Call to fulfil obligations in tackling challenges

At the opening of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly (GA) last week, new President Joseph Deiss said that the assembly has an “obligation to deliver results” on solving major global challenges.

“I hope that this session will meet the great expectations placed in us. We have an obligation to deliver results.

The issues to be discussed are too serious for that obligation not to be our primary motivation, which pushes us to move beyond our purely national interests and truly work for the benefit of all,” Deiss told delegates at the opening session.

Stressing that the session began “with a heavy agenda,” Deiss highlighted three broad areas to focus: to ensure the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved; to reinstate the United Nations and the General Assembly at the centre of global governance; and to promote sustainable development.

“Our efforts in the three areas will make essential contributions towards peace and security, international cooperation and friendship between peoples,” Deiss said. “Today, all populations affected by poverty or threatened by war, global warming or natural disasters have the right to expect that our discussions and our actions will relieve their suffering and their pain,” said Deiss.

Deiss will serve as president of the 192-member assembly for a year-long term, taking over the position from Ali Abdussalam Treki.

He has been elected to the position by the General Assembly after serving as foreign minister in his home country of Switzerland between 1999 and 2002 as well as head of the Swiss Confederation for one year.

In his speech, Deiss called the General Assembly, “the pre-eminent forum for global debate.”

“There is no subject of concern to man and our planet which could be irrelevant to our debates,” he said.

Deiss said that the assembly plans to tackle several important global subjects over the course of the 65th session.

High on the list, he said, is the promotion of sustainable development to help preserve the environment.

“Environmental issues will figure prominently on our agenda, which includes the high-level meeting on biodiversity during the week of the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals,” said Deiss. “I believe that it is crucial to increase awareness of the need for economic structures that are more respectful of the environment and of future generations.”

The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight international development goals due to be completed worldwide by 2015, will be a focus of the 65th session as well.

Focus on the MDGs will be especially visible early in the session, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is to convene an MDG Summit from September 20 to 22, where world leaders will gather to accelerate progress towards the goals.

“This summit will certainly be one of the milestones of the United Nations year and we do not have the right to fail,” said Deiss.Deiss’ speech highlighted a desire to reinvigorate the General Assembly and the UN as a whole.

He said that in too many cases “public opinion sees a United Nations with a General Assembly that is powerless, a talking shop, with no real impact.”

To change negative perceptions, Deiss said, the UN must implement reforms. “We have to improve the mechanisms for information, consultation and cooperation between the United Nations and other actors and tools of global governance.”

Deiss has made “Reaffirming the Central Role of the UN in governance” the theme of the general debate at the upcoming high- level plenary of the General Assembly, which will feature many heads of state.

Deiss closed his speech by stressing the need for global cooperation among members of the assembly.

“I offer you my leadership so that progress can be made, but, above all, I would urge you to overcome our selfishness and our rivalries for the benefit of humanity,” he said.

- Xinhua