UN General Assembly
1995

of the Council to reflect the growth in membership of the United Nations, we believe that an increase in permanent members should be considered only on the basis of the most stringent criteria, and on the basis of global recognition and consensus. We are opposed in principle to creating new centres of privilege or distinctions that can distort the principle of sovereign equality. “Bangladesh welcomes the consensus achieved in the outcomes of the major conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing on population, social development and women, which supplement the results of the Earth Summit, the children’s Summit and the Vienna Conference on Human Rights. Together they have forged a meaningful and comprehensive social agenda that has reinforced poverty eradication and people-centred sustainable development. It must be emphasized, however, that social development is dependent on economic growth, which can be fuelled only in an international economic environment which is conducive to it. “The global society is only as strong as its weakest link. The plight of the least developed countries assumes special relevance and importance