REPUBLIC OF GUINEA-BISSAU
                                                                 Address by
                                                         H.E. Mr. IAIA DJALO
                                               MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                                                      AND THE COMMUNITIES

Mr. President,
Your Excellencies
Heads of State and Governments,
 
Excellencies,
 
It is a great honor and privilege for us to be present at the Millennium Summit representing His Excellency Mr. Kumba Yala, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, who transmits to you the following message:
 
"Gathered at the highest level at the Millennium Summit, our momentous meeting conveys our loyalty to common ideals and objectives, and recognizes the validity and importance of the principles and norms upon which rest our collective action, as defined inthe Charter of the United Nations.
 
The Spirit of shared responsibility that drives our Organization and inspires our work is a precious conquest that we must preserve,reinforce and adapt to the new times.
 
It is imperative to Guinea-Bissau that the capacity of the United Nations to carry out an ever increasing role in international relations be strengthened. In this respect, we attribute great importance to the revitalization of the General Assembly and the rationalization of its agenda, just as we urge the reform of the Security Council in what regards the increase in the number of permanent and non-permanent members, keeping in mind the profound changes the world has undergone, resulting in the greater representativity of the organ and encouraging the principles of transparency and democracy in its work.
 
Excellencies,
 
With the political landscape undergoing rapid and profound changes, the current times show that those transformations, far from being temporary, are part of a process that results from the need of Nations to develop in an evermore interdependent world. With globalization, the ties and interconnectedness of human destiny favor the emergence of objective conditions for the effective participation of all members of the international community in the search for solutions to the problems of the contemporary world.
 
Efforts aimed at the establishment of peace and stability cannot, therefore, be disassociated from the efforts toward the economic and social development of the less fortunate.
 
These efforts should be undertaken as a global action, coherent and united, based on a structural transformation of the economies of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, with a view to establish the basis for sustainable socio-economicdevelopment.
 
This position should, obviously, be based on our own efforts, as much as in the capacity to reorient development policies in the direction of a greater rationalization and efficiency, as in the search for definite solutions for the conflicts that still plague the world.
 
Excellencies,
 
While Guinea-Bissau has been shaken by turmoil throughout its history, the consistency of the path of our diplomacy is proof of the unequivocal continuity of our commitment to the grand ideals of the Charter.
 
In this sense, our country is dedicated to the search for the right answers on the way to resolve the numerous crises that prevail in the different areas of the planet, particularly in our sub-region.
 
Mr. President,
 
It is based on these principles that our country, Guinea-Bissau, reiterates its firm determination in contributing, in cooperation with the countries represented at this Forum, to the full realization of the noble objectives and the materialization of the ideals of the Charter of the United Nations, in this, the threshold of the New Millennium."
 
Thank You.