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United Nations A/56/326

General Assembly Distr.: General6 September 2001

Original: English

01-52607 (E) 130901*0152607*

Fifty-sixth sessionItem 40 of the provisional agenda*Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit

Road map towards the implementation of theUnited Nations Millennium Declaration

Report of the Secretary-General

* A/56/150.

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Executive summaryThe road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium

Declaration contains an integrated and comprehensive overview of the currentsituation. It outlines potential strategies for action that are designed to meet the goalsand commitments made by the 147 heads of State and Government, and 189 MemberStates in total, who adopted the Millennium Declaration.

The report addresses fully each and every one of the goals and commitmentscontained in the Millennium Declaration, suggests paths to follow and sharesinformation on “best practices”. It draws on the work of Governments, the entireUnited Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions and the World TradeOrganization, intergovernmental organizations, international organizations, regionalorganizations and civil society.

In section II, “Peace, security and disarmament”, the report outlinesmeasures that will help promote human security, including:

• Strengthening the rule of law and taking action against transnational crime: theinternational community, including the United Nations, will continue to assistStates in ratifying treaties, harmonizing their domestic laws with internationalobligations, widening the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice andpromoting the rapid entry into force of the Rome Statute of the InternationalCriminal Court;

• Taking action when the rule of law fails: the international community oftenfinds itself with responsibilities ranging from preventing violent conflict todeploying peacekeeping operations and peace-building missions, often whileworking with regional organization partners. These challenges require action to:

(a) Replace the culture of reaction by one of prevention, as reflected inmeasures designed to limit armed conflict that include preventive arms controland marking and tracking “blood diamonds”;

(b) Complete the significant management reforms under way in UnitedNations peacekeeping, which include filling new posts and developing a 30-to-90-day deployment capability;

(c) Support peace-building efforts on the ground and enhance thecoordination of all the actors involved in disarmament, demobilization andreintegration, while providing the electoral assistance and promoting thereconciliation that a sustainable peace requires;

• Reforming sanctions. Although sanctions can be important instruments ofSecurity Council action, progress must continue to be made in makingsanctions “targeted”, ensuring that they become more effective and that theirimpact on civilians is further reduced;

• Finally, making progress in disarmament in all areas, including weapons ofmass destruction, landmines and small arms: next steps involve implementingexisting conventions, working to develop regional mechanisms to identify, traceand halt illicit traffic in weapons, and supporting civil society advocacy efforts.

Section III, “Development and poverty eradication: the millenniumdevelopment goals”, focuses on sustainable development through poverty

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eradication, emphasizing the importance of halving the number of people whocurrently live on one dollar a day or less. Any effort to achieve sustainabledevelopment demands a concerted effort to reduce poverty, including findingsolutions to hunger, malnutrition and disease. To achieve progress, the developingcountries will need the political and financial commitment of their richer countrypartners. The international community should continue to operate on many fronts toreach these goals:

• Since the scourge of HIV/AIDS and other diseases has a devastating impact onevery effort to lift people out of poverty, the Global AIDS and Health Fund isthus both a campaign to improve health and part of an essential strategy toachieve sustainable development;

• Given that all the issues around poverty are interconnected and demand cross-cutting solutions, such measures as the “School meals” and “Take homerations” programmes can have multiple benefits that extend beyond nutritionalassistance. Education provides the skills that can lift families out of extremepoverty and preserve community health. In particular, when society facilitatesgirls’ empowerment through education, the eventual impact on their and theirfamilies’ daily lives is unequalled;

• People-centred initiatives are crucial but must be supplemented with soundnational policies, such as responsible social spending programmes, as well asimprovements in governance, infrastructure and institution-building, such asthose included in establishing property rights for the poor;

• Wealthier nations must adhere to their promises regarding official developmentassistance, trade access and debt sustainability, all of which are important itemson the agenda of the upcoming International Conference on Financing forDevelopment;

• For the 49 least developed countries, the next steps are implementing a globalversion of the European “Everything but arms” trade programme; increasingofficial development assistance; fully implementing the enhanced HeavilyIndebted Poor Countries Initiative and pursuing measures to promote thecancellation of official bilateral debt;

• Landlocked and small island developing countries are subject to specialvulnerabilities that need to be addressed through support to the GlobalFramework for Transit-Transport Cooperation between landlocked and transitdeveloping countries and the donor community and through the implementationof the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small IslandDeveloping States;

• Lastly, the Information and Communications Technologies Task Force, which isto meet in September 2001, will take steps to begin the bridging of the digitaldivide.

Section IV, “Protecting our common environment”, describes the devastatingimpact that our changing climate is having on the Earth and the consequent necessityof a vigilant approach to conservation and stewardship. It is time to reverse thegrowing environmental damage that is occurring because of global warming,deforestation, the decimation of biodiversity, soil erosion and desertification,reduction in water tables and the increase in natural disasters. Essential actions include:

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• Completing the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as the next key step towardscurbing greenhouse gas emissions;

• Enhancing cooperation and coordination on forest-related issues amongrelevant international and regional organizations, as well as public-privatepartners;

• Implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United NationsConvention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing SeriousDrought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa;

• Supporting initiatives towards environmentally sound water management;

• Adopting strategies to reduce the impact of natural disasters;

• Respecting the principles of human dignity as research continues on the humangenome.

Section V, “Human rights, democracy and good governance”, reaffirms thatfundamental human rights are the foundation of human dignity and must beprotected. It outlines the power of democracy to effect change and empower citizens,and reaffirms the need to work collectively for more inclusive political processes,with genuine political participation. Strategies for moving forward include:

• Fostering national human rights institutions;

• Supporting the practical application of a rights-based approach to development;

• Providing electoral assistance to help consolidate new and restored democraciesand work to implement democratic principles through institutional reformprogrammes;

• Encouraging the further ratification and implementation of the Convention onthe Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;

• Working to protect the rights of migrants and their families;

• Helping to ensure the freedom and independence of the media.

Section VI, “Protecting the vulnerable”, focuses on those groups, inparticular women and children, that are forced into situations of displacement andabuse because of complex humanitarian emergencies. The changing nature of warhas left these groups highly exposed, and both State and non-State actors need torespect the wealth of international laws and frameworks that exist to ensure theprotection of civilians, refugees and the internally displaced. The report identifiespractical measures that can be taken to provide protection to civilians, includingthrough prosecuting violations of international criminal law, gaining access tovulnerable populations, and separating civilians and armed elements in situations offorced displacement. Essential next steps include:

• Fostering a culture of protection through the consistent use of internationalcriminal law;

• Providing protection for refugees and internally displaced persons andcontinuing to disseminate international standards such as the Guiding Principleson Internal Displacement;

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• Supporting national efforts to implement fully the Convention on the Rights ofthe Child and its Optional Protocols, and providing special assistance to halt theuse of children as soldiers.

Section VII, “Meeting the special needs of Africa”, addresses the challengesposed by extreme poverty, devastating debt burdens, disease, conflict and waveringinternational interest. Some of those problems are general to developing countries,but Africa suffers particularly from its marginalization in the process ofglobalization. Africa’s share in trade, investment and advances in technology havediminished further over the last decade. But African leadership has galvanized localand international support for a range of initiatives and strategies for moving forwardin the following arenas:

• Supporting the New African Initiative as it affects all sectors;

• Strengthening democratic governance;

• Building peacekeeping capacity further, in cooperation with regionalorganizations;

• Working for sustainable development by increasing official developmentassistance, enhancing private capital flows and building capacities for trade;

• Forming partnerships in response to the Abuja Summit Declaration in order tocombat HIV/AIDS.

Section VIII, “Strengthening the United Nations”, argues that renewing thecapacity of the Organization to provide a space for genuine dialogue and a catalystfor effective action calls for improved coordination among its principal organs andenhanced partnerships with other multilateral organizations and civil society. Forthese purposes, key reforms will involve:

• Ensuring that the Organization receives on a timely and predictable basis thefinancial resources it needs to carry out its mandates;

• Continuing to adopt the best internal management practices;

• Paying particular attention to the safety of United Nations and associatedpersonnel;

• Building a stronger relationship among the United Nations, the Bretton Woodsinstitutions and the World Trade Organization through the Advisory Committeeon Coordination;

• Deepening the relationship with the Inter-Parliamentary Union and engagingthe private sector, non-governmental organizations and the rest of civil societythrough the United Nations Foundation for International Partnerships and theGlobal Compact.

The road map concludes by noting that there will be annual reports and, everyfive years, a comprehensive report on progress made or not made in reaching thesegoals. The entire United Nations family of Member States, internationalorganizations, funds, agencies, programmes, the private sector and civil society mustjoin together to meet the lofty commitments that are embodied in the MillenniumDeclaration. Success requires solidarity.

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ContentsParagraphs Page

I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–11 7

II. Peace, security and disarmament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–79 7

A. International rule of law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14–32 8

B. Strengthening United Nations capacities for resolving armed conflict. . . . . . . 33–61 11

C. Disarmament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62–79 16

III. Development and poverty eradication: the millennium development goals . . . . . . 80–163 18

IV. Protecting our common environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164–194 32

V. Human rights, democracy and good governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195–224 36

VI. Protecting the vulnerable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225–238 41

VII. Meeting the special needs of Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239–260 43

VIII. Strengthening the United Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261–303 46

IX. The road ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304–307 53

Annex

Millennium development goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

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I. Introduction

1. The United Nations Millennium Declaration(General Assembly resolution 55/2), which wasadopted by all 189 Member States of the UnitedNations (147 of them represented directly by their headof State or Government) on 8 September 2000,embodies a large number of specific commitmentsaimed at improving the lot of humanity in the newcentury.

2. In paragraph 18 of its resolution 55/162 on thefollow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit,the General Assembly asked me to prepare a “roadmap” to set out in detail how these commitments couldbe fulfilled. That is the purpose of the present report.

3. It is almost a truism that the problems facinghumanity are closely intertwined, and that each tendsto complicate the solution of one or more others. Totake an obvious example, conflict and endemic diseasetend to thrive in regions where the people are poor anduneducated, but in their turn they act as powerfulinhibitors of education and economic growth. Thisobservation does not justify defeatism. Rather, it showsthe vital importance of a comprehensive approach anda coordinated strategy, tackling many problemssimultaneously across a broad front.

4. That was precisely the objective of the UnitedNations Millennium Summit and Declaration. Andtherefore, the present report not only examines each ofthe commitments contained in the MillenniumDeclaration in its own right but also considers howthey interact with each other. It seeks to highlightcross-cutting issues, where a coordinated approach canyield much more than the sum of its parts.

5. A coordinated strategy will not be achievedwithout better coordination among internationalinstitutions and agencies, including those within theUnited Nations system. And this effort must alsomobilize the energies of all actors, including notablythe private sector, philanthropic foundations, non-governmental organizations, academic and culturalinstitutions, and other members of civil society.

6. Most of the targets set by the MillenniumDeclaration were not new. They derived from theglobal conferences of the 1990s and from the body ofinternational norms and laws that had been codifiedover the past half-century. Moreover, the present report

shows that the plans of action needed for reachingthese targets have, for the most part, already beendeveloped and formally adopted by Member States,sometimes individually and sometimes jointly, withininternational organizations and at conferences.

7. What is needed, therefore, is not more technicalor feasibility studies. Rather, States need todemonstrate the political will to carry out commitmentsalready given and to implement strategies alreadyworked out.

8. This will require hard decisions and courageousreforms in all States and all areas of policy, rangingfrom cuts in energy consumption and carbon emissions,the provision of troops and other personnel forhazardous peacekeeping operations, the absorption ofrefugees and the control of arms exports to moretransparent and accountable governance and thereallocation of public resources towards projects thatbenefit the neediest groups in society, as opposed to themost influential.

9. Indeed, none of the millennium developmentgoals can be reached unless significant additionalresources are made available. Many of these resourceswill have to be found within the countries where theyare spent, but a special obligation falls on the morefortunate countries to ensure that the less fortunatehave a genuine opportunity to improve their lot.

10. In the Millennium Declaration, industrializedcountries reaffirmed long-standing commitments tomuch higher levels of development assistance, muchmore generous debt relief, and duty- and quota-freeaccess for exports from the least developed countries.Those that fail to honour these commitments mustrealize that they are failing also in the responsibility,which they have solemnly recognized, “to uphold theprinciples of human dignity, equality and equity at theglobal level” (see General Assembly resolution 55/2,para. 2).

11. The international community has just emergedfrom an era of commitment. It must now enter an era ofimplementation, in which it mobilizes the will andresources needed to fulfil the promises made.

II. Peace, security and disarmament

12. The turn of the millennium has brought newchallenges and new opportunities, particularly in the

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field of peace and security. Today’s wars are mostlyfought within States, although some conflicts haveinvolved neighbouring countries, into which they spillover with destabilizing effects. The total number ofarmed conflicts is now declining and there has been asignificant increase in the number of peace agreements,peacekeeping operations and other types of peace-making efforts by the international community.Nevertheless, civilians have become more vulnerable;women, children and humanitarian workers aredeliberately targeted, and in some cases mutilation andrape are used as instruments of terror and control. Thissituation has compelled the international community toaddress these threats to human security.

13. The principle of human-centred security, alongwith the need to protect individuals and communitiesfrom violence, is increasingly acknowledged. Humansecurity depends first on the effective application oflaw and order, which in turn demands a firm adherenceto the rule of law. A commitment to human securityalso demands enhanced international cooperation inconflict prevention, and strengthened capacities toassist countries in building, keeping and restoringpeace. A further requirement for ensuring humansecurity is disarmament, which involves a consistentand concerted effort from all. Progress here can bothreduce global threats and save resources vital for socialand economic well-being.

A. International rule of law

GOAL: Strengthen the international rule of lawand compliance with the International Court ofJustice and the Charter of the United Nations,ensure the implementation by States parties oftreaties in such areas as arms control anddisarmament and of internationalhumanitarian law and human rights law, andcall upon all States to consider signing andratifying the Rome Statute of the InternationalCriminal Court1

14. The Charter of the United Nations and othersources of international law have establishedconditions under which justice and respect for theobligations arising from treaties can be maintained.The rule of law at the international level is becomingmore widely accepted, and States are increasinglyemploying treaties to regulate their relations.

15. The rule of law is ultimately enforced through theapplication of democratic principles and internationalhuman rights and humanitarian norms. The primaryresponsibility for guaranteeing the protection and well-being of the individual rests with the State. While suchstructures as the International Criminal Court and theInternational Criminal Tribunals are critical inchallenging the “culture of impunity” by deterringfuture human rights violations and thus acting asprevention mechanisms, there is no substitute forconcrete State action to ensure that those who violateinternational law are brought to justice.

16. As of 1 August 2001, the Secretary-General is thedepositary of more than 500 major multilateralinstruments, 429 of which are in force. These treatiesform a comprehensive framework of legal normsregulating the conduct of nations that has a broadimpact on the lives of individuals and communities.They span the spectrum of human interactions, fromhuman rights to the use of outer space. For theMillennium Summit, the Secretary-General launched acampaign promoting the signature and ratification of awide range of treaties, with particular emphasis on a setof 25 core treaties representative of the key objectivesof the United Nations. A total of 84 delegations (59 atthe head of state and government level) signed ordeposited instruments of ratification or accessionrelating to 40 multilateral agreements deposited withthe Secretary-General. During the three-day Summit,187 signatures and 87 ratifications or accessions wereeffected. The event will be repeated annually. Thisyear’s treaty event will be held from 19 September to 5October 2001. Entitled “Focus 2001: rights of womenand children”, it will coincide with the special sessionof the General Assembly on children and the openingof the General Assembly.

17. Important initiatives are under way to challengethe culture of impunity referred to above. Tribunals ofmixed national and international staff, drawing onnational and international jurisdiction, have beendesigned for Cambodia and Sierra Leone. If successful,they may herald a new approach to eradicatingimpunity in countries where genocide, crimes againsthumanity and war crimes have been committed. Thesemechanisms will not only resolve current issues butalso leave a permanent cadre of trained judges, lawyersand legal staff in the country involved, and will help tointegrate international standards of justice into nationallegal systems.

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18. As of 19 August 2001, 37 countries have ratifiedthe Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,which provides, for the first time, a permanent tribunalfor trying individuals accused of committing genocide,war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sixtyratifications are needed before the treaty will enter intoforce. The pace of ratification and accession augurswell for the Statute’s early entry into force, which willbe a giant step forward in the march towards universalhuman rights and the rule of law.

19. In order to ensure that United Nations forcescomply with international humanitarian law, aSecretary-General’s bulletin on the observance byUnited Nations forces of international humanitarianlaw was issued in 1999.2 This measure is binding uponall members of United Nations peace operations andhas been disseminated to all peacekeeping missions,signalling formal recognition of the applicability ofinternational humanitarian law to United Nations peaceoperations. It will apply in situations of armed conflictwhere United Nations forces are actively engaged.

20. Strategies for moving forward include:

• Supporting States in designing domestic legalframeworks consistent with international humanrights norms and standards;

• Making international technical assistanceavailable to help countries that wish to harmonizetheir domestic laws with internationalobligations;

• Encouraging States to take part in the treaty event“Focus 2001: rights of women and children”, withparticular attention to the set of 23 selectedtreaties relating to the advancement of women’sand children’s rights;

• Supporting States to implement internationallegal commitments, including treaties, anddeveloping United Nations mechanisms, such asthe Treaty Handbook, to help Governments draftlegislation and run training programmes onaspects of international law;

• Ensuring the widest acceptance of theInternational Court of Justice’s compulsoryjurisdiction, and ensuring that provisions in futuremultilateral treaties provide for disputes to bereferred to the International Court of Justice;

• Working at the national level to advanceratification and accession processes in order toreach the 60 ratifications required for the RomeStatute of the International Criminal Court toenter into force.

GOAL: To take concerted action againstinternational terrorism and to accede as soon aspossible to all the relevant internationalconventions

21. The United Nations strategy against internationalterrorism has largely focused on efforts to create alegal framework. Twelve global conventions andprotocols, as well as numerous declarations, have beenadopted. The number of States acceding to theinternational conventions on terrorism is increasingslowly, and the rate of implementation varies. In theVienna Declaration on Crime and Justice: Meeting theChallenges of the Twenty-first Century,3 MemberStates committed themselves to take measures toprevent and combat criminal acts that further terrorism.


• Encouraging States to sign, ratify and implementthe conventions and protocols relating toterrorism;

• Supporting the international community in itsefforts to finalize the draft internationalconvention for the suppression of acts of nuclearterrorism, and efforts to draw up a comprehensiveconvention on international terrorism;

• Continuing efforts to develop and adoptcorresponding laws and administrative proceduresat the national level.

GOAL: To redouble our efforts to implementour commitment to counter the world drugproblem

23. Illicit drug traffic generates between $150 billionto $250 billion a year, which is either laundered or usedto finance further illegal activities and armed conflict.The United Nations helps countries to strengthen theirefforts to combat drug trafficking by advising onstrategic approaches to drug control, identifying andpromoting good practice in law enforcement anddeveloping appropriate projects to enhance theeffectiveness of law enforcement authorities.

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24. Ratification of the three international conventionson drug control is close to universal: 170 States areparties to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of1961,4 168 are parties to the Convention onPsychotropic Substances of 19715 and 160 are partiesto the United Nations Convention against Illicit Trafficin Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of1988.6

25. By adopting the Political Declaration at thetwentieth special session of the General Assembly, inJune 1998,7 Member States committed themselves toestablishing or strengthening by 2003 measures againstthe illicit manufacture, trafficking and abuse ofsynthetic drugs; national legislation and programmesagainst money-laundering and cooperation amongjudicial law enforcement authorities; measures topromote cooperation among judicial and lawenforcement authorities; and drug demand reductionstrategies and programmes. They further committedthemselves to achieving significant and measurableresults in drug demand reduction; significantelimination or reduction of the illicit manufacture,marketing and trafficking of psychotropic substances,including synthetic drugs and significant elimination orreduction of the illicit cultivation of coca, cannabis andopium poppy by 2008.


• Supporting States to ensure that the commitmentsmade at the twentieth special session of theGeneral Assembly are realized;

• Working to secure adequate financial andtechnical support for alternative developmentprogrammes, and to set up improved monitoringand evaluation mechanisms to assess the impactof alternative development interventions.

GOAL: To intensify our efforts to fighttransnational crime in all its dimensions,including trafficking in and smuggling humanbeings and money-laundering

27. The General Assembly recently adopted theUnited Nations Convention against TransnationalOrganized Crime8 and its Protocols to Prevent,Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, EspeciallyWomen and Children,9 against the Smuggling ofMigrants by Land, Sea and Air,10 and against IllicitManufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms.11 As of14 August 2001, there are 126 signatories to the

Convention, which will enter into force once it hasbeen ratified by 40 States, which is expected to happenby the end of 2002. To date, two States have ratifiedthe Convention.

28. Transnational crime has an estimated turnover of$1 trillion and estimated profits of $500 billion peryear. Criminal organizations are shifting theiroperations to more sophisticated criminal activities,involving information technology and the financialsector, as well as to less “traditional” areas, includingtrafficking in human beings and trafficking in firearms.For example, estimates of the number of traffickingvictims now range from 700,000 to 2 million a year,mostly women, children and the very poor.

29. The challenge that corruption poses to the rule oflaw, good governance and development is now widelyrecognized. Corruption has robbed many developingand transition countries of their national assets.Attempts by such countries to recover money lost inthis way have been delayed by the absence ofappropriate international treaties and by bank secrecy.Work on a new convention that will strengthen andmobilize national and international actions againstcorruption has begun, and the negotiations for thisconvention should be complete by the end of 2003.


• Encouraging States to bring into force andimplement the United Nations Convention againstTransnational Organized Crime and its Protocolsas soon as possible, and to help developingcountries meet new obligations arising from theseinstruments;

• Directing research towards the complexities ofcyber-crime, particularly on modalities ofinternational cooperation to deal with it;

• Continuing efforts by the United Nations toemploy its comprehensive information, legal,regulatory and enforcement infrastructure tocombat money-laundering;

• Incorporating crime prevention and criminaljustice concerns into United Nations peaceoperations.

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GOAL: To observe the Olympic Truce,individually and collectively, now and in thefuture, and to support the InternationalOlympic Committee in its efforts to promotepeace and human understanding through sportand the Olympic ideal

31. The Olympic Truce requires all belligerents tocease hostilities for a specific period around theOlympic Games. This is an important conflictresolution tool, endorsed by heads of State at theGeneral Assembly in 199312 and again at theMillennium Summit.13 The International OlympicCommittee (IOC) is engaged in a number of projects,with United Nations partners and others, to developsport as a means for the reconciliation of communitiesin conflict or post-conflict situations. The Secretary-General’s Adviser on Sports for Development andPeace is identifying other United Nations programmesthat might benefit from the involvement of sportsorganizations.

32. Strategy for moving forward:

• Enhancing cooperation between Member States,IOC and the United Nations system to use sportin economic and social development, and for thepromotion of a culture of peace, particularlyamong youth.

B. Strengthening United Nationscapacities for resolving armed conflict

GOAL: Make the United Nations more effectivein maintaining peace and security by giving itthe resources and tools it needs for conflictprevention, the peaceful resolution of disputes,peacekeeping, and post-conflict peace-buildingand reconstruction

33. Despite a decline in the number of armedconflicts during the past decade, wars continue to causeimmense suffering, particularly in Africa and Asia. Inthe 1990s, armed conflict claimed more than 5 millionlives, most of them civilians, and inflicted hardship onits survivors through injury, displacement anddispossession. The human and material costs of failingto prevent conflict are harsh and lasting. Theinternational community must move from a culture ofreaction to a culture of prevention of armed conflict: itis the most desirable and cost-effective strategy toensure lasting peace.

Conflict prevention

34. Conflict prevention, like conflict itself, is a cross-cutting issue and cannot be implemented in isolationfrom policies in the development, security, political,human rights and environmental arenas. There is acritical interdependence between sustainabledevelopment and human security. Mechanisms ofsocial stability and societal justice usually develophand in hand with improvements in living standards.This process is a dynamic one, with basic developmentgoals reinforcing the need for good governance, and inturn good governance practices providing a frameworkfor peace and development.

35. Development is a force of change that can raiseexpectations but can also highlight disparities and eventrigger violent conflicts. This problem has beenexacerbated in the past, when development hasstopped, regressed or been accompanied by risinginequalities, causing tensions to increase. Part of theprevention strategy in these situations is to manage thepace of development and foster equity, also ensuringthat projects can be undertaken in a sustainable mannerand that local expectations are set appropriately.

36. Effective conflict prevention strategies need to bebased on a comprehensive and multidisciplinaryapproach, tailored to the unique circumstances of eachsituation. This approach should include structuralmeasures to address the underlying causes of conflict,such as socio-economic inequalities or the denial offundamental human rights. It should also includeoperational measures aimed at crisis prevention, suchas fact-finding missions, preventive diplomacy orpreventive deployment. Within the United Nations, wehave begun to supplement our more traditional politicaland military conflict prevention activities with alonger-term vision of prevention, which we are nowbuilding more consciously into all our work. Effectivepreventive diplomacy measures will continue to beutlilized, including fact-finding and confidence-building missions, visits by special envoys, as well asthe exercise of the Secretary-General’s “good offices”.

37. In recent years, academic and research institutesaround the world, together with United Nationsresearch arms, such as the United Nations Universityand the United Nations Institute for Training andResearch, have significantly increased their focus onprevention issues. Non-governmental organizationshave emerged as an important channel for preventive

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action and diplomacy. They have provided impartialforums for divided groups to communicate andnegotiate, disseminate studies on responseopportunities and policy briefs, and act as advocates inraising international awareness of impending orongoing conflict. In addition, an internationalnetworking capacity in the field of conflict preventionis currently being developed to systematically linkacademic experts, non-governmental organizations andother sectors of civil society to the United Nations andvarious other international and regional organizations.

38. Other strategies for conflict prevention caninclude tracking and marking “blood diamonds” andother “conflict resources”. In July 2001, 40 diamond-producing countries, the World Diamond Council andthe European Union (EU) came up with the mainprinciples of a certification system requiringGovernments to confirm the legitimacy of diamondsand producers to give guarantees to their Governments.Strategies can also include eliminating the flow ofillegal small arms, such as through post-conflictschemes in which vouchers or cash are offered inexchange for weapons.

39. A particularly important achievement with regardto conflict prevention is the recent Security Councilresolution 1366 (2001) on the prevention of armedconflict. The resolution is a broad and progressiveendorsement of a range of issues related to prevention,and should be welcomed for its recommendations andits contribution to the dialogue. In the resolution, theSecurity Council stressed that national Governmentshold the essential responsibility for conflict prevention,but the Council also demonstrated a willingness tointegrate a comprehensive and long-term preventivestrategy into its work.


• Earlier and more sustained action to address theunderlying causes of conflict, development ofimproved integrated prevention strategies with aregional focus, and enhancing the capacity ofMember States, regional organizations and theUnited Nations system to undertake effectivepreventive action;

• Encouraging States to ensure the equitabledistribution of assets and access to resources;

• Urging States to act on the recommendationsmade in the report of the Secretary-General onthe prevention of armed conflict;14

• Strengthening national capacities for addressingstructural risk factors by providing UnitedNations advisory services and technicalassistance;

• Continuing to utilize United Nationsmultidisciplinary fact-finding missions, encouragingStates and the Security Council to use preventivedeployments and establishing an informalnetwork of eminent persons for conflictprevention.

Peacekeeping

41. A total of 54 United Nations peacekeepingoperations have been set up since 1948, two thirds ofthose since 1991. However, peacekeeping trends havefluctuated over the past 50 years, particularly over thelast decade. Today, there are 16 active peacekeepingoperations. Correspondingly, the numbers of militarytroops and civilian police staffing levels have alsoincreased. In 1999, there were 9,000 military troopsand 2,000 civilian police serving in United Nationsoperations; today, there are 35,000 military troops and8,000 civilian police. Cooperation with regionalorganizations has become an important aspect ofpeacekeeping, although varying regional peacekeepingcapacities influence the nature of cooperation with theUnited Nations. Combining the motivation andknowledge of regional actors with the legitimacy,expertise and resources of the United Nations canenhance the international community’s work for peace.Troop contributions from developing countries haveincreased substantially. In 1991, only two of the top 10troop contributors were developing countries; in 2001,eight of the top 10 contributors are developingcountries.

42. Although peacekeeping is a vital instrument,there was previously a tendency to treat it as atemporary aberration rather than to invest in its long-term success. Member States have now recognized theneed to match peacekeeping mandates with human,material, financial and political support, and we haveembarked together on the journey towards achievingoperational excellence.

43. As detailed in the reports of the Panel on UnitedNations Peace Operations and of the Special

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Committee on Peacekeeping Operations,15 UnitedNations peacekeeping capacity has suffered fromshortages in Headquarters staff, field personnel andfinancial resources, and in the availability of troops,personnel and resources. Furthermore, because of theperception that peacekeeping was a temporaryendeavour rather than a core function of the UnitedNations, Headquarters in particular was not equippedwith the level of resources it needed to functionadequately.

44. The Millennium Declaration called forexpeditious consideration of the recommendations ofthe Panel on United Nations Peace Operations. TheGeneral Assembly responded to the recommendation tomake additional resources available, providing theUnited Nations with 93 posts in December 2000, and isnow considering a budget for further recommendationson increased staffing levels, on strengtheningmanagement practices and culture, and on translatinglegislative guidance into strategic plans for futurepeacekeeping operations. The progress made towardsdeveloping a 30-to-90-day deployment capability isparticularly welcome. The peacekeeping reformprocess includes expanded standby arrangements formilitary, civilian and civilian police personnel, and thedevelopment of global logistics support and staffingstrategies. Further efforts to strengthen United Nationspeacekeeping include creating a long-term planningcapacity, improving efficiency in the relationshipbetween headquarters and field missions and enhancingtraining capacity, whereby peacekeepers will receivestandardized training, including in human rights andhumanitarian law. Related efforts to enhance thefunctioning of the Executive Committee on Peace andSecurity, through the provision of a small secretariat,will contribute to enhance decision-makingcapabilities, including in areas pertaining topeacekeeping.


• Ensuring the expeditious completion of thepeacekeeping reform process by Member Statesand the United Nations, focusing in particular onreaching an agreement in 2001 on the legislativedecisions required for further progress, includingon financial resources;

• Increasing collaboration between the UnitedNations and regional organizations;

• Dedicating greater attention to gender,humanitarian and disarmament issues inpeacekeeping operations.

Peace-building and reconstruction

46. A significant part of the work of the UnitedNations and its specialized agencies is in the area ofpeaceful dispute resolution, including through legalmechanisms, and in programmes for building peaceand reconstructing war-torn societies. This work tendsto be low-key and long-term but is vital in efforts toachieve a more peaceful and just world.

47. The United Nations uses a number of tools fordispute resolution, ranging from the Secretary-General’s good offices and missions by his high-levelenvoys and special representatives to longer-terminitiatives and programmes undertaken by theoperational agencies. Other efforts include truth andreconciliation commissions and community dialogueactivities, which aim to bring together stakeholders,usually in intra-State conflicts, to discuss and resolvedifferences in non-confrontational settings. Conflictsbetween States can be resolved through the use of theinternational legal framework and the InternationalCourt of Justice.

48. Dispute resolution mechanisms, particularly thoseconcerned with truth and reconciliation, are criticaleven after a violent conflict has begun, but they shouldbe accompanied by a broader range of measures thatfall under the rubric of “peace-building”. Peace-building involves long-term political, developmental,economic, social, security, humanitarian and humanrights measures aimed at preventing the outbreak orrecurrence of conflict by addressing its root causes. Itcan take many forms, such as the disarmament,demobilization and reintegration of former combatants;strengthening the rule of law and the administration ofjustice; providing electoral and governance assistance;supporting the development of civil society and of thefree and independent media; engaging in land reform;and promoting conflict resolution and reconciliationtechniques at the local community level.

49. From early experiences in Namibia andCambodia and the 1992 publication of the Agenda forPeace16 to more recent missions in East Timor, Kosovoand Tajikistan, the United Nations has acquired awealth of practical peace-building experience. TheMillennium Declaration’s focus on additional resources

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and tools for effective peace-building is timely, giventhe recent increase in both conceptual and operationalwork in this area.

50. A number of initiatives have been taken in thepeace-building arena since the Millennium Summit. InFebruary 2001, there was a thematic debate of theSecurity Council, a presidential statement of theSecurity Council (S/PRST/2001/5) and a consultationon peace-building with regional organizations. Workwithin the system on peace-building policy is ongoingand has seen important contributions from throughoutthe system. There is a vast body of operationalexpertise in all the United Nations departments,agencies, funds and programmes, and a growingrecognition that the most successful peacekeepingoperations help to build the institutions, socialinfrastructure and economic capacities that can help toprevent what would otherwise be the next round ofconflict.

51. Moving from resolving conflict to restoring peacerequires a focus on sustainable measures. All UnitedNations actors present in a specific country can and docontribute to peace-building. Many departments andagencies have established or are in the process ofestablishing specialized peace-building functions,while considerable work has gone into inter-agencycoordination in this area. The contribution ofoperational agencies is vital in peace-building. On theground, United Nations resident coordinators andcountry teams are improving the coherence of theirprogramming, and a peace-building unit is beingestablished at Headquarters to support these activities.


• Securing adequate resources from theinternational community to permit recovery anddevelopment for post-conflict societies;

• Strengthening the capacity of United Nationsresident coordinators and country teams toundertake effective peace-building;

• Consolidating peace and preventing therecurrence of conflict through disarmament,demobilization and reintegration measures;

• Improving the functioning of the United Nationspeace-building support offices based on thefindings of the recent evaluation mission.

GOAL: To strengthen cooperation between theUnited Nations and regional organizations, inaccordance with the provisions of Chapter VIIIof the Charter of the United Nations

53. A number of regional organizations areestablishing or enhancing their capacity in the peaceand security area, such as through the establishment ofinstitutional capacities for conflict prevention andconflict management. In addition, the United Nationsand regional organizations have created a number ofcooperative arrangements, such as annual meetingsbetween the United Nations Office at Geneva, theEuropean Union, the Council of Europe and theOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE), and the establishment in 1998 of a UnitedNations office in Addis Ababa to liaise with theheadquarters of the Organization of African Unity(OAU). In peacekeeping and peace-building situations,the United Nations and regional groups haveco-deployed or have divided responsibilities. A newpermutation of such cooperation can be seen in themission in Kosovo, where direct reporting lines havebeen established from regional partners to the UnitedNations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo(UNMIK). Other practical forms of cooperation haveevolved, such as fielding joint conflict preventionmissions.

54. Since 1994, there have been high-level biannualmeetings between the United Nations and regionalorganizations. The theme in 1998 was conflictprevention. This year’s meeting, in February 2001,examined the potential for expanding cooperation inthe field of peace-building; 18 delegations fromregional, subregional and other internationalorganizations attended and adopted a “Framework forcooperation in peace-building”. OSCE will hold thefirst regional workshop to discuss specific regionaldimensions of cooperation.


• Continuing the high-level biannual meetingsbetween the United Nations and regionalorganizations;

• Strengthening cooperation through capacity-building, strategic development and operationalinteraction between regional organizations andthe United Nations;

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• Strengthening national and regional mechanismsfor prevention, conflict resolution and peace-building, and examining ways to build links tocivil society.

GOAL: To minimize the adverse effects ofUnited Nations economic sanctions on innocentpopulations, to subject such sanctions regimesto regular reviews and to eliminate the adverseeffects of sanctions on third parties

56. Mandatory measures imposed under Article 41,Chapter VII, of the Charter of the United Nations arean important tool available to the Security Council as itseeks to maintain or restore international peace andsecurity. In recent years, however, there has beenincreasing concern about the negative effects ofsanctions on vulnerable civilian populations, as well asover their collateral effects on third States.Comprehensive sanctions may impose civilianhardships disproportionate to likely political gains.Those in power might transfer the cost to thevulnerable, profit from black market activity andexploit sanctions as a justification for their ownshortcomings. Furthermore, neighbouring countriesbear much of the trading losses from compliance.Greater use should, therefore, be made of existingprovisions contained in the Charter for mitigating theeconomic effects of sanctions on these countries.

57. In response to these problems, Member States,intergovernmental organizations, non-governmentalorganizations and academic experts have been makingefforts to improve the effectiveness of United Nationssanctions, as well as to refine the concept of targetedsanctions. Such measures include financial sanctions,arms embargoes, travel bans and diplomaticrestrictions. Expert seminars on targeting UnitedNations financial sanctions have been held to explorethe basis for cooperation among Member States,intergovernmental organizations, non-governmentalorganizations and experts in the field. The seminarshave also explored such issues as the design andapplication of targeted Security Council financialsanctions against decision-making elites. Targetedfinancial sanctions could enhance the effectiveness ofthe sanctions instrument and minimize unintendednegative effects.

58. Recent sanctions measures imposed by theSecurity Council have been more targeted, and in all ofthese sanctions regimes the Council has sought to focus

sanctions pressure on those responsible for behaviourthat contravenes international norms of peace andsecurity, while seeking to minimize the humanitarianimpact on civilian populations and on affected thirdStates. Even targeted sanctions might not be enough torestore peace or halt illicit actions. They must beintegrated into a comprehensive conflict resolutionstrategy or conflict prevention strategy, and must becomplemented by inducement measures.

59. Solutions must also be found to the difficulties ofmonitoring sanctions. That task is currently the primaryresponsibility of Member States, but they often lack thecapacity to monitor effectively. A permanent sanctionsmonitoring mechanism needs to be developed in orderto ensure better targeting and enforcement of smartsanctions and to bring non-cooperation and non-compliance information to the attention of the SecurityCouncil. This would allow for a more systematicfollow-up for those State and non-state actors whobreak sanctions or who do not cooperate with UnitedNations panels of experts and sanctions committees,and would also provide a point of contact between theSecurity Council and other international and regionalorganizations dealing with sanctions. It is thereforeessential for the Security Council to reach agreementon its policy objectives and on how success should bedefined with regard to sanctions.

60. The Security Council has also made morefrequent use of United Nations panels of experts, whichhave documented sanctions violations, including illicitarms trafficking and illegal sales of diamonds, andmade recommendations on improving internationalmonitoring. The Security Council might make morefrequent use of humanitarian assessments before theimposition of sanctions, as well as continuing tomonitor the humanitarian impact once sanctions havebeen imposed, as has recently been the case inAfghanistan. The Security Council Working Group onSanctions, established by the President of the SecurityCouncil on 17 April 2000, has confirmed that it willreport to the Council when it reaches consensus onrecommendations.


• Supporting the international community’scontinuing efforts to develop targeted sanctions;

• Supporting the Security Council in its work toimprove international monitoring of sanctions

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regimes and in efforts to assess the humanitarianimpact of sanctions.

C. Disarmament

62. Despite the end of the cold war, global militaryspending has been increasing. In 1998, militaryspending was $762 billion; in 2000, approximately$800 billion was spent on weapons of mass destruction,conventional weapons, research and development andpersonnel costs. The real total is likely to be evenhigher since data is not available for a number ofcountries, including some that are currently in conflict.That ominous trend heightens the danger of a renewedarms race. The possible demise of the Treaty on theLimitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems17 threatensthe framework of treaties on disarmament and non-proliferation, while raising the risks of new arms races,including in outer space. Innocent people throughoutthe world are still threatened by weapons of massdestruction. They face additional threats from majorconventional weapons, as well as from thedestabilizing accumulation and illicit sale of smallarms and light weapons, and the continued productionand use of landmines. Of all these challenges, however,the total elimination of nuclear weapons must remainthe top priority.

GOAL: To strive for the elimination of weaponsof mass destruction, particularly nuclearweapons, and to keep all options open forachieving this aim, including the possibility ofconvening an international conference toidentify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers

63. Despite widespread and persistent calls fortransparency, there are no official figures available oneither the number of nuclear weapons in the worldtoday or their total cost. According to severalestimates, however, more than 30,000 such weaponsremain, many of them on hair-trigger alert.

64. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty18

has not entered into force even though it has 161signatories and 77 ratifications. Only three of the fivenuclear-weapon States (as defined by the terms of theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons(NPT))19 have ratified the Treaty. START II,20 abilateral treaty to reduce nuclear weapons to about3,500 each for the United States and the RussianFederation, has not entered into force.

65. The Conference on Disarmament remainsdeadlocked despite a growing need for new agreementson nuclear disarmament, fissile materials and theprevention of an arms race in outer space. Thisstalemate has raised serious concern within theinternational community that the effectiveness of theestablished multilateral disarmament machinery isbeing adversely affected.

66. Despite these trends, certain developments offer afoundation for future progress. More than half of thenuclear weapons deployed at the height of the cold warhave now been dismantled. The overwhelming majorityof States have fully complied with their legalobligations concerning weapons of mass destruction.Instances of non-compliance with International AtomicEnergy Agency safeguards agreements and SecurityCouncil resolutions are rare and do not signify a globaltrend.

67. Efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons have gainednew strength from the 1996 International Court ofJustice advisory opinion on the legality of the threat oruse of nuclear weapons, which found unanimously thatno threat or use of nuclear weapons should be madeunless it is compatible with the requirements ofinternational law applicable in armed conflict, and that“there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith andbring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nucleardisarmament in all its aspects under strict and effectiveinternational control”.21 At the 2000 NPT ReviewConference, the five nuclear weapons States made anunequivocal commitment to nuclear disarmament.

68. There has been some progress in eliminatingother weapons of mass destruction. At the Fifth ReviewConference of the States parties to the Convention onthe Prohibition of the Development, Production andStockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and ToxinWeapons and on Their Destruction,22 the status of thenegotiations aimed at strengthening the Convention isexpected to be discussed. Since the entry into force ofthe Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weaponsand on Their Destruction23 in 1997, about 5,600 tons ofchemical agents and 1.6 million munitions andcontainers have been destroyed, and 1,000 inspectionswere conducted in 49 States by the Organization for theProhibition of Chemical Weapons.

69. The preparatory process for the 2005 NPTReview Conference will begin in 2002. A panel of

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governmental experts will commence work on a studyon missiles reporting to the General Assembly in 2002.The Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force ofthe Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty will takeplace from 5 to 27 September 2001. The GeneralAssembly resolved in November 2000 to prepare atwo-year study on education and training indisarmament and non-proliferation.

70. Possibilities for creating verifiable andirreversible norms in other areas, including missilesand outer space, should be explored. At theintergovernmental level, an opportunity to discuss aneven broader array of disarmament issues, includingthe multilateral disarmament machinery, is longoverdue.


• More efforts to ensure full implementation of theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the BiologicalWeapons Convention and the Chemical WeaponsConvention and to promote their universality;

• Convening an international conference devoted todisarmament;

• Continuing United Nations work to enhancepublic accountability, clarify the benefits ofdisarmament, and monitor weapons research anddevelopment activities;

• Supporting the international community,including civil society, in efforts to eliminateweapons of mass destruction.

GOAL: To call on all States to consideracceding to the Convention on the Prohibitionof the Use, Stockpiling, Production andTransfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on TheirDestruction (APM Ban Treaty),24 as well as theamended mines protocol to the Convention oncertain conventional weapons25

72. Landmines continue to impede the developmentand security of populations in almost one third of theworld’s countries. In response to this situation, UnitedNations support to mine action is now being planned orprovided in over 30 countries, an increase of 100 percent since 1997. Significantly, independent researchindicates that in the same period, the production andtransfer of landmines has all but ceased while the useof mines has been successfully stigmatized.Nevertheless, casualties continue to occur on a daily

basis, and some countries and groups persist in thedeployment of landmines.

73. The momentum generated by stigmatizing the useof landmines and destroying existing stockpiles isbeing maintained through civil society monitoring,transparency measures, and yearly meetings of Statesparties. As of 29 June 2001, there are 117 parties to theAPM Ban Treaty. Twelve countries have acceded orratified the Treaty since the publication of theMillennium Declaration, while 58 nations areparticipants to the Amended Protocol II of theConvention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Useof Certain Conventional Weapons Which May BeDeemed to Be Excessively Injurious or To HaveIndiscriminate Effects.26 The total eradication of anti-personnel mines remains a crucial requirement forhuman security and socio-economic development.


• Achieving the universalization of the APM BanTreaty, the Convention on Certain ConventionalWeapons and Amended Protocol II byencouraging States to ratify or accede to theTreaties and accept the amended Protocol;

• Encouraging States to provide the Secretary-General with complete and timely information, asrequired in article 7 of the APM Ban Treaty;

• Continuing United Nations work to establishmine clearance, awareness, victim assistanceprogrammes and contingency planning for mine-affected countries and regions.

GOAL: To take concerted action to end illicittraffic in small arms and light weapons,especially by making arms transfers moretransparent and supporting regionaldisarmament measures, taking account of allthe recommendations of the United NationsConference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms andLight Weapons

75. Illicit trade in small arms and light weapons posesgrave challenges to international peace and security.Their excessive accumulation and easy availabilityjeopardize post-conflict reconstruction anddevelopment efforts, threaten human security andviolate humanitarian law and human rights. Small armsare legally produced by more than 600 companies in atleast 95 countries, with the value of global small arms

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production estimated at over $1.4 billion and that ofammunition production at $2.6 billion. An estimated500 million small arms and light weapons are availablearound the world. Even outside of conflict zones, theseweapons have severe adverse effects on economic,social and human development.

76. Various initiatives are currently under way,globally and regionally, to address the issue of illicittrade in small arms. At the regional level, measuresinvolve signing legally binding treaties, andstrengthening and establishing regional or subregionalmoratoria on the transfer and manufacture of suchweapons. These measures include the EconomicCommunity of West African States moratorium on theproduction and trade in small arms; the Inter-AmericanConvention Against the Illicit Manufacturing andTrafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives andOther Related Materials; a European Union joint actionon small arms and code of conduct on arms exports;and a Southern African Development Community(SADC) plan of action. In Africa, Latin America andEurope, such regional cooperation culminated inBamako, Nairobi, Brasilia and SADC declarations, andan OSCE document on small arms and light weapons.

77. Making arms transfers more transparent is alsovitally important. The United Nations manages twoconfidence-building instruments, the Register ofConventional Arms and the Standardized Instrumentfor Reporting of Military Expenditures. An average of90 countries already report to the Register annually.Some 35 countries report military expendituresannually. While participation in these instruments hasincreased noticeably, they have not been as fullyutilized as they should be.

78. The United Nations Conference on the IllicitTrade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All ItsAspects, held from 9 to 20 July 2001, provided theinternational community with an opportunity to adoptmeasures to combat this global scourge. TheProgramme of Action of the Conference, which wasadopted by consensus, is a significant first step towardsthe goal of preventing, combating and eradicating theillicit trade in small arms and light weapons. It includessuggestions for national strategies, such as establishingnational coordination mechanisms and adequate laws,and destroying surplus weapons and increasing controlsover the manufacture and transfer of such weapons. Itendorses and encourages various regional measures,such as harmonizing national legislation and

establishing and strengthening regional mechanisms,and regional action programmes to prevent, combat anderadicate the illicit trade in these weapons. Theprogramme also underscores the importance ofinternational cooperation and assistance, particularlyregarding the implementation of arms embargoesimposed by the Security Council and the disarmament,demobilization and reintegration into civil society ofex-combatants. The Conference did not, however,achieve consensus on two essential issues: restrictionson and regulation of private ownership of suchweapons, and preventing their transfer to non-Stateactors.


• Securing urgent international commitments forboth human and financial resources to effectivelyimplement and follow up the measures adopted atthe United Nations Conference on the Illicit Tradein Small Arms and Light Weapons in All ItsAspects;

• Convening, through the United Nations, a reviewconference in 2006 and biennial meetings ofStates to consider progress made in theimplementation of the Programme of Action ofthe Conference;

• Supporting Governments’ endeavours to preventthe spread of small arms by providing technicalexpertise and financial support in collecting anddestroying such weapons;

• Exploring private and public sector financing of“weapons for development” initiatives;

• Continuing United Nations efforts to achieveuniversal participation in confidence-buildinginstruments and to foster regional initiatives, suchas the creation of regional registers andexchanges of data on national inventories.

III. Development and povertyeradication: the millenniumdevelopment goals

80. In order to significantly reduce poverty andpromote development it is essential to achievesustained and broad-based economic growth. Themillennium development goals highlight some of thepriority areas that must be addressed to eliminate

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extreme poverty. These goals include commitmentsmade by developed nations, such as increased officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) and improved marketaccess for exports from developing countries.

81. It is crucial that the millennium developmentgoals become national goals and serve to increase thecoherence and consistency of national policies andprogrammes. They must also help reduce the gapbetween what needs to be done and what is actuallybeing done. The widening gap between goals andachievements implies that the international communityhas failed to deliver on crucial commitments it madeduring the 1990s.

82. The millennium development goals are mutuallysupportive and require multisectoral programmes thattackle each of the goals simultaneously. Countriesshould ensure that poverty reduction strategies increasethe focus on the poorest and most vulnerable throughan appropriate choice of economic and social policies.Human rights should be at the centre of peace, securityand development programmes. In addition, it isnecessary to broaden partnerships between allstakeholders, such as civil society and the privatesector.

83. The United Nations system, in cooperation withother partners in development, will monitor goals thatare directly related to development and povertyeradication (see annex).

GOAL: To halve, by the year 2015, theproportion of the world’s population whoseincome is less than one dollar a day and theproportion of people who suffer from hungerand, by the same date, to halve the proportionof people who are unable to reach or to affordsafe drinking water

Income poverty

84. Since 1990, the number of people living on lessthan a dollar a day has declined from 1.3 billion to 1.2billion. However, this decline has not been spreadevenly. In East Asia, poverty rates have declined fastenough to meet the goal in 2015. But sub-SaharanAfrica lags far behind and in some countries povertyrates have worsened. While the greatest number ofpoor people live in South Asia, the highest proportionof poor people is in sub-Saharan Africa, where

approximately 51 per cent of the population lives onless than a dollar a day.

85. At its twenty-fourth special session, held in 2000,the General Assembly reaffirmed the commitmentsagreed at the World Summit for Social Developmentand produced very significant new initiatives for theeradication of poverty. In particular, there wasagreement for the first time on a global target ofhalving the proportion of people living in extremepoverty by 2015, and the commitment to the globaltargets for poverty reduction was subsequentlyendorsed by all countries in the United NationsMillennium Declaration adopted in September 2000.Accompanying this work at the policy level, much isgoing on to support effective and efficient institutions.The United Nations, for example, is involved inprogrammes that extend services to small entrepreneursthrough microfinance projects which meet localcommunity priorities.


• Ensuring support for country-led economic andsocial initiatives that focus on poverty reduction;

• Strengthening capabilities to provide basic socialservices;

• Assisting capacity-building for povertyassessment, monitoring and planning.

Hunger

87. Income is not the only measure of poverty. Thepoor suffer from malnutrition and poor health. Between1990-1992 and 1996-1998, the number ofundernourished people fell by 40 million in thedeveloping world. However, the developing world stillhas some 826 million people who are not gettingenough food to lead normal, healthy and active lives.In addition, of the 11 million children in developingcountries who die each year before reaching the age offive, 6.3 million die of hunger.

88. Alleviating hunger is also a prerequisite forsustainable poverty reduction since better nourishmentimproves labour productivity and the earning capacityof individuals. Increased food production is essentialsince 75 per cent of the world’s poor and hungry live inrural areas and depend directly or indirectly onagriculture for their livelihoods. Moreover, a highercrop yield reduces prices, benefiting all the poor.

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89. The Rome Declaration on World Food Securityand the World Food Summit Plan of Action that wasadopted at the World Food Summit in 199627 laid thefoundation for diverse paths to a common objective —food security, at the individual, household, national,regional and global levels. The main goal of theSummit was to ensure an enabling political, social andeconomic environment, designed to create the bestconditions for the eradication of poverty and a durablepeace based on the full and equal participation ofwomen and men, which is most conducive to achievingsustainable food security for all. The Summit stressedthe importance of implementing policies that wouldimprove access to sufficient and nutritionally adequatefood and its effective utilization.


• Taking stock of actions taken since the 1996World Food Summit, at the five-year review ofthe World Food Summit to be held in November2001, and proposing new plans at the national andinternational levels to achieve hunger goals;

• Ensuring that food, agricultural trade and overalltrade policies are conducive to fostering foodsecurity for all through a fair and just world tradesystem;

• Continuing to give priority to small farmers, andsupporting their efforts to promote environmentalawareness and low-cost simple technologies.

Access to water

91. About 80 per cent of the people in the developingworld now have access to improved water sources. Yetnearly 1 billion people are still denied access to cleanwater supplies and 2.4 billion people lack access tobasic sanitation. As economic development andpopulation growth increase demands on limited waterresources, water management and the provision of safedrinking water and sanitation facilities will becomepriority areas. The United Nations Joint MonitoringProgramme for Water Supply and Sanitation has beensupporting capacity-building towards universal accessto safe drinking water and sanitation.


• Promoting increased investment in the water andsanitation sectors;

• Addressing further issues related to thesustainable management of water resources at theWorld Summit on Sustainable Development, to beheld in Johannesburg in 2002.

GOAL: To ensure that, by the year 2015,children everywhere, boys and girls alike, willbe able to complete a full course of primaryschooling and that girls and boys will haveequal access to all levels of education

93. Education levels in developing countries haveclimbed dramatically in the past half-century, yet wehave a long way to go. In 1998, of some 113 millionschool-age children not enrolled in primary education,97 per cent lived in developing nations and nearly 60per cent were girls. Female enrolment in rural areas, inparticular, remains shockingly low.

94. Promoting universal access to basic educationcontinues to be a challenge. In developing countries,one child in three does not complete five years ofschooling. Although enrolment rates have beenincreasing in several regions, the quality of educationremains low for many. In numerous countries, there areserious disparities in enrolments and retention ratesbetween girls and boys and between children of richand poor families. Gender biases, early marriage,threats to the physical and emotional security of girlsand gender insensitive curricula can all conspireagainst the realization of the fundamental right toeducation for girls.

95. Short-changing girls is not only a matter ofgender discrimination but is bad economics and badsocial policy. Experience has shown over and overagain that investment in girls’ education translatesdirectly and quickly into better nutrition for the wholefamily, better health care, declining fertility, povertyreduction and better overall performance.

96. The Education For All (EFA)/Dakar Frameworkcalls for the development or strengthening of nationalplans of action and the reinforcing of national, regionaland international mechanisms to coordinate globalefforts to accelerate progress towards Education ForAll. The United Nations Girls Education Initiative,established within the context of follow-up to theEducation For All Framework, provides country-levelguidance to the United Nations system and involvesother partners.

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97. The “School meals” and “Take home rations”programmes are good examples of how poorhouseholds can be influenced to send their girl childrento school through creative, locally driven multi-levelsolutions. These programmes can have an impact on allthe challenges we face: lack of access to education,health problems and poverty. School-based meals andrations can bring more children into school, give equalopportunities to girls, lower rates of malnutrition andimprove retention levels.


• Urging national policy makers to accept girls’education as a strategy for achieving universalprimary schooling, as well as an end in its ownright;

• Urging national Governments, local communitiesand the international community to commitsignificant resources towards education such asschool buildings, books and teachers;

• Making education systems adaptable to the needsof girl children, especially those from poorhouseholds;

• Supporting school-feeding programmes and take-home rations programmes that can attract girls toschool.

GOAL: By the year 2015, to have reducedmaternal mortality by three quarters, andunder-five child mortality by two thirds oftheir current rates

99. At the global level, estimates of maternalmortality for 1995 indicate that about 515,000 womendie each year of pregnancy related causes, 99 per centof them in developing countries. Although there isevidence of substantive declines in maternal mortalityin some countries, there is no reliable data in countrieswhere the problem is thought to be most acute.Reduction in maternal mortality depends on theavailability of health care for expectant mothers,particularly when dealing with complications inpregnancy. Globally, skilled attendants and skillednurses assist only about 56 per cent of births.Adolescent girls and women often lack the power tomake decisions for themselves and lack access to goodquality and affordable reproductive health, includingfamily planning services.

100. The “Making pregnancy safer” initiativerepresents one of the contributions of the UnitedNations to the global efforts to achieve safemotherhood. The initiative is based on the premise thatachieving substantial and sustained reductions inmaternal and neonatal mortality is critically dependenton the availability, accessibility and quality of maternalhealth care services, and therefore efforts mustnecessarily be focused on strengthening health-caresystems.

101. Worldwide, under-five mortality rates aredeclining: under-five mortality decreased from 94 to 81per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2000. However,approximately 11 million children under five still dieannually in developing countries, mostly frompreventable diseases. Progress in the reduction of childmortality has slowed in some regions because of theeffects of human immunodeficiency virus/acquiredimmunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and theresurgence of malaria and tuberculosis. Unsafe water,malnutrition, inadequate immunization, lack ofeducation and lack of access to basic heath and socialservices are major contributing factors.

102. Among the initiatives that were launched to curbthe scourge of major diseases, especially amongchildren, is the Global Alliance for Vaccines andImmunizations. Officially launched in early 2000 atDavos, it aimed to combine public and privateresources to ensure that all the world’s children areprotected against six core vaccine-preventablediseases: polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles,tetanus and tuberculosis.


• Establishing (or updating) national policies,standards and regulatory mechanisms for safemotherhood; and developing systems to ensuretheir implementation;

• Promoting appropriate community practices insupport of safe motherhood and the reduction ofunder-five mortality;

• Monitoring maternal and newborn health carestatus and access to services;

• Supporting programmes for immunization andvaccination, the use of oral rehydration therapy,nutrition and water and sanitation interventions.

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GOAL: To have, by 2015, halted and begun toreverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, the scourgeof malaria and other major diseases thatafflict humanity

104. Approximately three million people died of AIDSin 2000 alone, and some 36 million people arecurrently living with HIV/AIDS. By the end of 2000,the global HIV/AIDS catastrophe had claimed nearly22 million lives. Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis isincreasing in many countries, due to poor treatmentpractices. Eight million people develop activetuberculosis and nearly two million die annually. Over90 per cent of cases and deaths are in developingcountries. Tuberculosis is also the leading cause ofdeath in people with HIV/AIDS. Malaria is anothermajor concern. Each year, one million people die frommalaria, and the number has been increasing over thepast two decades. The deterioration of health systems,growing resistance to drugs and insecticides,environmental changes and human migration, whichhave led to an increase in epidemics, all contribute tothe worsening global malaria problem.

105. In recent years, Governments have demonstratedan increased political and financial commitment totackling HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and otherpriority health problems. They recognize the impact ofthese illnesses on poor people’s ability to emerge frompoverty, and on prospects for national economicgrowth. The Roll Back Malaria Campaign and the StopTuberculosis Initiative were global initiativesundertaken to help curb the scourge of these majordiseases.

106. At the special session of the General Assemblyon HIV/AIDS, held in June 2001, Governmentsacknowledged that prevention of HIV infection mustbe the mainstay of national, regional and internationalresponses to the epidemic. They also recognized thatprevention, care, support and treatment for thoseinfected and affected by HIV/AIDS are mutuallyreinforcing elements of an effective response and mustbe integrated in a comprehensive approach to combatthe epidemic.

107. The Global AIDS and Health Fund is aninstrument to raise international attention on the globalhealth crisis, and to translate that attention intopolitical support and financial commitments. The Fundintends to help reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis and malaria, and to reduce the

consequences of these illnesses. The aim is to have theFund operational by the end of the year.


• Achieving a target of $7 to $10 billion in totalspending on HIV/AIDS from all sources,including affected countries;

• Urging the international community to supportthe Global AIDS and Health Fund;

• Strengthening health-care systems and addressingfactors that affect the provision of HIV-relateddrugs, including anti-retroviral drugs and theiraffordability and pricing;

• Supporting and encouraging the involvement oflocal communities in making people aware ofsuch diseases;

• Urging national Governments to devote a higherproportion of resources to basic social services inpoorer areas since this is crucial for preventingdiseases;

• Supporting other initiatives based on partnershipswith the private sector and other partners indevelopment.

GOAL: To provide special assistance tochildren orphaned by HIV/AIDS

109. Some 13 million children have been orphaned asa result of HIV/AIDS, over 90 per cent of them in sub-Saharan Africa. It is expected that the number of AIDSorphans will rise to approximately 40 million in thenext two decades in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Themechanisms causing and reinforcing poverty arechanging due to AIDS because the majority of peopleliving with and dying from AIDS are in the prime oflife. As a result, in some areas of the world, asignificant part of a generation is disappearing andleaving behind the elderly and children to fend forthemselves. The cost of AIDS in rural areas isparticularly high because HIV-infected urban dwellersreturn to their villages for care when they fall ill, whichplaces pressure on women and a tremendous strain onrural household resources. The Interagency Task Teamon Orphans and Vulnerable Children has been set up inorder to define the strategy and action plan forproviding effective United Nations support to orphansand children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.

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• Mobilizing and strengthening community andfamily-based actions to support orphaned andvulnerable children;

• Ensuring that Governments protect children fromviolence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination;

• Ensuring that Governments provide essentialquality social services for children and thatorphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS aretreated on an equal basis with other children;

• Expanding the role of schools as communityresource and care centres.

GOAL: To encourage the pharmaceuticalindustry to make essential drugs more widelyavailable and affordable by all who need themin developing countries

111. In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry hasbecome increasingly involved in specific programs tomake cheap or free drugs available for such diseases asAIDS, malaria, leprosy, meningitis, lymphaticfilariasis, trachoma and tuberculosis. In May 2000, apartnership was launched between five majorpharmaceutical companies and the United Nations toincrease developing country access to HIV medicines,including sharp reductions in prices for anti-retroviraldrugs. Technical assistance provided though thisinitiative has supported the development of HIV careand support plans in some 26 countries. So far, in 13 ofthese countries, agreements for the supply ofdiscounted drugs have been reached with suppliers. Arequest for expressions of interest open to bothresearch and development pharmaceutical companiesand generic drug producers has been issued as part ofthe United Nations efforts to expand access to HIVmedicines.

112. The fifty-fourth World Health Assembly, held inMay 2001, called upon the international community tocooperate in strengthening pharmaceutical policies andpractices in order to promote the development ofdomestic industries. The Assembly further referred tothe need for voluntary monitoring and reporting ofdrug prices in order to improve equity of access toessential drugs in the international system. TheAssembly requested that the United Nations encouragethe development of drugs for diseases affecting poorcountries, and work to enhance the study of existing

and future health implications of international tradeagreements. Earlier in the year, the United Nationsundertook discussions with of some of the world’sleading pharmaceutical companies to agree on whatfurther steps need to be taken to expand access to HIVprevention and care, including access to HIV-relatedmedicines for developing countries.

113. In June 2001, at the special session of the GeneralAssembly on HIV/AIDS, Member States recognizedthat the availability and affordability of drugs andrelated technology are significant factors to beaddressed. They also recognized the need to reduce thecost of these drugs and technologies, in closecollaboration with the private sector andpharmaceutical companies. In the Declaration ofCommitment,28 the General Assembly called for thedevelopment of and progress in implementingcomprehensive care strategies, including the financingplans and referral mechanisms required to provideaccess to affordable medicines, diagnostics and relatedtechnologies.

114. At the special session, the General Assemblywelcomed national efforts to promote innovation anddevelop domestic industries consistent withinternational law, which will increase access tomedicines for all. the General Assembly stressed theneed to evaluate the impact of international tradeagreements on local manufacturing of essential drugs,the development of new drugs and obtaining access tothem.

115. During recent years, a number of governingbodies and other forums have called for theexamination of trade agreements and their role insupporting access to medicines. The most importanttrade agreement concerning access to medicines is theAgreement on Trade-Related Aspects of IntellectualProperty (TRIPS).29 TRIPS provides global norms forintellectual property protection, including a minimum20-year patent term that also applies to medicines.However, TRIPS also accords Governments theflexibility to address social interests, such as access tomedicines, for example by allowing Governments toissue compulsory licenses that effectively override theexclusive control that patents can give to the inventorof new drugs. In June 2001, the TRIPS Council of theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) convened a specialdiscussion day on TRIPS and health. This discussion,focusing on how to ensure greater access to life-savingdrugs in developing countries while at the same time

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supporting innovation of new drugs and technologies,is likely to continue at the next round of WTOministerial-level trade talks.

116. With some 95 per cent of HIV-positive peopleliving in developing countries and the severedeprivation of medicines in many of those countries,the United Nations system is redoubling its approach togreatly expand access to medicines in developingcountries, in particular the hard-hit least developedcountries.


• Strengthening health systems for the provision ofessential medicines;

• Increasing affordability through differentialpricing and the reduction or elimination of importduties, tariffs and taxes;

• Mobilizing sustainable financing to support thecosts of expanded access to drugs in poorcountries;

• Exploring the feasibility, in collaboration withnon-governmental organizations and otherconcerned partners, of developing andimplementing systems for the voluntarymonitoring and reporting of global drug prices;

• Urging drug companies not only to reduce pricesof essential drugs but also to improve thedistribution of life-saving drugs, especially inleast developed countries;

• Utilizing non-traditional and innovativemechanisms to increase the effective distributionof drugs to those who need them;

• Ensuring further evaluation and assessment ofinternational trade agreements that affect theavailability of essential drugs;

• Increasing research and development of advancedmedications for those diseases that primarilyaffect developing countries.

GOAL: By 2020, to have achieved a significantimprovement in the lives of at least 100 millionslum dwellers, as proposed in the “Citieswithout slums” initiative

118. During the next generation, the global urbanpopulation will double from 2.5 billion to 5 billionpeople. Almost all of the increase will be in developing

countries. Recent figures show that a quarter of theworld’s population who live in cities do not haveadequate housing and often lack access to basic socialservices, such as access to clean and safe water andsanitation.

119. The increasing concentration of population andeconomic activity in large cities in developingcountries tends to increase poverty and squattersettlements. Slums lack basic municipal services, suchas water, sanitation, waste collection and drainagesystems. They create intense pressure on localresources, ecosystems and environments, creating aneed for well organized and efficient social services,transportation, waste management and pollutioncontrol. Intervening at the city level can help reducepoverty, partly because the economies of scale that arepossible make the provision of services cost-effective.

120. The United Nations has joined forces with otherdevelopment partners to respond to this challengethrough major initiatives, such as Cities WithoutSlums; the Global Campaign for Secure Tenure, whichaimed to achieve demonstrated progress towardsadequate shelter for all with secure tenure and access toessential services in every community by 2015; theGlobal Campaign on Urban Governance; andManaging Water for African Cities.


• Ensuring support from the internationalcommunity for the provision of basic socialservices, such as safe water and sanitation, to theurban poor;

• Ensuring the development of integrated andparticipatory approaches to urban environmentalplanning and management;

• Ensuring good urban governance and planning byforging public-private partnerships.

GOAL: To promote gender equality and theempowerment of women as effective ways tocombat poverty, hunger and disease and tostimulate development that is truly sustainable

122. Women are still the poorest of the world’s poor,representing two thirds of those living under a dollar aday. When such a large proportion of women live onincomes of less than $1 a day, the relationship betweenbeing female and being poor is stark. Over the past twodecades, the number of rural women living in absolute

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poverty has risen by 50 per cent, as opposed to 30 percent for men. To change this severe inequality, womenwill need to gain control over financial and materialresources, and will also need access to opportunitythrough education.

123. In the five-year review of the Beijing Platform forAction, Governments committed themselves toremoving all discriminatory provisions in legislationand eliminating legislative gaps that leave girls andwomen without effective legal protection and recourseagainst gender-based discrimination by 2005.

124. In 1999, at the five-year review of theInternational Conference on Population andDevelopment (ICPD+5), a total of 177 Member Statesadopted “Key actions for the further implementation ofICPD”, calling on Governments to protect and promotewomen’s and girls’ human rights through theimplementation and enforcement of gender-sensitivelegislation and policies.


• Urging greater efforts in the areas of maternalmortality, the prevention of HIV/AIDS andgender sensitivity in education;

• Advocating women’s empowerment inemployment;

• Supporting the inclusion of women ingovernment and other decision-making bodies ata high level.

GOAL: To develop and implement strategiesthat give young people everywhere a realchance to find decent and productive work

126. The youth population of the world amounts tomore than one billion men and women. Their numbersare expected to grow by more than 100 million to reachalmost 1.2 billion by 2010, more than half of them inAsia and the Pacific. Youth also make up more than 40per cent of the world’s total unemployed. There are anestimated 66 million unemployed young people in theworld today, an increase of nearly 10 million since1995.

127. In 2000, the United Nations system establishedthe High-Level Policy Network on Youth Employment,drawing on the most creative leaders in the privateindustry, civil society and economic policy. The aim isto explore imaginative approaches in creating

opportunities for youth. National plans of action inselected countries will be developed. Reportingmechanisms for monitoring progress will be proposedfor all organizations involved. In addition todeveloping policy recommendations, the Network isexpected to mobilize public opinion and action infavour of youth employment.


• Ensuring employability through increasedinvestment in education and vocational trainingfor young people;

• Ensuring equal opportunities by giving girls thesame opportunities as boys;

• Facilitating entrepreneurship by making it easierto start and run enterprises.

GOAL: Success in meeting these objectivesdepends, inter alia, on good governance withineach country. It also depends on goodgovernance at the international level and ontransparency in the financial, monetary andtrading systems. We are committed to an open,equitable, rule based, predictable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading andfinancial system. We are also concerned aboutthe obstacles developing countries face inmobilizing the resources needed to finance theirsustained development. We will therefore makeevery effort to ensure the success of theInternational Conference on Financingfor Development

129. While there have been some considerableimprovements in human as well as economicdevelopment, some real challenges still remain.Developing nations need immediate help in addressingissues in finance, trade and governance.

130. In March 2002, the United Nations will convenethe International Conference for Financing forDevelopment in Monterrey, Mexico. At theConference, the United Nations will call upon theinternational community to strongly support the keyelements in international development and cooperationdescribed below in order to strengthen the position ofdeveloping nations in today’s globalizing world.

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Domestic resource mobilization

131. The mobilization of domestic resources is thefoundation for self-sustaining development. Domesticresources play the main role in financing domesticinvestment and social programmes, which are essentialfor economic growth and making permanent gains ineradicating poverty. However, conditions within theeconomy must be conducive to saving and investmentspending. A sound fiscal policy, responsible socialspending and a well functioning and competitivefinancial system are the elements of good governancethat are crucial to economic and social development.

Increase in private capital flows

132. Foreign capital can provide a valuablesupplement to the domestic resources that a countrycan generate. Large sums of capital cross nationalborders in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI),both long-term flows and short-term flows (portfolioflows). The international capital markets constitute afurther vast pool of funds from which countries candraw. FDI is now the largest form of private capitalinflow to developing countries. World flows of FDIincreased fourfold between 1990 and 1999, from $200billion to $884 billion, and its ratio to GDP is generallyrising in developing countries. FDI flows are less incountries in conflict or those that do not have anattractive investment climate. For example, 15emerging economies, mainly in East Asia, LatinAmerica and Europe, accounted for 83 per cent of allnet long-term private capital flows to developingcountries in 1997. Sub-Saharan Africa received only 5per cent of the total.

133. While private capital cannot alleviate poverty byitself, it can play a significant role in promotinggrowth. However, its provision needs to be organizedin such a way that reduces vulnerability to crises.Recent trends indicate that capital flows to emergingeconomies, particularly those in East Asia, were short-term capital flows, which are volatile in nature. Theabsence of a sound financial system makes nationsparticularly vulnerable to short-term flows, leading tofinancial crises. Facilitating financial capital formationin an economy, whether domestic or otherwise,requires a sound domestic environment.


• Good governance that is based on participationand the rule of law, with a strong focus on

combating corruption and appropriate safeguardsfor private investment;

• Disciplined macroeconomic policies and fiscalpolicy, including clear goals for the mobilizationof tax and non-tax revenues;

• Responsible public spending on basic educationand health, the rural sector and women;

• Well functioning and diverse financial systemsthat allocate savings to those capable of investingefficiently, including microfinance borrowers,women and the rural sector;

• A just investment policy that treats domestic aswell as foreign investors fairly and reducesvulnerability to financial crises.

Increase in official development assistance

135. Official development assistance (ODA) is still akey source of finance, especially for least developedcountries that lack the infrastructure necessary toattract private capital flows. Net ODA to developingnations declined from 58.5 billion in 1994 to 48.5billion in 1999. This decline has come at a time whenODA should have gone up substantially, taking intoaccount that a clear programmatic basis fordevelopment cooperation was put forward in a cycle ofmajor United Nations conferences. Furthermore, anincreasing number of developing countries undertookmajor reforms in economic and political governance,and the fiscal situation in donor countries hadimproved significantly.


• A commitment by the industrial countries at theInternational Conference on Financing forDevelopment to implement the target ofproviding ODA equal to 0.7 per cent of theirgross national product (GNP);

• Distinguishing between the portion of ODA spenton development and that spent on humanitarianassistance so as to help prevent the erosion ofdevelopment assistance in favour of humanitarianassistance;

• Allocation of ODA by donor nations to countriesthat need it most, and to those countries whosepolicies are effectively directed towards reducingpoverty.

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Increase in trade

137. Trade is an important engine of growth. Not onlyis it an important foreign exchange earner but it alsohas multiplier effects by generating income throughemployment. Eight rounds of multilateral negotiationshave done much in the past half-century to dismantletariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. But by far themain beneficiaries of trade liberalization have been theindustrialized countries. Developing countries’products continue to face significant impediments inrich countries’ markets. Basic products in whichdeveloping countries are highly competitive areprecisely the ones that carry the highest protection inthe most advanced countries. These include not onlyagricultural products but also some industrial products.In the 1990s, growth in trade has been the strongestamong upper-middle-income economies, whose shareof world trade in goods grew from 8 to 11 per centbetween 1990 and 1998. Their ratio of trade to grossdomestic product (GDP) measured in purchasing powerparity (PPP) terms now stands at more than 25 per cent.But too many countries have been left out. The share ofthe poorest 48 economies unfortunately has remainednearly constant, at about 4 per cent.


• Ensuring that developed nations fully complywith the commitments they made under theUruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiationsto improve market access for products fromdeveloping countries;

• Ensuring significant improvement in marketaccess in developed countries for agriculturalproducts from developing countries;

• Eliminating the remaining trade barriers inmanufacturing, especially on textiles andclothing;

• Providing for limited, time-bound protection ofnew industries by countries that are in the earlystages of development;

• Capacity-building and technical assistance fortrade negotiations and dispute settlements;

• Ensuring that the next round of trade negotiationsis truly a development round.

GOAL: Address the special needs of the leastdeveloped countries, and in this contextwelcome the Third United Nations Conferenceon the Least Developed Countries, held in May2001, and ensure its success. The industrializedcountries are called on:

(a) To adopt, preferably by the time ofthat conference, a policy of duty- and quota-freeaccess for essentially all exports from the leastdeveloped countries;

(b) To implement the enhancedprogramme of debt relief for the heavilyindebted poor countries without further delay,and to agree to cancel all official bilateral debtsof those countries in return for their makingdemonstrable commitments to povertyeradication;

(c) To grant more generous developmentassistance, especially to countries that aregenuinely making an effort to apply theirresources to poverty reduction

139. The Third United Nations Conference on theLeast Developed Countries, held in May 2001, adopteda programme of action that provides a framework for aglobal partnership to accelerate sustained economicgrowth and sustainable development in least developedcountries. The least developed countries and theirpartners are committed to fostering a people-centredpolicy framework; good governance at the national andinternational levels; building productive capacities tomake globalization work for least developed countries;enhancing the role of trade in development; reducingvulnerability and protecting the environment; andmobilizing financial resources.

140. The programme of action recognizes theimportant role that Governments, civil society and theprivate sector have to play in its implementation andfollow-up, through stronger public-privatepartnerships. There is a critical need for an effectivemechanism to support intergovernmental review andfollow-up of the implementation of the programme ofaction; to mobilize the United Nations system, as wellas other relevant multilateral organizations; and tofacilitate substantive participation of least developedcountries in appropriate multilateral forums. TheSecretary-General has been requested to submit to theGeneral Assembly, at its fifty-sixth session, his

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recommendations for an efficient and highly visiblefollow-up mechanism.

Duty- and quota-free access for essentially allexports from least developed countries

141. During the 1970s, several advanced economiesintroduced preferential market access schemes fordeveloping countries. The EU and Japan introducedtheir Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)programmes in 1971, Canada in 1974 and the UnitedStates in 1976. Currently, there are 15 GSP schemesthroughout the world. Under the System, developedcountries (GSP donor countries) have applied, on avoluntary and unilateral basis, preferential tariff ratesto imports from developing countries (GSPbeneficiaries). Numerous other countries have alsointroduced preferential market access schemes for leastdeveloped countries. However, they usually exemptmany products, such as agriculture and textiles, that aredeemed sensitive by developed nations.

142. Recently, the EU announced that the EverythingBut Arms (EBA) initiative will grant duty- and quota-free access for essentially all non-military exports fromthe 49 least developed countries. This initiativeproposes to remove all tariffs and quotas on all importsfrom least developed countries except arms. EBA cameinto effect for most products on 5 March 2001, exceptfor sugar, rice and bananas. The gesture will help torebuild confidence in the ability of the multilateraltrade system and WTO to reflect the needs of all itsmembers. Other developed nations are being urged tofollow this example set by the EU.


• Strengthening efforts to integrate trade policiesinto national development policies towardspoverty eradication;

• Assisting least developed countries in capacity-building in trade policy and related areas, such astariffs, customs, competition and investment intechnology;

• Continuing to work towards the objective of duty-free and quota-free market access for all leastdeveloped countries’ products, excluding arms;

• Assisting least developed countries in upgradingtheir production and export capacities andcapabilities;

• Continuing to improve the generalized system ofpreferences for least developed countries byreducing administrative and proceduralcomplexities.

Debt relief

144. In September 1996, the Interim and DevelopmentCommittees of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)and the World Bank endorsed the Heavily IndebtedPoor Countries (HIPC) Initiative to provide relief toeligible countries once they meet a range of conditionsthat should enable them to service the residual debtthrough export earnings, aid, and capital inflows. TheHIPC Initiative requires debtor countries to pursuemacroeconomic adjustment and structural and socialpolicy reforms and provide for additional finance forsocial sector programmes, primarily basic health andeducation.

145. Following a comprehensive review of the HIPCInitiative, a number of modifications were approved inSeptember 1999 to provide faster, deeper and broaderdebt relief to 41 countries classified as HIPCs andstrengthen the links between debt relief and povertyreduction, the assumption being that debt relief wouldrelease fiscal resources to allow these countries toimprove human development.

146. A total of 22 countries reached their decisionpoint by end-December 2000 and therefore qualify fordebt relief under the enhanced HIPC Initiative. TheHIPC Initiative will reduce the debt stock of the 22countries by almost two thirds, from $53 billion in netcurrent value terms to roughly $20 billion. Of the 22countries that have qualified for debt relief, 17 areAfrican least developed countries. There are 11 moreleast developed countries that face an unsustainabledebt burden according to HIPC criteria, most of whichare affected by conflicts. However, under currentprocedures it may take several years before thosecountries are able to fulfil the conditions required toreceive debt relief. In addition, there are several debt-stressed least developed countries that are not definedas HIPCs. The international community must actquickly to relieve these least developed countries oftheir debt burden. There is also a risk that the financialresources released by debt relief will not be fullyadditional. For 14 of the 17 African least developedcountries which have qualified for debt relief, officialflows fell considerably between 1996 and 1999.

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• Encouraging donors to mobilize resources tofinance debt relief;

• Ensuring that debt relief is additional and not analternative to other forms of developmentassistance;

• Taking measures to enhance a national policyframework that contributes effectively to povertyeradication and promotes faster economic growth;

• Designing and implementing nationally owneddevelopment policies and strategies, including,where appropriate, poverty reduction strategypapers, with the full participation of stakeholders;

• Pursuing measures to promote the cancellation ofofficial bilateral debt.

Official development assistance

148. Compared to the goal of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent ofGNP as ODA to least developed countries, as adoptedat the Second United Nations Conference on the LeastDeveloped Countries in 1990, actual ODA flows were0.06 per cent in 2000. While the cutback in ODA hasaffected a large number of developing countries, it hashit Africa and Asia especially hard. Net ODAdisbursements from Governments and multilateralinstitutions to Africa fell by more than a quarter from$25.1 billion in 1990 to $18.5 billion in 1998, whileflows to Asia dropped from $19.5 billion to $16.1billion during the same period. Many of the leastdeveloped countries have suffered a severe decline,particularly in terms of ODA received per capita.Seven countries in this group, all from Africa, recordeda drop of more than 50 per cent in net ODA receiptsper capita between 1990 and 1998, 20 countries saw afall of between 25 per cent and 50 per cent and 13countries registered a decline of up to 25 per cent.

149. Since ODA is necessary to build theinfrastructure necessary to attract foreign capital, director otherwise, if Governments are to achieve the goalsfor 2015 and if sustained and sustainable economicgrowth is to become the norm in all developingcountries, substantially larger amounts of ODA will beneeded.


• Urging bilateral and multilateral developmentagencies to take steps towards making their aid

programmes more efficient and responsive to theneeds of least developed countries;

• Supporting further institutional reforms toincrease transparency and dialogue at the bilateraland multilateral levels;

• Urging donor nations to fulfil their commitmentstowards increased assistance to the leastdeveloped countries;

• Establishing information systems to monitor theuse and effectiveness of ODA.

GOAL: Resolve to address the special needs ofsmall island developing States by implementingthe Programme of Action for the SustainableDevelopment of Small Island Developing Statesand the outcome of the twenty-second specialsession of the General Assembly rapidly and infull. Urge the international community toensure that, in the development of avulnerability index, the special needs of smallisland developing States are taken into account

151. Small island developing States vary enormouslyaccording to distinct bio-physical, sociocultural andeconomic characteristics. Their efforts for sustainabledevelopment, however, are constrained by commondisadvantages, such as limited natural resources,fragility of ecosystems and vulnerability to naturalhazards. All except five of the small islands have aland area of less than 30,000 square kilometres. Manysmall island developing States are located in the tropicsand fall within the influence of tropical storms andcyclones. Therefore, they are prone to extreme weatherevents. Economic activities are frequently dominatedby specialized agriculture (e.g., sugar) and by tourism,both of which are influenced by climatic factors. Thesmall islands face difficulties in gaining concessionsbased on the recognition of their structuraldisadvantages. The small island developing Statesunfortunately face a paradox as they are increasinglyregarded as relatively prosperous nations based on theirnational income indicators even though those numbersdo not reflect their actual economic and environmentalvulnerability.

152. The Programme of Action for the SustainableDevelopment of Small Island Developing States30

identified a number of priority areas in which specificactions are needed at the national, regional andinternational levels, including vulnerability to climate

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change, management of wastes, management of coastaland marine resources, and management of energy,freshwater and land resources.

153. Several indicators developed within or outside theUnited Nations have demonstrated the vulnerability ofsmall island developing States to external shocksbeyond their control. Particularly relevant to theproblems of economic instability of small islanddeveloping States is the economic vulnerability indexcovering 128 developing countries (including mostsmall island developing States). The index shows thatsmall island developing States are (a) highly unstableeconomically as a result of natural and economicshocks, and (b) greatly handicapped as a result of theirsmall size.

154. Since the twenty-second special session of theGeneral Assembly, several global events, such as theTenth United Nations Conference on Trade andDevelopment and the Third United Nations Conferenceon the Least Developed Countries, have recalled thefragility of small island developing States in theglobalizing economy. In this context, progress has beenmade towards a consensus on the importance, for smallisland developing States, of gaining recognition on thegrounds of vulnerability in key international arenaswhere concessions are already granted to othercategories, such as the least developed countries (inWTO) or low-income countries (in the World Bank).


• Ensuring progress towards a special anddifferential treatment of small island developingStates in the financial and trade-related spheres;

• Supporting and assisting small island developingStates in specific aspects of multilateral tradenegotiations;

• Supporting any additional efforts necessarytowards the implementation of the Programme ofAction for the Sustainable Development of SmallIsland Developing States.

GOAL: Recognize the special needs andproblems of landlocked developing countries,and urge both bilateral and multilateral donorsto increase financial and technical assistance tothis group of countries to meet their specialdevelopment needs and to help them overcomethe impediments of geography and byimproving their transit transportation system

156. Landlocked developing countries are negativelyaffected by the high cost of their exports and imports.According to the latest available figures (1997), whilefreight costs represented approximately 4.4 per cent ofthe cost including freight (c.i.f.) import values fordeveloped countries and about 8 per cent fordeveloping countries as a group, for the landlockedcountries in West Africa they representedapproximately 24.6 per cent, for those in East Africathey represented about 16.7 per cent and for those inLatin America they represented approximately 14.6 percent of c.i.f. import values. The high level ofinternational transport costs facing landlockedcountries is explained also by the fact that their exportsincur additional costs in the country or countries oftransit (customs clearance fees, road user charges etc.).The high transport costs of landlocked countriesimports impose a significant economic burden on theeconomies of landlocked countries in the form ofinflated prices of both consumer and intermediateinputs, such as fuel.


• Ensuring that landlocked and transit developingcountries and the donor community cooperate inthe implementation of the Global Framework forTransit-Transport Cooperation;

• Assisting landlocked countries in developingefficient and flexible transport systems;

• Urging donors and international financial anddevelopment agencies to promote innovativefinancial mechanisms to help landlockedcountries meet their infrastructure financing andmanagement needs.

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GOAL: Deal comprehensively and effectivelywith the debt problems of low- and middle-income developing countries, through variousnational and international measures designed tomake their debt sustainable in the long run

158. The situation of middle-income countries and thefew low-income countries which have had access tointernational capital markets and thus have a mix ofofficial and private creditors is fairly complex andcannot be generalized. Many of them have heavy debt-servicing obligations, measured as a percentage of theirforeign exchange earnings and/or budgetary revenue.

159. Some of these non-HIPC countries have had toseek a restructuring of their external debt-servicingobligations in recent years. While there are establishedprocedures for helping such countries to restructuretheir debts and receive temporary internationalliquidity, the mechanisms have been evolving andfurther change can be expected. The Paris Club isusually at the centre of debt restructurings and it maywell remain key in this regard. While it is taking stepsto improve the availability of information on itsproceedings, the need remains for clearer principlesand more transparent mechanisms for working out debtproblems, and new complementary approaches may berequired.


• Urging all creditors to developing countries tosupport measures to ensure that debt financingbecomes an integral part of their developmentefforts and not a hindrance to them;

• Ensuring better coordination between private andpublic creditors in debt workouts of debtornations;

• Preventing the accumulation of excessive debt orthe “bunching” of debt-servicing obligations overa short period of time so as to ensure that debtfinancing plays a constructive role indevelopment finance.

GOAL: To ensure that the benefits of newtechnologies, especially information andcommunication technologies, in conformity withthe recommendations contained in theministerial declaration adopted by theEconomic and Social Council at the high-levelsegment of its substantive session of 200131 areavailable to all

161. Information and communication technologies(ICTs) can be potent instruments for acceleratingbroad-based growth and sustainable development andfor reducing poverty. Vast regions of the world areincreasingly lagging behind in connectivity and accessto global information flows and knowledge and arethus marginalized from the emerging globalknowledge-based economy. While in the United Statesnearly 60 per cent of the population are online, thepercentage of the population online is only 0.02 percent in Bangladesh, 0.36 per cent in Paraguay and 0.65per cent in Egypt. Worldwide, 410 million people areonline, but only 5 per cent of those are in Africa orLatin America. At the high-level segment of itssubstantive session of 2001, the Economic and SocialCouncil expressed profound concern that the hugepotential of ICT for advancing development, inparticular of the developing countries, has not yet beenfully exploited.

162. To address this problem, the Council proposedthe establishment of an ICT task force that would lenda truly global dimension to the multitude of efforts tobridge the global digital divide, foster digitalopportunity and thus put ICT at the service ofdevelopment for all. The task force has beenestablished and will be formally launched in September2001.


• Promoting universal and affordable access to ICTand assisting Member States in creating ICT fordevelopment strategies;

• Supporting human resources development andinstitutional capacity-building;

• Building partnerships, including with the privatesector.

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IV. Protecting our commonenvironment

164. One of our greatest challenges in the comingyears is to ensure that our children and all futuregenerations are able to sustain their lives on the planet.We must tackle, as a matter of priority, issues ofclimate change, preserving biodiversity, managing ourforests and water resources and reducing the impacts ofnatural and man-made disasters. If we do not act tocontain the damage already done and mitigate futureharm, we will inflict irreversible damage on our richecosystem and the bounties it offers.

GOAL: To make every effort to ensure theentry into force of the Kyoto Protocol,32

preferably by the tenth anniversary of theUnited Nations Conference on Environmentand Development in 2002, and to embark on therequired reduction in emissions of greenhousegases

165. In 1997, the world released 23.8 billion tons ofcarbon dioxide (CO2), the most important of thegreenhouse gases. Almost half of those emissions werefrom high-income economies. That level is four timesthe 1950 level and is currently increasing at a rate ofnearly 300 million tons annually. Population growth,increasing consumption and the reliance on fossil fuelsall combine to drive up the release of greenhousegases, leading to global warming. According to theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, increasesin greenhouse gases have already caused a temperaturerise of 0.3 to 0.6 degrees Celsius during the last 100years. There has been a sharp upward trend intemperatures in the last 10 years, and the years since1993 have been the hottest on record. If nothing isdone to control greenhouse gas emissions, the globalaverage temperature could rise by a further 0.4 degreesCelsius by the year 2020. Global warming could resultin sea levels rising by 34 inches by the end of thetwenty-first century, flooding human coastal and islandsettlements and melting the polar ice caps.

166. The Kyoto Protocol aims to reduce emissions ofgreenhouse gases by industrialized nations to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels within the period 2008 to 2012.Greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized countrieshave fallen during the period 1990 to 1998, particularlydue to the economic changes in the Russian Federation,other parts of the former Soviet Union and Eastern

Europe. Negotiations are ongoing to implement theUnited Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange33 signed at the United Nations Conference onEnvironment and Development (UNCED) and to bringinto force the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

167. To come into force, the Kyoto Treaty requires theratification of 55 countries, which must also beresponsible for at least 55 per cent of CO2 emissions.As of 14 August 2001, 37 of the 84 countries that havesigned the Kyoto Protocol have ratified it. It is stillpossible for Governments to meet the target of entryinto force by the opening of the World Summit onSustainable Development in September 2002.

168. Formal discussions among the parties to theUnited Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange were held at the resumed sixth Conference ofthe Parties, held in Germany in July 2001. TheConference approved rules for implementing the KyotoProtocol to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Theconsensus agreement won the backing of 178 nations.Among the incentives that secured the agreement was aprovision for developed countries to engage inemissions trading. The idea behind emissions trading isthat companies and countries that cut emissions belowtheir assigned target level will have excess credits tosell. Industrialized nations and companies that cannotreach their emissions quotas may find it cheaper to buythe excess credits than install new pollution-abatementequipment. Such a market-based mechanism isexpected to direct limited investment money to themost cost-effective emissions-reduction projects.Lawmakers from the nations attending the meeting willconsider the implementation measures when they voteon formal ratification.

169. Current United Nations initiatives in supportof greenhouse gas reduction include theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, whichcarries out assessments of the science of climatechange as well as its potential socio-economicconsequences. The Global Environment Facility (GEF)helps countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

170. The World Summit on Sustainable Development,to be held in Johannesburg in September 2002, willconstitute the 10-year review of UNCED. A focusedagenda should foster discussion of findings inparticular environmental sectors (forests, oceans,climate, energy, fresh water, etc.) as well as in cross-sector areas, such as economic instruments, new

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technologies and globalization. The Summit must alsoconsider fully the impact of the revolutions intechnology, biology and communications that havetaken place since 1992. Private citizens as well asinstitutions are urged to take part in the process. Broadparticipation is critical. If further action is to beeffective in achieving the ultimate goal ofsustainability, Governments cannot work alone.

171. For the immediate future, the most importanteffort is to ensure that the Kyoto Protocol is ratified by55 nations responsible for at least 55 per cent of theCO2 emissions in 1990. The United Nations will alsoencourage the parties to the Convention on ClimateChange to introduce instruments and procedures torestrict greenhouse gas emissions and to providetechnical means to developing countries to do so.


• Ensuring the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol;

• Developing a clear framework to elicit voluntaryinitiatives from the private sector by giving creditto voluntary actions that reduce greenhouse gasemissions;

• Encouraging initiatives that will help reduce thevulnerability of the poor and strengthen theiradaptive capacity to deal with the adverse impactsof climate change;

• Encouraging new partnerships and strengtheningof institutions to deal with the adverse impact ofclimate change.

GOAL: To intensify our collective efforts forthe management, conservation and sustainabledevelopment of all types of forests

173. Forests and woodlands are vital to the social andeconomic well-being of people. They provide a widerange of products for economic development as well assubsistence for millions of people, includingindigenous people, who live in and around forests.Furthermore, forests also provide indispensableenvironmental services, such as soil and waterconservation, the preservation of biological diversityand the mitigation of climate change through carbonstorage and sequestration.

174. As of 2000, 3.9 billion hectares (ha) of land,about one third of the world’s total land area, arecovered by forests, 17 per cent in Africa, 14 per cent in

Asia, 5 per cent in Oceania, 27 per cent in Europe, 14per cent in North and Central America and 23 per centin South America.

175. Forest resources contribute to the subsistence ofcommunities and economies, but many current formsof usage are unsustainable. The world’s natural forestscontinue to be converted to other land uses at analarming rate. Currently, deforestation is greatest in thetropics. The global deforestation rate is estimated to beabout 14.6 million ha per year. Major causes ofdeforestation and forest degradation includeagricultural expansion and the harvesting of fuel wood.Half of the wood harvested in the world is used as fuel,mostly in developing countries. In developed nations,forest resources are used mainly for industrial products.Only 6 per cent of the forest area in developingcountries is covered by a formal and nationallyapproved forest management plan, compared with 89per cent in developed countries.

176. Forest policy deliberations, initially conducted bythe Intergovernmental Panel on Forests and theIntergovernmental Forum on Forests, subsidiary bodiesof the Commission on Sustainable Development, arenow carried out by their successor, the United NationsForum on Forests (UNFF), itself a subsidiary body ofthe Economic and Social Council. The CollaborativePartnership on Forests, consisting of 12 multilateralforest-related organizations, has also been formed tosupport the activities of UNFF.


• Enhancing cooperation and coordination onforest-related issues among relevant internationaland regional organizations, as well as public-private partners;

• Strengthening political commitment to themanagement, conservation and sustainabledevelopment of all types of forests, including thespecial needs and requirements of countries withlow forest cover.

GOAL: To press for the full implementation ofthe Convention on Biological Diversity34 andthe Convention to Combat Desertification inthose Countries Experiencing Serious Droughtand/or Desertification, particularly in Africa35

178. The world’s biological diversity is being lost atan alarming rate. For example, of the 1.75 million

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species that have been identified it is estimated that3,400 plants and 5,200 animal species, including one ineight bird species and nearly one in four mammalspecies, face extinction.

179. The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity has181 States parties as of 14 August 2001, and commitsGovernments to conserve biodiversity, to use itscomponents in a sustainable manner and to shareequitably the benefits arising from the use of geneticresources. Despite this, the world’s biological diversityis being irreversibly lost at an alarming rate, as a resultof large-scale clearing and burning of forests; theoverharvesting of plants; the indiscriminate use ofpesticides and other persistent toxic chemicals; thedraining and filling of wetlands; the loss of coral reefsand mangroves; destructive fishing practices; climatechange; water pollution; and the conversion of wildlands to agricultural and urban uses.

180. There is a clear need for additional resources toassess status and trends on biological diversity and tomainstream biodiversity concerns into sectoral andcross-sectoral planning, policies and projects. The issueof further scientific assessment of living modifiedorganisms resulting from modern biotechnology willrequire close attention.

181. The Cartagena Protocol to the Convention onBiological Diversity was adopted by more than 130countries on 29 January 2000, in Montreal. Called theCartagena Protocol on Biosafety in honour of theColombian city which hosted the Conference of Partiesto the Convention in Cartagena in 1999, the Protocol,upon entry into force, is expected to provide aframework for addressing the environmental impacts ofbioengineered products or “living modified organisms”that cross international borders. The CartagenaProtocol will help to protect the environment withoutunnecessarily disrupting world food trade. As of 31July 2001, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety hasbeen signed by 102 countries and one regionaleconomic organization — the European Community.

182. The United Nations Convention to CombatDesertification in those Countries Experiencing SeriousDrought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa,was negotiated after UNCED and it entered into forcein December 1996. It stressed the need for a new grass-roots participatory approach to solving the problem ofdesertification. Desertification affects the topsoil that iscrucial to agriculture and the world’s food supply. This

is predominantly due to overcultivation, poorirrigation, drought and overgrazing. The Conventionemphasizes partnerships, both internationally anddomestically, as well as the need to afford specialconsideration to those affected by desertification indeveloping countries.

183. Strategies for moving ahead include:

• Supporting the implementation of the Conventionto Combat Desertification by taking measures thatprevent land degradation and focus on newparticipatory approaches to solving the problemof desertification;

• Ensuring the universal ratification of theConvention on Biological Diversity and theCartagena Protocol on Biosafety, as well as theharmonization and implementation ofbiodiversity-related instruments and programmes.

GOAL: To stop the unsustainable exploitationof water resources by developing watermanagement strategies at the regional, nationaland local levels which promote both equitableaccess and adequate supplies

184. The supply of clean and safe water has not keptup with the increases in demand for it. Water tables arefalling in every continent. Although 70 per cent of theworld’s surface is covered by water, only 2.5 per centof the water on earth is freshwater. Less than 1 per centof the world’s freshwater resources is accessible forhuman use. Water use grew at more than twice the rateof population during the twentieth century. In 2000, atleast 1.1 billion people or 18 per cent of the world’spopulation lacked access to safe water. If present trendsin water consumption continue, almost 2.5 billionpeople will be subject to water shortages by 2050.

185. The United Nations played an active role in theWorld Water Forum held in The Hague in 2000, wherediscussions focused on strategies for the sustainablemanagement of water resources and their relatedcoastal and marine environments. These strategies arecurrently being implemented by various nations, withthe active involvement of the United Nations, andinclude programmes for the management of freshwatersystems and their related coastal and marineenvironments.

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• Conducting global assessments of priority aquaticecosystems with a view to developing appropriatepolicy responses;

• Developing policies, guidelines and managementtools for environmentally sustainable integratedwater management;

• Helping developing countries and countries witheconomies in transition to use environmentallysound technologies to address urban andfreshwater basin environmental problems;

• Ensuring a comprehensive review of chapter 18of Agenda 21,36 which is the main framework forUnited Nations activities in the management offreshwater resources, at the World Summit onSustainable Development, to be held inJohannesburg in 2002;

• Ensuring that such measures as the “polluterpays” principle and the pricing of water, whichwere raised at the World Water Forum, are furtherexamined.

GOAL: To intensify our collective efforts toreduce the number and effects of natural andman-made disasters

187. In 1999, natural disasters resulted in the loss ofmore than 100,000 human lives. If the projected impactof climate change on disasters is also factored into theequation, human and economic losses resulting fromdisasters will be significant unless aggressive measuresare implemented to prevent the occurrence of ormitigate the effects of natural and man-made disasters.

188. There has been a major conceptual shift from thetraditional emphasis on disaster response to disasterreduction. The International Decade for NaturalDisaster Reduction (1990-1999) led to the InternationalStrategy for Disaster Reduction and the establishmentof an inter-agency task force and secretariat. Disasterreduction prevents, mitigates and prepares for theadverse impact of natural hazards and relatedenvironmental and technological disasters. It must bepromoted as an urgent priority on the internationaldevelopment agenda.

189. Many countries, with the assistance of non-stateactors, have begun to adopt initiatives, including theincreased application of science and technology,

designed to reduce the impact of natural hazards andrelated technological and environmental phenomena.

190. The Geneva Mandate on Disaster Reductionreaffirms the necessity for disaster reduction and riskmanagement as essential elements of governmentpolicies. The International Strategy for DisasterReduction will help societies in their endeavours tomitigate and to the extent possible to prevent theeffects of natural hazards. Separately, the GeneralAssembly mandated the Strategy to continueinternational cooperation to reduce the impacts of ElNiño and other climate variability, and to strengthendisaster reduction capacities through early warning.


• Supporting interdisciplinary and intersectoralpartnerships, improved scientific research on thecauses of natural disasters and better internationalcooperation to reduce the impact of climatevariables, such as El Niño and La Niña;

• Developing early warning, vulnerability mapping,technological transfer and training;

• Encouraging Governments to address theproblems created by megacities, the location ofsettlements in high-risk areas and other man-made determinants of disasters;

• Encouraging Governments to incorporate disasterrisk reduction into national planning processes,including building codes.

GOAL: To ensure free access to information onthe human genome sequence

192. In 2000, the publicly funded Human GenomeProject and the commercial Celera GenomicsCorporation jointly announced success in listing thesequence of the 3.1 billion bases of human DNA. Butalthough the DNA sequence has been listed, decodingit or making it meaningful will take several more years.The Project, a multinational public-sector researchconsortium, has announced that its genome databasewill be made freely available on the Internet, butCelera is expected to charge royalties. The decoding ofthe human gene has brought the issue of patentinggenes to the fore. The genome project is an excellentexample of technology transfer at work, with numerouslaboratories operating in at least 18 different countries.Although some biotechnology innovations originate in

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the South, most of the more complex biotechnology isstill being advanced in developed countries.

193. In 1997, the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)members unanimously signed the UniversalDeclaration on the Human Genome and HumanRights,37 stating that the human genome in its naturalstate must not give rise to financial gains, and that noresearch concerning the human genome should prevailover respect for human rights. Also, practices contraryto human dignity, such as reproductive human cloning,should not be permitted and benefits from advancesconcerning the human genome must be made availableto all. In addition, research concerning the humangenome shall seek to offer relief from suffering andimprove health.


• Taking into account the UNESCO declaration of1997, nations are urged to ensure free access toinformation on the human genome sequence.

V. Human rights, democracy andgood governance

195. The United Nations exists to reaffirm faith infundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth ofthe human person, the equal rights of men and women,and the right of minorities and migrants to live inpeace. All human rights — civil, political, economic,social and cultural — are comprehensive, universal andinterdependent. They are the foundations that supporthuman dignity, and any violations of human rightsrepresent an attack on human dignity’s very core.Where fundamental human rights are not protected,States and their peoples are more likely to experienceconflict, poverty and injustice.

GOAL: To respect and fully uphold theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights38 andstrive for the full protection and promotion inall countries of civil, political, economic, socialand cultural rights for all

196. Currently, the ratification status of keyinternational human rights treaties is as follows(numbers of countries which have ratified inparentheses): the International Covenant for EconomicSocial and Cultural Rights39 (145), the International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights40 (147); theInternational Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Racial Discrimination41 (158); theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination against Women42 (168); the ConventionAgainst Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman orDegrading Treatment or Punishment43 (126), and theConvention on the Rights of the Child44 (191).

197. While the increasing willingness of Governmentsto make these commitments should be applauded, thegulf between commitments and concrete action muststill be bridged. People throughout the world remainvictims of summary executions, disappearances andtorture. Accuracy on numbers is difficult to ascertainbecause violations take place in too many countries ofthe world and are rarely reported. One of the very fewmeasures available is the work of the specialrapporteurs on human rights. For example, the numberof letters sent by the Special Rapporteur on torture ofthe Commission on Human Rights might give a senseof the situation regarding torture but cannot describethe full magnitude of the problem: in 2000, 66 letterswere sent to 60 countries on behalf of about 650individuals and 28 groups involving 2,250 persons.

198. Thirty-eight countries have undertaken to adoptnational plans of action for human rights, following therecommendation of the 1993 Vienna Declaration andProgramme of Action,45 and at least 14 countries havecompleted the process. More than 50 national humanrights institutions have been established under the Parisprinciples, a detailed set of internationally recognizedprinciples that provides minimum standards on thestatus and advisory role of national human rightsinstitutions. The Paris principles were endorsed by theCommission on Human Rights in 1992 and the GeneralAssembly in 1993, and have become the foundationand reference point for United Nations activity in thisarea. Since 1995 and the start of the Decade on HumanRights Education, at least 17 countries have undertakennational planning programmes and more than 40 haveinitiated human rights education activities.

199. A mid-term global study undertaken in 2000found that effective human rights education strategieshave yet to be developed. Specific measures for schoolsystems, such as developing and revising curricula andtextbooks, human rights training of school personneland relevant extracurricular activities, have yet to beinstitutionalized. Similarly, human rights are rarely afocus of study at the university level, except at

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specialized human rights institutes. Some efforts havebeen made to educate personnel working in theadministration of justice, but less has been done forofficials working in the social and economic fields.

200. There has been a clear shift in attitudes towardshuman rights protection by Member States. Onceconsidered to be the sole territory of sovereign States,the protection of human rights is now viewed as auniversal concern, as evidenced by the recentconvictions for genocide, rape, war crimes and crimesagainst humanity handed down in the InternationalCriminal Tribunals for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia.

201. Human rights are also a central tenet of UnitedNations reform, which emphasizes the centrality ofhuman rights in all activities of the system. The cross-cutting nature of human rights demands that whetherwe are working for peace and security, forhumanitarian relief or for a common developmentapproach and common development operations, theactivities and programmes of the system must beconducted with the principles of equality at their core.That evolution is reflected in a diverse range of UnitedNations forums.

202. Human rights are an intrinsic part of humandignity and human development can be a meanstowards realizing these rights. A rights-based approachto development is the basis of equality and equity, bothin the distribution of development gains and in thelevel of participation in the development process.Economic, social and cultural rights are at the heart ofall the millennium development goals related topoverty reduction, hunger alleviation, access to water,education for boys and girls, the reduction of maternaland under-five child mortality, combating HIV/AIDSand other major diseases, and promoting genderequality and the empowerment of women.

203. Human poverty indicators in recent years haveshown enormous differences among countries andbetween the developing and developed worlds. Whendisaggregated by region, rural and urban areas, ethnicgroup or gender, national human development datareveal disparities that are unacceptable from the humanrights perspective. An increasing number of MemberStates have recognized the value of the rights-basedperspective on development and should be encouragedto implement this approach at the national level.


• Encouraging Governments to fulfil their humanrights obligations, to ratify the six principalhuman rights treaties urgently, and to ratify oraccede to the Rome Statute of the InternationalCriminal Court;

• Integrating human rights in all developmentactivities focused on the economic, social andcultural well-being of each member of society;

• Supporting the work of regional and subregionalhuman rights institutions to promote nationalimplementation of human rights norms, and todevelop joint strategies for action on cross-borderissues;

• Expanding United Nations programmes forMember States aimed at providing advice andtraining on treaty ratification, reporting andimplementation;

• Integrating human rights norms into UnitedNations system policies, programmes and countrystrategies, including country frameworks anddevelopment loans.

GOAL: To strengthen the capacity of all ourcountries to implement the principles andpractices of democracy and human rights,including minority rights

205. There has been a rapid increase in the number ofdemocracies over the past 20 years. The ratio ofdemocratic Governments to autocracies in the mid-1990s was more than two to one, a complete reversal ofthe situation in the late 1970s. In 2000, theCommission on Human Rights outlined a number ofelements for promoting and consolidating democracy.These include fair and periodic elections, anindependent judiciary, a transparent government and avibrant civil society. States that respect the rights of alltheir citizens and allow all of them a say in decisionsthat affect their lives are likely to benefit from theircreative energies and to provide the kind of economicand social environment that promotes sustainabledevelopment. However, an election alone is not asolution; small minorities are often at risk indemocracies and a well-functioning democracy is onethat operates within the context of a comprehensivehuman rights regime.

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206. The United Nations continues to assist new orrestored democracies. Since 1988, four internationalconferences have been held with the aim of identifyingessential democratic ideals, mechanisms andinstitutions and implementation strategies. Thoseconferences have helped to target areas for action,including building conflict resolution capacities,combating corruption, building and supporting civilsociety, enhancing the role of the media, security sectorreform, supporting public administration structures anddecentralization, and improving electoral andparliamentary systems and processes. Protecting therights of women, minorities, migrants and indigenouspeoples is also essential.

207. Since 1989, the United Nations has received over140 requests for electoral assistance from MemberStates on the legal, technical, administrative andhuman rights aspects of conducting democraticelections. Occasionally, as in Kosovo and East Timor,the mandate has expanded to providing a transitionaladministration, with oversight of an entire politicalprocess designed to promote human rights anddemocratic participation. The United Nations has alsoexperienced a growth in requests from Member Statesfor human rights assistance in such areas as holdingelections, law reform, the administration of justice andtraining for law enforcement officials.


• Supporting States in integrating human rightsmechanisms into national institutions, particularlyby establishing human rights commissions,ombudsmen and law reform commissions;

• Strengthening the implementation of democraticprinciples through institutional reform and raisingcivic awareness;

• Paying special attention to the rights ofminorities, indigenous peoples and those mostvulnerable in each society;

• Continuing United Nations work to ensure thatelections are based on free and fair principles.

GOAL: To combat all forms of violence againstwomen and to implement the Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Discriminationagainst Women

209. To date, 168 States have ratified or acceded to theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women, committing themselvesto ending discrimination against women in all forms. Ina landmark decision for women, the General Assemblyadopted an Optional Protocol46 to the Conventionallowing for inquiries into situations of grave orsystematic violations of women’s rights, which enteredinto force in December 2000 and now has a total of 67signatories and 22 ratifications. However, violenceagainst women and girls continues to take place in thefamily and the community, while trafficking in womenand girls, honour killings, and harmful traditionalpractices, such as female genital mutilation, remaincommon forms of abuse. During armed conflict, rape,sexual torture and slavery are used as weapons of waragainst women and girls. The failure of many existingeconomic, political and social structures to provideequal opportunities and protection for girls and womenhas often left them excluded from education,vulnerable to poverty and subject to disease.

210. There are encouraging moves to create andimplement new policies, procedures and laws thatensure respect for women’s rights at the national level.Regional efforts include a meeting concerning nationalmachinery for gender equality in African countries,held from 16 to18 April 2001 in Addis Ababa, and anexpert group meeting on the situation of rural womenwithin the context of globalization, held in Ulaanbaatarfrom 4 to 8 June 2001.

211. The promotion of gender equality is a strongfocus of United Nations activities, which are designedto ensure the equality of women in all aspects ofhuman endeavour and as beneficiaries of sustainabledevelopment, peace and security, good governance andhuman rights. The United Nations acts as a catalyst foradvancing the global agenda on women’s issues,promoting international standards and norms and thedissemination of best practices.

212. In 2001, the Commission on the Status of Womenadopted a multi-year programme that calls for thereview of themes relevant to the empowerment ofwomen, including the eradication of poverty, theparticipation and access of women to the media andcurrent information technologies, the role of men andboys in achieving gender equality, and women’s equalparticipation in conflict prevention, management andresolution and in peace-building. During the specialsessions of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS and onthe five-year review of the United Nations Conference

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on Human Settlements (Habitat II), a gender dimensionwas incorporated into the final outcome documents.


• Encouraging Governments to implementlegislative reform and strengthen domestic lawenforcement mechanisms to promote non-discrimination and ensure compliance withinternational standards;

• Supporting national efforts to guarantee womenequal access to education, social and healthservices, to improve their control over economicassets and to enhance their participation indecision-making processes;

• Continuing efforts to encourage parties toconflicts to involve women in ceasefire and peacenegotiations and include gender issues in peaceprocesses as well as in peace agreements;

• Working within the United Nations to ensureclear mandates for all peacekeeping missions toprevent, monitor and report on violence againstwomen and girls, including all sexual violence,abduction, forced prostitution and trafficking.

GOAL: To take measures to ensure respect forand the protection of the human rights ofmigrants, migrant workers and their families,to eliminate the increasing acts of racism andxenophobia in many societies, and to promotegreater harmony and tolerance in all societies

214. Migrants, minorities, refugees, displaced persons,asylum seekers and smuggled persons remain thevictims of discrimination, racism and intolerance. TheInternational Organization for Migration estimates thatthere are between 15 and 30 million irregular migrantsworldwide. It is estimated that more than 10 per cent ofthe world’s population belong to national or ethnic,linguistic and religious minorities, and that there aremore than 300 million indigenous people.

215. The International Steering Committee of theGlobal Campaign for Ratification of the Convention onthe Rights of Migrants was formed in 1998, and theSpecial Rapporteur on the human rights of migrantscontinued to promote adherence to the Conventionwithin the framework of the mandate entrusted to herby the Commission on Human Rights. States should actto ratify the International Convention on the Protectionof the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of

Their Families47 so that it enters into force with aminimum of delay, and should enact implementinglegislation to give meaning to the InternationalConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination. Practical strategies for action tocombat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia andrelated intolerance are critical. Enforcement andadministrative structures can be utilized to reduce thevulnerability of migrants, particularly through publicinformation campaigns and human rights training forimmigration officials and the police. Effective policydevelopment will be improved through the systematiccollection, exchange and analysis of data,disaggregated according to age, race, minority ormigrant status at the national, regional andinternational levels.

216. The World Conference Against Racism, RacialDiscrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerancehas provided an opportunity to promote greaterawareness of these issues. There has been positivecooperation in the Conference process from humanrights bodies, such as the Committee on the Rights ofthe Child, the Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights, and the Committee on the Eliminationof Racial Discrimination. The challenge is to identifyand implement practical and concrete measures toaddress racism, for example through attention to youthand education.


• Supporting State efforts to ratify and implementthe Convention on Migrant Workers;

• Assisting States in developing documentationprogrammes for their citizens, adults and childrenalike, which can provide key access tofundamental rights;

• Continuing United Nations work to providetechnical advice and training and to lead dialogueon specific policies dealing with migration issuesand their implications.

GOAL: To work collectively for more inclusivepolitical processes, allowing genuineparticipation by all citizens in all our countries

218. Ensuring democracy requires good governance,which in turn depends on inclusive participation,transparency, accountability and the promotion of therule of law. All national actors, including NGOs and

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the private sector, must interact constructively toachieve democratic and representative outcomes. TheUnited Nations assists Governments in strengtheningtheir legal frameworks, policies, mechanisms andinstitutions for democratic governance through supportto democratic governing institutions, such asparliaments, judiciaries and electoral managementbodies; building human rights institutions and conflictresolution mechanisms and skills, strengthening localgovernment and civil society participation in decision-making processes; strengthening public sectormanagement, transparency and accountability;combating corruption, enhancing the role of the media;and improving electoral and parliamentary systems.

219. There has been increased cooperation between theUnited Nations and regional bodies. Such mechanismsas the African Commission on Human and PeoplesRights, the Council of Europe and the OSCE HighCommissioner for National Minorities share theirexperience with United Nations human rights bodies,such as the Commission on Human Rights and theWorking Group on Minorities, with respect tosupporting the effective participation of minorities inpublic life. In addition, in July 2000 the Economic andSocial Council established the Permanent Forum forIndigenous Issues as an opportunity to offer acoordinated, integrated and holistic approach to tacklethe situation of indigenous issues.


• Encouraging States to develop and implementprogrammes that support pluralistic institutions,periodic elections and other democraticprocesses, in conformity with international humanrights standards;

• Continuing United Nations work to strengthenparliamentary structures and policy-makingprocesses;

• Providing assistance to government efforts toinvolve civil society in policy-making decisions;

• Supporting government efforts to strengthen localgovernance in urban and rural areas.

GOAL: To ensure the freedom of the media toperform their essential role and the right of thepublic to have access to information

221. Freedom of the media is one of the key tenets ofdemocracy that ensures transparency and

accountability. Yet despite widespread international,regional and national legislation guaranteeing freedomof the media, violations ranging from harassment,arbitrary arrest, physical harm and structuralcensorship continue. To date, the Special Rapporteuron the promotion and protection of the right to freedomof opinion and expression of the Commission onHuman Rights has filed 16 allegations concerningcases of violations of the right to freedom of opinionand expression and over 100 urgent actions, aprocedure for cases that are of a life-threatening natureor other situations where the particular circumstancesof the incident require urgent attention. Over 200 casesof violence against journalists, perpetrated by bothState and non-state actors, have been recorded in thelast five years. In addition, there are a number ofworrying attempts to shut down or control Internetaccess and usage.

222. Combating these violations will require furtherefforts on the part of States, including legislativereform and a re-examination of domestic lawenforcement mechanisms, in order to ensure parity withinternational standards governing the right to freedomof opinion and expression. The International Covenanton Civil and Political Rights and the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rightsprovide the minimum protections and guaranteesrequired for the existence of a free and independentmedia. Ratification of these instruments is crucial.

223. At the regional level, the Organization ofAmerican States (OAS) approved the Declaration ofPrinciple on Freedom of Expression in 2000.Developed by Special Rapporteurs of the UnitedNations, OAS and OSCE, it confirms the followingrights and freedoms: freedom of expression as anindispensable requirement of democracy; the right toseek, receive and impart information and opinionsfreely; access to information held by the state, withonly exceptional limitations; prohibition of priorcensorship; and the right to communicate views by anymeans and in any form.


• Encouraging States to reform legislation thatunduly restricts speech on the grounds of nationalsecurity, libel, defamation and judicial contempt;

• Reviewing national criminal laws and theirenforcement in order to protect the rights tofreedom of opinion, expression and information;

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• Continuing United Nations work withGovernments to develop a free and independentmedia through developing corresponding legalframeworks, working with civil society anddeveloping media monitoring mechanisms andcapacities for identifying abuses.

VI. Protecting the vulnerable

225. Protecting the vulnerable in complex emergenciesis a fundamental concern for Member States and theinternational community. Complex emergencies,resulting from armed conflict and in some casescompounded by natural disasters, have intensified inmany parts of the world. It is estimated that 75 per centof those who died in wars in the most recent decadeswere civilians. Women and children are particularlyexposed during conflict. In the 1990s, more than twomillion children were killed as a result of armedconflict and more than six million were permanentlydisabled or seriously injured. The vulnerability ofcivilians is exacerbated by large-scale forceddisplacement and the specific effects of conflict onwomen and children, including rape, sexual slavery andhuman trafficking, and the recruitment and use of childsoldiers. The indiscriminate use of landmines and thevirtually uncontrolled proliferation of small armsfurther aggravate the suffering of vulnerable civilianpopulations.

GOAL: To expand and strengthen theprotection of civilians in complex emergencies,in conformity with internationalhumanitarian law

226. The primary responsibility for expanding andstrengthening the protection of civilians rests withGovernments; they are fundamental to building the“culture of protection” called for in my reports on theprotection of civilians. Where Governments themselvesdo not have the means to effectively protect vulnerablepopulations, they should reach out to all entities thatmay provide protection, including the United Nationssystem, non-governmental organizations, regionalorganizations and the private sector. In regionalconflicts, decisive and rapid action often requirespolitical decision makers to move beyond a solelycountry-specific focus. Nevertheless, it is not onlyGovernments that have this responsibility. Accordingto the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and to customary

international humanitarian law, armed groups also havea direct responsibility to protect civilian populations inarmed conflict.

227. In recent years, Member States and the SecurityCouncil have made commitments toward protectingcivilians in complex emergencies. The United Nationshas adopted policies and taken the first steps toenhance the protection of civilians when it authorizesembargoes and implements sanctions. Independently,regional organizations and arrangements, includingOAU, ECOWAS, OAS, EU, OSCE and the Group ofEight Major Industrialized Countries, have taken actionto address elements of the question of the protection ofchildren’s rights during armed conflict.


• Urging States to prosecute violations ofinternational criminal law through national courtsor the International Criminal Court once it isestablished;

• Strengthening national justice systems to ensurethe consistent application of international lawsthat protect civilians;

• Calling upon all parties to conflicts to ensureaccess to vulnerable populations;

• Developing criteria and procedures foridentifying and then separating armed elements insituations of forced displacement.

GOAL: To strengthen internationalcooperation, including burden-sharing in andthe coordination of humanitarian assistance tocountries hosting refugees, and to help allrefugees and displaced persons to returnvoluntarily to their homes in safety and dignityand to be smoothly reintegrated into theirsocieties

229. In 2001, there are approximately 20 to 25 millionpersons who have been internally displaced as a resultof armed conflict and generalized violence, and over 12million refugees. Most States have made legalcommitments to uphold the basic principles of refugeeprotection, to respect human rights and to promoteinternational peace and security. These fundamentalprinciples underpin all efforts to protect the displaced,and host countries must be supported in their efforts toprovide protection through the provision of increasedresources and assistance.

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230. The difficult situation faced by countries hostingrefugees, many of which are among the leastdeveloped, is now widely recognized. Yet the rhetoricon international solidarity and burden-sharing rarelytranslates into tangible support to refugee-affectedareas. Effective burden-sharing requires concertedaction among all actors and should be aimed atreducing pressure on scarce resources. A generalconsensus exists that while refugees should receive therequired level of support, the needs and sensitivities ofhost communities should be addressed simultaneously.The United Nations seeks to promote the self-relianceof refugees and to facilitate their local integration,while at the same time addressing the basic needs ofthe host communities and compensating for some ofthe adverse impacts on the local physical and socio-economic infrastructure. Even when refugees arereceived with understanding and compassion, largerefugee populations can place strains on publicservices, housing, agricultural land and theenvironment. Such pressures pose serious obstacles inthe search for solutions to refugee problems throughvoluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement.

231. Voluntary repatriation has been identified by bothGovernments and refugees as the preferred durablesolution to their plight. The reintegration phase iscrucial for both returnees and communities of origin.Comprehensive and broad reintegration assistanceworks to prevent further refugee outflows. Resourcesfor “reinsertion packages” are vital in helping refugeesreturn to their communities of origin and to assist thesecommunities in receiving them. To be sustainable,return must be accompanied by measures to rebuildcommunities, must foster reintegration and must belinked to national development programmes. To fosterreconciliation, the United Nations has paid specialattention to building partnerships with development,financial and human rights institutions.

232. With regard to the internally displaced, theUnited Nations has worked towards the development ofa normative framework for the protection andassistance of the internally displaced — the GuidingPrinciples on Internal Displacement.48 Standards haveexisted for refugees since 1951, but the GuidingPrinciples are the first international standards for theinternally displaced. They emphasize the primary dutyand responsibility of Governments to ensure thevoluntary, safe and dignified return or resettlement of

internally displaced persons, and offer guidance onstrategies that adequately address their needs.

233. Mechanisms have been developed to improve theresponse to internal displacement issues. The hope isthat better information on the numbers and needs ofdisplaced people will improve assistance response andstrengthen advocacy efforts on their behalf. Allsolutions must focus on safe and sustainablereintegration, or on enhancing the self-reliancecapacities of the internally displaced in those situationswhen reintegration is not yet possible. Measures torebuild communities, foster reintegration and links tonational development programmes are critical if thereturn of displaced populations, refugees or internallydisplaced persons is to be sustainable.


• Ensuring that States comply with their legalobligations to protect and assist all refugees anddisplaced persons;

• Making international assistance and developmentprogrammes more responsive to the needs of hostcommunities and more effective in alleviatingpressure on the receiving local environment;

• Working in the international community to assistthe displaced in rebuilding their lives and enablethem to resume supporting themselves and theirfamilies;

• Improving and making United Nations advocacywork more systematic through the disseminationof international standards, including the GuidingPrinciples on Internal Displacement, monitoringadherence to these standards.

GOAL: To encourage the ratification and fullimplementation of the Convention on the Rightsof the Child and its Optional Protocols on theinvolvement of children in armed conflict49 andon the sale of children, child prostitution andchild pornography50

235. The General Assembly unanimously adopted theConvention on the Rights of the Child on 20 November1989, and it entered into force in September 1990. TheConvention is the most universally embraced humanrights treaty, and as of 14 August 2001 191 instrumentsof ratification or accession have been deposited withrespect to the Convention. Only two countries have yetto ratify the Convention. The World Conference on

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Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, set the end of1995 as a target for its universal ratification of theConvention on the Rights of the Child: we are now sixyears behind this target.

236. The Convention on the Rights of the Child hasformed the basis for other international conventions,such as the Hague Convention on the Protection ofChildren and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-CountryAdoption, the new ILO convention andrecommendation concerning the prohibition andimmediate action for the elimination of the worst formsof child labour, and several regional instruments, suchas the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of theChild. The implementation of the Convention on theRights of the Child at the international level has beenenhanced through bilateral, regional and multilateralagreements, including on the abolition of the worstforms of child labour and preventing and combatingchild trafficking. On 25 May 2000, the internationalcommunity adopted two Optional Protocols to theConvention on the involvement of children in armedconflict and on the sale of children, child prostitutionand child pornography.

237. At the national level, implementation of theConvention on the Rights of the Child has led to aprocess of social change, including through legislativeand policy reforms, the development of national plansof action and the establishment of national institutionsfor children’s rights. In addition, the Conventionrequires the promotion of information and educationcampaigns to create awareness and ensure respect forthe rights of all children. Civil society initiatives, suchas those by the non-governmental organization Groupfor the Convention on the Rights of the Child, assist inmonitoring and implementing the Convention at thenational level.


• Encouraging States to take advantage of thespecial session of the General Assembly onchildren, to be held in September 2001, as afurther opportunity to ratify the Convention onthe Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols;

• Securing state commitments to ending the use ofchildren as soldiers, demobilizing andrehabilitating former child soldiers and takinginto account the special needs of women andgirls;

• Continuing to support government efforts toimplement, monitor and report on the Conventionby promoting capacity-building activities andenhancing assessment systems at the nationallevel and by ensuring the allocation of adequateresources for the realization of children’s rights.

VII. Meeting the special needs of Africa

239. Since the Millennium Summit, there has been agreater resolve in African leadership to take ownershipand control over the continent’s destiny. Internationalengagement with Africa has been characterized by thebeginning of concerted efforts to move towards acoherent approach in dealing with the continent.Recent Security Council efforts, such as Councilmissions to conflict areas in Africa, more regularSecretariat briefings on conflict situations andincreased engagement in peacekeeping in Africa arealso positive steps.

240. African leaders have taken the lead in articulatingregional development initiatives. At its Summit inLusaka held in July 2001, it was decided that theOrganization of African Unity will be replaced by theAfrican Union in a bid for greater economic, politicaland institutional integration for the continent. TheAfrican Union will bring new opportunities for Africancountries to work together and forge a commonplatform of action. The other outcome of the Summitwas the adoption of the New African Initiative, acontinental strategy developed by African leadersdirected to achieving sustainable development in thetwenty-first century. The Initiative centres on Africanownership and management and contains an agenda forthe renewal of the continent.

GOAL: To give full support to the political andinstitutional structures of emergingdemocracies in Africa

241. It has been estimated that since 1990 the numberof democratically elected national Governments inAfrica has grown fivefold. Political systems all overthe continent are increasingly inclusive and based onopen electoral processes. While there has been a surgein the number of countries that have held elections, thatdevelopment does not by itself guarantee political,civil, social and economic freedom.

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242. Many new democracies are fragile, and needsupport and assistance to build democratic institutions.Support must be strategic, sustained and structuredaround the contextual realities of the country inquestion and must be compatible with its priorities andnational agenda for reform. Newly democratizingcountries require assistance for transitionalarrangements, to anticipate potential long-termimplications and to establish the necessary processesfor reform. African Governments, civil society and theinternational system as a whole have a role to play inreforming public financial institutions and developingtransparent economic and regulatory practices.


• Supporting the democracy and governanceprogrammes of the New African Initiative, whichincludes targeted capacity-building focused onpublic sector management, administrative andcivil service reform and strengtheningparliamentary oversight;

• Encouraging Governments to nurture democraticvalues, ideals and institutions and to developindependent judiciaries and media.

GOAL: To encourage and sustain regional andsubregional mechanisms for preventing conflictand promoting political stability, and to ensurea reliable flow of resources for peacekeepingoperations on the continent

244. There are a number of regional and subregionalmechanisms in Africa that work to prevent conflict andpromote political stability. The OAU Mechanism forConflict Prevention, Management and Resolution ismandated to observe conflict and ceasefire situationsand carry on early warning and mediation. It hasundertaken a number of peacekeeping and conflictprevention initiatives. OAU is currently establishing anAfrican early warning system to allow for more rapidinformation exchange on conflict situations in Africa.

245. Subregional organizations that enhance peace andsecurity include the Intergovernmental Authority onDevelopment in the Horn of Africa; ECOWAS; andthe Southern African Development Community(SADC). Although conflict in the region has been anobstacle to peacemaking endeavours, there is greatpotential for future cooperation in matters of defenceand security.

246. In addition, non-governmental actors areincreasingly diverse and active across the wholeconflict spectrum, from conflict prevention andpolitical and constitutional reform to demilitarizationand community participation in peace processes.Others work on conflict resolution and building thebridge from peace to development.

247. Of the 46 peacekeeping operations launched bythe United Nations since 1988, 18 were deployed inAfrica. There have been a number of examples ofsuccessful cooperation at the regional and subregionallevels in peacekeeping in Africa. Extensive cooperationhas taken place between the United Nations andECOWAS in operations in West Africa and between theUnited Nations and OAU to implement the LusakaAgreement.

248. Bilateral and multilateral efforts are required toensure the availability of resources for peacekeeping inAfrica. However, efforts to enhance African capacitycannot relieve the Security Council of its primaryresponsibility for the maintenance of internationalpeace and security, and should not justify reducedengagement. Support by non-African States for Africanpeacemaking and peacekeeping efforts, includingthrough the deployment of peacekeeping operations,will continue to be essential. Meaningful changerequires not only plans but action, including readinesson the part of able Member States to share informationand expertise and to provide adequate logistical andfinancial resources and ongoing political support.

249. Member States may wish to provide support topeacekeeping in Africa bilaterally, throughorganizations on the continent or through the UnitedNations. Where African countries are undertakingpeacekeeping operations outside of the United Nations,Member States may wish to co-deploy a UnitedNations operation or to dispatch United Nations liaisonofficers as a means to maintain the engagement of theinternational community.


• Maintaining the engagement of the internationalcommunity in peacekeeping in Africa;

• Supporting peacekeeping in Africa throughassistance to specific operations or throughincremental steps to enhance peacekeepingcapacity generally in Africa;

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• Providing more funds to allow African militaryofficers, particularly those serving with OAU andsubregional arrangements, to participate intraining and short-term exchange opportunities;

• Encouraging further cooperation by AfricanStates within the United Nations standbyarrangements system.

GOAL: To take special measures to address thechallenges of poverty eradication andsustainable development in Africa, includingdebt cancellation, improved market access,enhanced official development assistance andincreased flow of foreign direct investment, aswell as transfers of technology

251. While some African countries are doing well,poverty in Africa continues to rise, with approximately340 million people — or half the population — livingon less than $1 per day. The mortality rate of childrenunder five years of age is 140 per 1,000, while lifeexpectancy at birth is only 54 years. Only 58 per centof the population has access to safe water. Althougheconomic growth rates in Africa are projected toincrease in 2001 and 2002, they will fall far short ofwhat is necessary to meet the international target ofhalving poverty by 2015. The continent accounts foronly 1.5 per cent of world exports, and its share ofglobal manufacturing is less than 4 per cent. Totalexternal debt in sub-Saharan Africa in 1999 was $216billion, which is approximately 70.5 per cent of itsGNP and 210.8 per cent of its exports. This isunsustainable. Moreover, of the 41 heavily indebtedpoor countries in the world, 33 are in Africa.

252. It is essential that the continent embark on thepath to sustainable development and achieve its goalsof economic growth, increased employment, reductionof poverty and inequality, diversification of productiveactivities, enhanced international competitiveness andincreased exports. The New African Initiative is basedon national and regional priorities and developmentplans that must be prepared through participatoryprocesses. The Initiative has set the target of a GDPgrowth rate of above 7 per cent per annum for the next15 years to help achieve its goals. To achieve theestimated 7 per cent per annum growth rate, Africaneeds to fill a resource gap of 12 per cent of its GDP,or US$ 64 billion. This will require increased domesticsavings as well as improvements to the public revenuecollection system. However, the majority of the needed

resources will have to be obtained from outside thecontinent through increased ODA, increased privatecapital flows and higher export earnings.


• Helping Africa seek increased ODA flows andreforming the ODA delivery system to ensure thatflows are more effectively utilized by recipientAfrican countries;

• Supporting the establishment of measures thatreduce risk in order to attract and sustain foreigninvestment and technology transfers;

• Helping Africa to secure further debt relief;

• Assisting Africa in ensuring active participationin the world trading system, through open andgeographically diversified market access for itsexports;

• Helping the continent diversify its production;

• Providing assistance to secure and stabilizepreferential treatment by developed countries.

GOAL: To help Africa build up its capacity totackle the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemicand other infectious diseases

254. If we do not contain the spread of HIV/AIDS andwork on its prevention we will witness a tragic andprofound unravelling of social, educational,governance and commercial frameworks all over theworld, but most acutely in Africa. The effect of thisdisease is devastating to every sector and everydevelopment target — food production, education forall, good governance and eliminating extreme poverty.And as political, social and economic infrastructuresweaken, existing problems will be exacerbated. Therehave been some successes. Senegal began its anti-AIDS programme in 1986 and has managed to keep itsinfection rate below 2 per cent. Uganda began itsprogramme in the early 1990s, when 14 per cent of theadult population was already infected, whereas thefigure today is 8 per cent and continues to fall. Butmore needs to be done throughout the continent,especially in those countries where the epidemic ismore prevalent.

255. HIV/AIDS is not the only disease taking its toll inAfrica. The spread of HIV/AIDS, combined with agrowing general drug resistance, threaten tuberculosiscontrol. In 1999, 516,000 people in Africa died of

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tuberculosis, 305,000 of them also infected with HIV.Almost 30 per cent of all new tuberculosis patients areHIV-positive. The leading cause of death in peoplewith HIV/AIDS is tuberculosis.

256. On April 2001, the President of Nigeria hostedthe African Summit on HIV/AIDS and Other RelatedInfectious Diseases in Abuja, Nigeria, where theAbuja Summit Declaration was adopted. The mandateis to find solutions to the HIV/AIDS crisis throughglobal partnerships. Since the Abuja Summit, theGlobal Fund for AIDS and Health has been establishedand I have appointed a Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS inAfrica.

257. In the framework of the Debt-for-AIDS Initiative,the United Nations is assisting African countries inplacing HIV/AIDS policies within national planningprocesses, such as the poverty reduction strategypapers. The International Partnership against AIDS inAfrica, made up of African Governments, the UnitedNations, donors, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, aims to significantlyincrease collective efforts against HIV/AIDS. TheUnited Nations Inter-Agency Task Team on HIV-Related Drugs has adopted a strategy on HIV-relateddrugs. In May 2000, an initiative to expand access toHIV treatment was launched by the United Nationsorganizations and five major pharmaceuticalcompanies. This initiative represents a redoubling ofefforts to assist developing countries in implementingcomprehensive care strategies for people living withHIV/AIDS, including a reduction of prices for HIV-related drugs. While its main focus remains sub-Saharan Africa, other developing countries can alsoavail themselves of United Nations technical supportunder this initiative. As of August 2001, 26 countriesin Africa have formulated care and support plans forpeople living with HIV infection, and 13 have reachedagreements with producers of drugs used to treat HIVinfection. In the least developed countries, the latteragreements have reduced the cost of those drugs by 85to 90 per cent compared to their cost in industrializedcountries.

258. Although malaria is not an infectious disease it isa major concern: one million people die of malariaannually, 90 per cent of them in Africa and the majorityof them children. The Roll Back Malaria campaign,which was launched in 1998, has led to the preparationof plans of action in 38 countries, which includedeveloping malaria control policies and indicators for

monitoring and evaluation, upgrading interventioncapacities at the regional level and using insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets. The African Summit onRoll Back Malaria, held in Abuja in April 2000,supported these goals and reinforced the commitmentto roll back deaths from the disease by 50 per cent by2010.

259. Many of the world’s health needs can only be metat the international level through the provision ofglobal public goods. Among the most critical globalpublic goods for health are the generation anddissemination of knowledge of research, effectivehealth system reforms and the transfer of newtechnologies. Research and development of new drugs,vaccines and other technologies are desperately neededto prevent and control diseases that primarily affectpoor countries.


• Promoting global public goods for health bymobilizing commercial enterprises, especiallypharmaceutical companies;

• Giving high priority to measuring improvementsin health in African countries, particularly theleast developed countries;

• Supporting capacity-building in least developedcountries to collect and analyse data on agreedhealth indicators and to share information andlessons at the regional and global levels;

• Supporting African Governments in their effortsto reduce deaths and disability from the majordiseases affecting the poor, such as HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

VIII. Strengthening the United Nations

261. The United Nations is a uniquely globalinstitution, with universal membership. In order tocontinue to act as a catalyst for change and to provide aforum for dialogue and effective action the system willhave to be renewed and modernized to cope with thechallenges of this millennium. In particular, we need tostrengthen the ability of the system to work together,extend our partnerships and ensure the security of ourstaff as they carry out the mission of the UnitedNations.

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GOAL: To reaffirm the central position of theGeneral Assembly as the chief deliberative,policy-making and representative organ of theUnited Nations, and to enable it to play thatrole effectively

262. Following the adoption of the United NationsMillennium Declaration, the President of the GeneralAssembly has undertaken to revitalize the work of theAssembly in response to the burden of the increase inagenda items over the years. Member States held aseries of open-ended informal consultations and haveagreed to streamline the agenda of the GeneralAssembly, its reporting process and the allocation ofagenda items to subsidiary organs of the Assembly.Particular efforts have been made to cluster agendaitems in a thematic fashion, to promote the biennialconsideration of a number of agenda items and toallocate a higher number of agenda items tocommittees so as to promote more effective debates.


• Continuing the General Assembly’s efforts torevitalize and streamline its work;

• Continuing to strengthen the office of thePresident through enhanced consultations andoutreach.

GOAL: To intensify our efforts to achieve acomprehensive reform of the Security Councilin all its aspects

264. The Open-ended Working Group on Reform ofthe Security Council was established in 1993. In 2000,the Working Group held five substantive sessions ondecision-making in the Security Council, including onthe use of the veto, the expansion of the SecurityCouncil, periodic review of an enlarged SecurityCouncil, and working methods of the Security Council,and transparency of its work. The Working Group’srecommendation in 2000 was that the GeneralAssembly consider the issue of equitable representationand an increase in the membership of the Council.

265. Security Council reform envisages a body that islarger to reflect new political realities and underlineequal geographical representation of all regions of theworld, with a more transparent body throughimprovements in its working methods. These areconsidered parallel processes. Regarding enlargement,there is a lack of agreement on a number of issues,

particularly the number of new Council members to beadded; whether any of the new members would havepermanent status; whether any new permanentmember(s) would exert the right of veto; and whetherthe veto should be limited (for example, to Chapter VIIoperations), curtailed or eventually eliminated.


• Continuing consideration in the GeneralAssembly regarding the size and composition ofthe Security Council;

• Continuing reform of the methods of work of theSecurity Council, including transparency andconsultation with troop-contributing countries;

• Enhancing the Security Council’s ability toanticipate, prevent and react to event on shortnotice.

GOAL: To strengthen further the Economicand Social Council, building on its recentachievements, to help it to fulfil the roleascribed to it in the Charter of theUnited Nations

267. Building on earlier reforms, the GeneralAssembly agreed in 1996 on a series of furthermeasures for the restructuring and revitalization of theUnited Nations in the economic, social and relatedfields. The annual high-level segments of the Economicand Social Council have resulted in ministerialdeclarations on a number of critical developmentissues, such as on information and communicationstechnologies (ICT) for development in 2000 and on thesustainable development of Africa in 2001. TheCouncil has also established an innovative ICT TaskForce. It has improved policy oversight of theoperational activities for development of the UnitedNations agencies, funds and programmes. In addition,the Economic and Social Council has introduced ahumanitarian segment to provide a forum for broaderpolicy issues in this area. It has also strengthened thesupervision of its functional commissions, withparticular emphasis on promoting coordinated follow-up to the outcomes of major United Nationsconferences and summits in economic and social fields.

268. With regard to coordination, high-level meetingshave been held annually since 1998 between theCouncil and the Bretton Woods institutions oninternational financial and development issues. An

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annual policy dialogue is also held with the heads ofthe international financial and trade institutions toreview the state of the world economy. The Economicand Social Council also holds thematic meetings withmembers of the Administrative Committee onCoordination (ACC). The Council’s capacity toconvene meetings involving Governments, the UnitedNations system and representatives of civil society andthe private sector to address economic and social issueswas exemplified by the African Forum for InvestmentPromotion, which was held during the Council’ssubstantive session of 2001. The Forum broughttogether African ministers, African privatecorporations, trade unions, investors, specializedagencies of the United Nations system and regional andsubregional development organizations. Finally, thestructural relationship between the Council and the fiveregional commissions has also been improved. TheCouncil now holds an annual dialogue with theExecutive Secretaries, and the regional commissionsincreasingly provide issue-specific input to theCouncil’s work.


• Continuing the Economic and Social Council’sefforts to consider how best to fulfil its mandateand streamline its working methods;

• Focusing its 2002 coordination segment onfurther strengthening and helping the Council tofulfil the role ascribed to it in the Charter of theUnited Nations.

GOAL: To strengthen the International Courtof Justice in order to ensure justice and the ruleof law in international affairs

270. There are approximately 100 multilateral and 160bilateral treaties in force providing for the jurisdictionof the International Court of Justice (ICJ). As of 31July 2000, 189 States are parties to the Statute of theCourt and 62 States have recognized its compulsoryjurisdiction. Some 260 bilateral or multilateral treatiesprovide for the Court’s jurisdiction in the resolution ofdisputes arising out of their application orinterpretation. From August 1999 to July 2000, ICJheld 29 public sessions and a large number of private,administrative and judicial meetings.

271. The recent growth of international judicialbodies, such as the International Criminal Tribunals,the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and

the quasi-judicial mechanism for the settlement ofdisputes within WTO poses a risk of fragmentation ininternational law. ICJ could play a useful role inmaintaining the unity of international jurisprudence ifmore use of the Court were made.


• Encouraging States to use the International Courtof Justice more frequently for the resolution oftheir disputes;

• Increasing the number of organs andorganizations entitled to request advisoryopinions and the number of advisory opinionsrequested.

GOAL: To encourage regular consultations andcoordination among the principal organs of theUnited Nations

273. The Presidents of the principal organs of theUnited Nations have met and discussed issues ofcommon concern, such as the prevention of armedconflicts and the impact of HIV/AIDS on peace andsecurity in Africa, and wider issues relating topeacekeeping and peace-building.


• Further cooperation and consultation among theGeneral Assembly, the Economic and SocialCouncil and the Security Council;

• Broadening the range of issues on whichconsultations are held among the principal organsof the United Nations.

GOAL: To ensure that the United Nations isprovided on a timely and predictable basis withthe resources it needs to carry out its mandates

275. The collection of current and outstandingassessments has improved, and an increasing numberof Member States remit their contributions in full andon time. As of 15 August 2001, 103 Member Stateshave paid their regular budget contributions in full for2001. However, some major contributors have paidnone or only part of their dues, forcing the UnitedNations to cross-borrow from peacekeeping accounts tooffset the earlier and larger than usual deficit currentlyexperienced. It is clear that the United Nations cannotfunction effectively unless all Member States pay theirdues, in full, on time and without conditions.

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276. Despite cash-flow problems, the United Nationshas demonstrated consistent budgetary discipline overthe last eight years. Not only has there been no growthin the budget in the last four biennia but there has infact been a reduction in the United Nations budget. TheUnited Nations has absorbed the effects of inflation aswell as a large number of unfunded mandates. TheSecretariat has been able to accomplish this byreallocating from low-priority areas and administrativeservices to high-priority programmes, as identified byMember States. The United Nations has reformed itsbudget methodology, adopting a results-based budgetapproach and improving the forecasts of cashavailability and needs.

277. An important step has been taken towardsproviding peacekeeping with the resourcescommensurate with its mandate. The recommendationsof the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations,together with those of the Special Committee on PeaceOperations, have focused on strengthening a range ofcore capacities, including financial support, to ensurethat the United Nations has adequate resource to fulfilits peacekeeping mandates.


• Ensuring that all States pay their dues in full, ontime and without conditions;

• Continuing efforts to reform the budgetmethodology and practice of the United Nations.

GOAL: To urge the Secretariat to make thebest use of those resources, in accordance withclear rules and procedures agreed by theGeneral Assembly, in the interests of allMember States, by adopting the bestmanagement practices and technologiesavailable

279. Within the ambit of the comprehensive andongoing reform process, the Secretariat has beenstrengthening management practices in several areas.The Senior Management Group, which is chaired bythe Secretary-General, comprises the top managers inthe Secretariat and programmes and funds. The Groupmeets weekly, with video-conferencing links toGeneva, Nairobi, Rome and Vienna. Functioning as acabinet, it ensures strategic coherence within theUnited Nations on policy and management issues. Italso facilitates coordination among the far-flungmembers of the United Nations family. Another useful

process is the Management and Reform Committee,chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General, whichregularly reviews policies and practices onadministrative, budgetary and human resourcesmatters.

280. Four executive committees, operating at theUnder Secretary-General level, function as internaldecision-making mechanisms covering the key areas ofconcern for the Secretariat: the Executive Committeefor Peace and Security, the Executive Committee forEconomic and Social Affairs, the United NationsDevelopment Group and the Executive Committee forHumanitarian Affairs. Human rights is a cross-cuttingtheme in all the committees. Further, theInterdepartmental Framework for Coordination tostrengthen planning and coordination amongpeacekeeping, humanitarian, developmental andpolitical functions has been reoriented towards earlywarning and preventive action.

281. Training continues for all managers throughoutthe Secretariat. A system of programme managementplans has been instituted with each of the Under-Secretaries-General. In early 2001, the Secretariatdeveloped a prototype of an electronic managementreporting system, which will enable usefulmanagement indicators (e.g., vacancy rates, gender andgeographical statistics and spending balances) to begenerated on a daily basis and will be extended as afurther management tool to oversee departmentalperformance. The system will be linked with theexisting Integrated Management Information System.In June 2001, the General Assembly adopted aresolution authorizing the implementation of humanresources management reform, which will empowermanagers to select their staff and will allow theSecretariat to meet its managerial requirements byincreasing the mobility of United Nations personnel.

282. Information technology is playing a more centralrole in the Organization’s activities. In February 2001,the Secretary-General submitted a report to the GeneralAssembly entitled “Information technology in theSecretariat: a plan of action”,51 which describesinitiatives to implement effective internal governanceby supporting information technologies and sharingbest practices.

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• Ensuring that information technologies areallocated sufficient resources and strategicallydeveloped throughout the Secretariat;

• Managing knowledge within the United Nationsso that it is made available to civil society andother partners;

• Continuing the modernization of human resourcespolicies and procedures;

• Continuing to streamline administrativeprocesses.

GOAL: To promote adherence to theConvention on the Safety of United Nations andAssociated Personnel

284. Since 1992, more than 200 civilian staff membershave lost their lives in the service of the UnitedNations. Hundreds more have been taken hostage orhave been victims of violent security incidents. Almostevery United Nations entity has experienced the loss ofpersonnel, and at least 68 countries have lost theirnationals in the service of the United Nations. Theconflicts of the 1990s have demonstrated a dangerousdisregard of the obligations and restraints imposed byinternational law on the conduct of hostilities. TheGeneral Assembly and the Security Council havedeplored the rising toll of casualties among nationaland international staff, particularly, in situations ofarmed conflict.

285. The security of staff is a fundamental requirementfor the effective functioning of United Nationsoperations, and the primary responsibility for theirprotection, under international law, lies with hostGovernments. Personnel from internationalorganizations and non-governmental organizations whowork in humanitarian operations are also subject tokillings and other forms of violence. Indeed, in the pastyear there have been more cases of attacks on theselatter categories of humanitarian personnel. The vastmajority of perpetrators of such attacks go unpunished,while those few that are arrested tend to receive onlycursory penalties.

286. The Convention on the Safety of United Nationsand Associated Personnel52 entered into force on 15January 1999. As at 14 August 2001, there are 54parties to the Convention, accounting for less than onethird of the Member States. Since the adoption of the

Convention, the limitations of its scope of applicationto United Nations operations and associated personnelhave become apparent. The Convention is notapplicable to United Nations operations which have notbeen declared by the General Assembly or the SecurityCouncil to be exceptionally risky. In practice, nodeclaration has ever been made to that effect by eitherorgan, notwithstanding the actual need for it in manyUnited Nations operations. The Convention is also notapplicable to humanitarian non-governmentalorganizations which have not concluded“implementing/partnership agreements” with theUnited Nations or its specialized agencies, though inpractice they are in no less a need for such protection.The optimal solution would be a protocol that woulddispose of the need for a declaration in case of UnitedNations operations and dispense with a link between ahumanitarian non-governmental organization and theUnited Nations as a condition for protection under theConvention.

287. Under the Statute of the International CriminalCourt, attacks against personnel, installations andequipment involved in a humanitarian assistance or apeacekeeping mission are considered “war crimes” aslong as they are entitled to the protection given tocivilians or civilian objects under the international lawof armed conflict. The Rome Statute, however, is notyet in force.

288. Moreover, the ratification of conventions alone isnot enough and must be supplemented by the practicalimplementation of those obligations. Parties toconflicts must allow for the safe and unrestrictedaccess of humanitarian workers, and must respect theprovisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions,particularly with regard to the distinctions betweencombatants and non-combatants, and the civilian andhumanitarian character of refugee camps andsettlements.

289. Improving the security of United Nationspersonnel is a core responsibility for the UnitedNations system and for Member States. The Secretary-General has submitted a number of recommendationsto strengthen the United Nations security managementsystem and arrangements. The proposals include theprovision of enhanced and comprehensive security andstress management training; the implementation ofminimum operational security and telecommunicationsstandards in the field; and an increase in the number ofstaff in the field and at Headquarters.

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290. Steps have been taken to improve collaborationon staff security matters within the United Nationssystem and with implementing partners. Additionalmeasures are being taken to ensure that accountabilityand compliance are key components of the UnitedNations security management system. The appointmentof a full-time Security Coordinator is a fundamentalrequirement if our efforts to strengthen and expand theUnited Nations security management system are toyield the desired results.


• Full ratification of the Convention and theratification of the Rome Statute of theInternational Criminal Court;

• Approval of a protocol that would extend thescope of application of the Convention on theSafety of United Nations and AssociatedPersonnel to all United Nations operations andcategories of personnel;

• Stronger action by Member States to ensure thatperpetrators of attacks on humanitarian personnelare brought to justice;

• Further improvements on accountability andeffective coordination on staff security issueswithin the United Nations system;

• Further strengthening of the United Nationssecurity management system through increasedand more secure financing and the appointment ofa full-time Security Coordinator.

GOAL: To ensure greater policy coherence andbetter cooperation between the United Nations,its agencies, the Bretton Woods institutions andthe World Trade Organization, as well as othermultilateral bodies

292. Sustainable development, peace-building andlinkages between humanitarian assistance anddevelopment cooperation have implications for sectoraland institutional boundaries. Now, more than ever,there is a need for a comprehensive and holisticapproach in addressing multifaceted problems, and forcohesion among the diverse entities of the UnitedNations system in order to enhance coherent action andthe strategic deployment of resources. This requirementextends to the international system as a whole.

293. The preparatory process for the InternationalConference on Financing for Development has led toan unprecedented degree of cooperation among theUnited Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions andWTO. There is a dynamic structure of cooperation thatcovers both the inter-secretariat and intergovernmentalaspects of the financing for development process. TheBretton Woods institutions have appointed seniorofficials to liaise with and help the United NationsSecretariat on an ongoing basis. At theintergovernmental level, fruitful interactions betweenthe members of the Bureau of the PreparatoryCommittee for the Conference and the ExecutiveBoards of the Bretton Woods institutions took place inFebruary 2001. Meetings were also held with the Tradeand Development Committee of WTO in April 2001,and with members of the General Council of WTO in2000. Moreover, senior officials of each of the majorinstitutional stakeholders actively engage indiscussions at the United Nations Headquarters andprovide feedback to their intergovernmental oversightcommittees.

294. A new culture of cooperation and coordination isfast gaining ground among the organizations of thesystem, and new mechanisms are being set up toadvance and concretize this endeavour. Coordinationwithin the system is overseen and guided by ACC,which has recently undertaken a number of measures toenhance policy coordination. These measures includethe establishment of the High-Level Committee onProgrammes and the High-Level Committee onManagement, which report to ACC.

295. As a consequence of this new spirit ofcooperation, ACC, with the full involvement of theBretton Woods institutions and WTO, hasdemonstrated a strong commitment to achieving agreater degree of policy and strategy harmonization,enhanced information-sharing and common evaluationand monitoring processes. Concrete examples includestrengthening field-level cooperation, developingcommon approaches to the challenges in Africa,addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS and formulating acomprehensive system-wide strategy for povertyeradication.

296. The United Nations country teams, led by UnitedNations resident coordinators and in closecollaboration with Governments and civil society,undertake an interdisciplinary analytical process, thecommon country assessment. The common country

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assessment examines the national situation andidentifies key issues affecting the welfare of people. Italso examines national priorities as set byGovernments, and uses these as a basis for advocacyand policy dialogue with Governments. Using thecommon understanding of the causes of povertygenerated through the common country assessmentprocess, United Nations country teams then work withGovernments to prepare the United NationsDevelopment Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs),which outline how the United Nations system willrespond to national poverty reduction priorities in astrategic manner. In almost all cases, these prioritiesinclude the national efforts to reach the MillenniumDeclaration goals. Currently, 84 countries havecompleted the common country assessment, and 38have also finalized UNDAFs. In order to advancecountry-level coherence the United Nation system isworking towards a single common framework forcountry-level action, based on the key concepts ofcountry ownership and inter-agency partnerships andreflecting a comprehensive approach to developmentand peace-building.

297. Entities of the United Nations system alsocooperate to support national poverty reductionstrategies through the comprehensive developmentframework and poverty reduction strategy paperprocesses. Greater poverty reduction at the lowestpossible cost requires stronger partnerships at thecountry level. This is one of the key principles of thecomprehensive development framework and is alsocritical to the development of the poverty reductionstrategy papers. The comprehensive developmentframework is a country-led initiative, which calls forGovernments to reach out to all development partners.


• Improving policy coherence and cooperationacross the entire international system in order todeal with today’s global challenges;

• Ensuring that country-level strategies harmonizepriorities and work within a common frameworkfor action.

GOAL: To strengthen further cooperationbetween the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union

299. As of August 2001, the Inter-ParliamentaryUnion (IPU) had 141 member parliaments and five

associate members. In its resolution 55/19, the GeneralAssembly welcomed the efforts made by IPU toprovide for a greater parliamentary contribution andenhanced support to the United Nations. The GeneralAssembly also requested the Secretary-General, inconsultation with Member States and IPU, to exploreways in which a new and strengthened relationshipbetween IPU, the General Assembly and its subsidiaryorgans could be established. In the Secretary-General’srecent report on this issue53 a number ofrecommendations were made to that end.


• Pending the General Assembly’s decision on therecommendations contained in the report, theSecretary-General will initiate a joint review bythe United Nations and IPU of the cooperationagreement concluded between the organizationsin 1996;

• More direct engagement of parliaments insubstantive issues addressed at the UnitedNations.

GOAL: To give greater opportunities to theprivate sector, non-governmental organizationsand civil society in general to contribute to therealization of United Nations goals andprogrammes

301. There has been a huge growth in the number,diversity and influence of non-state actors that are nowinvolved in the work of the United Nations, and as aresult the last decade has seen significant changes inhow the United Nations relates to them. Sincerelationships between the United Nations and non-stateactors are multilevel, multi-issue and multipurpose,there is no single approach for dealing with allrelationships. They range from well establishedprocedures for participation in the intergovernmentalprocess to more recent arrangements, such as theGlobal Environment Facility, a financial mechanismthat provides grants to assist developing countries toaddress international environmental problems; theUnited Nations Fund for International Partnerships;and the Global Compact, which is designed to engagethe private sector, non-governmental organizations andlabour in promoting good practices based on humanrights, labour rights and the environment.

302. The report of the Secretary-General entitled“Towards global partnerships”54 discusses these issues

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in more detail, stressing that the central purpose ofcooperation between the United Nations and non-stateactors is to enable the Organization to serve MemberStates and their people more effectively, whileremaining true to the principles of the Charter.


• Reviewing these relationships in order to bringbeneficial results for all parties and forging a newway for the United Nations to “do business” inpartnership with non-governmental organizations,the private sector and the rest of civil society.

IX. The road ahead

304. The heads of State and Government at last year’ssummit charted a cooperative path to meet thechallenges ahead. This road map has attempted to carryforward their vision, identify the areas in which weneed to work, and offer suggestions for the future. Ithas benefited from suggestions from all thedepartments, funds and programmes in the UnitedNations and its specialized agencies, and from theother executive agencies represented in the AdvisoryCommittee on Coordination, including the World Bank,IMF and WTO. Non-governmental organizations, civilsociety and the academic community have alsoprovided suggestions.

Follow-up reporting

305. Next year, and each year thereafter, as you haverequested, I will submit an annual report — distinctfrom my annual report on the work of theOrganization — which will chart progress, made or notmade, in fulfilling the Millennium commitments, andhighlight particular themes of special significance forthat year. Every five years, my successors and I willsubmit a comprehensive progress report.

306. I propose the following themes for yourconsideration: For 2002, preventing armed conflict andthe treatment and prevention of diseases, includingHIV/AIDS and malaria; 2003, financing fordevelopment and strategies for sustainabledevelopment; 2004, bridging the digital divide andcurbing transnational crime. In 2005, five years afterthe Millennium Summit, I will prepare the firstcomprehensive report. It will focus on progress madeover the preceding five years and review theimplementation of decisions taken at the international

conferences and special sessions on the least developedcountries, HIV/AIDS, financing for development andsustainable development.

307. When you consider how you will review theseannual reports and the comprehensive report, it is myhope that you will use the assessment process as anoccasion for strengthening the overall coherence andintegration of the reporting system. I look forward toyour continuing guidance. Most of all I look forward toour making progress in meeting the goals before us.

Notes

1 A/CONF.183/9.2 ST/SGB/1999/13.3 See General Assembly resolution 55/59, annex.4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 976, No. 14152.5 See Official Records of the United Nations Conference

for the Adoption of a Convention against PsychotropicSubstances, Vienna, 25 November-20 December 1988,vol. I (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.XI.5).

6 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1019, No. 14956.7 General Assembly resolution S-20-2, annex.8 General Assembly resolution 55/25, annex I.9 Ibid., annex II.

10 Ibid., annex III.11 See General Assembly resolution 55/25 para. 4.12 See General Assembly resolution 48/11.13 See General Assembly resolution 55/2, para. 10.14 S/2001/574.15 A/55/305-S/2000/809 and A/C.4/55/6; see also

A/55/502, A/55/507, A/55/551 and A/55/977.16 A/47/277-S/24111.17 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 944, No. 13446.18 See General Assembly resolution 50/245.19 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 729, No. 10485.20 See The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, vol. 18:

1993 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.IX.1),appendix II.

21 See Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons,Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1996, p. 26.

22 General Assembly resolution 2826 (XXVI).

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23 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 27 (A/47/27),appendix I.

24 See CD/1478.25 CCW/CONF.I/16 (Part I), annex B.26 See The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, vol. 5:

1980 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.81.IX.4),appendix VII.

27 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations, Report of the World Food Summit, Rome, 13-17November 1996, Part One (WFS 96/REP) (Rome, 1997),appendix.

28 General Assembly resolution S-26/2.29 See Legal Instruments Embodying the Results of the

Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations(WTO, 1997).

30 Report of the Global Conference on the SustainableDevelopment of Small Island Developing States,Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April-6 May 1994 (UnitedNations publication, Sales No. E.94.I.18 and Corr.1 and2), chap. I, resolution I, annex II.

31 E/2001/L.20.32 FCCC/CP/7/Add.1.33 A/AC.237/18 (Part II)/Add.1, annex I.34 United Nations Environment Programme, Convention on

Biological Diversity (Environmental Law and InstitutionProgramme Activity Centre), June 1992.

35 A/49/84/Add.2, annex, appendix II.36 Report of the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted By theConference (United Nations publication, Sales No.E.93.I.8 and corrigenda), resolution 1, annex II.

37 United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization, Records of the General Conference,Twenty-ninth Session, vol. I, Resolutions, resolution 16.

38 General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).39 General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.40 Ibid.41 General Assembly resolution 2106 A (XX), annex.42 General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.43 General Assembly resolution 39/46, annex.44 General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex.45 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.

46 General Assembly resolution 54/4, annex.47 General Assembly resolution 45/158.48 E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, annex.49 General Assembly resolution 54/263, annex I.50 Ibid., annex II.51 A/55/780.52 General Assembly resolution 49/59, annex.53 A/55/996.54 A/56/323.

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AnnexMillennium development goals

1. As part of the preparation of the present report,consultations were held among members of the UnitedNations Secretariat and representatives of IMF, OECDand the World Bank in order to harmonize reporting onthe development goals in the Millennium Declarationand the international development goals. The groupdiscussed the respective targets and selected relevantindicators with a view to developing a comprehensiveset of indicators for the millennium development goals.The main reference document was section III of theUnited Nations Millennium Declaration, “Developmentand poverty eradication”.

2. The list of millennium development goals doesnot undercut in any way agreements on other goals andtargets reached at the global conferences of the 1990s.The eight goals represent a partnership between thedeveloped countries and the developing countriesdetermined, as the Millennium Declaration states, “tocreate an environment — at the national and globallevels alike — which is conducive to development andthe elimination of poverty” (see General Assemblyresolution 55/2, para. 12).

3. In order to help focus national and internationalpriority-setting, goals and targets should be limited innumber, be stable over time and communicate clearlyto a broad audience. Clear and stable numerical targetscan help to trigger action and promote new alliancesfor development. Recognizing that quantitativemonitoring of progress is easier for some targets thanfor others and that good quality data for some of theindicators are simply not (yet) available for manycountries, we underscore the need to assist in buildingnational capacity while engaging in further discussion(as in the process mandated by the Economic andSocial Council) with national statistical experts. Forthe purpose of monitoring progress, the normalbaseline year for the targets will be 1990, which is thebaseline that has been used by the global conferencesof the 1990s.

4. The United Nations will report on progresstowards the millennium development goals at theglobal and country levels, coordinated by theDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs of theUnited Nations Secretariat and UNDP, respectively.Reporting will be based on two principles: (a) close

consultation and collaboration with all relevantinstitutions, including the United Nations DevelopmentGroup (including WHO and UNCTAD), other UnitedNations departments, funds, programmes andspecialized agencies, the World Bank, IMF and OECD,and regional groupings and experts; and (b) the use ofnationally owned poverty reduction strategies, asreported in poverty reduction strategy papers, UnitedNations common country assessments and nationalhuman development reports, which emphasize aconsultative process among the development partners.The main purpose of such collaboration andconsultation will be to ensure a common assessmentand understanding of the status of the millenniumdevelopment goals at both the global and nationallevels. The United Nations Secretariat will invite allrelevant institutions to participate in and contribute toglobal and country-level reporting with a view toissuing an annual United Nations report that has thewide support of the international community and thatcan be used by other institutions in their regularreporting on the goals.

5. The proposed formulation of the eight goals, 18targets and more than 40 indicators are listed below.Other selected indicators for development, which arenot related to specific targets, include population, totalfertility rate, life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rateand gross national income per capita. Where relevant,indicators should be calculated for subnationallevels — i.e., by urban and rural area, by region, bysocio-economic group, and by age and gender.

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Millennium development goals

Goals and targets Indicators

Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Target 1. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, theproportion of people whose income is lessthan one dollar a day

1. Proportion of population below $1 per day

2. Poverty gap ratio (incidence x depth ofpoverty)

3. Share of poorest quintile in nationalconsumption

Target 2. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, theproportion of people who suffer fromhunger

4. Prevalence of underweight children (underfive years of age)

5. Proportion of population below minimumlevel of dietary energy consumption

Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education

Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere,boys and girls alike, will be able tocomplete a full course of primary schooling

6. Net enrolment ratio in primary education

7. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 whoreach grade 5

8. Literacy rate of 15-24-year-olds

Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women

Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary andsecondary education, preferably by 2005,and to all levels of education no later than2015

9. Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondaryand tertiary education

10. Ratio of literate females to males of 15-to-24-year-olds

11. Share of women in wage employment in thenon-agricultural sector

12. Proportion of seats held by women innational parliament

Goal 4. Reduce child mortality

Target 5. Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and2015, the under-five mortality rate

13. Under-five mortality rate

14. Infant mortality rate

15. Proportion of 1-year-old childrenimmunized against measles

Goal 5. Improve maternal health

Target 6. Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and2015, the maternal mortality ratio

16. Maternal mortality ratio17. Proportion of births attended by skilled

health personnel

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Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Target 7. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reversethe spread of HIV/AIDS

18. HIV prevalence among 15-to-24-year-oldpregnant women

19. Contraceptive prevalence rate

20. Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS

Target 8. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reversethe incidence of malaria and other majordiseases

21. Prevalence and death rates associated withmalaria

22. Proportion of population in malaria riskareas using effective malaria prevention andtreatment measures

23. Prevalence and death rates associated withtuberculosis

24. Proportion of tuberculosis cases detectedand cured under directly observed treatmentshort course

Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainabilitya

Target 9. Integrate the principles of sustainabledevelopment into country policies andprogrammes and reverse the loss ofenvironmental resources

25. Proportion of land area covered by forest

26. Land area protected to maintain biologicaldiversity

27. GDP per unit of energy use (as proxy forenergy efficiency)

28. Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita)[Plus two figures of global atmosphericpollution: ozone depletion and theaccumulation of global warming gases]

Target 10. Halve by 2015 the proportion of peoplewithout sustainable access to safe drinkingwater

29. Proportion of population with sustainableaccess to an improved water source

Target 11. By 2020 to have achieved a significantimprovement in the lives of at least 100million slum dwellers

30. Proportion of people with access toimproved sanitation

31. Proportion of people with access to securetenure[Urban/rural disaggregation of several ofthe above indicators may be relevant formonitoring improvement in the lives of slumdwellers]

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Goal 8. Develop a global partnership for developmenta

Target 12. Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable,non-discriminatory trading and financial system

Includes a commitment to good governance,development, and poverty reduction — bothnationally and internationally

Target 13. Address the special needs of the least developedcountries

Includes: tariff and quota free access for leastdeveloped countries’ exports; enhancedprogramme of debt relief for HIPCs andcancellation of official bilateral debt; and moregenerous ODA for countries committed topoverty reduction

Target 14. Address the special needs of landlocked countriesand small island developing States

(through the Programme of Action for theSustainable Development of Small IslandDeveloping States and the outcome of thetwenty-second special session of the GeneralAssembly)

Target 15. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems ofdeveloping countries through national andinternational measures in order to make debtsustainable in the long term

[Some of the indicators listed below will be monitoredseparately for the least developed countries (LDCs),Africa, landlocked countries and small islanddeveloping States]

Official development assistance

32. Net ODA as percentage of OECD/DAC donors’gross national product (targets of 0.7% in totaland 0.15% for LDCs)

33. Proportion of ODA to basic social services (basiceducation, primary health care, nutrition, safewater and sanitation)

34. Proportion of ODA that is untied

35. Proportion of ODA for environment in smallisland developing States

36. Proportion of ODA for transport sector inlandlocked countries

Market access

37. Proportion of exports (by value and excludingarms) admitted free of duties and quotas

38. Average tariffs and quotas on agriculturalproducts and textiles and clothing

39. Domestic and export agricultural subsidies inOECD countries

40. Proportion of ODA provided to help build tradecapacity

Debt sustainability41. Proportion of official bilateral HIPC debt

cancelled42. Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods

and services43. Proportion of ODA provided as debt relief44. Number of countries reaching HIPC decision and

completion pointsTarget 16. In cooperation with developing countries,

develop and implement strategies for decent andproductive work for youth

45. Unemployment rate of 15-to-24-year-olds

Target 17. In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies,provide access to affordable essential drugs indeveloping countries

46. Proportion of population with access toaffordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis

Target 18. In cooperation with the private sector, makeavailable the benefits of new technologies,especially information and communications

47. Telephone lines per 1,000 people48. Personal computers per 1,000 people

[Other indicators to be decided]

a The selection of indicators for goals 7 and 8 is subject to further refinement.

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