UN General Assembly
2008

negotiations in Geneva. Indeed, while international trade should become a tool for development, the balance of global economic power, which was responsible to a great degree for the dependence of countries of the South on their partners in the North, will continue to deteriorate. Most countries perceive globalization as the status quo, which makes the objectives of development and social justice even more difficult to achieve. To think that, when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted in 2000, many of us were hopeful that they would be achieved. For that reason we call upon the international community, especially the countries of the North, to respect the commitments made. We note with concern that today new and even greater challenges are being added to the long list of those which our States already face. The sharp rise in the price of oil and other raw materials, as well as the increasing demand for energy, along with the effects of the global food and financial crises are among these new challenges. The current food crisis will not fail to have