A/59/PV.73 General Assembly

Members will recall that the General Assembly held a joint debate on these two agenda items at its 58th, 59th and 60th meetings, held on 22 and 23 November 2004. The report of the Fifth Committee on the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/59/L.53 will be issued later today in all languages under the symbol A/59/615. The English version of that report is now before the Assembly. In that regard, with the understanding of members, the Assembly will proceed at this meeting to take action on the draft resolution before it. At the outset I would like sincerely to thank all delegations for the spirit of cooperation they have accorded me throughout the consultations, as well as for the constructive proposals they have put forward. I would also like to address my most heartfelt congratulations to the two facilitators — Mr. Eduardo Sevilla Somoza, Permanent Representative of Nicaragua, and Mr. Johan Løvald, Permanent Representative of Norway — on the superb job they have done and on the dedication with which they did it. The draft resolution I am submitting today to the General Assembly for adoption is the outcome of intensive consultations conducted by the facilitators and myself over more than a month with delegations, both individually and in groups. I thus consider it to be the product of a collective endeavour. It seems to me important to stress that draft resolution A/59/L.53 is designed to set the general timetable for the holding of the high-level meeting. I see in it particularly a worthwhile tool that would enable our leaders to begin now to plan their own participation and that of other members of their Governments in the 2005 high-level meeting, and in activities related to preparing for it, such as the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development. Given the many issues on which we still have to make decisions, particularly as regards the preparatory process and the outcome of the high-level meeting, the General Assembly will have to take action on other related draft resolutions at the beginning of next year. This applies to the matter of the co-presidency of the high-level meeting, the drawing up of the list of speakers for the plenary meetings as well as the organization of and participation in the round tables. We will also have to decide on practical organizational modalities or the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, to be held on 27 and 28 June 2005, and for the meeting on financing for development to be held within the framework of the high-level meeting. We also will have to consider how to organize the interactive hearings envisaged for the month of June 2005. As regards the involvement of observer delegations — particularly that of the Holy See, in its capacity as an observer State, and that of Palestine, in its capacity as observer — I should like to inform the Assembly that — as was done for the Millennium Summit — the modalities of their participation will be specified in a subsequent draft resolution, on which we shall have to work early next year. Lastly, as I have done on a number of previous occasions, I should like to reaffirm that the preparatory process for the high-level meeting will remain open- ended, inclusive and transparent. Thus, we will have to bring into play a variety of inputs and ultimately adopt a composite document dealing with all the major issues. As was the case with other high-level meetings of the General Assembly, every effort must be made to reach consensus. Before submitting draft resolution A/59/L.53 to the Assembly for action, I wish to make some revisions to the text. In paragraph 4, the word “separate” should be inserted before the words “meeting on financing for development”; and the initial letters of the words “financing” and “development” should be capitalized. The latter part of that paragraph should thus read as follows: “and also decides to hold a separate meeting on Financing for Development within the framework of the High-level Plenary Meeting”. In paragraph 8, the word “informal” should be inserted before the word “interactive”. The relevant portion of the paragraph should thus read as follows: “to organize informal interactive hearings”. I now submit to the Assembly for adoption draft resolution A/59/L.53, as orally revised, which I very much hope will be adopted by consensus. May I take it that the General Assembly adopts the draft resolution, as orally revised?

By adopting this resolution by consensus, the General Assembly has reaffirmed its commitment to fully shoulder its responsibility to organize the high-level plenary meeting scheduled for September 2005. I personally welcome this major decision, and wish to congratulate all concerned. Allow me also to interpret this as an expression of the Assembly’s confidence in the presidency. I once again express my gratitude to the two facilitators for their major contribution. Before concluding, I want once again to make of a point of congratulating all delegations on the interest and the spirit of cooperation they manifested throughout the consultations, which enabled us to complete this first stage. I hope that our future consultations will be carried out in the same spirit.

Very briefly and simply, the European Union would like to thank you, Mr. President, for your enormous personal efforts to achieve this important result; our thanks go also to the facilitators. We express our fullest commitment to support you in the further preparatory process for the high-level plenary meeting to be held in September next year.

I give the floor to the observer of Palestine.

My delegation is taking the floor just to express our thanks and appreciation for the statement that you, Mr. President, made before the adoption of this important resolution with respect to the participation of Palestine in the high-level plenary meeting to be held at the sixtieth session of the General Assembly. We hope that the omission of Palestine from the draft resolution will not constitute a precedent for the future work of the General Assembly. Secondly, we regret very much the attempt by one or two delegations to politicize this procedural draft resolution. The inclusion in the draft resolution of Palestine in its capacity as observer is not a request for a favour from the General Assembly. It is our right, and it is in conformity with the past practice of the General Assembly, including its resolution 52/250, which gives Palestine the same rights and privileges as other States, without the right to vote. Finally, I express our sincere hope that the establishment of an independent and viable State of Palestine will soon be realized and that our head of State will participate in the very important meeting to be held in September 2005.

I call on the observer of the Holy See. Archbishop Migliore (Holy See): I thank you, Mr. President, for your statement about the participation of the Holy See as an observer State at the important high-level meeting. However, I would also like to echo what has been said by my colleague of the delegation of Palestine and hope that the previously established practice of the General Assembly and what is stated in resolution 58/314, on the status of the Holy See in the General Assembly, will be fully taken into consideration in the future, since it seems that this time those elements were not fully taken into consideration.

The General Assembly has thus completed the present stage of its consideration of agenda items 45 and 55.