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A New Year’s Resolution for Real UN Reform

The threats and challenges facing the world at the dawn of the new millennium are numerous. It has also become clear that, in an era of globalization and interdependence, no state will be able to meet these threats and challenges alone.

The World Summit in New York last September showed that substantial progress could be made in adapting the UN to today’s world. Significant advances were made at the summit on development, security, and human rights. And doors were opened to further action in these and other important areas.

And yet, the summit was only a beginning. Much of the hard work remains ahead of us.

To ensure continued momentum, we – the leaders of 14 nations from regions around the world – have formed a network to promote comprehensive reform of the UN. A key element will be to underpin and complement the efforts taking place in New York through continued support at the highest political level. In dialogue with other leaders around the world, we will act to advance the agenda laid out at the 2005 World Summit.

In the coming months, concerted efforts are needed to implement what has been agreed at the summit. One of these undertakings is to operationalize, by the end of this year, the Peace-building Commission, an advisory body that will support countries in their efforts towards sustainable peace and development.

We also need to agree on the modalities of an effective and credible Human Rights Council that will give the human rights agenda a more prominent role in the UN and make a genuine impact on the ground. We are committed to conclude a comprehensive convention on international terrorism during the current session of the General Assembly. We consider measures to make the UN Secretariat more efficient, effective, transparent, and accountable to be in the interest of all member states.

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It is imperative to maintain momentum on advancing global development issues and implementing the Millennium Development Goals. Two important steps will be to strengthen the Economic and Social Council, and to ensure system-wide policy coherence and coordination. We welcome the extraordinary efforts that have been made to address the scourge of hunger and poverty, and we recognize the need to take concrete actions, including the need to respond rapidly with adequate humanitarian assistance in crisis situations.

But we must also continue to work on the difficult issues where sufficient progress has not yet been achieved and where the international community remains divided. One such area is non-proliferation and disarmament. We need a sustained global commitment to disarmament and continued common efforts to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction in order to maintain the credibility of the collective security system. We also need additional measures to ensure that perpetrators of serious international crimes are brought to justice.

Furthermore, we agree that revamping the Security Council is an essential element of our overall effort to reform the UN, and we support early action to make the Council more broadly representative, efficient, and transparent, bearing in mind that the General Assembly is to review progress on this matter by the end of 2005.

Today, more than ever before, we live in a world where international cooperation is imperative. Terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, genocide, poverty, hunger, global warming, huge natural disasters, and the spread of deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis all exemplify global challenges that require multilateral solutions.

The world needs an effective and credible UN that can respond to the growing challenges facing us today across the globe. The international community has an obligation to make sure that the coming year will bring concrete results. We call on all member states to ensure sustained collective efforts to complete the task of comprehensively reforming the United Nations Organization. We are personally committed to doing our share.

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