Mr. President,
With this statement, we are seeking to draw attention to some very
specific aspects related to the follow-up to the
outcome of the Millennium Summit, in particular those related to the
full implementation of the commitments given
in the Millennium Declaration. We wish to refer to three fundamental
issues: the political significance of the
Millennium Declaration, the need to protect it in all its aspects during
the implementation phase and the role of the
General Assembly.
Mr. President,
1. The Millennium Declaration still has great political significance
for the Rio Group. Not only do we attach
enormous importance to the process of negotiation led by your predecessor,
Theo Ben Gurirab, but we were also
the only region to have made a specific contribution to the Millennium
Summit following a Summit of Heads of
State and Government, which we convened in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia,
in June 2000. The Rio Group
wishes to emphasize the importance of the implementation and follow-up
of the outcome of the Millennium
Summit, even though the task that lies ahead is a complex one. We have
always considered the Millennium
Declaration to be a point of departure and never a point of arrival.
We are prepared to support you in launching a
genuine and meaningful process aimed at implementing the commitments
given in the Declaration.
2. It is important for us all collectively to protect the Millennium
Declaration in all its aspects. The Declaration is an
integral and comprehensive document adopted by our Heads of State and
Government during the Millennium
Summit in an effort to forge a global vision of the role of the United
Nations in the twenty-first century. It therefore
seems but natural that the efforts that have already been initiated
to implement some of the commitments related to
international peace and security should be repeated with the same intensity
with respect to the commitments
relating to the social and economic development of our peoples. The
Rio Group stands fully prepared, Mr.
President, to contribute together with you to efforts to achieve this
objective.
3. In conclusion, we have every confidence that the General Assembly
will have an important role to play in this
follow-up phase. The General Assembly is clearly not in a position to
do all that is necessary for the
implementation of the Millennium Declaration. These operational deficiencies
must be adequately compensated for
by other mechanisms of the United Nations system. The General Assembly,
however, must have the capacity to
do everything necessary in terms of the follow-up and monitoring of
all of the individual efforts of each of the parts
of the United Nations system implementing the commitments given in the
Millennium Declaration. We believe that
the General Assembly should be consolidated into the focal point for
our collective efforts.
Thank you very much.
