Mr. President, [Mr. Secretary General, Heads of State, Ministers, fellow delegates],

The Danish Government associates itself with the Statement made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium, on behalf of the European Union.

Mr. President,

On 11 September a brutal blow was delivered to the people of United States of America. By the same token this was a strike against the foundation of the United Nations and its mission to secure peace and prosperity for mankind in a spirit of collaboration and shared values. Extremists have seen it fit to take the lives of thousands of innocent people to press their message.

The Danish people have reacted with outrage and sorrow. We strongly condemn the criminal and cowardly act and our thoughts and compassion are with the victims, their family and friends.

Mr. President,

This year, the Nobel Peace Price went to the Secretary General and the UN. May I congratulate both you Mr. Secretary General and the UN and its staff. The choice could not have been better, the timing not more acute.

The horrific terrorist attack on the United States changed the agenda of this General Assembly. From the outset, the international community has demonstrated its resolve to confront the menace of terrorism. The General Assembly and the Security Council have passed resolutions unanimously condemning in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks, and countries and other international organisations have followed up with a host of other initiatives to this end. The international community has stood up to the challenge united.

Denmark welcomes the broad coalition of countries that has rallied behind the American response to the terrorist attacks in order to effectively bring to justice the perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of international terrorism.

Mr. President,

By acting together, by acting resolutely, by redoubling our efforts, we will stop the terror. At the international level we need the UN to provide the norms and international legal framework required to define and criminalize acts of terror. The UN has already put important parts of the legal machinery in place with the 12 existing conventions aimed at combating specific forms of terror. Furthermore, work is well underway to arrive at a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

At the national level countries must urgently take concrete steps to implement Security Council resolution 1373. States must have national legislation in place in order to prosecute persons supporting or committing acts of terrorism. At the same time countries must be ready to take steps to preclude the operation and financing of terrorist networks within their territory in all possible ways. All countries should accede to and enforce the twelve conventions against international terrorism and ensure prompt follow up of Security Council resolution 1373. Already three weeks ago, the Danish Government tabled a draft bill on national follow-up in our Parliament and I can assure you that Denmark will do its utmost to co-operate with the Counter Terrorism Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373.

Mr. President,

The measures we are taking to combat terrorism form part of our overall efforts to create a better world where human dignity is guaranteed and human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully respected. Indeed, recent events underscore further the need to make the world a better place in particular for those vast groups of people who live in poverty. For poor people who see no possibility of improving their economic and social standing, turning to extremist religious and ideological views and networks may be tempting. We need to secure real political, economic and social opportunities for the World's poor and disadvantaged.

The Goals identified by the world leaders during the Millennium Summit give our work direction in the decades to come.

Mr. President,

Armed conflicts cause inconceivable human suffering and material destruction and are often main obstacles to development. An effective response to present day conflicts require long term political commitment from a united international community in the form of diplomatic, political, economic, military and civil engagement. The UN is the international body vested with a universal mandate to secure support for conflict prevention. Often, it is also the only body capable of legitimate conflict management. Thus, many people around the world are dependent on an effective and prompt reaction of the UN.

Fortunately, we have in recent years witnessed quite a number of successful UN operations. Let me single out three examples, in three different parts of the World. Firstly, in East Timor the UN-presence has furthered political progress towards building a new nation state in May next year. Secondly, the UN-mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea has demonstrated the readiness of the international community to solve conflicts and has strengthened the credibility of UN peacekeeping in Africa. That mission also marked the first and successful deployment of the Multilateral Stand-by High Readiness Brigade for UN Operations (SHIRBRIG). Thirdly, the day after tomorrow is an important milestone for the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo and for the people of Kosovo. Hopefully, they will participate in great numbers in the elections on 17 November. The Danish Government has noted with satisfaction that both the Serbian and Yugoslav governments have endorsed Kosovo Serb participation in the elections.

However, other conflicts, not least in Africa, continue to cause tremendous suffering to people affected and to challenge the international community. Prevention and management of violent conflicts have therefore become an integral part of Denmark's comprehensive engagement in developing countries.

Mr. President,

The UN has a unique role to play in helping Afghanistan to rebuild itself and re-enter the international community. Denmark strongly supports the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Ambassador Brahimi. We are ready to contribute further to the ongoing relief and humanitarian efforts, as well as to the immense task of reconstructing Afghanistan that lies ahead.

Mr. President,

A conflict of particular concern is the conflict in the Middle East, which threatens to escalate beyond control. The Mitchell report and the Tenet Plan still provide important windows of opportunity. The UN, the EU, the US and neighbouring states'must redouble their efforts to get the parties to take immediate action to stop the violence and create the atmosphere necessary to restart negotiations.

Mr. President,

The Millennium Development Goals provide the framework for each and every country to act in a concerted fashion on a range of key development challenges. In this connection I would like to refer to the Secretary General's Road Map for the implementation of the Millennium Summit Declaration in which the Secretary General stated that we have just emerged from an era of commitment and stressed that we must now enter an era of implementation. This timely reminder has our full support.

The last ten years have seen more countries commit themselves to a democratic and accountable political system than ever before. This trend is encouraging. Open societies committed to democracy are more likely to respect the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms and to foster accountable governments than those who are not. National responsibilities for development as expressed through good governance, and the promotion of human rights and democratisation are keys to peaceful settlement of conflicts and essential tools for economic development. The New Partnership for Africa's Development is an encouraging step in this direction.

Building on these positive trends we must go even further. We must take concerted steps forward on the whole range of key issues, from security, human rights and trade to development.

In this regard our planning prior to September 11 now is showing unexpected rewards. The WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg are all part of the same, global process. They are a unique opportunity for us to show our peoples that multilateral cooperation in the economic field can make a difference, and that we can achieve globalisation with a human face.

Our prime target is clearly to eradicate poverty. This objective should be at the heart of the international effort in the coming weeks and months. We need a "Global Deal". A Global Deal that encompasses all human beings with the aim of achieving long term sustainable development based on global coherence between economic, social and environmental policies.

Thus, we need partnerships between developed and developing countries, between all development actors including the wider UN family comprising the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF, but drawing upon the civil society and the private sector. All partners need to be on board to achieve a balance between national, international and systemic endeavours.

The Financing for Development conference in Mexico in March 2002 is a first and important opportunity to demonstrate our new resolve on development. We could leave Monterrey with important elements of a global framework that would help us pull an unprecedented number of people out of poverty over the coming 15 years. The human and security benefits at stake are compelling.

We face a great responsibility in the days, weeks and months ahead. Both developed and developing countries need to set their priorities straight in order to strike this Global Deal. In that sense a global commitment to realizing the national potential for development by the developing countries should be met in the spirit of partnership by the developed countries with full support to reaching these goals.

We also reiterate the call on the industrialised countries to grant more generous development assistance and to increase their ODA so that, as a minimum, it reaches the established UN target of 0.7% of GDP that is necessary to achieve the Millennium Goals.

Mr. President,

Recent events have demonstrated that international cooperation is indispensable. The UN is the right forum for dealing with many of these challenges. Let us equip the organization to meet them effectively. By closing a Global Deal we can take development forward on the broad front.

Mr. President, Secretary General, distinguished delegates,

I thank you for your attention.