UN General Assembly
2003

proposals. Now, however, it is time to act to restructure the Council so as to make it more representative and equitable, as well as more transparent in its decision- making, thereby strengthening its legitimacy as the guarantor of international peace and security. Terrorism has emerged as an ongoing threat to humanity. Uncertainty and pain have characterized the beginning of the twenty-first century. Our nations have the challenge of fighting together, at a global level, against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and in favour of equitable development and free societies. Security problems call for decisive action against international terrorism, organized crime and the illegal trade in arms and drugs. The Millennium Summit established as one of its main goals the reduction of poverty by 50 per cent by 2015. Notwithstanding some progress in the achievement of those goals, poverty remains a terrible scourge. The Dominican Government, which considers that issue to be one of great importance, has created a Social Cabinet to act as a coordinating mechanism for all governmental institutions for social welfare, and is