EU Presidency Statement - Global Partnerships

Statement by the UK Mission to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union, on Item 59: Global Partnerships, United Nations General Assembly, Second Committee, New York

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

Mr President,

I should like to start by thanking the Secretary-General for his report on enhanced co-operation between the United Nations and its partners, in particular the private sector. That report provides a useful update on the progress made in developing and expanding co-operation between the United Nations system and a wide range of partners. It reminds us of the valuable role that the private sector, non-governmental organisations and civil society have to play in the achievement of the United Nation's goals. And it identifies a number of substantive steps the UN system needs to undertake in order to strengthen partnerships with the private sector.

Mr President,

Since the Millennium Declaration, the international community has placed increasing value on global partnerships, and the UN has increasingly recognised the need to engage fully with the private sector and civil society. It has initiated a significant number of partnerships throughout its Funds and Programmes - particularly those with field-level operations - and several of these initiatives are showing themselves to be a catalyst for positive change in managing international development throughout the UN system. Partnerships range from small-scale development projects with a limited number of local actors to global initiatives with large numbers of major participants. Some of these are usefully documented in the Secretary-General's report. The European Union is pleased that these partnerships form an integral element of UN business.

It is timely to recall that the recent Millennium Review Summit outcome document, in which our leaders reaffirmed this commitment to global partnerships for development, underlined the value of building linkages throughout the UN system in order to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. It is important that global partnerships focus on strategic priorities and share, where appropriate, best practice. The United Nations has a particular role to play, together with the Bretton Woods Institutions and the WTO, in developing partnership practices in pursuit of development and the eradication of poverty. Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals will only be possible with the active participation of all stakeholders, official, private sector and non-governmental alike.

I should like to take this opportunity to highlight a couple of initiatives that have had a significant effect on the way that the UN system approaches partnerships. First, the EU welcomes the efforts of the UN Fund for International Partnerships to mainstream partnership activity across UN business: we are grateful to the private individuals and companies who have contributed to the implementation of so many projects worldwide. We also recall the Monterrey International Conference on Financing for Development and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, both of which encouraged the establishment of partnerships. At the latter, more than two hundred partnerships were launched (the figure is currently closer to three hundred) which are now, as annual reporting to the Commission on Sustainable Development can attest, playing an important supportive role in implementing the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. In this regard, I should draw attention to the useful role that Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) can play in facilitating and enhancing partnership initiatives. The UN ICT Task Force is a valuable example of private-public-civil society co-operation. The development of further partnerships in the ICT sector would provide benefits across the UN system. The EU therefore looks forward to a successful conclusion of the 2005 World Summit on Information Systems, taking place as I speak in Tunisia.

Mr President,

The European Union welcomes the ongoing international debate on corporate social responsibility, business ethics, accountability and transparency. At the national level, governments can play an important role in creating an enabling environment for responsible business practices and in promoting corporate citizenship through initiatives such as the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises, the ILO tripartite declaration and the UN Global Compact. The EU supports the OECD guidelines as the only comprehensive, government-backed instrument in the field of corporate social responsibility, and welcomes ongoing efforts to raise public awareness on how the guidelines can be used by governments, companies and stakeholders.

After just five years, the Global Compact, launched by the Secretary-General in 2000, has gained widespread support throughout the international business community, with over 2,000 companies from all over the world committed to support and integrate the ten universal principles in their everyday business. The Global Compact continues to play an important role in strengthening the collaboration between the UN and business in support of the Millennium Development Goals. The European Union is particularly satisfied at the increase in participation in the Global Compact by companies from developing countries, and the establishment of national Global Compact networks in a number of developing countries.

Mr. President,

I would like to conclude by announcing that member states of the European Union will shortly be tabling a draft resolution entitled "Towards global partnerships". This resolution, presented biannually, reflects developments in the United Nations' global partnership activities, this year in line with commitments made at the Millennium Review Summit. We look forward to working with all interested delegations.


* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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• EU Presidency Statement - 2nd Committee General Debate (3/10/2005)