Suriname, 2000

On behalf of the

Government and people of the Republic of Suriname, I

would like first of all to join previous speakers in

extending my congratulations to Mr. Harri Holkeri on

his assumption of the presidency of the fifty-fifth

Millennium session of the General Assembly.

Allow me also to pay tribute to his predecessor,

Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, for the outstanding and fruitful

way in which he guided the work of the fifty-fourth

session of the General Assembly.

My delegation wishes to express its deep

appreciation to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his

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continuing and tireless efforts in steering the United

Nations through the uncharted waters of world affairs

while adapting it to the new global forces of change.

We welcome Tuvalu into the family of nations,

and the Republic of Suriname looks forward to

working together with it in implementing the principles

and goals of the Organization.

This Millennium Assembly is a unique

opportunity to take stock of, and to reflect on, recent

experiences with the phenomenon of globalization,

which continues to dominate developments in the

economic, political and cultural field at both the

national and international levels, affecting the daily

lives of millions of people, their institutions and

relations between States.

We recognize that while globalization can be a

powerful and dynamic force in the promotion of

economic growth and development, it also poses risks

and new challenges to individuals and nations alike.

The fact of the matter is that globalization has

generated new economic disparities, as its benefits

remain highly concentrated in only a few countries.

This has brought about increased vulnerability and

economic instability, in particular to the least

developed countries and to the structurally weak and

vulnerable small States.

Many of these countries have difficulty in coping

with the increased competition arising from trade

liberalization and lack the capacity to take advantage of

the new opportunities brought about by globalization,

which in turn puts them at risk of marginalization and

even complete exclusion the so-called big losers of

globalization.

It is for this reason that, during the recently held

Millennium Summit, consensus was reached at the

highest political level that globalization must be

considered in the wider context of development and of

our shared responsibility to ensure that, through a more

inclusive, transparent and participatory decision-

making process in international economic issues, the

benefits of globalization are accessible to all on an

equal footing.

We also concur with the view that the United

Nations, as the most universal forum, has a crucial and

central role to play in forging understanding and

consensus among its Members, so as to create more

opportunities for all, and indeed not to leave billions of

people in a state of poverty and exclusion. We look

forward to concrete actions to be taken in this regard.

All nations have a collective responsibility to

address current global concerns, such as

underdevelopment and acute poverty, the growing

inequality within and among nations, violent conflicts

and civil wars which cause untold human suffering in

the South and are fuelled by the global arms bazaar,

environmental degradation, refugees and migration,

HIV/AIDS and other threats to public health, bridging

the digital divide and the emergence of global

criminal conglomerates.

In the context of the aforementioned, we welcome

the initiative taken by the Secretary-General to create a

digital task force with the aim of bridging the digital

divide. In order not to lag behind in our present era

dominated by the advances in information and

communications technology, the President of the

Republic of Suriname launched a national information

and communications technology initiative in his

inaugural statement on 12 August of this year in order

to catch the Internet Express without delay and to

promote national access to information and

communication services at all levels of education and

all areas of the public domain. We welcome the

contribution of the Kingdom of Norway to assist the

small island developing States (SIDS) in this regard.

Last April, the developing countries met in

Havana and, in a renewed spirit of cooperation,

solidarity and shared responsibilities, they agreed to

close ranks and implement an action-oriented

programme to assist the developing countries in

bridging the gap with their more affluent partners from

the North. Although essential in contributing to

development, South-South cooperation is not a

replacement for North-South cooperation; nevertheless

better relations between the members of the South will

contribute to better relations between the South and the

North.

Unfortunately, globalization and trade

liberalization have not created the necessary conditions

to accelerate growth and development for small and

vulnerable States. On the contrary, these countries have

been further marginalized in world economic affairs

and are threatened by the provisions of the World Trade

Organization (WTO), demanding an end to the special

and preferential arrangements, enacted solely to level

the playing field. We, therefore, reiterate our request

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for the international community's early adoption of a

vulnerability index so as to consider assistance to these

countries, based on their specific vulnerabilities and

not solely on their gross domestic product. We are

pleased that an appeal was made in the Millennium

Declaration to enact such a vulnerability index.

Recently, the 12 Presidents of South America

assembled in Brasilia to discuss daunting issues that

are common to the region and to pledge their political

will and support as a firm foundation for enhanced

cooperation among their respective countries. We thank

the Government of Brazil for so gracefully hosting this

Summit. The Declaration coming out of that meeting,

in letter and spirit, underlined the necessity of closer

cooperation between our countries in order to be able

to adapt successfully to the demands of globalization.

At the dawn of the new millennium, the

Government of Suriname considers it of crucial

importance that Member States achieve tangible results

in the areas of disarmament, arms control and non-

proliferation of nuclear weapons in maintaining peace

and reinforcing international security for all States.

The reform of the Security Council remains

crucial for our efforts to make the United Nations more

effective in dealing with global peace and security

issues. So far, however, reaching consensus on how to

restructure and reform this important body has eluded

us as a consequence of differences among the Member

States with respect to the scope and nature of the

needed changes. My Government reiterates its view

that the membership of this Council should be

increased with members from both the developed and

developing world and considers in this context the

proposals presented by the Non-Aligned Movement

(NAM) as instrumental.

We also believe that agreement must be reached

on defining the relationship between the Council and

other principal organs of the United Nations, such as

the Economic and Social Council and the General

Assembly. We are of the opinion that the Security

Council should focus its actions on creating a peaceful

security environment, while the temporarily established

United Nations involvements related to socio-economic

and political development in affected countries should

be coordinated by the Economic and Social Council

and/or the General Assembly. Such an arrangement,

based on the Charter provisions, will undoubtedly

contribute to greater effectiveness and efficiency of the

United Nations, while limiting the influence of national

policy considerations on its activities. Let us use the

momentum created by the Millennium Summit to

strengthen our resolve in reaching a consensus on this

matter as soon as possible.

The Government of Suriname wishes to

underscore the importance of the United Nations as the

universal forum to enable Member States to reach

consensus on issues related to peace, security,

development and international economic cooperation.

We wish to express our gratitude to the Kingdom of the

Netherlands for resuming bilateral cooperation between

our countries and to thank them for their support in this

area.

The United Nations Charter embodies lofty and

noble principles that remain valid today, as was

reiterated by all the Heads of State and Government at

the recently held Millennium Summit.

In order to make the United Nations a more

effective instrument in the hands of the world's people,

we must continue to be guided by these principles in

conducting national and international affairs. In this

regard, it is essential to honour the commitment to

providing the necessary financial means in a timely and

predictable manner in order to enable the United

Nations to fulfil its mandates.

Finally, as we enter the new millennium in an

emerging global village, we must bear in mind that we

are one human family in all our diversity, living in one

common homeland, the planet Earth, and that we must

therefore cooperate in creating a more just, more

sustainable and more peaceful world in which everyone

will live in a clean environment with a fair distribution

of the Earth's resources indeed, as the Secretary-

General has called for in his millennium report, a world

free from want, free from fear, that does not

compromise the ability of our planet to provide for the

needs of our children and for future generations. My

country stands ready to play its part and to contribute

to this, our common endeavour.