Millennium summit – Press release (excerpts)

Fifty-fifth General Assembly

Millennium Summit

3rd Meeting (AM)

OPENING SESSION OF MILLENNIUM SUMMIT HEARS STATEMENTS BY 19 HEADS OF STATE,

10 HEADS OF GOVERNMENT, TWO VICE-PRESIDENTS

At the opening of the Millennium Summit of heads of State and government this morning, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan reminded the gathering of political leaders that their peoples looked to them for a common effort to solve their problems, and to limit or compensate for the adverse effects that change almost always brought in its wake.

“They expect you to work together, as governments — and they expect you to work with all the other institutions — profit and non-profit, public and private — where human beings join hands to promote their ideas or their interests”, he said.  People wanted to see that happen between neighbouring countries, and among all the countries of each region.  But since today’s biggest challenges were global, “they expect above all that we will work together at the global level, as the United Nations”.

In the course of a meeting which heard statements by 19 Presidents, 10 Heads of Government, and two Vice-Presidents, Summit participants outlined their major hopes and concerns.  The topics they touched on included such issues as development, disarmament, the debt burden of developing countries, education, the positive and negative effects of globalization, and peace in the Middle East.

Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel, said the opportunity for peace in the region must not be missed.  “We envision a peace that will preserve the vital interests and the dignity of all sides”, he said.  “But no side can achieve 100 per cent of its dreams if we are to succeed.”  His Government, for example, had shown in negotiations with Syria and the Palestinians, as well as in its pullout from Lebanon, that it could make painful decisions for the sake of peace.  It remained to be seen whether its Palestinian counterparts were also capable of rising to the magnitude of the hour.  

He called on the President of the Palestine Authority, Yasser Arafat, to join him in the historic passage.  “We are at the Rubicon and neither of us can cross it alone”, he said.  “History will judge what we do in the next few days and weeks:  Were we courageous and wise enough to guide our region across the deep river of mistrust into a new land of reconciliation?  Or did we shrink back at the water’s edge, resigned to lie in wait for the rising tide of bloodshed and grief?”

Chairman Arafat said the Palestinian people and their leadership had worked in earnest towards the fulfillment of the promise to achieve the Peace of the Brave.  “We have made a strategic decision committing ourselves to the peace process, offering significant and painful concessions in order to arrive at a reasonable compromise acceptable to both sides”, he said.  

“We have accepted a Palestinian state on less than a quarter of the historical territory of Palestine”, he continued.  As for Jerusalem, Palestinians had agreed to share the city, in contrast to the attempts at monopolizing it.  “We shall continue to do our utmost during the coming short period of time in order to arrive at a final settlement between Palestine and Israel”, he said.  He invited the Israeli Government to do likewise.    

William J. Clinton, President of the United States, delivering his last address to the United Nations as a Head of State, said one essential lesson of the last century was that there had been times when the international community had had to take a side.  “We faced such a test and met it when Slobodan Milosevic, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, tried to close the century with a final chapter of ethnic cleansing and slaughter”, he said.  “We have also faced such a test for 10 years in Iraq.”  The United Nations had approved a fair blueprint spelling out what that country must do.  It must be enforced.  

The international community also faced a clear moral test today in Burma, he continued, where a popular leader who had struggled peacefully for dialogue had once again been confined, her supporters imprisoned, all in defiance of repeated United Nations resolutions.  “On each of these matters we must not be silent.”  He added that those in his country and elsewhere who “believe we can either do without the United Nations or impose our will upon it”, had not learned from history and did not understand the future.

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Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this morning to begin its three-day Millennium Summit –- the largest-ever gathering of heads of State and government.

Statements

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WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President, United States:  One essential lesson of the last century is that there are times when the international community must take a side.  We faced such a test and met it when Slobodan Milosevic, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, tried to close the century with a final chapter of ethnic cleansing and slaughter.  We have also faced such a test for 10 years in Iraq.  The United Nations approved a fair blueprint spelling out what this country must do.  It must be enforced.  We also face a clear moral test today in Burma, where a popular leader who has struggled peacefully for dialogue has once again been confined, her supporters imprisoned, all in defiance of repeated United Nations resolutions.

Most conflicts and disputes are, however, not so clear-cut.  Legitimate grievances are piled high on all sides.  From Burundi to the Middle East to the Congo to South Asia, leaders are facing a choice between confrontation and compromise.  When leaders do seize the passing chance for peace, we must help them.  The United Nations is increasingly being called into situations of great uncertainty, where courageous leaders seek reconciliation, but where enemies of peace seek to undermine it.  In East Timor, had the Organization not engaged, the people would have lost the chance to control their future.  Yet the United Nations did not have the tools to prevent abuses that followed the vote for independence.  I am deeply saddened by the loss of life of three United Nations workers there, and urge the Indonesian authorities to put an end to such actions.  In Sierra Leone, had the United Nations not engaged, countless children now living would be dead at the hands of thugs.  Again, this year, the Organization did not have the tools to deter challenges by those same groups.

We must provide the Organization with the tools to do what we ask.  We need better machinery to ensure the peacekeepers can be rapidly deployed, with the right training and equipment, the ability to project credible force, and missions that are well defined.  To meet this challenge we must also more effectively deploy civilian police to missions.  We must work with just as much passion and persistence to prevent conflict as well.  In too many places, it is easier for children to find guns than textbooks.  So we must build on our initiative to provide free meals for nine million children around the world, and encourage families to send their sons and daughters to school.  We must also further our efforts to reduce the debt of developing countries.  In addition, we must intensify our work to prevent diseases and stimulate the development of drugs and vaccines.  We must also stop the trend that makes conflict more profitable than peace.  

These efforts come with a price tag.  All nations, including my own, must meet their obligations to the Organization.  Reform of the United Nations financial structure must be made if the Organization is to meet the demands we make of it.  Those in my country and elsewhere who believe we can either do without the United Nations, or impose our will upon it, have not learned from history and do not understand the future.

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EHUD BARAK, Prime Minister of Israel:  The opportunity for peace in the Middle East is now at hand and must not be missed.  We envision a peace that will preserve the vital interests and the dignity of all sides.  But no side can achieve 100 per cent of its dreams if we are to succeed.  Israel has shown, in negotiations with Syria and the Palestinians, as well as in its pullout from Lebanon, that it can make painful decisions for the sake of peace.  It remains to be seen whether our counterparts are also capable of rising to the magnitude of the hour.  Member States can lend a pivotal hand by encouraging the difficult process of reconciliation, and by opposing any unilateral measures which may spark a renewed cycle of violence and obliterate the prospects of peace.  

I call out to Chairman Arafat to join me in this historic passage.  We are at the rubicon and neither of us can cross it alone.  History will judge what we do in the next few days and weeks:  were we courageous and wise enough to guide our region across the deep river of mistrust into a new land of reconciliation, or did we shrink back at the water’s edge, resigned to lie in wait for the rising tide of bloodshed and grief?  

Fifty-five years ago, it took the shock of a Second World War and the worst genocide to bring world leaders together to form the United Nations.  I commend the Secretary-General for so masterfully conceiving this Summit, which powerfully declares our potential for solidarity.  More than ever, the borders of faith and culture have receded, showing us just how close we are in our hopes and fears, how little time each of us has on this planet, and how much we have yet to repair and heal.  

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YASSER ARAFAT, President of the Palestinian Authority:  The United Nations has been a contemporary of the question of Palestine since its inception, and still remains responsible for shaping and achieving a just solution to this issue.  Palestinian people everywhere look up to the Organization from their homeland, from refugee camps and from the Diaspora.  Their pain and lengthy suffering has lasted for 52 years and goes on.  Let this Summit be the beginning of the end of the greatest and most difficult refugee tragedy in the world.  May it be the beginning of the end of the historical oppression that befell the Palestinian people, and signal a new chance for life for these people.  May this Summit prove to be a new beginning for all the peoples of the Middle East, so that a just and comprehensive peace may reign there.  

The Palestinian people and their leadership have worked in earnest towards a Peace of the Brave.  We have made a strategic decision committing ourselves to the peace process, offering significant and painful concessions to arrive at a reasonable compromise acceptable to both sides.  We have accepted a Palestinian state on less than a quarter of the historical territory of Palestine.  As for Jerusalem, we have agreed to share the city, in contrast to the attempts to monopolize it.  We shall continue to do our utmost to arrive at a final settlement with Israel.  We invite the Israeli Government to do likewise.  

The sides participating in the peace process have agreed to reach a final settlement by 13 September.  This obliges us to take certain steps to safeguard the rights of our people, acting in accordance with decisions taken by our leadership and our legal institutions, on the materialization of the state of Palestine by the September date.  The Palestinian Central Council will make a determination on this matter within the next few days, taking into account United Nations resolutions, and the right of our people to self-determination through the establishment of an independent state.  We shall cooperate with the United Nations and other parties at the fifty-fifth session of the Assembly, and are hopeful that we can obtain the collective support of the Security Council and the Assembly for our cause.

FAROUK AL-SHARA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Syria:  The Syrian people, with their ancient civilization and heritage of human values, look forward to the new millennium with new optimism.  They looked forward to opening a new chapter, in which humanity will be spared the huge cost it was forced to pay in bloodshed and suffering throughout history, particularly in the twentieth century. Unfortunately, the wars in the last century coincided with the most advanced achievements in human history.  Scientific and technological advancements must be the means to better mankind and not the means to destroy them.  The other challenge today is globalization.  If it is well managed, we will benefit from opening the doors previously closed to our populations.

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