UN General Assembly
1996

With a view to beginning to address the problem of the efficiency and effectiveness of the United Nations system, 1996 could be a year of meditation and reflection. Calls have been made for a redefinition of the purposes of the Organization and, in particular, of the tasks of the Security Council. In order to achieve this important task, we must work on the basis of a shared and balanced vision of the future of the Organization. The construction of a culture of international peace, security and prosperity should be the ultimate goal in this redefinition of tasks. This is something that the United Nations must accomplish in response to the needs of our peoples. As we approach the end of the century and the millennium, the globality of economies and the grouping of countries into systems of integration are becoming irreversible facts. One consequence of this will be the resurgence of mega-States in which smaller States will remain submerged. We are concerned for the future of weaker and less developed nations which, like ours,