Opening Annual UN Debate, General Assembly President Urges Focus On Action
New York, Sep 19 2006 1:00PM
As national leaders from across the world gathered at the United Nations for its annual general debate, the President of
the General Assembly urged them to focus on translating commitments into action that will make a tangible difference in
the lives of the world’s people.
Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain opened the annual session by calling attention to prevailing problems.
“We live in a world afflicted by violent armed conflicts, hunger and disease; a world threatened by international
terrorism, organized crime and the proliferation of all types of weapons; a world brought closer together by the forces
of globalization, yet divided by ethnic strife, and a growing technological gap; a world where theᾠenjoyment of human
rights is still an unrealized dream for millions of people, she said.
The international community, she stressed, has a “moral duty to reach collective solutions to resolve these mutual
concerns.”
She recalled that one year ago, at the 2005 World Summit, leaders reached consensus on a far-reaching measures to
respond to prevailing problems.
“Now the challenge before us is to ensure that our decisions make a more lasting difference to the lives of millions of
people around the world.”
Sheikha Haya hailed the recent adoption of the UN Comprehensive Global Counter-terrorism Strategy, while stressing the
need to “work towards its effective implementation.” She also urged consensus on the “most needed and long-overdue
Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.”
Noting that the theme of this year’s debate is “Implementing a Global Partnership for Development,” she called for
attention to “practical measures and strategies which can enable us to make consistent progress, and build on previous
international and national efforts.”
She also called for greater UN involvement in tackling security problems, calling for it to “take a more proactive role
when addressing the many armed conflicts within and amongst States.”
The general debate, which has attracted the participation of dozens of heads of State and government and numerous other
high-level officials, runs through 27 September.
Ends