STATEMENT BY

 

 

 

H.E.  ANUND PRIYAY NEEWOOR

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE 

 

 

OF THE

 

 

REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS

 

 

 

 

 

ON THE OCCASION OF THE

 

MILLENNIUM SUMMIT OF THE UNITED NATIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 September 2000

New York

 

Distinguished Co-Chairpersons of the Summit

Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government

Mr Secretary-General

Excellencies

Distinguished Delegates

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

            I have the honour and privilege to address the Summit on behalf of the Prime Minister of Mauritius who is unable to join you personally today due to general elections in Mauritius to take place on 11th September.

 

            On behalf of our delegation, I extend to you, Co-Chairpersons, our very warm felicitations on your electionto preside over this historic Summit being held at the dawn of the new century and a new millennium, to reflect on the future role of the United Nations in bringing about an era of better to-morrow for all mankind.  I take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude to the President of the 54th Session of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Mr Theo-Ben Gurirab, and to Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, for their leadership, vision and tireless work over many months in preparation for this extraordinary event.

            We are all aware that the world order we have to-day is rapidly falling out of tune with the realities of our times and that there is pressing need for the international community to come together and address the numerous challenges before us.  These challenges have been comprehensively brought out in the inspiring document entitled "We the Peoples" prepared and circulated by Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, whom we highly compliment for the excellent and thought-provoking work he has produced.

 

            We remain faced today with many old issues such as poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy - to name only a few - which continue to afflict vast populations across the world.  While large-scale wars have been averted under the existing world order which is based largely on the Charter of the United Nations, low-level conflicts continue to occur, affecting the lives of millions of people including women and children in different parts of the world particularly in Africa.  The spectre of a nuclear holocaust continues to haunt humanity in the absence of determination of the nuclear powers to reach agreement for the total elimination, albeit in a phased manner, of their nuclear arsenals.

 

            We must acknowledge that the present world order has proved to be glaringly inadequate in the efforts of the international community to address the old issues, let alone the new ones, arising from globalization of the world economy, the rapid growth of information technology and the resulting digital divide, the consequences of environmental degradation of our planet, HIV/AIDS, the gender issues and many more.

 

            Most regrettable is that the gap between the haves and the have-nots is enlarging dramatically rather than narrowing down.  A large number of countries, reeling under debt burden and with ever dwindling foreign development assistance, cannot provide even the basic necessities of life to their peoples such as satisfactory nutrition, safe drinking water, health care, proper shelter and, to children, their right to universal basic education.  And these are among the countries that are striving to establish and consolidate democratic values, good governance and adherence to principles of human rights.  Moreover, they are endeavouring in difficult conditions to restructure their poor economies to meet the exigencies of globalization.  The small island developing States are particularly confronted with unprecedented anxieties in the wake of globalization due to their lack of capacity to meet the new challenges without any special dispensation for them in the emerging global economic and trade environment.

 

            From Seattle to Washington DC, from Davos to London and in many other places, people have spoken and signaled in no uncertain terms that the present world order particularly in economic, trade and development areas, is unsatisfactory and needs to be reformed and made more equitable and just for the benefit of humanity at large.  What the people have said in the streets now, the developing countries have been saying for many years in various international for a with little success.

 

We are aware that the United Nations cannot provide all the remedies for the ailments of the existing world order.  The economic and trade issues fall within the purview of other relevant international institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO and these organizations must address them seriously and comprehensively.  But the United Nations can and must do more in future within the mandate of its Charter to promote faster economic and social as well as personal human development.  In this regard, Secretary General Kofi Annan's Paper "We the Peoples" constitutes, in our view, an important blue-print for the future work of the United Nations provided that necessary financial resources are made available for the purpose.

 

            The founding fathers of the United Nations wrote its Charter in the context of an emerging and far less complex world order in the aftermath of World War II.  In the fifty-five years since, the world has transformed so much that today we call it a global village.  All the 189 member States representing the world community recognize that it is time to reform the United Nations Charter so that it better reflects the realities and dynamism of the world of today.   In particular, reform of the Security Council - the decision-making organ of the United Nations for maintenance of peace and international security - is long overdue as in its present form it can hardly be regarded as a democratic and representative body of the collective membership of the United Nations.  We need to rise above national interests that have so far prevented the urgently required reforms to be achieved and expeditiously bring to a positive conclusion, our long-drawn deliberations on this issue.

 

            The United Nations is the only fully representative inter-governmental organization we have, with a comprehensive mandate to address almost all global issues.  It represents the collective aspirations of all mankind for a peaceful, stable and prosperous world community.  In the fulfillment of its noble objectives, it must be supported fully and unreservedly by all of us.

 

            Mauritius fully endorses the Millennium Summit Declaration which sets a minimum but important agenda to be pursued by the world community together to ensure the well-being of humanity as a whole as we progress into the 21st century.

 

I thank you.