United Nations

 NEW YORK, 8 September (UN Headquarters) -- The following statement was issued by the Spokeswoman for the Millennium Summit, Therese Gastaut, on behalf of the Co-chairs of the Summit, the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, and the President of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, in New York on 8 September:

This is the last day of the United Nations Millennium Summit and history really has been made here.  The largest gathering of world leaders ever has used the Summit to articulate a vision for a new century.  They also stressed the vital role the United Nations must play in helping to fulfil the aspirations of people everywhere.

Both in their speeches in the plenaries of the Summit and in the interactive round tables, the heads of State and government again and again stressed the relevance and the importance of the United Nations in a global society.  They pledged their commitment to helping the United Nations adapt to the new era and strengthen its capacity to deal with the challenges of maintaining peace and eliminating poverty.

The co-chairs praise the cordial, frank and constructive statements by all the world leaders both in the plenaries and the round tables and call on all of them to ensure that the commitments made in the Millennium Declaration of the United Nations are implemented.

They also praise the Secretary-General for the leadership he is providing to the Organization and thank him for his outstanding Millennium Report, entitled “We the Peoples”.

The co-chairs hope for a unanimous adoption of the Millennium Declaration this afternoon to give a new momentum to the United Nations.