UN General Assembly
1997

budget crisis to another, is in no condition to confront and overcome the challenges facing mankind. If there is to be financial reform, then the precarious financial existence of the United Nations must be consigned to the dustbin of history. Secondly, the United Nations itself must take steps to become more efficient and effective. We need a United Nations where waste is abhorred, where the churning out of documents for documents’ sake, at a cost of millions of dollars, is no longer a priority. We need a United Nations that is leaner, but more capable of making the maximum use of its resources. Thirdly, the United Nations must become more responsive to the needs of all its Member States. For the majority of the United Nations Member States, the need is for sustainable development, for the eradication of poverty and of illiteracy. We need a United Nations that will show an even greater sensitivity to those needs. The United Nations must also answer the call for wider representation of the world peoples on the Security