'The Millennium Summit' was a meeting among many world leaders lasting three days from
6 September[1] to
8 September 2000[2] at the
United Nations headquarters in
New York City. Its purpose was to discuss the role of the
United Nations at the turn of the
twenty-first century.
[3] At this meeting, world leaders ratified the
United Nations Millennium Declaration.
[4] This meeting was the largest gathering of world leaders in history as of the year 2000.
[5] It was followed by the
World Summit five years later, which took place from
14 September to
16 September 2005.
Goals
The
General Assembly Resolution that decided upon this summit stated that it attempted to seize "a unique and symbolically compelling moment to articulate and affirm an animating vision for the United Nations."
[6]
In this summit, 189 member states of the United Nations agreed to help citizens in the world's poorest countries to achieve a better life by the year 2015. The framework for this progress is outlined in the
Millennium Development Goals. Also known as the ''MDG'', these goals were derived from the
Millennium Declaration.
[7] This summit was focused on various global issues, such as poverty,
AIDS, and how to share the benefits of globalisation more fairly.
[8]
Delegations
On
5 September 2000, delegates around the world began to travel to the
United States for the Millennium Summit. The
delegation of
North Korea was inspected at
Frankfurt International Airport by
American airline officials during a stop in
Germany.
[9] American Airlines personnel demanded that the members of the delegation and their belongings be searched. In response to these demands, the North Korean government withdrew its delegation from the Summit. As
diplomats, the officials should not have been subject to search.
[10]
Over 150 world leaders participated in the discussion, including 100
heads of state, 47
heads of government, three
crown princes, five
Vice Presidents, three
Deputy Prime Ministers, and 8,000 other
delegates.
[11] The
Group of 77 was also present to discuss the changes the United Nations faced at the turn of the twenty-first century.
The Summit
The
President of Finland Tarja Halonen and the
President of Namibia Sam Nujoma co-chaired the Millennium Summit. This was due to the
Presidency over the General Assembly of
Theo-Ben Gurirab in the
fifty-fourth session and that of
Harri Holkeri in the
fifty-fifth session. Therefore, the
heads of state of Finland and Namibia were chosen to preside over the summit.
[12]
On Wednesday,
6 September 2000, the Millennium Summit was opened by
Kofi Annan, the
Secretary-General of the United Nations. Before moving into the summit, Annan called for a minute's silence for four United Nations workers who were killed in West Timor by pro-Indonesian militiamen.
U.S. President Bill Clinton and
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a plea for world peace. Sixty-three other speakers spoke for five minutes each. In the duration of the summit, Bill Clinton held separate meetings with
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak and
Palestinian leader
Yaser Arafat, calling on them to reach a peace agreement among the two nations,
[5] although no actual progess was made in doing so. Both sides were still committed to reaching such an agreement, however.
[14]
On Thursday,
7 September 2000, various heads of state discussed peacekeeping issues. They discussed these issues at a round-table meeting of the
United Nations Security Council. 70 speakers were scheduled for this day during the summit, including
Chinese President Jiang Zemin,
South African President Thabo Mbeki,
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga,
Japanese
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and
President of Sierra Leone Ahmad Kabbah.
[5]
The final day of the Millennium Summit, Friday,
8 September 2000, ended after 60 world leaders said their speeches for five minutes each. The speakers included
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid,
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe,
Nigerian
President Olusegun Obasanjo, and
Indian
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
[5]
Middle East Peace Negotiations
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called for Yaser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, to reach an agreement with him. During the summit, Barak stated:
"The opportunity for peace in the Middle East is now at hand and must not be missed. Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, now calls for a peace of honour, of courage and of brotherhood. We recognise that Jerusalem is also sacred to Muslims and Christians around the world and cherished by our Palestinian neighbours. A true peace will reflect all these bonds."[14]
Yaser Arafat responded to Ehud Barak's comments by saying the Palestinians have already contributed to the peace efforts by making significant sacrifices towards a compromise between the two countries.
[14]
Peacekeeping Forces
The
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair urged the overhaul of the United Nations'
peacekeeping forces. He called for the creation for a military staff to supervise the operations.
[19] American President Bill Clinton also stressed the importance of these peacekeeping missions.
[20]
The Millennium Declaration
The Millennium Declaration was adopted during the Millennium Summit by the world leaders who attended, striving to "free all men, women, and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty." By the end of the Summit, the Millennium Declaration's eight chapters were drafted, from which the
Millennium Development Goals, originally developed by the
OECD, were particularly promoted in the years following the summit.
[21] The delegates at this summit agreed on the following eight chapters
[22]:
#Values and Principles
#Peace, Security and Disarmament
#Development and Poverty Eradication
#Protecting our Common Environment
#Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance
#Protecting the Vulnerable
#Meeting the Special Needs of Africa
#Strengthening the United Nations
Follow-up
Additional summits are to be held every five years after the Millennium Summit to assess the progress of the United Nations in reaching towards the Millennium Development Goals. The first follow-up to the Millennium Summit was held in the year of 2005 at the
2005 World Summit.
Footnotes
1. General Assembly Session 55, Meeting 3
2. General Assembly Session 55, Meeting 8
3. UN summit agenda; The largest gathering of world leaders in history meets in New York to discuss the role of the United Nations in the 21st century.
4. The Millennium Summit and Its Follow Up
5.
6. Reclaiming the Future: The Millennium Summit HighBeam Encyclopedia
7. http://www.unfpa.org/icpd/
8. No Mid-East advance at UN summit
9. Clinton Voices Regret Over Frankfurt Airport Confrontation
10. US regrets 'insult' to North Korea
11. United Nations Millennium Declaration
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19. Blair calls for UN force shake-up
20. Clinton welcomes world leaders to U.N. Millennium Summit; Deaths in West Timor cast shadow over historic conference KC Wildmoon
21. OECD Devlopment Co-operation Directorate: The DAC’s role in the genesis of the Millennium Development Goals
22. A/res/55/2 United Nations Millennium Declaration
See also
★
United Nations
★
United Nations Millennium Declaration
★
Millennium Development Goals
★
United Nations Millennium Forum
★
OECD
★
United Nations Millennium Project
★
2005 World Summit
External links
★
Copy of the Millennium Declaration
★
Lil' MDGs - MDGs for Children
★
easy-to-read version of the United Nations Millennium Declaration by the Ring of Peace
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