The General Assembly concluded its sixty-fifth session today, bringing to a
close a year that its outgoing President said saw progress on a number of
development-related issues and highlighted the need for the United Nations
to do more to respond to the real concerns of people worldwide.
"We have accomplished much," Joseph Deiss, President of the Assembly's
sixty-fifth session,
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/ga11131.doc.htm">said in his
closing remarks to the 193-member body, as he outlined some of the
highlights of the past year.
The session kicked off last September with a high-level meeting on the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight ambitious targets set that
aim to slash hunger and poverty, maternal and infant mortality, a host of
diseases and lack of access to education and health care, all by 2015.
"We sent a strong message about our determination to keep our promise to
halve poverty by 2015 and achieve all the other goals for the millennium,"
said Mr. Deiss. "Five years away from the deadline, it was vital to clearly
reaffirm our will to redouble our efforts to succeed."
Development-related topics, including on AIDS and on youth, were highlighted
throughout the year, as well as issues such as the green economy and
sustainable development. The Assembly also took up the plight of Haiti and
the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, and admitted the newly independent nation of
South Sudan as its 193rd member.
While the Assembly has much to be proud of, "we could have done more," Mr.
Deiss said. "The situation in the Middle East remains unstable; in many
parts of the world, conflicts are ongoing; far too many human beings on this
planet are living in precarious conditions.
"In all these situations, we do not have the right to remain indifferent,"
he added.
The President made a number of recommendations which he said would help the
UN be "strong and capable of making a difference." This included determining
the common interest, defending basic values, and responding to the real
concerns of peoples.
"To be more present in the major issues of our time, the common interest
must prevail over national interest," he stated. "The major challenges
before humankind can be solved only insofar as we are able to determine a
common interest and a common strategy for achieving it."
At the beginning of today's meeting, the Assembly paid tribute to the memory
of former Finnish prime minister Harri Holkeri, who passed away last month.
Mr. Holkeri served the UN in his capacity as the President of the Assembly's
55th session and as the Secretary-General's Special Representative for
Kosovo.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
<"http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=1
291">recalled how Mr. Holkeri showed "great leadership" as outgoing
President of the Assembly at the moment when the terrorist attacks on 11
September 2001 occurred. "I still remember his great vision, and great
commitment, to fight against terrorism…
"He will be a great loss, not only to the UN, but also to the people of
Finland," he added.
The sixty-sixth session of the Assembly opens tomorrow and will be presided
over by the incoming President, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar.
No comments:
Post a Comment