Q: I know you are running late, but good to see you. Can you just express in your own words what you are concerned about regarding the latest Congressional news on funding for the UN?

SG: I have heard that there are attempts by some members to withhold contributions to the UN. I think we were all surprised by the outcome of the vote. The vote was undertaken by 54 members of the ECOSOC [Economic and Social] Council. I also understand that the US had written commitments from about 11 Member States who did not vote for them. I think to extend the frustration beyond that and punish the entire membership would be wrong and I think it would be counter-productive. I think it would aggravate the situation. The US has played a very important role in human rights. Without the US, and the role of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, we probably would not have had a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They have been very active members of the Council since 1947, and a leading light in this whole area of human rights, within the Commission and outside the Commission. I hope and trust their engagement will continue, whether they are on the Commission or not. I am confident that next year they will be able to get onto the Commission and this situation will be corrected. I think they should work towards next year, rather than wanting to punish the membership at large.

It wasn't so long ago, you were here at the end of last year when, with the work of Ambassador Holbrooke, with a group of Ambassadors, we were able to put behind us this whole debate about budget, the US contribution, whether it is 25 [per cent] or 22 [per cent], and the US contribution to the peacekeeping budget. So I was really confident that we had a basis to move forward with a new relationship between the US and the UN, and hoping that the US would work with other like-minded countries to make this organization what it ought to be, and I really, really would not want to see this vote on human rights create another major hurdle for us to come over. It is a temporary setback and I am confident that it can be corrected next year, so they should work with the other Member States and with me to move the Organization forward.

Q: Was there a plot against the US? Was it political, or was it just the four European countries...as you said, the vagaries of democracy?

SG: I think it is difficult for me to say what propelled Member States or what makes Member States vote the way they did or did not. But obviously there must have been some irritation with some of the recent actions taken by the US Government, but I had hoped they would not have linked it so closely to the human rights issue. Thank you very much. *****