Ambassador Betty King U.S. Representative on the United Nations Economic and Social Council Statement in the Economic and Social Council Special Meeting Convened to Bid Farewell to Outgoing ECOSOC President Juan Somavia January 19, 1999

STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR BETTY KING, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ON THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, IN THE SPECIAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL MEETING CONVENED TO BID FAREWELL TO OUTGOING ECOSOC PRESIDENT JUAN SOMAVIA

THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT, AND IT IS WITH GREAT REGRET THAT I ADDRESS YOU AS SUCH FOR THE LAST TIME. FOR YOUR SERVICE ON THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS IS OF SUCH LONG-STANDING, AND OF SUCH A STATURE THAT IT IS TRULY DIFFICULT TO SEE YOU GO.

OUR ONLY CONSOLATION IS TO KNOW THAT WHILE ECOSOC MAY BE LOSING, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IS GAINING, FOR WE EXPECT GREAT THINGS OF YOUR TENURE AT THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION.

INDEED, I THINK IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT A BROAD VIEW OF THE UNITED NATIONS AS A MULTILATERAL SYSTEM WITH AN AGREED, OVERARCHING CONSENSUS HAS BEEN ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF YOUR WORK HERE IN NEW YORK, BOTH AS AN OFFICER OF ECOSOC AND A MERE AMBASSADOR AS WELL. SO PERHAPS YOUR DEPARTURE SHOULD NOT BE SEEN AS A LOSS AT ALL, BUT RATHER AS THE FIRST STEALTHY MOVE IN AN ECOSOC PLOT TO STAMP OUR AGENDA ON THE MULTILATERAL SYSTEM.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO WATCHING AS YOU PURSUE THIS APPROACH FROM THE INSIDE, AS A MEMBER OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE ON COORDINATION, AT THE HELM OF ONE OF THE SYSTEM’S KEY SPECIALIZED AGENCIES.

IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE A BETTER POST THAN THIS FOR THE CHAMPION OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. MR. PRESIDENT, IT IS MY OWN VIEW THAT DESPITE COPENHAGEN AND DESPITE OUR COMMITMENT TO THE NOTION THAT SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ALONG WITH ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IS THE KEY TO SUSTAINABILITY, OUR ONGOING ATTENTION TO THIS CRITICAL ISSUE IN THE UN SYSTEM HAS NOT BEEN COMMENSURATE WITH ITS IMPORTANCE.

IF THE HUMAN PERSON IS THE SUBJECT OF DEVELOPMENT, AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS THE BIRTHRIGHT OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS, THEN TRULY OUR ATTENTION TO THE WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL MUST BE STRENGTHENED IN PRACTICE. YOU HAVE CONSTANTLY REMINDED US OF THIS OBLIGATION. AND YOUR NEW POSITION PUTS YOU AGAIN AT THE CENTER OF THESE RELATIONS.

YOU HAVE ALSO BEEN A STAUNCH ADVOCATE OF REFORM, BOTH OF THE UN IN GENERAL, AND ECOSOC IN PARTICULAR. OVER THE PAST YEAR, WE HAVE BEGUN TO WITNESS SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF IDEAS WHICH YOU INITIATED. IN PARTICULAR, THE DEVELOPMENT OF WORKING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECOSOC AS AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL BODY AND THE ACC AS AN INTERAGENCY ONE AND THE INCREASINGLY PRODUCTIVE COOPERATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. AGAIN, WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS COMMITMENT IN YOUR NEW CAPACITY.

FINALLY, I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DID NOT HIGHLIGHT YOUR COMMITMENT TO CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE NOTION THAT OUR COMMON CONSENSUS CANNOT BE REALIZED BY GOVERNMENTS ALONE.

MR. PRESIDENT, WE HAVE SAID BEFORE THAT ECOSOC LIVES OR DIES ON THE STRENGTH OF ITS LEADERSHIP. THIS PAST YEAR HAS BEEN ESPECIALLY PRODUCTIVE DUE TO YOUR EFFORTS AND THOSE OF THE BUREAU: AMBASSADOR CHOWDHURY, AMBASSADOR FULCI, AMBASSADOR OLHAYE AND AMBASSADOR SYCHOU. WE EXTEND TO YOU, AND YOUR COLLEAGUES OUR VERY BEST WISHES AND OUR APPRECIATION FOR JOBS WELL DONE.

THANK YOU.

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