UN General Assembly
2000

intentions into effective action. This means taking responsibility to adapt our institutions, broaden participation in their functioning, and increase transparency and accountability to make a tangible difference for the people we represent. It also means responsible, accountable global behaviour, sharing and protecting the common space that sustains life. Aggressive pursuit of the global arms control and disarmament agenda is the ultimate responsible act. Our generation built the nuclear arsenals that are outmoded and rotting; we produced the chemical weapons that poison people; and today we still make and distribute the small arms that are found everywhere: in the hands of children, the arsenals of drug dealers and the garrisons of guerrilla fighters. But we have also had a certain foresight to begin building a system of international obligations and principles to contain such behaviour. We now have to validate and implement these instruments. Above all, we must do nothing to damage them. Certainly, Governments must prepare for the defence of their people. Responsible defence is an element of responsible government. But surely, our