Statements and Speeches by Ministry Representatives 2004

United Nations General Assembly 59th Session Items 45 (Integrated and coordinated follow-up to and implementation of the outcomes in the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields) and 55 (Follow up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit)

Statement delivered by Australian Ambassador John Dauth on behalf of Canada, New Zealand and Australia, 22 November 2004

Mr President

I have the honor to speak today on behalf of Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

First, we would like to thank the Secretary-General for his useful reports under these items. They will be a useful tool for delegations to draw on, along with other inputs, over the next year in the lead up to the 2005 Summit.

Today’s joint debate on items 45 and 55 bodes well for a useful outcome to next year’s Summit, because it underlines the equal importance of these issues.

We concur with the Secretary General’s view that the Summit will be an event of decisive importance, and that it should result in a ‘single integrated package of decisions’.

Of course it would be naïve, and unhelpful, to deny that states will approach the event with different priorities.

However, it is our firm belief that for the Summit to be successful, no one area, whether it be development, or peace and security, or human rights, or institutional reform, can be singled out to the detriment of another. and no issue can be ignored.

The preparatory process for the Summit is crucial. We agree it should be transparent and inclusive as well as flexible and effective. Ministers should be included in a deliberate and targeted way.

We support the President of the General Assembly’s conclusion that the preparatory process should have two stages now till the release of the Secretary General’s report in March, when we should focus on discussion and exchanges of information, and after March, when we should focus on achieving a consensus outcome.

While the President of the General Assembly should lead this process, we agree with the suggestion already made that he could usefully be assisted by a group of friends to facilitate contacts with member states.

The High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development is an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to development. It is essential that the Dialogue has a high profile, as well as substantively contribute to the Summit. Holding the Dialogue back to back with the Summit will give the Dialogue the profile it deserves, but would be too late to feed into the Summit’s outcome. Having the Dialogue earlier, perhaps in conjunction with ECOSOC, would enable it to substantively contribute to the Summit, but would not give the issue sufficient profile. Hence we can see value in considering a two stage process.

We urge the President of the General Assembly, in conjunction with his facilitators, the Ambassadors of Norway and Nicaragua, to introduce a modalities resolution quickly which will deal with all organizational issues. We agree that the resolution must be completed in December.

The involvement of both the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary General’s in this process is vital to ensuring the success of the event. We welcome their clear personal commitment to the process.

Thank you

back to 2004 speech index