The United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, opening the Millennium Summit on September 5th, 2000, the largest-ever gathering of world leaders...

The United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, opening the Millennium Summit on September 5th, 2000, the largest-ever gathering of world leaders, challenged world leaders to protect their people from misery and to develop an agenda that would forge peace and bring an end to poverty and disease. Likewise, in his remarks at the opening, the US President Bill Clinton spoke of the dawn of a new era where globalisation and information technology are bringing people closer, and of the kind of challenges and responsibility lying ahead of the UN. In this overall context, broadly, there are five dimensions for development.
Peace is regarded as the foundation of development itself. Though development has taken place after crises or wars (for example, Japan, Germany), peace is fundamental for economic progress. Tensions occur when there is no development. The meaning of peace-building is to pinpoint and support the foundations which tend to fortify peace, so as to prevent a relapse into conflict. As such, peace-building can give a push to development for nations that have recently recovered from crises.
The second factor is the economy itself. The engine of development is economic growth: without economic growth, there cannot be any sustained increase of household and government consumption, of private or public capital formation, of health and security levels. Two pre-requisites are necessary for sustained growth. They are: (a) conducive domestic environment and (b) a supportive global environment. Unless there are viable national policies, increased aid will do more harm than good. There have been efforts by the developing countries to form, in response to the G-7 of industrialised countries, a cohesive group of seven or fifteen of their own. The outcomes however have so far been very disappointing.
The third factor is the environment, as a basis for sustainability. The environment has a key effect on the countries at all stages of development. Environmental degradation decreases both the quality and quantity of many resources utilised directly by people. Water pollution destroys fisheries. Increasing salinity and the erosion of topsoil lowers crop yields. Quite often, agricultural devastation has led to famine and malnutrition. Rapid and excessive logging and the devastation of rain forests have razed vital natural habitats, and frustrated global bio-diversity.
Justice as a pillar of society also contributes to overall development. Development occurs within defined social conditions, but all aspects of society are influenced by development. Economic progress and technological transformation influence human relationships, societal structures, values and lifestyles. More harmonious social and economic relations and societal cohesion supply a solid and adaptable basis for attaining long-term growth. One should recognise the significance of the social dimension for development and act upon it. Each country should address social development within its own society, and each also has a duty to progress towards a more internationally-oriented solution to these challenges. The current period of a changed global atmosphere provides a golden opportunity to do so in an ambience that is relatively free from excessive ideological tensions. It is an opportunity to be seized and turned to advantage.
Lastly, democracy contributes to good governance. The connection between development and democracy is intuitive, yet it remains difficult to explain. Empirical evidence has shown that development and democracy appear in the long-term to be inseparable, however events have not always pointed to a clear causal link between the two processes. In a sample of countries a certain level of development has paved the path for democratisation. In other countries, democratisation has led the way to an economic revolution.
Based on the above dimensions of development the world has entered the new century and millennium with new visions and hopes.
The world we are living in is one of diversity, with nearly two hundred countries and regions and more than two thousand five hundred nationalities and ethnic groups of varying civilisations, religions and beliefs, values and traditions. This is the reality; but diversity is to be considered a valuable asset, not a source of conflict. The essential approach must be to promote mutual respect, tolerance, inclusiveness, exchange and co-operation. Recognising the world of diversity and guided by the principle of seeking a common ground while resolving differences, the countries and regions will coexist and boost the development of human society. Denial of the diversified world and an approach of intolerance and discrimination will bring mutual repellence and wars.
A new international political and economical order of justice, equality, respect for diversity, mutual benefit, dialogue and co-operation should be established in the 21st century. Democratic relations are the call of the 21st century. It implies that the internal affairs of a country should be decided upon by the people of that country; the international affairs among the countries of the world, big and small, strong and weak, should be dealt with through consultations on an equal footing. In other words, a superpower or a small group of big and rich powers should not monopolise world affairs.
We should note that one of the great historic achievements of the 20th century is that more than one hundred countries have freed themselves from colonial rule and won their independence, sovereignty and dignity. They began to participate in international affairs as equal partners, yet their road to full participation should be made easier by the international community by seriously taking into consideration the problems which are the most important for them.
Economic globalisation is an irresistible tide. If it manages to fight poverty, it will greatly spur the world economy and benefit humanity at large. Despite its great advantages, the adverse effects of globalisation have increasingly attracted world-wide attention. For developing countries with limited capabilities, the challenges and risks posed by globalisation appear much greater than the opportunities offered. Besides, globalisation has foreseeable but hardly predictable implications in social, political and legal areas. We hope that the UN, WTO, World Bank and the IMF will work jointly to convene a future General Assembly session devoted to studying and deliberating on the problematic issues of globalisation and its management.
Eradication of poverty is still a priority on the agenda of the international community. Approximately 1.2 billion people - 500 million in South Asia - struggle for survival on less than $1 per day. The countries concerned should double their efforts to reduce poverty, and the international community should provide more assistance. The developed countries should renew their pledge to devote 0.7% of their GNP to official development assistance programmes, to help developing countries to gain access to markets, and to facilitate technology transfers.
Environmental protection is extremely vital to us and to the well-being of future generations. We urge all countries to implement "Agenda 21" with a great sense of urgency and achieve noticeable advancements before 2002 - the 10-year follow-up to the Conference on Environment and Development.
The protection and promotion of human rights is a great goal of the UN charter and is a solemn commitment of all countries. Developing countries knew through their inhuman suffering under colonial rule that human rights and dignity cannot be separated from national independence and sovereignty. Human rights are indivisible and interrelated. The West's inclination to extolling political rights while depreciating economic and social rights, or vice-versa, is one-sidedness. Divergences in perception and interpretation do exist and can be ironed out through dialogue and co-operation rather than resorting to confrontation. Human rights issues should not be politicised to serve as a means of exerting pressures or as an excuse for poking one's nose into the domestic affairs of others. The plight of the disadvantaged and the vulnerable, such as women, children, persons with disabilities and the aged, should be given special attention. We urge that an international covenant be drafted and signed.
Separatism and terrorism are cancers of the international stability and security. In the world of today, fewer than 20% of all countries are ethnically homogeneous. Many cases of separatism demonstrated that it is instigated and supported by external demagogues with evil intentions and that it is interwoven with terrorism. The international community should not permit political maps to be redrawn and countries dismembered.
To keep pace with the rapid world development and contribute to world's peace the UN should undergo necessary reforms, based on the purpose and principles of the UN charter and targeted at their better implementation. The success of UN reform lies mainly with:
a) the adequate representative presence of developing countries in the Security Council and the transparency of its consultation process;
b) the strengthening of the roles of the General Assembly and the ECOSOC for the benefit of the developing majority;
c) satisfactory responses of the IMF and the World Bank to the concerns voiced in the UN; and
d) timely and full payment by member states of their financial obligations.
It is heartening that all the countries (150) participating in the Summit have focused on the issue of UN reform. Both President Bill Clinton and the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, have urged all the member states to work collectively for the betterment of the world. Mr Clinton in his address underscored the need to provide the UN with adequate tools for peacekeeping operations; and that the institution must work to fight poverty, diseases, narcotics and illegal trade in precious stones. All these things come with a price-tag, and all nations, including the US, must pay for it. These prices must be fairly appointed and the UN structure of finances must be fairly reformed. In a similar vein Annan urged the leaders to study the report produced by a panel of independent experts that have detailed suggestions for strengthening the UN in the crucial areas of peace and security; Mr. Annan said that the world body must be strengthened across the whole range of its activities.
In addition, the Summit adopted the 21-point agenda on 8 September 2000, hailing the remarkable 'convergence of views' on its ambitious goal to reduce poverty - in the words of the UN Secretary General Annan: 'a promise to take action by 2015 towards achieving our first priority, the eradication of extreme poverty'.
However, the very vital query is: to what extent are we all going to translate these assertions into practice to attain the targets so boldly proclaimed?