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16 October, 2004
 

Table Of Contents

 

New Security Council Resolution Directs Aim At All Terrorists 1

Condemning terrorism as one of the most serious threats to peace and security, the United Nations Security Council on 8 October unanimously called on countries to prosecute or extradite anyone supporting terrorist acts or participating in the planning of such schemes.

In adopting resolution 1566, the Council set up a working group to consider recommendations on measures to be imposed against "individuals, groups or entities involved in or associated with terrorist activities" not already identified by its Al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions committee.

Some approaches to be studied include "more effective procedures considered to be appropriate for bringing them to justice through prosecution or extradition," freezing financial assets, travel restrictions and arms embargoes.

The text calls on countries to prevent and punish "criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act."

Such acts "are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature," according to the Council.

The resolution also asks the working group to consider the possibility of establishing an international compensation fund for victims of terrorist acts and their families, which might be financed through voluntary contributions garnered in part from assets seized from terrorist organizations, their members and sponsors. 

Ambassador Andrey I. Denisov of the Russian Federation _ which sponsored the resolution along with China, France, Germany, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States _ stressed there was a need to improve the legal and other operational instruments to combat terrorism and terrorist organizations that are expert at changing their tactics depending on the situation.

"We are convinced that the resolution further strengthens the essential coordinating role of the United Nations in the international campaign against the terrorist threat," he said.

 

S-G Urges Lawful Approach To Afghan Poll Dispute; Experts Named To Probe 2

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 11 October hailed the Afghan people for their historic presidential election on 9 October and urged the candidates to lawfully resolve their dispute over polling irregularities, as the United Nations named two experts to serve on a panel which will probe the complaints.

In a statement released by his spokesman, Mr. Annan said "that the election was held without major security incident is a tribute to the determination" of Afghans.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also reported that there was massive popular participation in the balloting, enthusiasm around the country and safe conditions for voting.

The Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), the UN-Afghan body charged with overseeing the country's electoral process, said on 10 October that after extended discussions about reported irregularities it had decided to set up a panel "to further enhance the transparency and legitimacy of the election."

After a request from JEMB, the UN nominated Craig Jenness, a former Canadian diplomat and experienced jurist, and Staffan Darnolf, a Swedish election administration expert, to serve on the probe. The European Union has been asked to help identify a third panelist.

The investigators will first examine any issue that would require a specific ballot box to be isolated from the counting process, which is expected to take several weeks, for further evaluation

***

The counting of votes in Afghanistan's historic presidential election began on 14 October after officials from the joint United Nations-Afghan electoral authority agreed to isolate some ballot boxes for further investigation of alleged polling irregularities.

Ballot boxes from 10 polling centres and 11 polling stations have been quarantined, the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) said on 14 October in a statement from Kabul, following a request from the panel of independent experts appointed to probe candidates' complaints about the 9 October vote.

The two members of the expert panel, Craig Jenness and Staffan Darnolf, told reporters on 13 October that their request does not necessarily mean that irregularities have occurred. "It does mean that in reviewing these complaints expeditiously it was evident that further investigation was required in these locations," Mr. Jenness said.

 

Messages of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan 3

World Food Day, 16 October 2004 

Some 840 million people in the world suffer from chronic hunger. Such large-scale hunger is not only unprecedented but also should be unacceptable in our world of plenty. In a world in which enough food exists to feed every man, woman and child, we need to do far better _ politically, economically, scientifically, logistically _ if we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by half, by the year 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

The theme of this year's World Food Day observance, "Biodiversity for Food Security", highlights the essential role of biodiversity in that effort. Biodiversity provides the plant, animal and microbial genetic resources for food production and agricultural productivity. It provides essential ecosystem services such as fertilizing the soil, recycling nutrients, regulating pests and disease, controlling erosion and pollinating may 

There has been a substantial reduction in crop genetic diversity in the field and many livestock breeds are threatened with extinction.

In 2002, the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity pledged to achieve a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss by the year 2010, a goal subsequently endorsed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. If we do not do more to meet this target and to conserve and sustainably use the world's precious biodiversity, we will not fulfil our responsibility to feed the world. And if we fail in that endeavour, there will be little hope of eradicating extreme poverty. On this World Food Day, I urge individuals and institutions alike to give greater attention to biodiversity as a key theme in our efforts to fight the twin scourges of hunger and poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.of our crops and trees. Knowledge of biodiversity _ notably on the part of farmers responsible for their families' health and well-being — can ensure the availability of food during periods of crisis such as civil conflicts, natural calamities or disabling diseases.

The unprecedented loss of biodiversity over the past century should thus raise the loudest of alarms. Many freshwater fish species, which can provide crucial dietary diversity to the poorest households, have become extinct, and many of the world's most important marine fisheries have been decimated. Food supplies have also been made more vulnerable by our reliance on a very small number of species: just 30 crop species dominate food production and 90 percent of our animal food supply comes from just 14 mammal and bird species _ species which themselves rely on biodiversity for their productivity and survival.

 

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty,17 October 2004

Next September, world leaders will gather at United Nations Headquarters for a high-level event to review progress in implementing the Millennium Declaration they adopted in 2000. But even now, well before that event, we already know that a major breakthrough will be needed if the eight Millennium Development Goals derived from the Declaration are to be met by the target year of 2015.

There have been some notable advances and cause for hope. The goals have transformed the practice of development cooperation. The broad consensus around a set of clear, measurable and time-bound goals has generated unprecedented, coordinated action, not only within the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, but also within the wider donor community and, most importantly, within developing countries themselves.

In terms of actual progress towards the goals, the data available so far suggest that developing countries fall into three broad groups. The first, comprising most of Asia and Northern Africa, is largely on track to meet the target of halving extreme poverty and to achieve many of the social targets. The second, mainly in West Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, has been making good progress towards some individual goals, such as achieving universal primary education, but has been less successful in reducing poverty. The third group, largely comprising countries in sub-Saharan Africa but also least developed countries in other regions, are far from making adequate progress on most of the goals.

Intent as we are on drawing up a solid statistical picture of our gains and shortfalls, let us also remember that our concern is not numbers but individuals: young people at work and out of school, children orphaned by AIDS and other preventable diseases, mothers who die in childbirth, communities affected by environmental degradation. It is well within our power to overcome these and other terrible manifestations of poverty and underdevelopment.

Ten years from the target date, the goals remain feasible and affordable. But we need a quantum leap in aid, debt relief and trade concessions on the part of developed countries as expressed in goal number eight. And we need similarly dramatic changes on the part of developing countries to retool their development programmes. On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, I urge all countries to uphold their responsibilities. And I urge the world's leaders to make next year's high-level event not just a simple stock-taking exercise, but an occasion on which we inject new political energy into an effort that is crucial for the world's future security and well-being.

 

S-G In Beijing; Discusses Regional Hotspots With China's Foreign Minister 4

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan held talks on 11 October in Beijing with China's Foreign Minister, reviewing key regional developments, including the nuclear programme in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the elections in Afghanistan.

During an extensive discussion between Mr. Annan and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing they examined the UN's role in Iraq, the Iranian nuclear issue, the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region and the situation in Myanmar, according to a spokesman travelling with the Secretary-General. 

At a subsequent press conference, Mr. Annan was asked about the international conference on Iraq. "It is going to be an important meeting," he said, because it would bring together Iraq, its neighbours and other members of the international community.

But he said it was too soon to comment on whether the Iraqi resistance would be invited. "I think the underlying message of that conference is that stability of Iraq is in the interest of every country and that the international community should come together and do whatever it can, working with the neighbours and Iraq, to stabilize Iraq," he said.

Afterwards, the Secretary-General addressed students at Tsinghua University, where he said, "No visitor can help feeling the excitement of a great country developing at breakneck speed, and every day opening up new vistas of knowledge and opportunity to its citizens."

He called on China to help the world reach the targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), warning that if it did not, there would be "terrible consequences for humanity."

 

S-G Appeals To European Countries To Provide More UN Peacekeeping Troops 5

With demand for United Nations peacekeeping outpacing the supply of forces, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 14 October issued an impassioned plea to the National Forum on Europe meeting in Ireland for the continent's countries to lend their troops, civilian workers and expertise to the world body's operations.

"The European Union is in a position to provide specialized skills that our largest troop contributors may not be able to give us, and to deploy more rapidly than we can," said Mr. Annan, who noted that less than one-tenth of all UN peacekeepers come from EU countries, while in Africa, that proportion drops to one in 20.

The Secretary-General credited the French-led Operation Artemis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with saving lives and called it "a model of EU cooperation with the UN."

He reminded the audience of the surging requirements for UN peacekeeping. "In the last nine months, with five new operations either deployed or on the drawing board, the demand on our peacekeeping has jumped by about 50 per cent," he said. "We have around 56,000 troops and military observers deployed today, but we desperately need another 30,000 of them - not to mention many more civilian personnel, both police and others."

Mr. Annan especially underscored the gravity of the situation in Darfur, Sudan, where fighting between Government and rebel forces has uprooted more than 1.45 million from their homes and forced another 200,000 to flee to neighbouring Chad. "The humanitarian effort needs more money, and the African Union (AU) needs concrete support - including logistics, equipment and financing, as well as political pressure on the parties," he said. "Every country and organization that can help must do so, now."

 

Sec-Gen Calls For Overhaul In Security Structure To Better Protect UN Personnel 6

With the United Nations and its workers facing a level of threat that has increased exponentially over the years, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed a new security structure to help protect the more than 100,000 UN officials and some 300,000 of their dependants stationed at over 150 offices around the world.

"The Organization cannot succumb to a `bunker mentality' and shrink from the work the world's people expect it to do. A degree of risk cannot be avoided; the challenge is to mitigate it," he says in a report to the General Assembly on a strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations.

To meet that challenge, the Secretary-General calls for combining three separate entities currently responsible for staff safety _ the Office of the Security Coordinator, the UN Security and Safety Services and the security component of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations _ into a new Directorate of Security to be headed by an Under-Secretary-General reporting directly to him.

The new Directorate will be set up to assess threats and risk, and provide common security policies and standards throughout the UN system. Day-to-day decision-making on security matters, meanwhile, will remain with local offices.

The Secretary-General also calls for a significant increase in the number of security personnel, particularly in the field.

"Security is a precondition to programme delivery in many parts of the world. Indeed, in some cases a failure to improve security would leave the Organization facing equally unpalatable alternatives: suspending United Nations activities or continuing them amid unacceptable levels of risk," he says.

 

Sec-Gen Mourns Death Of Maj. Gen. Lalit Mohan Tewari 7

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 12 October mourned the sudden passing of Maj. Gen. Lalit Mohan Tewari of India, the former Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

General Tewari served UNIFIL with distinction from August 2001 to February this year, a spokesman for the Secretary-General said in a statement. From 1990 to 1991, General Tewari served as the Chief Military Observer of the Observer Group in Costa Rica within the UN Observer Group in Central America (ONUCA).

"General Tewari's long career of honourable service is a credit to both his country and to the United Nations," the statement said. "The Secretary-General offers his deepest condolences to the Government of India, the Indian Armed Forces and General Tewari's family and friends in this most difficult time."

 

IAEA Concerned By Disappearance Of Nuclear Material From Iraq 8

Satellite images show equipment and materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons have disappeared from Iraq, the United Nations atomic watchdog agency has warned, and it has called on countries to provide information concerning their whereabouts.

Entire buildings once monitored and tagged by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been dismantled, and equipment and materials in open storage areas have been removed, the Agency's Director-General, Mohamed ElBaradei, wrote in a letter to the Security Council.

"The IAEA continues to be concerned about the widespread and apparently systematic dismantlement that has taken place at sites previously relevant to Iraq's nuclear programme and sites previously subject to ongoing monitoring and verification" by the Agency, he said.

Since 1991 the IAEA has been required by Security Council resolutions to submit progress reports every six months on its inspections of Iraq's nuclear weapons programme. However, the Agency pulled out of the country on the eve of the war last year, and since then has been concentrating on analyzing information collected since it began those checks. In August, the Agency did complete a separate, physical inspection of nuclear safeguards under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Mr. ElBaradei said through visits to other countries, the IAEA had been able to identify quantities of industrial items, some radioactively contaminated, that had been transferred out of Iraq from sites monitored by the Agency. "However, none of the high-quality dual-use equipment or materials referred to above has been found," he added.

Mr. ElBaradei also said the IAEA is considering requests by Iraq for help with the sale of leftover nuclear material at its Tuwaitha facility, except for a small batch for research purposes; the dismantlement and decontamination of former nuclear facilities; and the resumption of IAEA assistance under a number of technical cooperation projects that had been suspended since December 1998.

 

Deputy S-G Calls For Closer Ties Between UN And Business In Service Of Development 9

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette has issued a call for stronger ties between the United Nations and businesses in order to reach global anti-poverty targets and ensure that the benefits of globalization are more fairly distributed.

"The private sector is needed to create jobs and wealth, to promote trade, investment and stable markets, and to develop new technologies that benefit poor people - all of which, if done in the right way, will help achieve progress towards the Millennium Development Goals agreed to four years ago by world leaders," she told the United States Council for International Business on 12 October in New York.

She emphasized that businesses should work with the UN in the spirit of enlightened self-interest. "The ideologies of extremism that pose such a grave threat to people of many nations are often the desperate refuge of frustrated young people - people whose lives are devoid of hope or opportunity, and who feel excluded and alienated from society," she said.

With globalization creating both prosperity and uncertainty, she said, the UN is doing all it can to "encourage business to respect some basic principles founded in universal values, and to harness the potential of business to promote development."

The most innovative example of this is Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Global Compact, she said. Owing to that voluntary initiative, more than 1,500 companies from over 70 countries are taking a public stand on universal principles. "They engage in learning, dialogue and projects with other actors in society, and they subject themselves to public scrutiny, reporting annually on their progress in advancing the Compact's aims."

Urging the assembled corporate leaders to play their respective roles, she said, "The United Nations is open for business, and open to business."

 

UNODC: Opium Cultivation In Myanmar Dropping Steadily 10

Opium cultivation in Myanmar dropped 29 per cent this year compared to 2003, continuing a steady decline that began nearly a decade ago, according to the annual country survey released on 11 October by the United Nations anti-drug office.

The Myanmar Opium Survey 2004 reveals that opium cultivation this season is estimated at 44,200 hectares, representing a cumulative decline of 73 per cent when compared to the 163,000 hectares in 1996. Meanwhile, opium production for 2004 totalled 370 tons, a 54 per cent reduction over the previous year.

About 260,000 households _ mostly in remote, mountainous and isolated areas _ were involved in opium cultivation, often the primary or sole source of income, the survey says. However, the average income of non-opium producing households is 30 per cent higher than opium producing households.

"Opium is a last resort for farmers confronting hunger and poverty," Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told an audience in Brussels. "If we do not provide for the basic human needs of farmers in Myanmar, they will never escape the vicious circle of poverty and opium cultivation. The opium communities will remain vulnerable to human rights abuses, human trafficking and forced relocation."

The survey also indicates the average farm-gate price of opium has increased by 80 per cent over last year to $234 per kilogram, up from $130 in 2003, reflecting the scarce opium production this season _ a possible incentive for farmers to cultivate greater amounts next year.

Mr. Costa recalled that the UN's key goal in Myanmar is democratization and reconciliation, as well as a national commitment to drug control. "The international donor community carries a responsibility to support this process by providing alternative sources of income to those families in Myanmar whose livelihoods are adversely impacted by the loss of opium-generated revenue," he said.

 

CEDAW Committee Says No Country Has Reached Full Equality 11

Some 25 years after the adoption of a landmark global treaty on the rights of women, no country in the world has achieved total equality between the sexes both in law and in practice, the Committee overseeing the United Nations convention said on 13 October.

In a statement to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Committee said discriminatory laws remain in many of the 178 States that are parties to the pact. In other countries, the laws might promote equality but informal discrimination remains.

The Committee cited laws about marriage, divorce, property inheritance, ownership of land and access to loans and credits as examples of where women still lag behind men in their formal rights.

"Criminal law, especially in relation to sexual violence and crimes, continues to be discriminatory, inadequate or poorly enforced," the statement added.

Women are forced into early marriage or polygamous situations, widows are maltreated, girls are denied the same educational opportunities as boys and access to reproductive health care is often limited.

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette told a roundtable held at UN Headquarters to celebrate the 25th anniversary that "the Convention remains the most solid global tool in the work for true gender equality in the home, the community and society; and for freedom from discrimination, whether perpetrated by the State or by any person, organization or enterprise."

Ms. Fréchette said there has been great progress since 1979, noting the introduction of constitutional provisions enshrining gender equality and laws explicitly banning gender discrimination, and the establishment of equality commissions.

Committee reports show that many countries have recently taken steps to correct years of historical inequality or discrimination between the sexes. In Bangladesh, for example, the constitution has been amended to enlarge the number of national parliamentary seats reserved for women. In Latvia, discrimination against women in the workplace is now prohibited, and in Angola, which is recovering from decades of civil war, a national ministry has been created for the promotion and development of women.

But, Ms. Fréchette added that women continue to suffer from violence in their daily lives, remain "significantly under-represented in public life" and endure widespread sexual harassment in the workplace.

New Zealand Governor-General Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright, a former member of the Committee monitoring the Convention, told the roundtable that inequality is counter-productive because women who suffer from discrimination will have less economic value than they could otherwise enjoy.

She also voiced concern that so many nations continue to hold reservations to key articles of the Convention, thus weakening its impact in those States.

Some countries, however, have withdrawn either all or part of their reservations since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing was held in 1995, including France, Ireland, Lesotho and Mauritius.

 

UNICEF: 98 States Behind Schedule In Reducing Child Mortality 12

Almost 100 countries are behind schedule in reaching the globally agreed goal to reduce the rate of child deaths by two-thirds by 2015, a study released on 8 October by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reveals.

If current trends continue, the study shows, the average death rate of children under the age of five will have fallen worldwide by only a quarter in the 25 years to 2015 _ far short of the target set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

While much of the industrialized world, the Middle East, North Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific is on target to achieve the MDG, many nations in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe lag far behind.

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said there are 11 million preventable child deaths every year because far too many children still do not have access to basic services, such as health care, sanitation and clean water. "It is incredible that in an age of technological and medical marvels, child survival is so tenuous in so many places, especially for the poor and marginalized. We can do better than this," she said.

Inadequate birthing conditions are responsible for the most preventable deaths: without skilled attendants during delivery or help for the mother, many babies fall victim almost immediately to infectious and parasitic diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria and measles. Acute respiratory infections, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS are among the biggest causes.

The study highlights the vast discrepancy in child mortality rates between rich and poor States. One out of every six children in sub-Saharan Africa die before they reach the age of five, compared to one in every 143 in the industrialized world.

Sierra Leone, despite a small improvement, retains the worst rates on the planet. In 2002 there were 284 deaths for every 1,000 births. The most successful nation is Sweden, which has cut its child mortality rate to three deaths per 1,000 births.

Overall, 90 countries _ including 53 in the developing world _ are on target to achieve the MDG, but another 98 developing nations trail behind.

In 11 States, the rates have actually worsened since 1990, partly because of HIV/AIDS. Those countries are Botswana, Cambodia, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kenya, South Africa, Swaziland, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

 

WHO Works To Eliminate Foodborne Diseases 13

The United Nations health monitoring agency on 13 October launched a campaign to eliminate the incidence of diseases carried by food, aiming to spare the world's 2 million affected people.

Inaugurating its "5 Keys" strategy in Bangkok, Thailand, the World Health Organization (WHO) started distribution of a manual to train food safety professionals on eradicating the dreaded illnesses, which include dehydrating diarrhoea, by keeping hands and cooking surfaces clean, separating raw and cooked food, cooking food thoroughly, storing food at safe temperatures and using safe water and raw ingredients.

"The burden of foodborne disease is enormous but much of this burden can be prevented through simple techniques," said Dr Jorgen Schlundt, Director of WHO's Food Safety Department. "The 5 Keys strategy is complemented by a manual which helps individuals to adopt good food-handling practices. They show how people around the world, no matter where and how they live, can protect themselves from foodborne illness."

Field testing of the manual, Bring Food Safety Home: How to Use the WHO 5 Keys to Safer Food, was starting in various countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua in the Americas, along with Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal and Timor-Leste in Asia.

 

New Measures In Place For Trade In Endangered Species 14

Endangered species received new measures of protection after countries agreed to strengthen wildlife management, fight illegal trafficking and update trade rules for a wide range of plant and animal species, the United Nations environment agency said on 14 October.

The 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which concluded on 14 October in Bangkok, moved to require export or trade permits for ramin trees and agarwood, great white sharks and humphead wrasses _ two fish species of great commercial value _ and banned all trade in the Irrawaddy dolphin.

Trade rules were also strengthened for a number of medicinal plants, including hoodia, used in diet pills; the desert-
living cistanche, a natural tonic; and the Chinese yew tree, which boasts cancer-fighting properties.

On African elephants, the conference agreed to an ambitious action plan for cracking down on unregulated domestic markets in elephant ivory, which have been serving as major outlets for poached ivory, particularly in a number of African and Asian countries. Under the scheme, all African elephant range States will strengthen their legislation and their enforcement efforts, launch public awareness campaigns and report on progress by the end of March 2005.

The meeting also agreed that Namibia and South Africa may open up trophy hunting of the black rhino for the first time in many years, with an annual quota of five animals each. Swaziland may also open up strictly controlled hunting of its population of white rhino and export some live animals. The intent of these decisions is to allow the range States to manage their rhino herds more effectively and to earn income for rhino conservation.

On the sidelines of the meeting, 2004 quotas for caviar exports from the Caspian Sea were announced, as the five Caspian Sea States agreed to take stronger action on sturgeon conservation and illegal trade and harvesting.

"The Bangkok conference has crafted solutions to meet the particular needs of many wildlife species that are either endangered or that could become so if traded unsustainably," said Willem Wijnstekers Secretary-General of CITES, which is administered by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

"These solutions seek to conserve the Earth's rich heritage of biological diversity while supporting the sustainable development of local communities and national economies," he said.

 

United Nations Day, 24 October 15

24 October is observed each year as UN Day. Simply put, it is the birthday of the United Nations. On 24 October 1945, the United Nations was formally established after a majority of its founding members ratified a treaty setting up the world body. Traditionally, UN Day has been marked throughout the world by meetings, discussions and exhibits on the goals and achievement of the Organization.

UN Day is observed because it provides an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the ideals of the United Nations. In the words of Secretary-General Kofi Annan: "In every corner of the world - the United Nations is a living testament of hope. The United Nations lives in the heart and mind of every citizen to end violence and promote tolerance; advance development and ensure equality; protect human rights and alleviate poverty. The United Nations, at its best, enables the achievement of those highest of human aspirations."

The observance of United Nations Day is affirmation of our faith in those human aspirations.