WELCOME REMARKS AND UN DAY MESSAGE

AT UN DAY CELEBRATION

26^TH October 1999

The Honourable Seymour Mullings- Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade

Heads of Agencies of the United Nations and their Representatives

Media Representatives

Others

I wish to extend a warm welcome to you this morning and to say that I am very pleased that you could join us in celebrating United Nations Day in Jamaica. I especially want to welcome the media representatives that are present. We believe that it is extremely important that you understand the work of the United Nations globally and in particular what we are doing in Jamaica.

Let me hasten to add that the official UN Day is October 24, that was two days ago on Sunday. But for obvious reasons we decided to hold this press briefing today.

I also want to express my appreciation to Deputy Prime Minister Mullings and to thank him for quite readily agreeing to celebrate UN Day with us.

I view this UN Day as significant as it is the last one that we will celebrate before the 21^st Century. It is also special because the world’s population has just passed the 6 billion mark and we are about to enter a new millennium.

When the UN Charter was ratified 54 years ago on 24 October 1945, some 51 countries signed it. Today 185 countries are members of the United Nations – nearly every nation in the world.

It is significant to note that the ideals and purposes for which the UN was founded, that is, --- to promote peace and security; fundamental human rights; poverty eradication; improving the well being of citizens; economic and social progress; justice; tolerance; gender equality; friendship and cooperation ---all remain valid today as they were 54 years ago.

Today while many challenges still confront the United Nations, we could take pride in some of the achievements that have been attained. I refer to the maintenance of international peace and security; to the reduction of poverty, notwithstanding that some 1.5 billion of the world’s population live on less than US$1.00 a day; and as well, to the advancement of the cause of freedom, justice, the rule of law and development around the world.

To assist in the fight against poverty, a powerful new tool, NetAid, was launched earlier this month. It is a web site that seeks to utilize the unique capabilities of the Internet to promote development and alleviate poverty across the world. It will not only raise global awareness about poverty, it will offer people a way to get involved directly and make a difference.

We must also use these celebrations to reflect on the UN that is undergoing needed reform to meet the challenges of the new millennium. In this regard, I should tell you that in an effort to further identify priorities for UN action, plans are underway for the convening of a “Millennium Assembly” in September 2000 to solicit views of member states and civil society groups. This special assembly would include a “Millennium Summit”, attended by world leaders, which would provide guidance to the UN on the nature and fundamental goals of the body in the next century. The Secretary General has also proposed a “Millennium Forum” to be held in connection with the Summit, at which NGOs and civil society organizations would share their views.

One challenge that the UN currently faces is the resource challenge. As at mid 1999, the UN is owed US$2.6 billion, more than half of which is due by the United States. If the UN is to truly fulfill its mandates of peace, development and human rights it must be given strong, consistent and predictable support with which to do so.

With regard to the work of the United Nations in Jamaica, as you observe, there are several agencies that deal with various aspects of economic and social development. For example, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) deals with population and development issues, and Mr. Ajayi would explain a bit more about the programme in the question and answer session; and UNICEF focuses on the long term survival and protection and development of children; while FAO works to improve agricultural productivity and food security.

Concerning the work of UNDP, broadly our focus is on poverty eradication; environmental management and protection; and governance and capacity building. Particularly in the area of poverty eradication we have been supporting work at the community level and training local leaders in communities to take hold of their development through better planning and implementation of community-based programmes. I should also tell you that we are currently formulating a follow-up programme with a budget of US$800,000 that would emphasize skills training in select communities in the urban and rural areas. Though this programme we would also be seeking to link it to the United Nations Volunteers Community-based Development programme. All this is in line with the Government of Jamaica’s National Poverty Eradication Programme.

In terms of the environment we have been supporting the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) to strengthen its input into those laws and policies which aim to prevent and control degradation of watersheds and we have supported the preparation of a green paper in this area. Similarly we have lent support to improving the planning and management capacity of the Forestry Department for protection of Jamaica’s forestry resources.

In the area of governance and capacity building we are have providing support for the institutional strengthening of the Planning Institute of Jamaica; and supporting the development of human resources in critical technical and professional posts within the public sector. As well, assistance is ongoing for developing small and medium size enterprises with the view to increasing their productivity.

These are but a few of our programmes currently ongoing in Jamaica.

Overall, UNDP aims to assist, with the rest of the UN system and other partners, the development efforts of the Government for improving the livelihoods of the Jamaican people.

I thank you.