International Support for the NGHO

NGHO 2012 – Support from China

By Mirror Correspondent

On December 18, 2012 The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to include the role of the United Nations in promoting a New Global Human Order (NGHO) on the agenda for its sixty ninth meeting. In the process of placing the NGHO on the agenda at the United Nations a number of discussions took place over the period 2000 to 2012. We present below one such discussion which was made during the General Assembly fifty-fifth session, 40th Plenary meeting; which took place in New York on Wednesday, 25 October 2000, at 3 p.m.

Mr. Wang Donghua (China) (spoke in Chinese): China welcomes the fact that the item entitled “The role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order” is now under discussion in the General Assembly. In the world of today, the development of science and technology and the accumulation of wealth have reached unprecedented levels. However, there exist wide disparities, and in the process of globalization, the gap between the rich and the poor, between North and South, is still widening. The rapid development of information technology, on which high hopes have been placed, is leading to a digital divide. Much of the understanding reached at a series of world conferences in the 1990s and many of the goals laid down at these conferences are still far from being translated into reality. Poverty, backwardness and underdevelopment remain the most daunting challenges faced by many developing countries.

Millennium Summit

At the recent Millennium Summit, which attracted worldwide attention, heads of States made solemn commitments for the promotion of international peace and development. How to make use of the momentum generated by the Millennium Summit to attain the goals and to fulfil the commitments undertaken is a major question confronting all countries. At this juncture the ideas proposed by Guyana for the promotion of an international understanding and the mobilization of political will and effective promotion of the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2) are of positive significance.

The establishment of a new order in international relations is a goal that many countries, especially the developing countries and their peoples, have been striving for over a long period of time. There exist in the current international political and economic order many unjust and unreasonable factors that are not conducive to the stability and development of the many developing countries. At the South Summit held in April 2000, the heads of State of developing countries stressed the need for a new international political and economic order.

The Need for a new Global Human Order:

At the same time they also pointed to the need for a new global human order so as to promote economic growth, to eradicate poverty, to expand productive employment, to promote gender equality and social integration and to reverse the growing disparities between the rich and the poor. This is an embodiment of the consistent positions and views of developing countries and is also reflective of some new ideas.

With regard to the new international political and economic order, China and many developing countries have over the years developed some well-defined concepts, such as respect for the purpose and principles of the United Nations Charter, the right of all countries to determine modalities of their development in the light of their own national conditions, the participation of all countries on an equal footing in the management and formulation of rules of the game on a worldwide scale.

To this one can add the necessity to promote a democratization of international relations and the guarantee of equal rights to development of all countries, as well as the need for the international community to help developing countries develop their economies and for the developed countries to take effective measures to provide debt relief to developing countries, to provide them with funds and technical assistance that would help them attain the capability of self-development, to enhance the development of human resources and to gradually reduce the gap between North and South. The international community should also take more proactive and viable measures to reform the international economic, trade and financial systems and to effectively guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of the large numbers of developing countries.

The China-Africa Cooperation Forum

The China-Africa Cooperation Forum that took place in Beijing from 10 to 12 October 2000 held intensive discussions on the above-mentioned elements and reached broad-based consensus. Many details are spelled out in the platform for the cooperation in economic and social development for China and Africa, as well as in the Beijing Declaration adopted at the Forum. Both parties indicated their readiness to enhance coordination and to play their respective roles for the establishment of a new international political and economic order. We believe that the establishment of a new global human order calls for the strengthening of international cooperation, which in turn calls for solid, down-to- earth work. For this purpose, China has in recent years intensified its efforts in its technical and economic cooperation with its partners. At the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, China made four commitments.

• First, we will continue to provide assistance to African countries to the best of our ability, and with the growth of China’s economy and increase in our overall national strength, we will gradually expand the scale of such assistance.
• Secondly, within two years we will provide debt relief in the amount of 10 billion Chinese yuan to heavily indebted poor countries in Africa and the least developed countries.
• Thirdly, we will earmark funds to support and encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Africa.
• Fourthly, we will establish a fund for the development of human resources in Africa and help African countries train professionals in various disciplines. This is a new contribution from China to South-South cooperation and is also reflective of our good faith in the further promotion of international cooperation.

China is open to and welcomes any proposals and ideas that will help to promote international cooperation and the strengthening of partnership, to eradicate poverty and to promote growth. We support the mobilization of the entire society in reaching broad-based consensus to promote cooperation and achieve joint development. We wish to emphasize the following points.

• First, the goals of the new global human order should be consistent with those of the world conferences in the 1990s and the Millennium Summit. At the same time, Governments should play a leading role in mobilizing all sectors for a joint effort in the promotion of the world economy and social development.
•  Secondly, the new global human order should be conducive to the implementation of the understanding and commitments undertaken in the Millennium Declaration and major global conferences. Efforts should be made to mobilize political will to further strengthen programmes in existing domains of international cooperation rather than replacing the understanding and commitments that already exist.
• Thirdly, the discussions about the new global human order should be closely linked to discussions on items such as the dialogue on the cooperation in international economic development, because these items explore the question of development policy from different perspectives, and therefore the discussions of these different items   will be mutually complementary.

We believe that all countries should undertake concerted efforts to bring about real change in the status quo, where there exists such a gap between international cooperation and commitments on one hand and actual needs on the other. Solid and tangible work should be done to promote global, economic and social development.

 

 

NGHO 2012 – Support from Norway

By Mirror Correspondent

On December 18, 2012 The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to include the role of the United Nations in promoting a New Global Human Order (NGHO) on the agenda for its sixty ninth meeting. In the process of placing the NGHO on the agenda at the United Nations a number of discussions took place over the period 2000 to 2012. We present below one such discussion which was made during the General Assembly fifty-fifth session, 40th Plenary meeting; which took place in New York on Wednesday, 25 October 2000, at 3 p.m.

Mr. Leiro (Norway): Norway is pleased to see that the concept of a new global human order is on the agenda of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. The concept has been discussed in various international forums since it was first proposed by the late Mr. Cheddi Jagan, former President of   Guyana, at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995.

People Centered Development:

The proposal for a new global human order seeks to build a strong political consensus and a broad-based global partnership to combat poverty and promote economic security throughout the world. It calls for a re-examination of international cooperation and partnership and seeks to create a viable consensus on people-centred development as a central pillar of the development efforts of the United Nations in the twenty-first century.

The new global human order acknowledges the powerful and dynamic force of globalization as a means of strengthening cooperation and accelerating growth and development. Although globalization presents opportunities for the developing countries, it has also increased vulnerability. At present, the benefits of globalization are unevenly shared, while its costs are unevenly distributed.

The new global human order seeks to reduce the growing disparities between rich and poor countries arising from globalization and technological innovation.

The Role of the United Nations:

The need to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force which benefits all the world's people was clearly spelled out both in the Secretary- General's millennium report and in the Millennium Declaration itself. The United Nations, with its universal membership and comprehensive scope, is the best forum to promote global consensus on issues of universal concern.

The new global human order proposal is such an issue. However, it is important that this new initiative build on other work done by the United Nations in development, including the series of United Nations conferences held during 1990s, and that it be seen in the context of the follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit.
The proposal envisages a number of concrete initiatives, which we will study carefully. However, we are convinced that the proposal for a new global human order will help Member States and the United Nations itself to achieve the ambitious goals of development and poverty eradication outlined in the Millennium Declaration.

Norway therefore supports this important initiative.

 

NGHO 2012 – Support from Iran

by Mirror Correspondent

On December 18, 2012 The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to include the role of the United Nations in promoting a New Global Human Order (NGHO) on the agenda for its sixty ninth meeting. In the process of placing the NGHO on the agenda at the United Nations a number of discussions took place over the period 2000 to 2012. We present below one such discussion which was made during the General Assembly fifty-fifth session, 40th Plenary meeting; which took place in New York on Wednesday, 25 October 2000, at 3 p.m.

Mr. Nejad Hosseinian (Islamic Republic of Iran): In early September the heads of State and Government of all countries assembled in this very Hall and made a solemn pledge, to themselves as well as to the peoples of the world, to the present generation and to those to come, to strive towards achieving a number of lofty goals and targets.

UN Resolutions:

Having reflected on the report of the Secretary- General, “We the peoples” they committed themselves in the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2) to: “a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level.” (resolution 55/2, para. 2). They committed themselves, inter alia, to “freeing the entire human race from want” (resolution 55/2, para. 11) and undertook “to create an environment — at the national and global levels alike — which is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty”. (resolution 55/2, para. 12)

What was achieved at the Millennium Summit, as reflected in its final outcome, the United Nations Millennium Declaration, represents serious undertakings and pledges. They chart, in a very big brush, the outline of the United Nations approach and policy in the years and decades to come in responding to the critical challenges we all face. The Declaration also represents the collective will and desire of the entire international community to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations in the twenty-first century.

Just a few months prior to the Millennium Summit, the heads of State and Government of the developing countries convened the first ever South Summit in Havana to chart the future path of the developing world in its unending quest for development, progress and prosperity. Acting on the imperative of meeting at the start of the new millennium, the South Summit resolved to reflect on the rapidly changing world economic situation and to address the emerging challenges facing the South in economic and social spheres.

The gap between the rich and the poor and the new global human order:

They stressed, inter alia, the need for a new global human order aimed at reversing the growing disparities  between rich and poor both among and within countries through the promotion of growth and equity, the eradication of poverty, the expansion of productive employment and the promotion of gender equality and social integration.

What is now before the Assembly is a new agenda item on the role of the United Nations in promoting the new global human order. Colleagues listened this morning to the excellent statement by Ambassador Insanally of Guyana laying out the history of the idea, the rationale for its presentation to the General Assembly and the steps envisioned to pursue it further. It could hardly have been better, and the other statements in this connection have also helped.

With all this in mind, we believe the concept of promoting a new global human order is a meritorious addition to the United Nations repertory of ideas and proposals. It certainly contains elements which are peculiar to the initiative and complementary to others already on the table. The emphasis on the need for a broad-based consensus for action within a comprehensive and holistic framework and with the involvement of all actors is indeed commendable.

The call for a broad- based discussion and exchange of views within the framework of the General Assembly on the role of the United Nations in this regard is a welcome suggestion and worthy of full support. Moreover, the proposed discussions here at the United Nations, as well as in the other organizations and agencies of the United Nations system, will help to further elucidate the proposal, shedding light on its parameters and showing how it could be advanced through the collective efforts of the United Nations family in the years to come.

While addressing the question of the new global human order, I would like to take the opportunity to draw the attention of the Assembly to the relevance of President Khatami’s proposal on the dialogue among civilizations to the current discussion. The crux of my President’s proposal, which, as is well known, is now an ongoing United Nations initiative, is that as human beings we have a common destiny and thus a shared responsibility to make that destiny one befitting humanity with all its assets of diversity, one that is decent and equitable.

We believe dialogue, predicated on the need for mutual understanding and expansion of common ground is imperative for the development of a meaningful and educated global policy to ensure the attainment of that decent destiny, which lies at the heart of the proposed new global human order.

Since this is just the beginning of an intergovernmental process on this agenda item, our statement is rather brief. The essential aim of this intervention is to lend support to this valuable initiative. At a more practical and concrete level, we believe the initiative needs to be supported through the adoption, by consensus, of the draft resolution before the Assembly.