World leaders meet in New York to confront twenty-first century issues on a global scale

• Author: Axel Palmason
• Position: IMF Office, United Nations
• Pages: 351-352

Page 351

On September 6–8, the United Nations played host to the Millennium Summit, a truly international effort aimed at addressing a host of current and ongoing issues, including globalization, poverty eradication, and UN peacekeeping operations. The summit, whose official theme was “The United Nations in the Twenty-First Century,” was the scene of the largest-ever gathering of world leaders— 100 heads of state and 47 heads of government. Some 8,000 delegates and 5,000 journalists also attended the event. In addition to the main summit, a series of side events were convened, including various forums for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders; the UN Millennium Women’s Summit attended by women presidents and prime ministers; and the State of the World Forum, a global network of leaders from business, government, and civil society, convened by Mikhail Gorbachev.

The idea of a summit was first proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 in his report Renewing the United Nations: A Program for Reform. In preparation for the summit, in early April, Annan presented a major statement on his vision for the world body in a report, We the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the Twenty-First Century. The report sets out a practical vision for the UN in a globalized world that has changed dramatically in the 55 years since the organization was founded. Among its key messages is the need to make globalization more inclusive, to create more opportunities for all, and not leave billions of people in a state of poverty and exclusion.

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Declaration renews commitment to UN ideals

Following are edited excerpts from the United Nations Millennium Declaration, issued by heads of state and government at the Millennium Summit on September 8. The full text and other related information are available on the United Nations’ millennium website (www.un.org/millennium).

Values and principles

The central challenge we face today is to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world’s people. Its benefits are unevenly shared, while its costs are unevenly distributed.

Responsibility for managing worldwide economic and social development, as well as threats to international peace and security, must be shared among the nations of the world and should be exercised...