Now, we need to keep the spirit alive in the Assembly which now has the responsibility to start the implementation of the Millennium Declaration. The President of Finland made a statement on the need for the UN to be relevant for the Member States and their people. I should like to elaborate some of her ideas a little further, fully supporting the statement made by the distinguished French Foreign Minister Mr. Vedrine, on behalf of the European Union. Mr. President, One of the most inspiring concepts that the Secretary-General has advocated is the culture of prevention. If we want the UN to be relevant, we must equip it with means to be one step ahead of developments.
Successful prevention requires profound understanding of underlying causes.
Understanding these causes we can establish an early warning system that allows us to act on time before conflicts erupt. One of the root causes for conflicts is poverty. As almost half of the world's population still have to do with less than 2 US dollars a day and struggle for existence, conflicts can flare up easily. Poverty is also an affront to human dignity. Trying to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty requires common efforts.