GILLIAN LINDSAY-NANTON, the United Nations' Resident Co-ordinator, has made a call for the renewed commitment to promoting the ideals upon which the United Nations charter was built 58 years ago.
Addressing a reception in celebration of United Nations Day at the Hilton Kingston hotel last Friday, she urged Jamaicans to "advocate and put in place the essential building blocks for a world in which the dignity and human rights of every person in every country are universally respected".
"In essence, this entails democratic governance, poverty eradication and conflict prevention. In so doing, let us promote an environment that fosters the participation of all people, in decisions or activities that affect their lives," Mrs. Lindsay-Nanton said.
Pointing to the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) adopted by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit three years ago, Mrs. Lindsay-Nanton said, "The MDGs are a very simple but powerful idea whose time has come." She said they "underpin the international community's effort to set the terms of globalisation not solely driven by the interests of the strong, but managed by the interests of the poor."
SUPPORT
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Delano Franklyn affirmed Jamaica's support of the functions of the United Nations.
"We see reason to celebrate the United Nations as a unique institution, in which all countries, both big and small have a voice and equal vote. It has also established a proven track record through landmark development projects and other important social and economic initiatives across the globe designed to effect positive changes to improve the livelihood of peoples. In this regard, its relevance is irrefutable," Mr. Franklyn said.
He revealed that Jamaica's development programmes and initiatives were on track with 96.2 per cent of children enrolled at the primary level, and that statistics showed that the poverty level has been reduced to 16.8 per cent, from a high of 28.4 per cent in 1990.
