Sixty-sixth General Assembly

Plenary

31^stMeeting (AM)

Citing Dramatically Transformed Geopolitical Landscape, General Assembly

 

Delegates Urge New Strategies to Successfully Tackle Global Challenges

 

Taking Up Secretary-General’s Report on Work of Organization, Speakers

Say United Nations Must Help States Manage Political Change, Fight Poverty

As democratic movements drove political change in North Africa and the Middle East, and as new economic powers transformed the geopolitical landscape, the United Nations, to maintain its respected stature, must define effective, multifaceted strategies suited for a new era, General Assembly delegates said today as they considered the Secretary-General’s report on the Organizations’ work.

In that work, the 193-member body must acknowledge that around the world, the status quo was giving way to a host of new realities.  Many speakers said that now more than ever, Member States must show the political will to work together on all fronts, whether in tackling trans-boundary problems like climate change and terrorism, or delivering services and assistance to the poor, disaster-stricken or post-war countries within the scope of its more traditional duties.

In terms of “delivering to the people”, addressing development was key, other delegates said, especially when it came to the fast-approaching 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  The 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development — known as “Rio+20” — would also offer an opportunity to address poverty eradication, environmental protection and other key issues with a forward-looking action plan.

Of paramount importance, said Mozambique’s representative, was the United Nations’ role in building democratic institutions and responding to social needs.  His country’s own transition from conflict to peace had shown that an impartial, credible partner, like the United Nations, was critical to building confidence and fostering dialogue among all national stakeholders.

In a similar vein, Egypt’s representative said Member States expected the Organization to provide assistance to Africa and especially to South Sudan, as it charted its future.  Amid a changing economic landscape, they also expected it to hone its focus on education, training and employment for young people.  The requirements were too many to name, but he trusted Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “keeping an eye on each and every one of them”.

Amid such change, the United Nations “flagship” peacekeeping role could not be forgotten, others said.  Nepal’s delegate acknowledged that while progress had been made in reforming that enterprise, a consultative framework was needed to ensure that troop-contributing countries and police-contributing countries participated, from the earliest time possible, in the processes that led the Security Council to mandate specific peacekeeping operations.

On that point, however, Japan’s representative cautioned that there was no room for continued expansion of the regular and peacekeeping budgets.  He called for rationalizing the Secretariat’s work, not only in the interest of achieving greater efficiency but also to ensure the feasibility of fulfilling mandates within limited financial resources.  Existing resources should be redeployed as the first approach to addressing newly mandated funding requirements, he added.

The issue of reforming United Nations governance structures did not escape scrutiny, as many delegates called on the 15-member Security Council to expand its permanent and non-permanent seats.  Others lamented the deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament, which is chaired by the Secretary-General, and similar lack of progress in the Disarmament Commission, one of the Assembly’s subsidiary organs.  Neither body had fulfilled its mandate.  Speaking to the concerns of many, South Africa’s delegate said that was an “unfortunate trend” in an organization created to ensure international peace and security.

On a different note, the United Nations had made gains in recent years, some speakers said, especially in working more coherently in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment through the “Delivering as One” initiative.  The world body’s enhanced partnership with regional and subregional organizations had also been important for preventing conflict.  India’s representative appreciated the Secretary-General’s efforts to advocate the principles of promoting and protecting human rights and the rule of law.

At the end of the debate, the Assembly took note of the Secretary-General’s report.

Also speaking today was the State Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan, as did representatives of Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa, Senegal, Guatemala and Belarus.

The General Assembly will reconvene at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 11 October, to consider the Secretary-General’s reports on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa.

The Assembly had before it a wide-ranging Report of the Secretary General on the work of the Organization (document A/66/1), which describes United Nations activities undertaken in various areas over the past year.  Addressing the Millennium Development Goals, the report stresses that development efforts must be redoubled if those targets are to be achieved by their 2015 deadline.  It calls for a framework for promoting development post-2015, noting that a sustainable global energy strategy is crucial.  Additionally, the report notes that the African continent had special development challenges and required particular attention.

In the area of peace and security, it states that the United Nations must continue to deepen and expand the preventive services available to Member States.  The past five years had seen an increasing complexity in peacekeeping operations, requiring both resource stretching and creative thinking.  Meanwhile, peacebuilding efforts were expanding, with six countries — Burundi, the Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone — on the agenda of the Peacebuilding Commission.

Disaster risk reduction capacities must be strengthened if the Organization was to meet the humanitarian challenges likely to occur in the future, notes the United Nations Secretary-General’s report.  The world had already seen a number of “mega-disasters”, such as those that took place recently in Haiti, Pakistan and Japan.

Addressing human rights, the rule of law, genocide prevention and the responsibility to protect — as well as democracy and good governance — the report recalls that the international community had supported recent popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.  It had also taken action to protect civilians in political conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire and Libya.  Now vital efforts must go beyond advocacy, says the report, supporting those actors seeking to institutionalize the rule of law and democracy on the ground.  In that vein, a rapid upgrade in the Organization’s capacity to support democracy building would be needed.

The report states that the global challenges of past decades — climate change, weapons proliferation, disease and terrorism — would not disappear.  International collaboration on those issues must be strengthened.  It goes on to address the challenge of creating a stronger United Nations, providing details in that regard on the Secretariat, the intergovernmental machinery, system-wide coherence, regional organizations, civil society and the business community.  It was time to take an honest look inward, the report stresses, to ensure that those structures were optimally configured to meet the challenges of the next decade.

Statements

TSUNEO NISHIDA ( Japan) recalled that the Secretary-General’s report included details about the 11 March earthquake in the Tohoku region of his country.  Six months had passed since that disaster, in which about 20,000 people were killed and some 40,000 were affected.  The international community had shown its strong sense of friendship and solidarity with the Japanese people in the aftermath of the quake, he said.  For its part, the Japanese Government was using all of its resources to restore and reconstruct the affected areas.  Meanwhile, efforts were underway to ensure the stable control of the situation at the Fukishima Daiichi Nuclear Power Stations with the aim of moving up the existing period of “cold shutdown” status by the end of the year.  While some countries were regrettably still imposing undue restrictions on imports from Japan, he urged them to make sound judgments based upon scientific evidence in that respect.

The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals was foremost among the great challenges listed in the report of the United Nations Secretary-General, he continued.  The international community must show political will and work together with all stakeholders to achieve those goals.  Japan was committed to that task, and was particularly focused on health and education.  Turning to peacekeeping, which he called “the realization of the most fundamental principles of the Organization”, he said that Japan was eager to make contributions to the new United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

He said that Japan also supported the Organization’s efforts in Peacebuilding.  Noting that the United Nations must play a proactive role in the Middle East peace process, he called on all concerned parties to refrain from provocative actions and to resume direct negotiations.  Additionally, Japan would support Libya’s nation building efforts, in cooperation with the international community, utilizing its expertise and technological capacity.  Further in that regard, Japan had decided to provide $2 million through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and to issue an immediate release of Libyan frozen assets of up to $1.5 billion.

In the area of global peace and security, Japan supported nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation as one of its primary goals.  For that reason, it would again this year submit a draft resolution calling for untied actions towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons.  Turning finally to the global economic and financial crisis, he said that the “intractable stagnation” of the current world economy had adversely affected the financial situation of Member States.  Under such conditions, there was no room for the continuous expansion of the Organization’s regular and peacekeeping budgets.  Rationalization of the Secretariat was therefore called for, not only in the interest of achieving greater effectiveness and efficiency but also to ensure the feasibility of fulfilment of United Nations mandates within the limits of the financial resources of Member States.  The redeployment of existing resources should be the first approach to addressing newly mandated funding requirements.

WANG MIN ( China) said that the world was experiencing a period of great changes, including deepening multipolarization.  New changes were appearing, in particular, in global governance.  Meanwhile, recovery from the economic crisis currently experienced around the world had not yet been achieved.  In the area of peace and security, multiple “hotspots” were still turbulent around the world.  The United Nations, faced with those and other challenges, had supported multilateral cooperation, including through peacekeeping, peacebuilding, fighting climate change and other activities.  It had also worked to safeguard food security and protect human rights.

“The world is at a critical juncture in development”, he said, noting that the unevenness in North-South development was still pronounced.  The United Nations should play a leading role in combating inequality, focusing as one of its most urgent tasks the implementation of the priorities of developing countries.  China hoped that the 2012 United Nations International Conference on Sustainable Development — known as Rio+20 — would take stock in several areas, and that the conference and its preparatory process would take into account the principle of differentiated responsibility.  In that regard, he stressed, China supported the autonomy of States in pursuing their development paths.

Over the past few years, he continued, food security had become an increasing challenge.  He recalled that the Horn of Africa was experiencing the greatest drought in over 60 years.  In that vein, the international community should adopt the principle of common development and should work to stabilize food prices and avoid overspeculation.  China supported the reform of the United Nations with an aim to helping it better implement the mandates of its Charter, he said.  It had, all along, advocated for the Organization’s central role in many global arenas.  China would always abide by the principles of the Charter and hoped to further become an envoy for international peace and development, following an independent and peaceful foreign policy.

JAKKRIT SRIVALI (Thailand) concurred with the priorities the Secretary General’s report set for the work of the Organization, particularly the need to deliver results to those most in need and to promote sustainable development well beyond 2015.  Sustainable development must place people at the centre, he said, with development models that were sufficiently nuanced to take into account specific local contexts and needs.  Further, international assistance in post-crisis situations should be guided by a long-term view, strengthening domestic institutions so that they would have the capacity to work beyond the immediate emergency.

Good governance ensured effective administration and policy implementation, he continued, noting the importance of good two—way communications to keep people informed and make sure that they were heard.  Communication in international cooperation was also vital for the exchange of knowledge, best practices and skills.  The United Nations was important in facilitating this process, particularly in the areas of disaster risk reduction and post-disaster response.

Trust among nations and within the United Nations system was necessary to ensure smooth, effective and expeditious delivery of results.  In that light, he said, the Organization must go forward with reform to strengthen effectiveness, accountability and transparency, as well as to ensure the greater participation of all Member States.  There must be good communication among all entities of the United Nations system and Member States to achieve optimal results.

HASAN KLEIB ( Indonesia) thanked the Secretary-General for his Report.  “We must ensure that the [United Nations] delivers,” he said, adding that Member States must also work to “bring peace to places of conflict”.  Since last year’s session, the world had not changed much and was still confronted by multifaceted, interlinked and simultaneous challenges.  In such a context, his delegation welcomed the Report, which focused on, among others, delivering results for people most in need, securing global goods, and creating a stronger United Nations.

In terms of delivering to the people, he said that addressing development was key.  The global partnership for development was vital because of the fast approaching deadline of the Millennium Development Goals.  It was even more pressing because of the ongoing financial crisis.  In that regard, he urged all partners to continue working together to ensure the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal targets.  He said that the volatile food crisis and the impact of climate change exacerbated the situation in Africa, particularly the Horn of Africa.  With regard to peace and security, the peacekeeping missions needed to be reliable at all times and conditions.

As the world continued to face natural disasters that created unprecedented humanitarian challenges, he noted that the building of a robust emergency response and a disaster preparedness scheme was a long term investment.  Moving on to the issue of human rights, he reaffirmed that such rights were universal, indivisible, interrelated and interdependent.  Indonesia’s commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights was unwavering.  In terms of securing global goods, he expressed concern at the “downward spiral” of climate change negotiations post-Cancun.

He went on to address other issues, including concern over public health, and threats to international peace, including nuclear weapons and terrorism.  To create a stronger United Nations, reform was needed, including a strengthening of the General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and the Human Rights Council.  He also said that cooperation and partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations was key in addressing today’s global challenges, and as chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia worked ceaselessly to develop the region’s capacity to remain a net contributor to international peace, security, and economic development.

LIZWI NKOMBELA ( South Africa), outlining priority areas for the United Nations, urged the Organization to place women at the centre of development so the Millennium Development Goals could be attained.  It also should prioritize Africa’s development needs, especially in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and redouble efforts in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa.  On the issue of climate change, the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol required the most focus.  “This is the most pressing issue,” he said, noting that progress also was needed on the design of the Green Climate Fund, functions of the Standing Committee and both sources and scale of funding.

Turning to disarmament, he regretted that the Conference on Disarmament had for years failed to fulfil its mandate, and as a result, faced questions about its relevance.  The Disarmament Commission, a subsidiary organ of the Assembly, also had not fulfilled its mandate and had failed to produce any concrete recommendations.  That was an “unfortunate trend” in an Organization established to ensure international peace and security.  Stressing the need for more concerted efforts to promote those aims, especially in Africa, he said the United Nations should recognize the need for a strong partnership with the African Union and its subregional bodies to enable early responses to disputes and emerging conflicts.  The Security Council also must be reformed to reflect geopolitical realities.  Africa and Latin America had waited too long to gain permanent representation.

MAGED ABDELAZIZ ( Egypt) said that the Secretary-General had provided strong support to his country following its revolution earlier this year, representing “yet another milestone” in his tenure.  From dealing with terrorism and nuclear security to extensive discussions on climate change, the Organization had made many strides under Secretary-General Ban’s leadership.  Addressing the expectations of the Organization’s Member States for Mr. Ban’s coming term, he said that Egypt expected support for a “long-overdue” independent Palestinian State.  It also expected the selection of an agreed-upon facilitator and host country for the upcoming Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference, as well as the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

Member States expected the Organization to provide particular assistance to Africa and the least developed countries, including South Sudan in its nation-building efforts.  Continuing, he said Member States expected the upcoming Rio+20 Conference to set in motion an action plan on sustainable development; they also expected it to reform its governance structures at the international level, which would enhance the role of the United Nations.  Among other things, they also expected education, training and employment for the world’s younger generation and stronger efforts to fight transnational and organized crime.  The requirements were too many to name, he said.  However:  “ Egypt trusts that the Secretary-General is keeping an eye on each and every one of them”.  In that regard, the world needed to keep the United Nations “at the central core of multilateralism”.

ABDOU SALAM DIALLO ( Senegal) said that, in order to prevent conflicts and control the costs of peacekeeping, attention must be given to the underlying causes of crises, notably through the struggle against transnational crime, drug and arms trafficking, and the violation of human rights.  Equally important was the promotion of good governance and democracy.  While the United Nations was an incontrovertible platform for addressing those problems, any weakness or negligence risked sapping the efficacy of the Organization’s work.

He called particular attention to the changes that had occurred in North Africa and Middle East, which would surely affect peace and stability in the regions.  He said that it was indispensible to create the conditions for peaceful co-existence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  The only possible path towards that goal was to establish a sovereign and viable Palestinian State within secure and internationally recognized borders, alongside Israel.

He noted the progress made in security, thanks to the international community, in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Sudan, but drew attention to the continuing situation in Somalia which required greater commitment.  There was a common responsibility to see that grave crimes and human rights violations would never again be committed.  Also there was a need to build an effective, international penal system that was just and impartial.  Peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations needed to be made more efficacious.  Further, all partners must live up to their commitments towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, he continued.  A new world order was required whose watch words should be transparence, openness and inclusion.

GERT ROSENTHAL ( Guatemala) said that economies that had traditionally led the world economy were facing serious structural problems which tended to lessen their performance.  Meanwhile, other emerging economies seemed to be taking their place as engines in the world’s economic growth.  At the same time, access to new communications technologies had given persons feeling displaced due to economic hardship a voice which they did not have before.  Unprecedented changes were being observed in some countries where structures of authoritarian power were giving way to those who demanded a better future.  Such changes brought risk, but also opportunities.

Further, humanity was facing the irreversible damage to its common habitat, not only through depredation of its natural resources, but also through greenhouse gas emissions and their disastrous consequences.  With regards to peace and security, new spots of indiscriminate violence and new tensions were appearing in places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Africa and the Middle East, as well as a resurgence of piracy on the high seas.  All of those challenges translated to a complex and extensive agenda for the United Nations, and hence, the eternal question of whether the Organization was equipped and set up to deal with such multiple concerns when its structure had been designed for a different world — that of the second half of the twentieth century.

The Secretary-General’s Report addressed those challenges, through four “pillars” — development, peace and security, humanitarian affairs, and human rights and rule of law.  A novel configuration titled “securing public goods” included climate change, global health, countering terrorism, and disarmament.  He agreed with the conclusion of the Report, which was that the United Nations had never been better placed than it was today to address the diverse needs and demands facing the world.

ZOYA KOLONTAI ( Belarus) welcomed the Secretary General’s proposals for expediting progress towards implementing the Millennium Development Goals and for a framework programme for post-2015 development, and expressed readiness to participate in planning for the conference on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro, next year, as well as in preparing its outcome document.  Further, in the face of global crises, the Organization must play an effective role in restoring the world economy.  The needs of middle-income countries should be addressed equally with those of other income levels.  Attention to the needs of that large group would undoubtedly help repair the global financial situation.  The crisis had exacerbated socio-economic tensions among States, which must be addressed through preventive diplomacy.  The United Nations capabilities for peace mediation should be strengthened, making full use of regional and subregional organizations.

She was concerned at the lack of progress in the work of the Conference on Disarmament and said that that forward movement depended on the will of the leading group of States negotiating nuclear disarmament.  Further, she supported efforts toward a new instrument on the uncontrolled spread of conventional weapons to be adopted by the Organization strictly on the basis of consensus.  Terrorism remained a serious international threat.  That evil could be eliminated only through the joint efforts of the United Nations and regional organizations.  She urged that work be concluded on a comprehensive convention against terrorism, that the Global Counterterrorism Strategy be implemented and that States receive capacity building assistance in fighting terrorism.  She called particular attention to the need to jointly fight Internet terrorism.

She said further that the principle of the “responsibility to protect” must not be used to pressure sovereign States, and she stressed that a mechanism to prevent that principle’s misuse was needed.  She welcomed the establishment of UN Women, noting that one of its chief thrusts should be fighting human trafficking.  Also, in light of the Fukushima nuclear incident, she urged the strengthening of United Nations agencies monitoring effects of atomic radiation.  Saying that new countries that had developed such expertise should be included, she proposed Belarus as a new Member of the Scientific Commission on Atomic Radiation.

K. RAHMAN KHAN, Member of Parliament of India, said that terrorism was a scourge of humanity, and was a problem that required global solutions.  It had spared no country or region in the world.  However, the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, which India had the honour of chairing, had recently adopted an outcome document to mark the tenth anniversary of Security Council resolution 1373, which contained the two consensus benchmarks, namely that the international community had zero tolerance towards terrorism.  India believed that the adoption of a comprehensive anti-terrorism convention would provide a solid legal basis for the fight against terrorism.  In his view, the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy was incomplete without such a comprehensive convention.

On the important issue of reforming the Security Council, the negotiations during the Assembly’s sixty-fifth session demonstrated the strong support extended by the membership for expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories.  He welcomed the decision of the President of the General Assembly to reappoint Ambassador Zahir Tanin of Afghanistan as the Chair of the intergovernmental negotiations on that issue.  On other matters, he said that last year, the United Nations had played a significant role in helping the people of South Sudan realize their aspirations.  This year, he noted, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the General Assembly and had looked forward to “welcoming Palestine as an equal Member State of the United Nations.”

He noted that the planet’s population was set to cross the 7 billion mark this month.  That was not a mere statistical milestone but a reminder of the grinding poverty, inequality and deprivation that continued.  In that regard, he said there had been some advances towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, though overall the progress had been mixed, and countries had done little to shore up the global development partnership.  It was important for the United Nations system to focus on the needs of the most vulnerable populations.

Touching on other topics, he noted that his delegation’s efforts at the upcoming Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change would be to ensure that the negotiations move forward expeditiously.  He also drew attention to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development next year, which held strong promise for the global sustainable development agenda.  He appreciated the efforts of the Secretary-General in advocating the principles of promotion and protection of human rights and rule of law.  Peacekeeping constituted the most visible enterprise of the United Nations and India had contributed more than 100,000 peacekeepers in the past six decades.  However, India was conscious that peacekeeping could not be a substitute for the task of nation- and peacebuilding.  India attached the highest priority to the goal of universal disarmament, and welcomed attention to the issue of nuclear safety and security.

SALAHALDIEN KHAIR, State Minister, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sudan , noted the importance of the current debate, which took stock of the achievements of the United Nations, and was directly related to the aspirations of the world in areas such as development and bolstering international peace and security.  The report rightly focused on the special needs of Africa, he said, stressing the importance of ensuring the support of the international community in areas such as Africa’s national debts.  Recalling that the continent was home to the majority of the least developed countries, he said that Sudan placed particular importance on the Istanbul Programme of Action for their broader development.

However, in the area of peacebuilding, he had hoped that the report would have commended the Sudanese Government for its commitment to peace.  It had signed an agreement that led to the peaceful formation of South Sudan, he stressed, adding that Sudan had expressed its support for peace and stability in South Sudan and had continued to call for neighbourly relations based on common interest.  He hoped that the next report of the Secretary-General would include a plan to strengthen international cooperation, especially in the field of technology and science, which was related to bolstering economic and sustainable development.  He further hoped that in the future, Sudan would benefit from the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.  The work of the Organization should be based on neutrality and impartiality, in line with the spirit of the Charter.  It should also avoid any “narrow-minded agendas” that would target some countries based on a double standard.

GYAN CHANDRA ACHARYA (Nepal) said that his country was glad to see the report’s focus on the Millennium Development Goals, which Nepal considered a “symbolic relationship” between peace, security and development.  “The [Millennium Development Goals] must all be achieved by 2015,” he stressed, noting that the targets remained Nepal’s key development objectives.  However, the conditions and opportunities for their attainment were not the same for all.  Against the backdrop of structural constraints and vulnerabilities accentuated by the adverse effects of multiple crises, the least developed countries were likely to miss many of the important Goals.  For those countries, the medium-term goal was to graduate from their status.  That would hinge upon achieving the Millennium Development Goal targets and building productive capacity, infrastructure and institutions as a development multiplier, he said, adding that Nepal called for the full, timely and effective implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action.

Peacekeeping, which remained a flagship activity of the United Nations, was constantly evolving, he continued.  Some progress had been made in the reform of that enterprise, but more remained to be done.  Among other changes, there was a need for an institutionalized consultative framework with operations on troop-contributing countries and police-contributing countries to ensure their ownership and participation in the mandating process, as well as their continued involvement in all stages of peacekeeping operations.  Turning to conflicts, disasters, poverty and the multiple crises that had aggravated humanitarian challenges worldwide, he called for the Organization to build its capacity both in terms of resources and manpower.  He also called for its assistance in developing streamlined and effective disaster risk reduction strategies, in particular in the least developed countries.

ANTONIO GUMENDE ( Mozambique) said the last five years witnessed a fast-changing world, marked by the prevailing combined effects of various crises, aggravated by the magnitude and frequency of natural disasters, among other challenges.  In such an environment, the United Nations had shown its ability to adapt and transform itself to cope with new complex realities.  Today, the Organization remained “our source of strength and inspiration, and it is under its umbrella that we congregate to strive to foster inclusive and sustainable responses to new and old challenges,” he said.

He expressed satisfaction that the United Nations strengthened its partnership with regional and subregional organizations, an important step to improve the early warning mechanisms and conflict prevention.  He noted with concern that the Secretary-General had once again made a call for necessary financial resources to be made available if the Millennium Development Goal targets were to be met.  In that regard, his delegation was eagerly awaiting proposed recommendations for a post-2015 development framework, as well as the outcome of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, as those inputs would outline a future path to sustainable development for all.

The recent social uprisings in North Africa and Middle East bore testimony of the vulnerability of peace and stability when basic human needs and fundamental rights were inadequate or ignored.  The role of the United Nations continued to be of paramount importance to help build the democratic institutions and respond to the social needs of all people.  He went on to say that Mozambique closely followed the implementation of the “Delivering as One” Initiative, as well as the Organization’s activities aimed at reinforcing system-wide coherence.  He noted that Mozambique made significant progress in leading a partnership with the United Nations system that was much more coherent in its support to national poverty reduction plans and strategies.  In that regard, Mozambique was pleased to see the Secretary-General’s report acknowledged the importance of strong Government leadership.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record