UN General Assembly
2008

Without the United Nations, it is doubtful that human rights would have acquired their universal status, which today is indisputable. This year and next, many anniversaries remind us yet again of the essential role of the United Nations: the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The world has changed since the San Francisco Conference. Today, our task is to modernize the United Nations and ensure that its institutions adequately reflect our democratic principles and new geopolitical balances. As His Serene Highness Prince Albert II stated here last year, Monaco supports the expansion of the Security Council. Only the combined efforts of all partners will allow us to make real progress in the fight against poverty, to promote health care and education, improve access to water and protect the environment. As indicated in the June 2008 recommendations of the