Ladies and Gentlemen, The importance of the Copenhagen commitments was given in the acknowledgement of the intrinsic connection between social development and the enabling environment. Since 1995 millions of people, particularly in South-East Asia, have been thrown into poverty due to the financial crises. Hence, a review of the implementation of Copenhagen is not serious, unless it acknowledges the causes of the financial crises and offers solutions. The Geneva 2000 Declaration is not credible unless it gives some perspective on how the International Community intends to create financial stability and deals with problems caused by the movement of speculative capital and portfolio investment. Distinguished delegates, People have high expectations of the Geneva 2000 Summit.
Social development is close to the hearts of most.
We believe that the Summit should seen to be responsive to the main issues identified as problematic by our societies. We believe that in the year 2000 the Summit must address the problems caused by the unsustainable burdens of debts which have built up further in developing countries since Copenhagen. World-wide people are convinced that the present system of lending and borrowing is profoundly unjust and that it is dominated almost entirely by creditors. This consensus must be reflected in the Geneva 2000 Summit. Ladies and gentlemen, Words do not change the world.