TheMillennium Summit was the largest modern meeting among world leaders, lasting three days from6 to 8 September 2000,[1][2] held at theUnited Nations headquarters inNew York City. Its purpose was to discuss the role of the United Nations at the turn of the 21st century.[3] At the meeting, world leaders ratified theUnited Nations Millennium Declaration.[4] This meeting was the largest gathering of world leaders in history as of 2000.[3] It was followed five years later by theWorld Summit, which took place from14 to 16 September 2005.
TheGeneral AssemblyResolution that decided upon this summit stated that it attempted to seize "a unique and symbolically compelling moment to articulate and affirm an animating vision for the United Nations".[5]
In this summit, 189 member states of the United Nations agreed to help citizens in the world's poorest countries to achieve a better life by 2015. The framework for this progress is outlined in theMillennium Development Goals. Also known as theMDGs, these goals were derived from theMillennium Declaration.[6] This summit was focused on various global issues, such as poverty,AIDS, and how to share the benefits ofglobalisation more fairly.[7]
On 5 September 2000, delegates around the world began to travel to the United States for the Millennium Summit. American airline officials inspected thedelegation of North Korea atFrankfurt International Airport during a stop in Germany.[8]American Airlines personnel demanded that the members of the delegation and their belongings be searched. In response to these demands, the North Korean government withdrew its delegation from the summit. As diplomats, the officials should not have been subject to search.[9]
Over 150 world leaders participated in the discussion, including 100heads of state, 47heads of government, threecrown princes, five vice presidents, threedeputy prime ministers, and 8,000 other delegates.[10] TheGroup of 77 was also present to discuss the changes the United Nations faced at the turn of the 21st century.
Thepresident of Finland,Tarja Halonen, and thepresident of Namibia,Sam Nujoma, co-chaired the Millennium Summit. This was due to thepresidency over the General Assembly ofTheo-Ben Gurirab in thefifty-fourth session and that ofHarri Holkeri in thefifty-fifth session. Therefore, theheads of state of Finland and Namibia were chosen to preside over the summit.[11]
Kofi Annan, thesecretary-general of the United Nations, opened the Millennium Summit on 6 September 2000. Before moving into the summit, Annan called for a minute's silence for four United Nations workers who werekilled in West Timor by pro-Indonesian militiamen. U.S. PresidentBill Clinton and Russian PresidentVladimir Putin delivered a plea forworld peace anddisarmament. Sixty-three other speakers spoke for five minutes each. In the duration of the summit, Bill Clinton held separate meetings with Israel's prime minister,Ehud Barak, andPalestinian leaderYasser Arafat, calling on them to reach a peace agreement between the two nations,[3] although no actual progress was made in doing so. Both sides were still committed to reaching such an agreement, however.[7]
On 7 September, various heads of state discussed peacekeeping issues. They discussed these issues at a round-table meeting of theUnited Nations Security Council. Seventy speakers were scheduled for this day during the summit, includingGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyJiang Zemin,South African PresidentThabo Mbeki,Sri Lankan PresidentChandrika Kumaratunga,Japanese Prime MinisterYoshiro Mori, andPresident of Sierra LeoneAhmad Kabbah.[3]
The final day of the Millennium Summit, 8 September, ended after 60 world leaders each gave their five-minute speech. The speakers included Indonesian PresidentAbdurrahman Wahid, Zimbabwean PresidentRobert Mugabe, Nigerian PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo, and Indian Prime MinisterAtal Behari Vajpayee.[3]
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called for Yaser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, to reach an agreement with him. During the summit, Barak stated:
The opportunity for peace in the Middle East is now at hand and must not be missed. Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, now calls for a peace of honour, of courage and of brotherhood. We recognise that Jerusalem is also sacred to Muslims and Christians around the world and cherished by ourPalestinian neighbours. A true peace will reflect all these bonds.[7]
Yaser Arafat responded to Ehud Barak's comments by saying the Palestinians had already contributed to the peace efforts by making significant sacrifices towards a compromise between the two countries.[7]
Prime Minister of the United KingdomTony Blair urged the overhaul of the United Nations'peacekeeping forces. He called for the creation for a military staff to supervise the operations.[12] American President Bill Clinton also stressed the importance of these peacekeeping missions.[13]
The world leaders who attended the Millennium Summit adopted theMillennium Declaration, striving to "free all men, women, and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions ofextreme poverty". By the end of the summit, the Millennium Declaration's eight chapters were drafted, from which theMillennium Development Goals, originally developed by theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), were particularly promoted in the years following the summit.[14] The delegates at this summit agreed on the following eight chapters:[15]
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Additional summits were to be held every five years after the Millennium Summit to assess the progress of the United Nations in reaching towards theMillennium Development Goals. The first follow-up to the Millennium Summit was held in the year of 2005 at the2005 World Summit.
The United Nations summit for the adoption of thePost-2015 Development Agenda was held from 25 to 27 September 2015, in New York and convened as a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly.[16] Delegates proposed 6 themes for Interactive Dialogues:
These themes were eventually expressed in the 17Sustainable Development Goals adopted byGeneral Assembly resolution.
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⇒The Vrinda Project Documentary: Stories of Millennium Development Goals
