GA/9795

SPEAKERS ENDORSE NEW GLOBAL HUMAN ORDER, IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

A new global human order, and the role the United Nations might play in promoting it, was discussed this afternoon by the General Assembly.

The proposal for a new global human order, presented to the Assembly this morning by Guyana, aimed to prompt a re-examination of international cooperation and partnership, and explore prospects for a viable consensus on making people-centred development a central pillar of United Nations work in development in the twenty-first century.

The proposal sought to advance action on a reshaping of the role of government to encourage the building of democratic instruments necessary for human development, to enhance political and financial support for development, and to facilitate consensus on promotion of social justice, ownership and good governance, at the national and the international levels.

Member States told the Assembly that the much-touted breakthroughs in communication and information technology had failed to assist the hundreds of millions who were still hungry, malnourished, illiterate, unemployed and suffering from disease. One pointed out that, despite universal agreement on the need for people-centred development, the number of people living in poverty had increased.

Several speakers called for further deliberations on the proposal. Some suggested that the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO) be brought into close working relationships with the United Nations, as envisaged in the Charter. Another speaker said that States must become more supportive, caring and encouraging of people's individual and collective endeavours, also noting that the weaker the State, the less able it would be to promote the interests of its citizens. The time had come for a major paradigm shift in the pursuit of economic and social development, the Assembly was told.

Taking the floor on this matter this afternoon were the representatives of Cambodia, Pakistan, Norway, China, Iran, Antigua and Barbuda, India, Grenada, Argentina, Ecuador, Lesotho, Venezuela and the Sudan.

The representative of Azerbaijan spoke in response to a statement the Assembly heard this morning, and the representative of Armenia also exercised its right of reply.

General Assembly Plenary - 1a - Press Release GA/9795 40th Meeting (PM) 25 October 2000

The General Assembly will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 26 October, when it will take up the scale of assessments for expenses of the United Nations, the election of a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the report of the International Court of Justice, its agenda item on the Oceans and the Law of the Sea, and the elimination of coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion.

General Assembly Plenary - 3 - Press Release GA/9795 40th Meeting (PM) 25 October 2000

Assembly Work Programme

The fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly met this afternoon to consider the role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order.

(For background information, see Press Release GA/9794 of 25 October.)

Statements

OUCH BORITH (Cambodia) said that it was an anomaly to talk of rapid strides in technology and world prosperity amidst the stark reality that 1.2 billion people continued to live on less than $1 a day. It was sad to note that the much-touted breakthroughs in communication and information technology had failed to take care of the hundreds of millions of people who were hungry, malnourished, illiterate, unemployed and suffering from disease. The questions of why this was happening and how long it would last remained unanswered, in spite of the series of world conferences and their review mechanisms, organized by the United Nations during the 1990s.

The noble targets proclaimed by the Millennium Declaration would be meaningless if the international community continued on the same path of development under globalization and neo-liberal market liberalization of the past decade or so, he continued. Unless the pace of development was changed and relations restructured, the international community would continue to lament slow progress in poverty eradication and failure to eliminate such scourges of humankind as HIV/AIDS and human misery. The forces of globalization had given rise to vast opportunities for prosperity in the developed world.

However, unfortunately, corporate-driven globalization had increased inequities between and within countries. While competitive markets may be the best guarantee of efficiency, and an efficient tool of resource allocation for economic growth and development, it had failed to promote equity.

Only a global market for development could possibly reverse this adverse trend, he said. This meant 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, it must be supplemented by sustained and strengthened inter-South cooperation. Cambodia, therefore, commended the initiative to discuss the establishment of a new global human order intended to prompt a re-examination of international cooperation and partnership. This initiative was recently endorsed by the declaration of the South Summit in Havana, which took place in April.

SHAMSHAD AHMAD (Pakistan) said that despite universal agreement on people- centred development, the number of people living in poverty had increased. It was evident that growth and development had not and could not automatically reduce inequality. The fact of the matter was that the market driven process of globalization, which was ostensibly integrating national economies into the world economy, was an asymmetric one, with some winners, but many losers. It, however, created aspirations for consumption patterns and lifestyles that could not be sustained, socially, culturally, politically or environmentally.

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, he said. It 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 sought to build a strong political consensus and a broad-based global partnership to promote development and eradicate poverty. Pakistan fully agreed with the observation made in the memorandum that political will and an enlightened international partnership were essential ingredients of any strategy designed to meet the challenges of underdevelopment.

Pakistan believed that further deliberations on the strategy could achieve very important objectives, he said. Discussions would lead to better understanding of the philosophical framework of the proposals. It would also promote effective and coherent implementation of the policy. He looked forward to actively participating in such deliberations. Pakistan believed that the existing institutional framework and arrangements for economic regulations, devised by the developed countries, were neither adaptive 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 was essential for the sharing of the benefits of global prosperity. The time had come for a major paradigm shift in the pursuit of economic and social development. The United Nations had the central role in shaping this paradigm. To this end, the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO) should be brought into close working relationships with the United Nations, as was envisaged in the Charter.

JOSTEIN LEIRO (Norway) said the proposal for a new global human order sought to build a strong political consensus and a broad-based global partnership to combat poverty and promote economic security throughout the world. It called for a re-examination of international cooperation and partnership, and sought 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 acknowledged the powerful and dynamic force of globalization, as a means of strengthening cooperation and accelerating growth and development. Although globalization presented opportunities for developing countries, it had also increased vulnerability, he said. At present the benefits of globalization were unevenly shared, and its costs were unevenly distributed.

The new global human order sought to reduce growing disparities between rich and poor countries arising from globalization and technological innovation, he said. The United Nations, with its universal membership and comprehensive scope, was the best forum to promote global consensus on issues of universal concern. However, it was important that this new initiative built on other work done by the United Nations in development, including the series of United Nations conferences held during the 1990s, and that it was seen in the context of the follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit.

The proposal envisaged a number of concrete initiatives which would be studied carefully. However, he was convinced that the proposal for a new global human order would help Member States and the United Nations itself to achieve the ambitious goals of development and poverty eradication outlined in the Millennium Declaration. He, therefore, supported this important initiative.

SHEN GUOFANG (China) said that globalization had led to a digital divide, which increasingly affected developing countries. In addition, poverty, backwardness and underdevelopment remained serious problems in most developing countries. China believed that the momentum of the Millennium Assembly offered hope for the development of a new political order. The developed world must address the many unjust factors hindering development. At the South Summit in Havana this year, a new human order was proposed to reverse the disparity between rich and poor. China supported equal rights for all countries, the democratization of international relations and the participation of all countries in the new political order.

He called for debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries and least developed countries, self-development and the gradual reduction of the gap between the North and South countries. In addition, the international community should take measures to assist those countries in most need. China arranged a forum with Africa in which greater cooperation was spelled out in detail in a Beijing declaration, which hoped for enhanced coordination for the new economic order and strengthening of international cooperation. As a result of this forum, China had committed to four specific initiatives to assist Africa: expanded assistance to African countries; debt relief; intensified Chinese investment; and help for African development through training of professionals.

There was broad-based consensus on the goals of the new global order, first proposed by Guyana. Governments should play a leading role because the new global order hoped to mobilize political will and strengthen existing international relations. Economic development and development policy must be looked at from a different perspective -- one in which the gap between rich and poor did not continue, he concluded.

HADI NEJAD HOSSEINIAN (Iran) said that the Declaration of the Millennium Summit represented 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 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. The South Summit reflected on the rapidly changing world economic situation and the need to address emerging challenges facing the South in the economic and social spheres. There was a need for a new global human order, aimed at reversing the growing disparities between rich and poor. This was required both among and within countries, and would require the promotion of growth with equity, the eradication of poverty, the expansion of productive employment, and the promotion of gender equality and social integration.

He said that the concept of a new global human order was a meritorious addition to the repertory of ideas and proposals of the United Nations. The proposed discussions, at the United Nations as well as in other organizations and agencies within the system, would help to further elucidate the proposal and shed light on its parameters. He drew attention to the relevance of President Khatami�s proposal for a dialogue among civilizations to the current discussion. The crux of the President�s proposal was that human beings had a shared common destiny and thus shared responsibility to make that destiny one befitting humanity, with all its assets of diversity, one that was decent and equitable. His proposal lay at the heart of the proposed new global human order, he said.

PATRICK A. LEWIS (Antigua and Barbuda) spoke on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and about the need to produce a new global human order that addressed imbalances in the existing global economic system. The CARICOM felt that the challenges of globalization required a framework of people-centred sustainable development, justice and equity. It proposed the re-examination of international cooperation and partnership.

In the declaration of the South Summit in April, the heads of State and Government of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China stressed the need to reverse 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. The CARICOM proposal also sought to build a broad-based global partnership to combat poverty and foster economic security throughout the world, based on a long-term integrated approach to development. Moreover, it envisaged concrete initiatives aimed at addressing issues of human development. Investment, technical assistance and economic assistance remained instruments to support the development undertaking of developed countries. He urged developed countries to take definitive action to honour their obligations regarding the United Nations official development assistance (ODA) target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product (GNP).

He noted that the United Nations must become the main advocate of global policy-making in an increasingly interdependent world that aimed for wider prosperity and strengthening of civil society. Antigua and Barbuda reiterated that the United Nations remained the premier institution for forging global consensus. It had spearheaded the process towards decolonization and political independence. In closing, he called on the United Nations to play a pivotal role in promoting higher standards of living in larger freedom, for the benefit of all the peoples of the world.

SWADESH CHAKRABORTY (India) said in the contemporary world there had been a change relating to globalization of economic forces. Capital markets, investment flows and trade flows were progressively less amenable to national control, and national strength could not be preserved by pursuing autarchic policies or total reliance on generating capital investments internally. The agenda which was appearing before the South in terms of labour standards or social issues, competition policies and "prescriptive good governance" was developed by the North in its self interest, and developing countries were forced to respond to that agenda.

Another development was the transformation in the role of the State, he said. From an agency that controlled and regulated all spheres of human activity, it must now become more supportive, caring and encouraging of the citizen's individual and collective endeavours. The day of the State was, however, not over. Even globalization could work only through State intermediaries. The weaker the State was rendered, the less it would be able to promote the interests of its citizens. It needed to be strengthened functionally, not weakened. He said the development dimension, and the needs, priorities, and potential of developing countries, should be at the centre of any global vision for the coming decades. Without it, the processes of globalization and deregulation, and prosperity, stability and security would neither materialize nor be sustained. He shared the views of Guyana on the essential need to build the democratic instruments necessary for human development. There was a need for a reinvigorated and enlightened international partnership, in the true spirit of solidarity and shared responsibility, for achieving the fullest development of every human being and nation.

LAMUEL STANISLAUS (Grenada) said that under globalization some were enjoying conspicuous consumption, while many in the developing world were experiencing splendid misery. It was this imbalance in the global village that the proposed resolution sought to redress. Human rights encompassed not only civil and political rights but, most importantly, economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights were meaningless to those who lacked the basics -� food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care. Grenada, a very small developing country, enthusiastically supported the draft resolution introduced by Guyana and readily concurred with the statement made by Antigua and Barbuda on behalf of CARICOM.

The initiative by Guyana had come at an opportune moment, he said, because this Friday the General Assembly would begin informal consultations on the follow- up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit. The Millennium Declaration was essentially a commitment by Member States to the proposition that the present human condition required a better response to the human needs of the most vulnerable in the global human family. That was also what the resolution sought to promote. For Grenada, consideration of the follow-up to the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Declaration must include a constructive dialogue aimed at reaching consensus on implementing a broad-based strategy for achieving development and poverty alleviation, leading to poverty eradication.

ANA MARIA MOGLIA (Argentina) welcomed the concept of a new global order that Guyana had introduced at the World Summit for Social Development in 1995. That initiative was based on an assessment -- a painful one -- that development seemed more remote than ever. Globalization and the opportunities for growth had not solved the disparities that existed among and within countries. In spite of the new knowledge and the technological revolution, hunger, disease and poverty had not been eradicated.

Further, she believed the proposal to build a new system of international relations, to reassess international cooperation, and to achieve consensus on human development, must become central to the organization of development activities in the twenty-first redefining the role of governments to strengthen the democratization that resulted in human development; mobilizing greater political support for development, and especially increasing ODA and developing strategies to address the problem of debt; and promoting general agreement, good governance, and participation at both the national and international levels.

Argentina had traditionally played an active role in promoting development and would continue to campaign for social development, she said. It was necessary to begin the process of dialogue today, she added, and she hoped the draft resolution would be adopted by the General Assembly.

MARIO ALEM�N (Ecuador) said it was good to see the United Nations reflect on issues not about confrontation but about cooperation -- issues of a culture of peace and the dialogue between human beings. This meant that social justice and economic cooperation and understanding were perhaps possible. The proposal for a new global human order opened the door for a new and more ethical and rational international community. This would be a community working for life, not death, and where financial resources were not wasted on arms races but devoted to the eradication of poverty. Ever since the industrial revolution, followed by a second revolution after the Second World War, the gap between the rich in the centre and the poor in the periphery had rapidly increased. In the 1970s an economic order was designed to ensure social justice. This had been undermined by those who wanted to maintain their privileges and advantages, he said. Globalization had created a new elite, leading to a further increase in the gap between the rich and the poor.

The number of poor people had more than doubled in this decade, he said. The rate of unemployment and underemployment had also increased. This was happening as if it had been forgotten that human beings should be at the centre of State activity and the work of international organizations. The challenge today was international social justice. Social justice required more than economic development. It was beyond material consumption, and much more intangible in nature. Economic development did not automatically lead to human development. The latter had to do with qualitative factors such as health, education and quality of life. It was important to ensure a new global human order, where there was justice for developing countries and where peoples and nations could live peacefully together.

PERCY M. MANGOAELA (Lesotho) said the challenge for the international community was to find ways to redress imbalances in the global economy so as to ensure the smooth integration of developing countries on an equitable basis. The United Nations must be the main trust for global policy-making.

The new global human order sought to enhance global governance through strengthening multilateralism, he said. It sought to establish partnerships between North and South, and between South and South. The order was not about "welfarism". It was about empowering people with the capacity to meet their basic needs, and sought to integrate the key elements of human development, human rights and human security issues. The development perspective of the new global human order was people-centred and multi-dimensional in its strategy and focus, he said.

He said that, because the goals of the new global human order meshed with the objectives of the United Nations Charter, he supported the request in the draft resolution that the Secretary-General should initiate a process of consultations with Member States with a view to determining in which ways the concept could, in a practical way, add value to the dispersed efforts of the Organization to engender partnerships between the North and the South as well as among the countries of the South.

LUIS HERRERA-MARCANO (Venezuela) said that the item being considered today was one of the most important on today�s international agenda, as it raised the question of the responsibility of the United Nations to pursue the welfare and development of all human beings. This brought the international community to a new concept of human development. The new human development involved the ability to lead a dignified life, and the rights to education, food, clothing, health, liberty and justice.

All these should be part of a comprehensive economic and political programme, he said. The international community needed to break the vicious cycle of poverty and exclusion in order to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. That growing gap made it urgent to consider economic and social development from a new perspective. In the Cartagena declaration, the heads of State and government of the Rio Group, and other States in the region, had pointed out that the Millennium Summit was a historic opportunity to present concrete initiatives on a better system for everyone, through cooperation and solidarity. The Millennium Summit asked all States to work together towards development for all. It was for those reasons that Venezuela considered the initiative of Guyana to be very important � to put words to our shared goal of promoting a new global human order.

AWAD MURSI TAHA (Sudan) thanked Guyana for its draft resolution on a new global human order, which presented a constructive proposal for North/South relations. The Sudan supported the principles and goals of the resolution, and agreed with Guyana that four decades of development programmes had not produced significant results. There was a need for a review and assessment exercise and for implementation of the numerous resolutions of international conferences held under the auspices of the United Nations.

He felt there was an urgent need for constructive discussion as had been recognized at the South Summit in Havana this year. A new global order could create growth with equity, economic development, the expansion of gender equality, and the economic empowerment of women. Those noble goals required a political consensus. The new global order must support economic security and encourage interaction between markets, governments and communities.

The Sudan underlined the central role that must be played by the United Nations in the search for an international consensus, he continued. There must be higher standards of living for all peoples. The draft before the Assembly reiterated the need for balanced measures to eradicate poverty. He hoped that every country would support the draft resolution and a new global order. Moreover, the General Assembly must adopt concrete actions to promote human development of all countries and peoples.

Rights of Reply

YASHAR ALIYEV (Azerbaijan), speaking in right of reply to a statement made by Armenia this morning, said that the representative of Armenia had misled the General Assembly by representing Armenians as good guys who bore no responsibility for the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia had, in fact, committed armed aggression, occupying 25 per cent of Azerbaijan�s territory and leaving millions of people without shelter. The representative of Armenia had forgotten to admit that his country had twice rejected proposals by the Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Those proposals still lay on the negotiation table. Nagorno-Karabakh was, as had been confirmed by both the General Assembly and the Security Council as well as in relevant reports of the Secretary-General, part of Azerbaijan.

MOVSES ABELIAN (Armenia), exercising the right of reply, said that when he had made his statement on agenda item 29 on Armenia�s position on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabagh it had not been his intention to antagonize Azerbaijan. He reminded the representative of Azerbaijan that what had happened there did not happen in a vacuum, and that Nagorno-Karabagh had been under occupation by Azerbaijan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabagh had asked for self-determination and military conflict had followed. The situation in the region today was a consequence of Azerbaijani action in 1991 and 1992. Armenia had remained committed to peace. The Governments of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh had accepted the proposals of the OSCE group. Azerbaijan had rejected those proposals. Armenia was ready to negotiate with Azerbaijan with respect to Nagorno- Karabagh, but felt that those discussions should take place not simply through Armenia, but directly with the authorities of Nagorno-Karabagh.

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