The
General Assembly,
Adopts
the following Declaration:
United
Nations Millennium Declaration
I. Values
and Principles
1.
We, Heads of State and Government, have gathered at United Nations Headquarters
in New York from 6 to 8 September 2000, at the dawn of a new Millennium,
to reaffirm our faith in the Organization and its Charter as indispensable
foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.
2. We
recognize that, in addition to our separate responsibilities to our
individual societies, we have a collective responsibility to uphold
the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global
level. As leaders we have a duty, therefore, to all the worlds people,
especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the children of
the world, to whom the future belongs.
3. We
reaffirm our commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter
of the United Nations, which have proved timeless and universal. Indeed,
their relevance and capacity to inspire have increased, as nations
and peoples have become increasingly interconnected and interdependent.
4. We
are determined to establish a just and lasting peace all over the
world in accordance with the objectives and principles of the Charter.
We rededicate ourselves to support all efforts to uphold the sovereign
equality of all States; respect for their territorial integrity and
political independence; resolution of disputes by peaceful means and
in conformity with the principles of justice and international law;
the right to self-determination of peoples which remain under colonial
domination and foreign occupation; non-interference in the internal
affairs of States; respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
respect for the equal rights of all without distinction to race, sex,
language or religion; and international cooperation in solving international
problems of economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character.
5. We
believe that the central challenge we face today is to ensure that
globalization becomes a positive force for all the worlds people.
For while globalization offers great opportunities, at present its
benefits are very unevenly shared, while its costs are unevenly distributed.
We recognize that developing countries and countries with economies
in transition face special difficulties in responding to this central
challenge. Thus, only through broad and sustained efforts to create
a shared future, based upon our common humanity in all its diversity,
can globalization be made fully inclusive and equitable. These efforts
must include policies and measures, at the global level, which correspond
to the needs of developing countries and economies in transition,
and are formulated and implemented with their effective participation.
6. We
consider certain fundamental values to be essential to international
relations in the twenty-first century. These include:
Freedom. Men and women have the right to live their lives and raise
their children in dignity, free from hunger and from the fear of violence,
oppression or injustice. Democratic and participatory governance based
on the will of the people best assures these rights.
.
Equality. No individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity
to benefit from development. The equal rights and opportunities
of women and men must be assured.
Solidarity.
Global challenges must be managed in a way that distributes the
costs and burdens fairly in accordance with basic principles of
equity and social justice. Those who suffer, or who benefit least,
deserve help from those who benefit most.
Tolerance.
Human beings must respect each other, in all their diversity of
belief, culture and language. Differences within and between societies
should be neither feared nor repressed, but cherished as a precious
asset of humanity. A Culture of Peace and Dialogue among all civilizations
should be actively promoted.
Respect
for nature. Prudence must be shown in the management of all living
species and natural resources, in accordance with the precepts of
sustainable development. Only in this way can the immeasurable riches
provided to us by nature be preserved and passed on to our descendants.
The current unsustainable patterns of production and consumption
must be changed, in the interest of our future welfare and that
of our descendants.
Shared
responsibility. Responsibility for managing worldwide economic and
social development, as well as threats to international peace and
security, must be shared among the nations of the world and should
be exercised multilaterally. As the most universal and most representative
organization in the world, the United Nations must play the central
role.
7. In order
to translate these shared values into actions, we have identified key
objectives to which we assign special significance:
II. Peace,
Security and Disarmament
8.
We will spare no effort to free our peoples from the scourge of war,
whether within or between States, which has claimed more than 5 million
lives in the past decade. We will also seek to eliminate the dangers
posed by weapons of mass destruction.
9.
We resolve, therefore:
To strengthen respect for the rule of law, in international as in
national affairs and, in particular, to ensure compliance by Member
States with the decisions of the International Court of Justice, in
compliance with the Charter of the United Nations, in cases to which
they are parties.
To
make the United Nations, more effective in maintaining peace and
security, by giving it the resources and tools it needs for conflict
prevention, peaceful resolution of disputes, peacekeeping, post-conflict
peace building and reconstruction. In this context, we take note
of the Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations and
request the General Assembly to consider its recommendations expeditiously.
To
strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations,
in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VIII of the Charter.
To
ensure the implementation, by States Parties, of treaties in areas
such as arms control and disarmament, and of international humanitarian
law and human rights law, and call upon all States to consider signing
and ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
To
take concerted action against international terrorism, and to accede
as soon as possible to all the relevant international conventions.
To
redouble our efforts to implement our commitment to counter the
world drug problem.
To
intensify our efforts to fight transnational crime in all its dimensions,
including trafficking as well as smuggling in human beings and money
laundering.
To
minimize the adverse effects of United Nations economic sanctions
on innocent populations; to subject such sanctions regimes to regular
reviews; and to eliminate the adverse effects of sanctions on third
parties.
To
strive for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, particularly
nuclear weapons and to keep all options open for achieving this
aim, including the possibility of convening an international conference
to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers.
To
take concerted action to end illicit traffic in small arms and light
weapons, especially by making arms transfers more transparent and
supporting regional disarmament measures, taking account of all
the recommendations of the forthcoming United Nations Conference
on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons.
To
call on all States to consider acceding to the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of
Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, as well as the Amended
Mines Protocol to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
10. We urge
Member States to observe the Olympic Truce, individually and collectively,
now and in the future, and to support the International Olympic Committee
in its efforts to promote peace and human understanding through sport
and the Olympic ideal.
III. Development
and Poverty Eradication
11.
We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from
the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which
more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed
to making the right to development a reality for everyone, and to freeing
the entire human race from want.
12. We
resolve, therefore, to create an environment at the national and
global levels alike which is conducive to development and to the
elimination of poverty.
13. Success
in meeting these objectives depends, inter alia, on good governance
within each country. It also depends on good governance at the international
level, and on transparency in the financial, monetary and trading
systems. We are committed to an open, equitable, rule-based, predictable
and non-discriminatory multilateral trading and financial system.
14. We
are concerned about the obstacles developing countries face in mobilizing
the resources needed to finance their sustained development. We will,
therefore, make every effort to ensure the success of the High-level
International and Intergovernmental Event on Financing for Development,
to be held in 2001.
15. We
also undertake to address the special needs of the least developed
countries. In this context, we welcome the Third United Nations Conference
on the Least Developed Countries in May 2001 and will endeavour to
ensure its success. We call on the industrialized countries:
to adopt, preferably by the time of that Conference, a policy of duty-
and quota-free access for essentially all exports from the least developed
countries;
to
implement the enhanced programme of debt relief for the heavily
indebted poor countries without further delay and to agree to cancel
all official bilateral debts of those countries in return for their
making demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction;
and
to grant more generous development assistance, especially to countries
that are genuinely making an effort to apply their resources to
poverty reduction.
16. We are
also determined to deal comprehensively and effectively with the debt
problems of low- and middle-income developing countries, through various
national and international measures designed to make their debt sustainable
in the long term.
17. We
also resolve to address the special needs of small island developing
States, by implementing the Barbados Programme of Action, and the
outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly,
rapidly and in full. We urge the international community to ensure
that, in the development of a vulnerability index, the special needs
of small island developing States are taken into account.
18. We
recognize the special needs and problems of the landlocked developing
countries, and urge both bilateral and multilateral donors to increase
financial and technical assistance to this group of countries to meet
their special development needs, and to help them overcome the impediments
of geography, by improving their transit transport systems.
19.
We resolve further:
To halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the worlds people whose
income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people
who suffer from hunger; and also, by the same date, to halve the proportion
of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water.
To
ensure that, by the same date, children everywhere, boys and girls
alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling;
and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of
education.
By
the same date, to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters,
and under-5 child mortality by two thirds, of their current rates.
To
have, by then, halted, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS,
the scourge of malaria and other major diseases that afflict humanity.
To
provide special assistance to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
By
2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of
at least 100 million slum dwellers as proposed in the "Cities Without
Slums" initiative.
20.
We also resolve:
To promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, as effective
ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development
that is truly sustainable.
To
develop and implement strategies that give young people everywhere
a real chance to find decent and productive work.
To
encourage the pharmaceutical industry to make essential drugs more
widely available and affordable by all who need them in developing
countries.
To
develop strong partnerships with the private sector, and with civil
society organizations, in pursuit of development and poverty eradication.
To
ensure that the benefits of new technologies, especially information
and communication technologies, in conformity with recommendations
contained in ECOSOC 2000 Ministerial Declaration, are available
to all.
IV. Protecting
our Common Environment
21.
We must spare no effort to free all of humanity, and above all our children
and grandchildren, from the threat of living on a planet irredeemably
spoilt by human activities, and whose resources would no longer be sufficient
for their needs.
22. We
reaffirm our support for the principles of sustainable development,
including those set out in Agenda 21, agreed upon at the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development.
23. We
resolve, therefore, to adopt in all our environmental actions a new
ethic of conservation and stewardship, and, as first steps we resolve:
To make every effort to ensure the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol,
preferably by the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development in 2002, and to embark on the required
reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases.
To
intensify our collective efforts for the management, conservation
and sustainable development of all types of forests.
To
press for the full implementation of the Convention on Biological
Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries
Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly
in Africa.
To
stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources, by developing
water management strategies at the regional, national and local
levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies.
To
intensify cooperation to reduce the number and effects of natural
and man-made disasters.
To
ensure free access to information on the human genome sequence.
V. Human Rights,
Democracy and Good Governance
24.
We will spare no effort to promote democracy and strengthen the rule
of law, as well as respect for all internationally recognized human
rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development.
25.
We resolve, therefore:
To fully respect and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
To
strive for the full protection and promotion in all our countries
of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for all.
To
strengthen the capacity of all our countries to implement the principles
and practices of democracy and respect for human rights, including
minority rights.
To
combat all forms of violence against women and to implement the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women.
To
take measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human
rights of migrants, migrant workers and their families, to eliminate
the increasing acts of racism and xenophobia in many societies,
and to promote greater harmony and tolerance in all societies.
To
work collectively for more inclusive political processes, allowing
genuine participation by all citizens in all our countries.
To
ensure the freedom of the media to perform their essential role
and the right of the public to have access to information.
VI. Protecting
the Vulnerable
26.
We will spare no effort to ensure that children and all civilian populations
who suffer disproportionately the consequences of natural disasters,
genocide, armed conflicts and other humanitarian emergencies are given
every assistance and protection, so that they can resume normal life
as soon as possible.
We
resolve, therefore:
To expand and strengthen the protection of civilians in complex emergencies,
in conformity with international humanitarian law.
To
strengthen international cooperation, including burden sharing in,
and the coordination of humanitarian assistance to countries hosting
refugees; and to help all refugees and displaced persons to return
voluntarily to their homes, in safety and dignity, and to be smoothly
reintegrated into their societies.
To
encourage the ratification and full implementation of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols on the involvement
of children in armed conflicts, and on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography.
VII. Meeting
the Special Needs of Africa
27.
We will support the consolidation of democracy in Africa and assist
Africans in their struggle for lasting peace, poverty eradication and
sustainable development, thereby bringing Africa into the mainstream
of the world economy.
28.
We resolve, therefore:
To give full support to the political and institutional structures
of emerging democracies in Africa.
To
encourage and sustain regional and subregional mechanisms for preventing
conflict and promoting political stability, and to ensure a reliable
flow of resources for peacekeeping operations on the continent.
To
take special measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication
and sustainable development in Africa, including debt cancellation,
improved market access, enhanced Official Development Assistance
(ODA), and increased flows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as
well as transfers of technology.
To
help Africa build up its capacity to tackle the spread of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic and other infectious diseases.
VIII. Strengthening
the United Nations
29.
We will spare no effort to make the United Nations a more effective
instrument for pursuing all of these priorities: the fight for development
for all the peoples of the world, the fight against poverty, ignorance
and disease; the fight against injustice; the fight against violence,
terror and crime; and the fight against the degradation and destruction
of our common home.
30.
We resolve, therefore:
To reaffirm the central position of the General Assembly as the chief
deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United
Nations, and to enable it to play that role effectively.
To
intensify our efforts to achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security
Council in all its aspects.
To
further strengthen the Economic and Social Council, building on
its recent achievements, to help it fulfil the role ascribed to
it in the Charter.
To
strengthen the International Court of Justice, in order to ensure
justice and the rule of law in international affairs.
To
encourage regular consultations and coordination among the principal
organs of the United Nations in pursuit of their functions.
To
ensure that the Organization is provided on a timely and predictable
basis with the resources it needs to carry out its mandates.
To
urge the Secretariat to make the best use of those resources, in
accordance with clear rules and procedures agreed by the General
Assembly, in the interests of all Member States, by adopting the
best management practices and technologies available and by concentrating
on those tasks that reflect the agreed priorities of Member States.
To
promote adherence to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations
and Associated Personnel.
To
ensure greater policy coherence and to improve better cooperation
between the United Nations, its agencies, the Bretton Woods Institutions,
and the World Trade Organization, as well as other multilateral
bodies, with a view to achieving a fully coordinated approach to
the problems of peace and development.
To
further strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and national
parliaments through their world organization, the Inter-Parliamentary
Union, in various fields, including: peace and security, economic
and social development, international law and human rights, democracy
and gender issues.
To
give greater opportunities to the private sector, non-governmental
organizations and civil society in general, to contribute to the
realization of the Organizations goals and programmes.
31. We request
the General Assembly to review on a regular basis the progress made
in implementing the provisions of this Declaration, and ask the Secretary-General
to issue periodic reports, for consideration by the General Assembly
and as a basis for further action.
32. We
solemnly reaffirm, on this historic occasion, that the United Nations
is the indispensable common house of the entire human family, through
which we will seek to realize our universal aspirations for peace,
cooperation and development. We, therefore, pledge our unstinting
support for these common objectives, and our determination to achieve
them.
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