A/55/PV.40 General Assembly

Since this is the first time I have addressed the Assembly, allow me, Sir, on behalf of the Kingdom of Cambodia, to express our warmest congratulations on your election to preside over the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. I am sure that, with your eminent qualities and wealth of experience, you will accomplish with distinction the tasks entrusted to you. I also wish to express our appreciation and gratitude to Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab for his significant contribution as President of the General Assembly at its last session. We have just concluded the Millennium Assembly, during which we heard over and over again about the sorry state of the world, where the increasing prosperity brought about by globalization is marred by the very disquieting phenomenon of increasing inequality between nations. It was notable that in most of the debates, which were largely based on the Secretary-General’s report, “We the peoples”, speakers only touched on the phenomena described in it and did not tackle the causes. Poverty, disease, famine and mortality are usually treated as separate, unrelated questions, with different causes and dynamics, rather 00-70869 (E) ````````` than as symptoms of a general malfunctioning of the system. It is anomalous that we continue to talk of rapid progress in technology and world prosperity amid the stark reality that 1.2 billion people continue to live on less than $1 a day, while another 2.8 billion live on less than $2 a day. It is deplorable that the much-touted breakthroughs in communications and information technology have done nothing for the hundreds of millions of people suffering hunger, malnourishment, illiteracy, unemployment and disease. Why does all this happen? How much longer will it last? These questions remain unanswered, despite the series of world conferences organized by the United Nations during the 1990s and their review mechanisms. Our assembled world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, which, inter alia, proclaimed the ambitious targets of halving by 2015 the proportion of the world’s people whose income is less than $1 a day and the proportion of people who do not have access to safe drinking water. They also resolved to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. However, these targets will be meaningless if we continue on the development path of globalization and neo-liberal market liberalization of the past decade or so, which experience has shown does not lead to the alleviation of poverty. Unless we change the pace of development and restructure the relations of the world today, which continue to marginalize poor countries and the poor, five or ten years from today we shall still be lamenting the slow progress in poverty eradication and the persistence of such scourges as HIV/AIDS and destitution. The forces of globalization and neo-liberal market liberalization have given rise to vast opportunities for prosperity in the developed world. Unfortunately, corporate-driven globalization has also increased inequities between and within countries, creating enormous challenges and risks for the developing countries. With limited access to markets, financial resources and technology, and increasingly marginalized in international economic decision- making processes, most developing countries are vulnerable to external shocks and are unable to integrate beneficially into the global economy. They have only dim prospects of accelerating their development and eradicating poverty in the near future. It should be noted that, while free markets may be the best guarantee of efficiency and be an efficient tool for economic growth and development, they have failed to promote equity. And when market forces are allowed a totally free rein in any situation the results are uneven and lead to an increased concentration of power and wealth in strong nations and big corporations. They also lead to the marginalization of the small and the weak and render economies — national, regional and global — vulnerable to recurring financial crises. Only a global development partnership can reverse this adverse trend. This means that the developed and developing worlds must be able to engage in a revitalized dialogue based on the principles of mutual interests and benefits, shared responsibility and genuine partnership. At the same time, it must be recognized that for the North-South dialogue to be productive and enduring it must be supplemented by sustained and strengthened inter-South cooperation. If such cooperation is vigorously pursued the developing countries will have greater leverage in the North-South dialogue. I am convinced that cooperation between the North and South and within the South is imperative if the developing countries are to regain control of their own future. Our delegation therefore commends this initiative and the discussions on the establishment of a new global human order intended to prompt a re-examination of international cooperation and partnership and to explore the viability of a new people-centred development as a central pillar of the work of the United Nations. The initiative, which has been duly supported by various forums, was recently endorsed by the South Summit, meeting in Havana, Cuba, from 12 to 14 April. The South Summit gave us an excellent opportunity to articulate a common vision of the future and to draw up a platform of action for the year 2000 and beyond. This platform emphasizes a new role for the South within the context of globalization, liberalization and interdependence. As regards the role and functions of the United Nations, at this important juncture of its 55 years of existence, one cannot but conclude that its role has been greatly eroded, especially during the post-cold- war period, and that the Organization has been systematically bypassed on issues of real concern to the international community. Unless this process is reversed, the United Nations will become less and less relevant and less and less capable of meeting the challenges of the new millennium. We now face a new concept of people-centred development, in the form of an ever-growing emphasis on human security through the promotion of the concept of humanitarian intervention. We believe that, as was stated in the Declaration of the South Summit, we should clearly distinguish between humanitarian intervention and other United Nations activities, and that development should always remain at the heart of United Nations activities. The concept of people- centred development, which is advocated in the new approach to development that is under discussion today, should not be confused with the concept of human security as spelled out in the proposals for humanitarian intervention that are being so vigorously promoted these days.

My first word must be one of appreciation to you, Sir, for bringing this body back to its own venue. I think we all now feel at home. The Government of Guyana has taken a very timely initiative by putting on the agenda on the United Nations the proposal of the late President of Guyana, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, regarding the new global human order. No organization is better placed than the United Nations to promote such initiatives. We thank Guyana and extend our full support to its efforts to pave the way for a global order that is humane, just, fair and equitable. The famous Pakistani economist and initiator of the Human Development Report, late Dr. Mehboob-ul- Haque, once said: “Development must deal with the entire society, not just with the economy, and people must be put at the centre of the stage.” His vision is now shared throughout the world. There is a widespread consensus today that the purpose of development is not to enlarge incomes, but to enlarge people’s choices, and that these choices include decent education, good health, cultural identity and many other areas of human well-being. The United Nations conferences and summits on economic and social development held during the last decade also made significant contributions to building consensus around this concept of development. Despite this universal agreement on people- centred development, the number of people living in poverty has increased. In more than half of the developing countries the richest 20 per cent today receive more than 50 per cent of the national income. In many countries the per capita income of the poorest 20 per cent now averages less than one tenth of that of the richest 20 per cent. Unemployment is also on the rise in developing countries. Twenty-five years from today the world’s population will have increased to 8 billion people. It is estimated that of these 8 billion, 4 billion will live on less than $2 a day, and 1.8 billion on less than $1 a day. This means that of the additional 2 billion people, 1.5 billion will be living far below the poverty line. That would indeed be a dismal legacy for our children. It is evident that growth and development have not automatically reduced inequality and cannot do so. The growing size of the pie does not ensure that everyone will get his or her piece of pie. In reality, for the large majority, prosperity has remained “pie in the sky”. The fact of the matter is that the market-driven process of globalization, which is ostensibly integrating national economies into the world economy, is asymmetric, with some winners but many losers. As I said in the Second Committee yesterday, economic globalization is turning into corporate colonialism. It seems that now corporations are to set the social policies of developing countries. These inclusionist policies cannot be sustained — socially, culturally, morally or politically. We must take measures to pre- empt these moves; otherwise, the North-South divide might become unbridgeable. The South Summit Declaration, adopted in Havana last April, stressed the need for a new global human order aimed at reversing the growing disparities between rich and poor, both among and within countries. It was stated that this would be achieved through the promotion of growth with equity, the eradication of poverty, the expansion of productive employment and the promotion of gender equality and social integration. The proposal from Guyana for a new global human order seeks to build a strong political consensus and a broad-based global partnership to promote development and eradicate poverty. We fully agree with the observation in the explanatory memorandum that political will and an enlightened international partnership are essential ingredients of any strategy designed to meet the challenges of underdevelopment. Global challenges need sustained global action. We hope that the preachers of globalization and globalism will not be carried away by a non-globalist outlook of globalism and will realize the imperatives of a new human order based on justice, equity, welfare and dignity for all, not just for the chosen and privileged few. The iron curtain is no longer there. Let there be no poverty curtain that cuts across the face of our Earth, separating excessive affluence on the one side from abject poverty on the other. There is no room for marginalization or exploitation in the new human order. The Government of Guyana has presented a comprehensive strategy for the promotion of a new global human order. The strategy addresses all aspects of human development. A number of practical proposals have been made to bridge the income and technological gap between the developed and developing countries. There are many useful proposals to make the international economic and financial system development-oriented. Pakistan is generally supportive of the objectives of this strategy. However, the policy actions suggested in the strategy paper would, obviously, need to be further elaborated and thoroughly examined. We believe that further deliberations on the strategy could achieve two very important objectives. First, the discussions would lead to better understanding of the philosophical framework of the proposals. Secondly, they would promote effective and coherent implementation of the proposed policy actions. Our delegation looks forward to actively participating in such deliberations. We believe that the existing institutional framework and arrangements for economic regulations devised by the developed countries are adaptive neither to the new forms of global economic interdependence nor to the integration of developing countries into the international economy. A strengthening of the multilateral process is essential for the sharing of the benefits of global prosperity. The Government of Guyana is calling for a new development paradigm. The time has come for a major paradigm shift in the pursuit of economic and social development. We share the view that the United Nations has a central role in shaping this paradigm. The United Nations should be empowered to effectively perform this role. To that end, the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization should be brought into a close working relationship with the United Nations, as envisaged in the Charter. We hope that consensus on the implementation of the strategy to operationalize the new global human order will lead to the realization of the long-cherished goal of human-centred development. That would be, indeed, a major accomplishment. I would like to end my statement with a quote, again from Mr. Haque, regarding the impact of human development reports on the development paradigm. He wrote: “Along with my colleagues, I was not quite prepared for the enormous impact that these reports had on international thinking and on national development strategies. Obviously, the world was ready for a new development message.” Well, we are confident that the world is now ready for a new global human order to tame the extreme forces of the market and to make globalization a positive force for development.

Norway is pleased to see that the concept of a new global human order is on the agenda of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. The concept has been discussed in various international forums since it was first proposed by the late Mr. Cheddi Jagan, former President of Guyana, at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995. The proposal for a new global human order seeks to build a strong political consensus and a broad-based global partnership to combat poverty and promote economic security throughout the world. It calls for a re-examination of international cooperation and partnership and seeks to create a viable consensus on people-centred development as a central pillar of the development efforts of the United Nations in the twenty-first century. The new global human order acknowledges the powerful and dynamic force of globalization as a means of strengthening cooperation and accelerating growth and development. Although globalization presents opportunities for the developing countries, it has also increased vulnerability. At present, the benefits of globalization are unevenly shared, while its costs are unevenly distributed. The new global human order seeks to reduce the growing disparities between rich and poor countries arising from globalization and technological innovation. The need to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force which benefits all the world's people was clearly spelled out both in the Secretary- General's millennium report and in the Millennium Declaration itself. The United Nations, with its universal membership and comprehensive scope, is the best forum to promote global consensus on issues of universal concern. The new global human order proposal is such an issue. However, it is important that this new initiative build on other work done by the United Nations in development, including the series of United Nations conferences held during 1990s, and that it be seen in the context of the follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit. The proposal envisages a number of concrete initiatives, which we will study carefully. However, we are convinced that the proposal for a new global human order will help Member States and the United Nations itself to achieve the ambitious goals of development and poverty eradication outlined in the Millennium Declaration. Norway therefore supports this important initiative.

China welcomes the fact that the item entitled “The role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order” is now under discussion in the General Assembly. In the world of today, the development of science and technology and the accumulation of wealth have reached unprecedented levels. However, there exist wide disparities, and in the process of globalization the gap between the rich and the poor, between North and South, is still widening. The rapid development of information technology, on which high hopes have been placed, is leading to a digital divide. Much of the understanding reached at a series of world conferences in the 1990s and many of the goals laid down at these conferences are still far from being translated into reality. Poverty, backwardness and underdevelopment remain the most daunting challenges faced by many developing countries. At the recent Millennium Summit, which attracted worldwide attention, heads of States made solemn commitments for the promotion of international peace and development. How to make use of the momentum generated by the Millennium Summit to attain the goals and to fulfil the commitments undertaken is a major question confronting all countries. At this juncture the ideas proposed by Guyana for the promotion of an international understanding and the mobilization of political will and effective promotion of the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2) are of positive significance. The establishment of a new order in international relations is a goal that many countries, especially the developing countries and their peoples, have been striving for over a long period of time. There exist in the current international political and economic order many unjust and unreasonable factors that are not conducive to the stability and development of the many developing countries. At the South Summit held in April 2000, the heads of State of developing countries stressed the need for a new international political and economic order. At the same time they also pointed to the need for a new global human order so as to promote economic growth, to eradicate poverty, to expand productive employment, to promote gender equality and social integration and to reverse the growing disparities between the rich and the poor. This is an embodiment of the consistent positions and views of developing countries and is also reflective of some new ideas. With regard to the new international political and economic order, China and many developing countries have over the years developed some well-defined concepts, such as respect for the purpose and principles of the United Nations Charter, the right of all countries to determine modalities of their development in the light of their own national conditions, the participation of all countries on an equal footing in the management and formulation of rules of the game on a worldwide scale. To this one can add the necessity to promote a democratization of international relations and the guarantee of equal rights to development of all countries, as well as the need for the international community to help developing countries develop their economies and for the developed countries to take effective measures to provide debt relief to developing countries, to provide them with funds and technical assistance that would help them attain the capability of self-development, to enhance the development of human resources and to gradually reduce the gap between North and South. The international community should also take more proactive and viable measures to reform the international economic, trade and financial systems and to effectively guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of the large numbers of developing countries. The China-Africa Cooperation Forum that took place in Beijing from 10 to 12 October 2000 held intensive discussions on the above-mentioned elements and reached broad-based consensus. Many details are spelled out in the platform for the cooperation in economic and social development for China and Africa, as well as in the Beijing Declaration adopted at the Forum. Both parties indicated their readiness to enhance coordination and to play their respective roles for the establishment of a new international political and economic order. We believe that the establishment of a new global human order calls for the strengthening of international cooperation, which in turn calls for solid, down-to- earth work. For this purpose, China has in recent years intensified its efforts in its technical and economic cooperation with its partners. At the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, China made four commitments. First, we will continue to provide assistance to African countries to the best of our ability, and with the growth of China’s economy and increase in our overall national strength, we will gradually expand the scale of such assistance. Secondly, within two years we will provide debt relief in the amount of 10 billion Chinese yuan to heavily indebted poor countries in Africa and the least developed countries. Thirdly, we will earmark funds to support and encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Africa. Fourthly, we will establish a fund for the development of human resources in Africa and help African countries train professionals in various disciplines. This is a new contribution from China to South- South cooperation and is also reflective of our good faith in the further promotion of international cooperation. China is open to and welcomes any proposals and ideas that will help to promote international cooperation and the strengthening of partnership, to eradicate poverty and to promote growth. We support the mobilization of the entire society in reaching broad-based consensus to promote cooperation and achieve joint development. We wish to emphasize the following points. First, the goals of the new global human order should be consistent with those of the world conferences in the 1990s and the Millennium Summit. At the same time, Governments should play a leading role in mobilizing all sectors for a joint effort in the promotion of the world economy and social development. Secondly, the new global human order should be conducive to the implementation of the understanding and commitments undertaken in the Millennium Declaration and major global conferences. Efforts should be made to mobilize political will to further strengthen programmes in existing domains of international cooperation rather than replacing the understanding and commitments that already exist. Thirdly, the discussions about the new global human order should be closely linked to discussions on items such as the dialogue on the cooperation in international economic development, because these items explore the question of development policy from different perspectives, and therefore the discussions of these different items will be mutually complementary. We believe that all countries should undertake concerted efforts to bring about real change in the status quo, where there exists such a gap between international cooperation and commitments on one hand and actual needs on the other. Solid and tangible work should be done to promote global, economic and social development.

In early September the heads of State and Government of all countries assembled in this very Hall and made a solemn pledge, to themselves as well as to the peoples of the world, to the present generation and to those to come, to strive towards achieving a number of lofty goals and targets. Having reflected on the report of the Secretary- General, “We the peoples” (A/54/2000), they committed themselves in the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2) to: “a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level.” (resolution 55/2, para. 2) They committed themselves, inter alia, to “freeing the entire human race from want” (resolution 55/2, para. 11) and undertook “to create an environment — at the national and global levels alike — which is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty”. (resolution 55/2, para. 12) What was achieved at the Millennium Summit, as reflected in its final outcome, the United Nations Millennium Declaration, represents serious undertakings and pledges. They chart, in a very big brush, the outline of the United Nations approach and policy in the years and decades to come in responding to the critical challenges we all face. The Declaration also represents the collective will and desire of the entire international community to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations in the twenty-first century. Just a few months prior to the Millennium Summit, the heads of State and Government of the developing countries convened the first ever South Summit in Havana to chart the future path of the developing world in its unending quest for development, progress and prosperity. Acting on the imperative of meeting at the start of the new millennium, the South Summit resolved to reflect on the rapidly changing world economic situation and to address the emerging challenges facing the South in economic and social spheres. They stressed, inter alia, the need for a new global human order aimed at reversing the growing disparities between rich and poor both among and within countries through the promotion of growth and equity, the eradication of poverty, the expansion of productive employment and the promotion of gender equality and social integration. What is now before the Assembly is a new agenda item on the role of the United Nations in promoting the new global human order. Colleagues listened this morning to the excellent statement by Ambassador Insanally of Guyana laying out the history of the idea, the rationale for its presentation to the General Assembly and the steps envisioned to pursue it further. It could hardly have been better, and the other statements in this connection have also helped. With all this in mind, we believe the concept of promoting a new global human order is a meritorious addition to the United Nations repertory of ideas and proposals. It certainly contains elements which are peculiar to the initiative and complementary to others already on the table. The emphasis on the need for a broad-based consensus for action within a comprehensive and holistic framework and with the involvement of all actors is indeed commendable. The call for a broad- based discussion and exchange of views within the framework of the General Assembly on the role of the United Nations in this regard is a welcome suggestion and worthy of full support. Moreover, the proposed discussions here at the United Nations, as well as in the other organizations and agencies of the United Nations system, will help to further elucidate the proposal, shedding light on its parameters and showing how it could be advanced through the collective efforts of the United Nations family in the years to come. While addressing the question of the new global human order, I would like to take the opportunity to draw the attention of the Assembly to the relevance of President Khatami’s proposal on the dialogue among civilizations to the current discussion. The crux of my President’s proposal, which, as is well known, is now an ongoing United Nations initiative, is that as human beings we have a common destiny and thus a shared responsibility to make that destiny one befitting humanity with all its assets of diversity, one that is decent and equitable. We believe dialogue, predicated on the need for mutual understanding and expansion of common ground, is imperative for the development of a meaningful and educated global policy to ensure the attainment of that decent destiny, which lies at the heart of the proposed new global human order. Since this is just the beginning of an intergovernmental process on this agenda item, our statement is rather brief. The essential aim of this intervention is to lend support to this valuable initiative. At a more practical and concrete level, we believe the initiative needs to be supported through the adoption, by consensus, of the draft resolution before the Assembly.

It gives me great pleasure to speak on behalf of the 14 member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM): the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda. These are States which are deeply concerned with the need to produce a new global human order aimed precisely at addressing imbalances in the existing global economic system by balancing the needs of security, development and the challenges of globalization within a framework of people-centred sustainable development, justice and equity. As such, we are offering a proposal entitled “The role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order”. That proposal calls for the re-examination of international cooperation and partnership and, similarly, for exploring the prospects of a viable consensus on people-centred development in the dawning millennium. There is a need for a fresh momentum in regard to economic and social cooperation and for new approaches to development, inclusive of the question of resources. We consider this to be germane given the numerous incentives on development over the past 50 years, all of which have yielded only meagre results, while the United Nations conferences over the last decade established the principle of people-centred concern and development. It is consequently necessary to rectify the lack of progress vis-à-vis the recommendations of those conferences. In the Declaration of the South Summit held in Havana in April of this year, the heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 and China stressed the need for a new human order aimed at reversing the growing disparities between rich and poor, both among and within countries, through the promotion of growth with equity, the eradication of poverty, the expansion of productive employment and the promotion of gender equality and social integration. Today, the deepening interdependence of nations and peoples, the consolidation of democracy in many countries and the end of the cold war offer enhanced prospects for the achievement of these aims. Nevertheless, the growing inequalities and disparities that have accompanied the globalization of the world economy, revealed through the increasing income and technological divide between developed and developing countries, militate against economic and social progress for the majority of humanity. Consequently, the proposal seeks to build a broad-based global partnership to combat poverty and foster economic security throughout the world. This must be based on a long-term integrated approach to development with a full account of how Governments, markets and societies interact, and how the achievement of concrete development results is provided for. The proposal envisages concrete initiatives aimed at addressing issues of human development. Investment and technical and economic assistance remain instruments to support the development undertaking of developed countries. The proposal seeks to advance further action on three fundamental fronts. First, there is the fundamental need to facilitate a reshaping of the role of government in order to build the democratic instruments necessary for human development. This will facilitate the strengthening of the capabilities to provide the services and infrastructure needed to forge the requisite synergies between economic growth, poverty-reduction and social development. Secondly, it seeks to mobilize enhanced political support for development. The developed countries must be urged to take definitive action to honour their obligations regarding the United Nations official development assistance target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product, given the overall improvement in their economic conditions. It is also important that official debt relief be adequately financed, though not at the expense of resources for development assistance. Further, while the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative is an important step towards assisting developing countries in obtaining additional resources to address poverty, greater effort is required to allow countries to qualify for debt relief on the grounds of the incidence of poverty. Thirdly, the proposal seeks to facilitate a genuine consensus on the promotion of social justice, ownership and good governance at both the national and the international levels. These are key elements in the promotion of human development. In this regard, consideration should be given to the establishment of an international arbitration process that would balance the interests of donors, international financial institutions, transnational corporations and developing countries, with a view to introducing greater discipline in international cooperation. Undoubtedly and unmistakenly, the United Nations must be the main advocate of global policy making, and one wishes to recall that the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden, along with the Chancellor of Germany, wrote in The Washington Post of 6 September the following: "We recognize that in an increasingly interdependent world the aims of wider prosperity and a strengthening of civil society cannot be pursued within the nation-state alone.” With that in mind, we reiterate that the United Nations remains the premier institution for forging global consensus. It spearheaded the process toward decolonization and political independence. It must now, in an increasingly interdependent world and in keeping with the mandate of its Charter, play a pivotal role in promoting higher standards of living in larger freedom for the benefit of all the peoples of the world.

First of all, on behalf of my country, my delegation and myself, let me express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to you for giving me the chance to deliver a statement from the podium of the highest level of the Assembly. All of us want to create a better world for our children and our children's children; a world free of animosity, devoid of hatred, unfettered by any type of deprivation, whether physical, social or mental, and devoted to the perpetual quest for human happiness. This is the vision that has been offered to us by the late President Cheddi Jagan of Guyana. We commend Guyana for focusing the attention of the international community on a new global human order. There is a popular belief that rapid change is something that has come upon global society of late. In some senses, this is obviously true. We have technologies today that can shrink the world, for many purposes, virtually into a village. There are, for example, the revolutions in the areas of air transport and telecommunications in all their aspects, the transmission of texts, images and the spoken word. These revolutions in turn connect with the revolution in satellite technology in outer space. It is a remarkable fact, indicative of the compression that has taken place in scientific and technological developments in the course of this century, that the Wright brothers were experimenting with aerial flight earlier in this century, that the internal combustion engine was made not long before that, that the radio was invented thereafter and that it seems to us that the television was invented just the other day. While there are people alive today who were born before the first motor car was seen on the road, today we already have the Internet, through which one can instantly access data the world over and in effect carry on a global conversation. It also seems just the other day that calculating machines were introduced in offices, while we already have both personal and professional computers with phenomenal capacities and speed. India itself has developed a gigaflop PARAM supercomputer that can do a trillion calculations per second. The new sciences of biotechnology, genetic engineering, robotics, optical fibre, new materials, laser applications and many others have emerged and are having a profound impact on economic life, professional and personal lives and medical sciences. There is a second aspect of change in the contemporary world, which relates to the globalization of economic forces. Today, capital markets, investment flows and increasingly even trade flows are progressively less amenable to national control. We have recognized that economic strength, and therefore national strength, cannot be preserved by pursuing autarkic policies or total reliance on generating capital investments internally. Developing countries need to use these forces to their advantage, while at the same time ensuring that unacceptable or negative consequences do not flow from the unacceptable intrusiveness of others. In the immediate post-colonial era the developing countries were the demanders, or the countries which set the agenda of demands. The South claimed from the North favourable regimes of trade, development assistance and financial instruments to advance its social and economic development. Certain positive results were achieved, such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in trade, and agreement that 0.7 per cent of the gross domestic product of the countries of the North would be earmarked as development assistance. There was an acknowledgement that in order to redress the severe and chronic imbalance in economic capacities, developing countries needed special and preferential treatment. However, the earlier climate appears to have been greatly influenced by imperatives of the cold war, as the roles have now been reversed, and it is the North that has taken on the role of demanders vis-à-vis the South. The GSP regime is shrinking and development assistance has yielded to the new orthodoxy of the marketplace. The aggressive agenda that is appearing before the South, in terms of labour standards or social clause, intellectual property rights, competition policy, global investment regimes seeking right of investment and national treatment, open public procurement policy, business ethics — not to speak of prescriptive good governance and human rights — is an agenda developed and articulated by the North in their self interest, and the developing countries are being forced to respond to this agenda. This role reversal is one of the key characteristics of the changing world before us, which requires a calibrated but firm response that takes advantage of the possibilities to promote economic and social growth and the advancement of capabilities but that does not threaten or destabilize essential economic, political and national interests, social and cultural identity and essential independence of action. In today’s world, give-and-take is essential, and a web of mutual dependencies is developing. We have to ensure through enlightened international actions that this interdependence is to mutual benefit and not weighted against developing nations. I have so far touched on aspects of economic and technological change, as these are the most visible areas of transformation. I would now like to refer to some of the deeper aspects of change. To preserve the values, insights and riches of our cultures while moving into the future is what gives continuity within transformation. Without our own inheritance we would come to the world empty-handed. Our inner world must be stable while the outer world changes around us. In a historical perspective, Indian society has been in the throes of profound transformation since the beginning of the century. In a fundamental way, the freedom movement and the liberation of India that it brought about transformed the world itself by unleashing anti-colonial forces everywhere and setting an example of peaceful political independence of colonial societies. Thereafter, India has been an active agent of change, giving meaning to values of participatory democracy, respect for individual faiths and freedoms and a deep commitment to preserve variety and richness in society. Those are the guiding principles of a sane and humanistic world order as a whole, and they have been resoundingly endorsed in the Millennium Declaration. We believe that the principles of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility are the foundations on which human society should be organized, and we will continue to labour for their full application on the world stage. Another development of this century that is of crucial significance is the transformation that we have experienced in the role of the State. From an agency that controlled and regulated all spheres of human activity we move into a phase wherein the State must become more supportive, caring and encouraging of people’s individual and collective endeavours. It must release, and not contain, the energies and genius of its people. It would be an error, however, to assume that the days of the State are over. The State continues to have a crucial role and relevance; there is no viable substitute for the sovereign State. Even globalization can work only through State intermediaries. To diminish, marginalize or ignore the State would also be bad practice because the weaker the State is rendered, the less it shall be able to promote the interests of its citizens. The State needs to be strengthened functionally, not weakened. Today the world stands at a crossroads of history. The technological breakthroughs and the process of globalization have produced new avenues for sustained economic growth. At the same time, that has clearly been accompanied by intensified poverty, unemployment and, consequent to these, social disintegration. Economic growth by itself has not meant much to vast sections who live in poverty, without shelter and in hunger and deprivation. The challenge is to change the very concept of growth and development. We have to strive towards the uplifting of people in the largest sense, and not simply in terms of sectoral advances. True growth should be represented not by growth in the rates of gross domestic product or a comfortable balance of payments position alone, but by the elimination of poverty and the misery and indignity associated with it. All people should have a share in the dividends of economic prosperity. Weaker sections cannot be mere spectators to the enjoyment of the fruits of progress only by those who are already more advantageously placed. It is clear that market forces and growth alone will not be adequate; and targeted national approaches supported by an enabling international environment, but not imposed by it, are important to promote social justice. Any model of development based on uneven rewards will not be supported by those who are not beneficiaries of the growth strategy and will lead to stress on the social fabric. The credibility of any growth strategy has to be based on full participation by all members of society in its formulation and implementation and in the benefits to be derived from it. The essence of human development should be to empower vulnerable groups in society to take advantage of the process of development. Empowerment entails access to five basic requirements — food, health care, shelter, education and employment — and it is our resolve to make them available to the entire population of India within a decade through our National Human Development Initiative for people-centred development. Many critical challenges are ahead of us. Impediments to the sustained economic growth of developing countries abound. They are related to protectionist tendencies in developed countries, lack of political will on the part of many of them to implement the commitments undertaken with regard to the provision of development finance to, and amelioration of, the debt burden of developing countries, or even, in the guise of human-rights-related concerns, impediments to exports from developing countries, denial of technology and know-how under unilateral export regimes, and the application of intellectual property rights that tend to act as non-tariff barriers. All of these contribute to an accentuation of the vicious cycle of continued and aggravating poverty. The development dimension and the needs, priorities, capacities and potential of developing countries should be at the centre of any global vision for the coming decades. Without that, the processes of globalization and deregulation, and the prosperity, stability and security that they are expected to usher in, will neither materialize nor be sustained. Growth with equity, economic development with social justice and, in the final analysis, the creation of a world where there is lesser injustice and greater happiness, must be our shared goal if humanity and solidarity are to have any meaning at all. We fully share the views of the Permanent Representative of Guyana set out in document A/55/229 on the essential need to build the democratic instruments necessary for human development. We also believe in the need for a reinvigorated and enlightened international partnership in the true spirit of solidarity and shared responsibility to achieve the fullest development of every human being and nation. What is of prime importance is to have a clear vision and the commitment to implement it through intensified dialogue and interaction and in a spirit of shared partnership and cooperation. We hope that this will indeed be forthcoming as we move forward in our discussions on the new global human order.

This being my first opportunity to congratulate the President, I do so on behalf of my delegation with all warmth and confidence that he will conduct the deliberations of this session in a manner consonant with his great experience and competence. It was on 1 October 1993, when Ambassador Samuel Insanally of Guyana was President of the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session, that the then President of Guyana, Cheddi Jagan, Doctor of Dental Surgery, addressing the Assembly during its general debate, sowed the seed of a new global human order. From that time, President Jagan, of beloved and revered memory, nurtured the idea at every forum. It was during the 1995 World Summit for Social Development at Copenhagen that he advocated the adoption of a new global human order. He subsequently addressed the special commemorative meeting of the General Assembly on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, on 24 October 1995. President Jagan indicated that he advocated the adoption of a new global human order in recognition of the fact that the North-South-East-West consensus that had emerged in respect of development, in respect of the roles of the State and of the market and in respect of sustainable environment had created the need for a new basis for the conduct of international relations. Today we are here to give testimony on behalf of President Jagan’s idea, because there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come, according to the great Norwegian statesman and essayist Henrik Ibsen. The seed is well sown; let us help it to germinate. The human condition demands that there be some order in the global village at a time when globalization is real and is the order of the day, and is here to stay. Under globalization, some in the developed world are enjoying conspicuous consumption, while so many in the developing world are experiencing “splendid misery”. It is that imbalance in the global village that draft resolution A/55/L.15 seeks to redress. The word “human”, whether used as a noun or as an adjective, dominates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and rightly so. The opening words of the Charter are, “We the peoples”. The United States Declaration of Independence begins, “When in the course of human events”, and speaks of unalienable rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In all of the above, we see what Pope John Paul II has called the centrality of the human person in social and economic sustainable development. Millennia ago, Aristotle, wanting to establish some relationship, some order, between the top and the bottom in the economy, promulgated as a matter of values that no one should have more than five times the wealth of the poorest among us. Although that sounds unrealistic and anachronistic given today’s preoccupation with wealth, it points to the need for societal and corporate responsibility, then as now. Aristotle was attempting, even back then, to establish the principle that there must be some order in society, some balance between the haves and the have-nots. So, today, as we promote the draft resolution entitled “The role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order”, an attempt is being made to put some teeth into that concept and to make sure it is implemented. We are thus reminded that if we want to understand the present we must appreciate the past in order to ensure the future. Human rights encompass not only civil and political rights but, most important, economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights are meaningless to those who lack the basics: food, clothing, shelter, education, medical care, employment, et cetera. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, put it best when she said that the greatest violation of human rights lies in the sad fact that one fifth of the world’s population earn less than a dollar a day. Members will, I hope, understand why Grenada, a very small developing country, so enthusiastically supports the draft resolution introduced by Guyana on the role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order, and why it readily concurs with the statement made by the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda on behalf of the Caribbean Community. In support of the draft resolution is the cogent analysis the Mission of Guyana provides in its paper detailing a strategy for the promotion of a new global human order. This initiative by Guyana comes at an opportune moment, for this Friday the General Assembly will begin informal consultations on the follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit. In view of the challenges presented by the Millennium Declaration, Guyana’s draft resolution and strategy for the promotion of a new global human order are indeed welcome and timely. The Millennium Declaration is essentially a commitment by Member States to the proposition that the present human condition requires a better response to the human needs of the most vulnerable in the human village. That is what draft resolution A/55/L.15 seeks to promote. For Grenada, consideration of the follow-up to the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Declaration must include, inter alia, a constructive dialogue to reach consensus on implementing a broad- based strategy for achieving definite goals of development and poverty alleviation, leading to poverty eradication. My delegation believes that the draft resolution before us will bring to the consultations the focus needed to move us from rhetoric to concerted action. Finally, I want to cite an ancient Chinese proverb. If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person; if there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house; if there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation; and if there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.

I wish at the outset to congratulate the delegation of Guyana on the timely inclusion on the agenda of the General Assembly of item 174. The concept of a new global human order, which was introduced by the late President Cheddi Jagan of Guyana at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, is a particularly appropriate one today in the light of the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences of the 1990s and of their respective review processes. This initiative is based on an assessment and on a proposal. The painful assessment is that, in spite of national and international efforts, the goal of development for all seems even more distant. Globalization and its whole range of opportunities for growth have been unable to solve the problem of the striking disparities that persist both among and within countries. Despite the revolution in knowledge and technology, we have been unable to eradicate the old scourges of humanity, such as hunger, disease and poverty. Given this assessment, the proposal is to build a new system of international relations, review the current framework for international cooperation and investigate the possibility of achieving consensus on a human-centred development concept that would guide the work of the Organization in the twenty-first century. This proposal, which was put forward by Guyana and is contained in the documents of various forums, including the recent South Summit of the Group of 77 in Havana, which took place in April of this year, touches on the need to resolve three fundamental issues: first, to redefine the role of government with a view to strengthening democratic institutions, which are essential for human development; secondly, to mobilize greater political support for development, which would necessarily include the mobilization of resources for official development assistance and a re- evaluation of strategies to resolve the problem of the debt of developing countries; and thirdly, to promote genuine agreement in the area of the promotion of social justice, good governance and participation, at both the national and international levels. The draft resolution that is being considered today calls for us to begin thinking constructively about this issue. The Republic of Argentina, which has always played an active role in promoting development and which, on the initiative of Ambassador Juan Carlos Beltramino, championed the creation of the Commission for Social Development, is ready to participate, in a creative and constructive fashion, in the process of dialogue that is beginning here today. We wish to state in advance that we support the draft resolution that has been submitted, and we hope that it will be adopted by consensus by the General Assembly.

It is good to see the United Nations reflect, now and then, on issues that, far from provoking confrontations, give rise to a quest for consensus among Member States — issues such as a culture of peace and dialogue among civilizations, which lead us to the optimistic conclusion that perhaps humankind’s moral attributes will enable us to preserve the cultural and spiritual knowledge that we have accumulated over the centuries with a view to ensuring social justice, economic cooperation and understanding among peoples. In this context, the lofty idea put forward by Guyana with respect to the new global human order opens the door to the creation of a new, more ethical and rational international community, in which all of our efforts are directed at working for life and not for death, and in which financial resources are not wasted in a never-ending arms race but rather are devoted to the combat against poverty and to working with developing countries in a spirit of solidarity. During the first industrial revolution, production and riches became concentrated in the hands of a few States. Following the Second World War there was a so-called second industrial revolution, with new actors making their appearance: multinational corporations. In both cases, the gap between rich countries in the centre and poor countries on the periphery rapidly increased. In the 1970s, the concept of a new international economic order, designed to ensure greater justice and stability in the international community, was torpedoed in order to preserve the privileges and interests of certain countries. Globalization has also created winners and losers. Pope John Paul II, in speaking of this issue, stated, with his indisputable authority, that, although globalization has certain positive consequences, if it is governed strictly by the laws of the marketplace applied on the basis of the will of the powerful, then it will have negative consequences. These include the attribution of an absolute value to the economy; unemployment; a decrease in, and the deterioration of, certain public services; the destruction of the environment and of nature; an increase in the gap between rich and poor; and unfair competition, which relegates poorer nations to an ever more inferior position. This is the tragic reality affecting most developing countries today. Let me provide some figures. In Ecuador, the number of poor people rose from 3.9 million in 1995 to 8.5 million in 2000. In that same period, the number of people living in absolute poverty rose from 1.4 million to 3.2 million. The urban unemployment rate increased from 6.9 per cent to 15 per cent, and the underemployment rate increased from 45.8 per cent to 52 per cent during this same period. All of this is happening because we have forgotten that human beings should be at the centre of, and the ultimate reason for, the activities of the state and of international organizations. That is why we deem so valuable the proposal put forward by the representative of Guyana — whom we would like to thank — which marks the beginning of a new phase in the history of humankind. The challenge today is to achieve international social justice, the eradication of poverty and human development. This is much more than economic development, or the simple accumulation of goods and money. It is not so much about material consumption, but involves a series of tangible and intangible values, which together will determine the quality of life of a nation. Economic development does not automatically lead to human development. Economic development reflects a concern with quantitative issues and relies on national production indices. The second, human development, has to do with qualitative matters such as freedom, health, security, well-being, culture, the environment and human rights. The United Nations new responsibility should be to contribute to the building of a new global human order. Its new mission will be to ensure a new, more human order that ensures justice for developing countries, promotes the equitable distribution of world income, allocates the benefits of progress to all and, finally, makes possible peaceful coexistence among all peoples in all nations of the world.

I have the honour and pleasure of taking the floor on agenda item 174, on the role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order. It is a pleasure because during the Millennium Summit the Prime Minister of Lesotho said: “On the eve of the twenty-first century, we must continue to dream of a future filled with hope for humanity. A policy framework that is regaining currency is that of a new global human order”. (A/55/PV.6, p. 20) He went on to enumerate its essential elements. I should also like to express my delegation’s deep appreciation to the Government of Guyana for steadfastly continuing to spearhead the appreciation, at a global level, of the concept of a new global human order, which was first articulated by the late President Cheddi Jagan. A summary of key issues discussed at a symposium on the new global human order which was held in Georgetown, Guyana, at the end of August, states: “Inspired by a vision of the enormous potential created by the end of the cold war, the accelerated rate of technological development and the deepening interdependence of nations, the late President Cheddi Jagan urged that States should now grasp the opportunity to build an enlightened international partnership based on mutual respect, democratic governance, popular participation and equal opportunity for all peoples to live in peace and prosperity. At the heart of the proposal is the eradication of poverty and overall human development. Essential to success is the political will to address these challenges by identifying new and innovative ways of financing development and by mobilizing all actors on the domestic and international stage in support of this cause”. One of the striking features of the twentieth century has been the level of economic growth achieved compared with that of preceding centuries. Yet the gap between the richest and the poorest countries is ever widening. This is partly because the international economic system allows the rich countries to grow richer without a corresponding growth of the poor ones. The challenge, therefore, for the international community and policy-makers everywhere is to find ways to redress these imbalances in the global economy so as to ensure a smooth integration of developing countries into the globalizing world economy on an equitable basis. The goals envisaged for the new global human order include empowering the capacity of the United Nations in developmental matters. The United Nations must be the main thrust of global policy-making. The new global human order seeks to enhance global governance through the strengthening of multilateralism. The new global human order seeks to establish partnerships between North and South and South and South. The new global human order is not about welfarism; it is about empowering people with the capacity to meet their basic needs. The new global human order seeks to integrate the key elements of human development, human rights and human security issues and to ensure coherence between actions at the domestic level and actions at the international level. The development perspective of the new global human order is people-centred and multidimensional in its strategy and focus. It seeks the eradication of poverty, with the emphasis on empowering vulnerable groups such as women, young people and indigenous populations, and access to affordable credit for micro- enterprise entrepreneurs. Science and technology, including new information technologies, should be used to build capacity for training and education and research and development. With regard to North-South relations, the South needs the active support and participation of the North to achieve viable solutions, including, in particular, resources. South-South cooperation should take place between Governments and Governments as well as between Governments and civil society. The Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization should be brought into a close working relationship with the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. There is a need for faster and deeper debt forgiveness, and the level of official development assistance should be increased to meet the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product and to address new development concerns. There should also be access to affordable loans and credit, and a tax should be imposed on international currency transactions. Because the goals of the new global human order mesh with the objectives of the United Nations Charter, we lend our support to the request, contained in draft resolution A/55/L.15, for the Secretary-General of the United Nations to initiate a process of consultation with Member States with a view to determining how this concept can, in a practical way, add value to the diffuse efforts of the Organization to engender partnerships between the North and the South as well as among the countries of the South. From such consultations should emerge a road map of how we can advance the cause of this laudable order.

The item under consideration is one of the most important on today’s international agenda. It implicitly raises the question of the responsibility of the United Nations and all its Member States in pursuing the welfare and development of all human beings as their supreme goal. This basic concept of the welfare and development of humanity leads us to consider a new concept of human development that is quite distinct from the traditional concept. Human development implies a life in conditions of justice, freedom and tolerance, the enjoyment of good health and nutrition and the right to education and a satisfactory environment — in other words, a dignified life. That is why it should be understood in the context of a comprehensive economic and politically participatory process. For this to be possible, it is essential to break the vicious circle of poverty and exclusion through an order that halts the growth of the gap between the rich and the poor, both among the members of the international community and within each Member State. This growing gap makes it urgent to reconsider comprehensively issues of major importance to humankind, including the eradication of poverty; the economic and social development of peoples; and the environment. In the Cartagena Declaration the heads of State and Government of the Rio Group, with the participation of other countries of the region, affirmed that the Millennium Summit was a historic opportunity to spur specific initiatives that would help build a more just, more secure and more equitable international system for all through a series of actions based on the values of cooperation and solidarity. The Millennium Declaration commits all Member States of this Organization to spare no effort to free men, women and children from dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty and to make the right to development a reality for all of humanity. For these reasons, my country regards as very important the initiative of the Republic of Guyana to try to make specific in draft resolution A/55/L.15 our shared goal of building a new global human order, and we shall therefore sponsor the draft resolution, entitled “The role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order”.

It gives me great pleasure to express my thanks and appreciation to the delegation of Guyana for their excellent and timely initiative to include an agenda item entitled “The role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order” at this General Assembly. Guyana is well known for the constructive leading role it plays in support of dialogue between the North and the South and of international cooperation for development. The delegation of Sudan supports the principles and objectives set forth by Guyana in the explanatory memorandum annexed to the request for inclusion of the item (document A/55/229). We agree with Guyana that the experiences of over four decades have led to relatively meagre results in the implementation of various initiatives undertaken by the international community in pursuit of development. This frustrating fact has been emphasized, especially during the review and assessment processes concerning the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations of the international conferences held in the 1990s under United Nations auspices. For the aforementioned reasons, there is an urgent need for a new impetus to the efforts to strengthen constructive international cooperation for economic and social development, especially in connection with the issues of resources and financing for development. The countries of the South, at their first summit conference in Havana last April, realized the need for the establishment of a new global human order to reverse the growing disparities between the rich and the poor, both between and within countries. This would be achieved through persistent efforts to support growth with equity, eradication of poverty, expansion of productive employment and promotion of gender equality through the support of economic empowerment of women, in addition to social integration. The delegation of Sudan fully realizes that achieving these noble goals depends on reaching political consensus and wide global partnership in order to eradicate poverty, support world economic security, in accordance with an integrated approach to development that takes into account the interaction between Governments, markets and communities and seeks to reach tangible practical results in the field of development. In this connection, we would like to underline the central role played by the United Nations as an appropriate forum to reach international consensus on the proposed initiative and the need for the Organization to play a pivotal role in achieving higher living standards for all peoples. In conclusion, the delegation of Sudan, which has the honour to co-sponsor the draft resolution submitted to this Assembly concerning this item, reiterates that the draft resolution has been prepared in an objective and balanced manner and is replete with important references to the need to support our efforts in order to encourage development and to eradicate poverty. We call upon the international community to support the efforts made by developing countries in a genuine partnership. One of the advantages of the draft resolution is that it gives Governments ample opportunity to contribute their views and proposals regarding the promotion of a new, global human order. Therefore, we look forward to rich objective discussions during the next General Assembly session, based on the information to be included in the Secretary-General’s report, in order to prepare for the General Assembly the grounds for adopting concrete actions in the field of policy-making, possible options, mechanisms and the means to promote a new international human system and further sustainable development favouring all countries and peoples.

We have heard the last speaker on this item. I wish to inform Members that the Assembly will take up draft resolution A/55/L.15 at a future date.

A representative has requested to exercise his right of reply on agenda item 29. I would remind representatives that delegations, when making statements in exercise of the right of reply, those statements are limited to 10 minutes for the first statement and to five minutes for the second statement, and that delegations must speak from their seats.

I would like to exercise my right of reply in accordance with rule 73 of the rules of procedure, in response to allegations made earlier today by the representative of Armenia. Once again, the Armenian delegate made an attempt to mislead this body, representing themselves as the “good guys” who bear no responsibility for the fuelling of the conflict in and around the Nagorny Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. I think there is no need to remind everyone here that Armenia is the country that has committed armed aggression against my country, occupying 20 per cent of our territory and leaving a million people without shelter. Under these circumstances, Armenia relentlessly persists in its efforts to mislead the international community. Speaking of Azerbaijan’s rejection of the last proposal by the co-Chairmen of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk conference, the distinguished representative of Armenia forgot to admit that his country had twice rejected the proposals of the same co-Chairmen — namely, the package proposal and the phased one. It should be mentioned that those proposals are still alive, valid and remain on the negotiating table. The Nagorny Karabakh region is an integral part of my country. This has been repeatedly confirmed by Security Council resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993); by the General Assembly itself in its resolutions on “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, in particular resolutions 49/13, 51/57, 52/22, 53/60 and 54/117; and the relevant reports of the Secretary-General, including the current one, A/55/98. As for the need to break through the frameworks of conventional perceptions of sovereignty in resolving conflicts, to which the Armenian delegate referred today, I would be very happy to see that country pioneer in this process, fulfilling this idea by granting a part of its territory to its Azeri population, the 200,000 people who lived there for centuries and were “successfully” and completely expelled from there on very short notice.

This morning when I made a statement on agenda item 29, entitled “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe”, I presented Armenia’s view of the cooperation between the two organizations and of the current stage of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, as well as Armenia’s position regarding the peaceful solution of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict. It was not my intention to take the floor again, but after the accusation by the representative of Azerbaijan, I have to recall the following. I would like for you, Sir, to remind the representative of Azerbaijan that what happened in Nagorny Karabakh did not begin in a vacuum. Nagorny Karabakh was under foreign occupation by Azerbaijan, which was given jurisdiction illegally — unjustly — over the Armenian region in 1923. For a people whose compatriots lay just over the border, but out of reach, such a divisive act, ensuring a double layer of subjugation, was untenable. During the decades of Soviet rule and the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Armenians of Nagorny Karabakh resorted to demanding their right to self-determination. The refusal of this demand led to military conflict, refugees and loss of life. In this connection I would like to mention in particular that the situation around Nagorny Karabakh today is a consequence of the Azerbaijani aggression of 1991-1992, the goal of which was the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population. During the last six years, the military phase of the conflict has ceased, and Armenia remains committed to a lasting resolution which will provide for peace and security for Nagorny Karabakh, with a continuous geographical link with Armenia. We will continue to work intensely with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, and we wish to emphasize their contribution to maintaining the ceasefire regime. I would like to once more repeat that the Government of Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh, being advocates of a more flexible approach to the settlement of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, have accepted the proposals of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group as a more realistic approach to addressing the issue of the status of Nagorny Karabakh with minimal prejudice to either of the competing claims. And I repeat that, regrettably, Azerbaijan has rejected those proposals. Nevertheless, we are ready to maintain direct contacts with Azerbaijan in order to search for a compromise. However, we think that direct negotiations between Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh would be more productive, as it is the people of Karabakh who will ultimately determine their own destiny and future — especially taking into account the fact that Nagorny Karabakh is de facto established State, open for a dialogue. We are confident that the resolution of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict can only be achieved on the basis of the legal equality of the parties to the conflict. Programme of work

I should like to inform Members that tomorrow morning, Thursday, 26 October 2000, the General Assembly will take up, as the first item, a report of the Fifth Committee on agenda item 122, entitled “Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations”. The report will be issued tomorrow morning. As the second item, the General Assembly will take up agenda item 16 (c), entitled “Election of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees”. The third item will be agenda item 13, entitled “Report of the International Court of Justice”. The fourth item will be agenda item 34, entitled “Oceans and the law of the sea”. As the fifth item, the General Assembly will resume consideration of agenda item 31, entitled “Elimination of coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion” to take action on draft resolution A/55/L.9/Rev.1.