no effort to free our fellow men and women, and above all our children and grandchildren, from the danger of living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities, and whose resources can no longer provide for their needs. Given the extraordinary risks humanity confronts, let us resolve:

To adopt a new ethic of conservation and stewardship; and, as first steps:
To adopt and ratify the Kyoto Protocol, so that it can enter into force by 2002, and to ensure that its goals are met, as a step towards reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
To consider seriously incorporating the United Nations system of "green accounting" into national accounts.
To provide financial support for, and become actively engaged in, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
367. Finally, we must spare no effort to make the United Nations a more effective instrument in the hands of the world's peoples for pursuing all three of these priorities - the fight against poverty, ignorance and disease; the fight against violence and terror; and the fight against the degradation and destruction of our common home. Let us resolve therefore:

To reform the Security Council, in a way that both enables it to carry out its responsibilities more effectively and gives it greater legitimacy in the eyes of all the world's peoples.
To ensure that the Organization is given the necessary resources to carry out its mandates.
To ensure that the Secretariat makes best use of those resources in the interests of all Member States, by allowing it to adopt the best management practices and technologies available, and to concentrate on those tasks that reflect the current priorities of Member States.
To give full opportunities to non-governmental organizations and other non-state actors to make their indispensable contribution to the Organization's work.

* * *
368. I believe that these priorities are clear, and that all these things are achievable if we have the will to achieve them. For many of the priorities, strategies have already been worked out, and are summarized in this report. For others, what is needed first is to apply our minds, our energies and our research budgets to an intensive quest for workable solutions.

369. No state and no organization can solve all these problems by acting alone. Nor however, should any state imagine that others will solve them for it, if its own government and citizens do not apply themselves wholeheartedly to the task. Building a twenty-first century safer and more equitable than the twentieth is a task that requires the determined efforts of every state and every individual. In inspiring and coordinating those efforts, a renewed United Nations will have a vital and exalting role to play./blockquote>