UN General Assembly
1997

times of change; it is all the harder to be the maker of the changes. This is why we are fully on the side of the man at the head of the United Nations, and we welcome his initiatives and his course of action. Kazakhstan supports the Secretary-General’s proposals regarding a more efficient leadership and management structure, a new management culture and structural transformations within the Organization. We support measures taken by the United Nations to ensure sustainable development. In our view, the proposed United Nations Development Group deserves endorsement. At the same time, it is important to preserve the independence and the distinctiveness of the funds and programmes that are being consolidated, especially the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a reputable organization that is doing so much for the sake of children, including its work in Kazakhstan. The financial crisis of the United Nations is an urgent issue demanding a solution. The programme of reforms proposed by the Secretary-General provides for measures to redress the situation in which the Organization has found itself. There is no doubt that the