EU Presidency Statement - Global Partnerships

Mr. President,

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union. The acceding countries, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and the Associated Countries, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey, as well as the EFTA Countries Iceland and Norway, align themselves with this statement.

Mr. President,

At the outset, let me express, on behalf of the European Union, our gratitude to the Secretary-General for his report on "Enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and all relevant partners, in particular the private sector." The report is a useful update on the progress made and challenges encountered since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration, which recognized the relevance of the participation of the private sector, NGOs and civil society to the collective achievement of the Organization's purposes.

The United Nations and the private sector have developed valuable and diverse initiatives. There are many forms of partnerships, ranging from time-bound project partnerships involving a small number of entities, to global initiatives involving various actors. The European Union is very pleased to acknowledge that today partnerships are an integral part of the work of many United Nations organizations, including funds and programmes, particularly those who have on-the-ground capabilities to deliver.

The European Union has always considered partnerships to be important steps for the international cooperation for sustainable development. We believe that partnerships are supportive of, and complementary to, the intergovernmental processes and procedures of the United Nations and policy-making at the national level. The development process is an increasingly demanding task: All the more so with our growing awareness of our developing partners' needs and priorities. To achieve the ambitious goals set out in the Millennium Declaration, we must seek new solutions and methods of work. This will only be possible with the active participation of all stakeholders in the development process-governmental and non-governmental alike.

Mr. President,

The European Union has a positive assessment of the various initiatives undertaken after the launching of the debate on "global partnerships." There has been a flourishing of partnership initiatives, the best known of which are outlined in the Secretary-General's report. The International Conference on Financing for Development has further encouraged the establishing of partnerships. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development, two hundred partnerships were announced. Partnerships are playing an important supportive role in carrying out the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, as recognized at the last session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. The United Nations ICT Task Force is another valuable example of public-private-civil society partnerships that make information and communication technology available to all the world's citizens, in fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals. We look forward to the next World Summit on Information Society as it will provide a unique opportunity to develop partnerships in this key sector. Furthermore, I wish to acknowledge the activity of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships and express our gratitude to the private companies and individuals who have contributed to the implementation of so many projects worldwide.

Mr. President,

Global partnerships are not for multinational corporations alone. The experience so far has shown that both industrialized and developing countries are paying attention to the private sector. We would like the UN to expand its partnerships to include more initiatives by developing countries, if necessary through capacity-building projects.

Mr. President,

The evolving debate on global corporate citizenship shows great vitality. Concepts such as accountability, transparency and corporate social responsibility should be taken into account and underlined. Governments have an important role in promoting this debate at the national and international levels. They also have an important role to play in encouraging responsible global corporate citizenship, which should lead more companies to embrace the OECD guidelines for multinationals, the Global Compact and become involved in partnerships in support of poverty reduction and sustainable development.

The United Nations Global Compact, launched by the Secretary-General in July 2000 is receiving tremendous support in the international community. The private sector has also come to recognize the need to balance financial and economic imperatives with broader societal concerns. The Global Compact contains a vision for good conduct based on nine principles which more than 1200 companies have now made part of their corporate strategy. The European Union supports the work conducted by the Global Compact to integrate its principles into business activities through a range of activities including dialogue, learning, outreach and projects. We believe that the Global Compact contributes in a positive way to achieving development objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. President,

The Secretary-General's report reflects the fact that partnerships are a very new phenomenon for the United Nations. They entail experimentation as we are learning by doing. The United Nations can be instrumental in creating a favourable environment for the evolution of partnerships. The United Nations, therefore, has a particular role, together with main stakeholders like the Bretton Woods Institutions and the WTO, in further encouraging and enhancing the use of the instrument of partnerships in order to fulfil the goals of the organization.

The EU understands concerns that the pursuit of profit and the promotion of private individual advantage might take precedence over the public good. Partnerships must not compromise the UN's independence or prevent it from defending the general interest and acting accordingly. The Secretariat has the responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the system and we welcome the initiatives taken in this respect. At the same time, we believe that the growing partnership activities will require special training within the United Nations' system to enhance its capacity to manage them.

Mr. President,

I would like to conclude my statement by announcing that the European Union will present a draft resolution to the General Assembly.

The draft resolution, presented for the third time to the General Assembly, will reflect the positive developments in the United Nations' global partnership activities which we have outlined in this statement. We intend to build on the considerable support we received two years ago and look forward to working with all interested delegations.

Thank You.

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