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afrol.com, 8 September - President Paul Biya yesterday held his speech to the UN Millennium summit. His speech mostly praised the work and aims of the United Nations. Only his call for emphasis on the "right to development" was noticed. Though such a right was not belittled, it was seen as trying to obscure the debate over the poor human rights situation in Cameroon. - The North and South co-Presidency of this Summit is a sign of the efforts to forge ahead jointly, the president started his speech. The present Summit amplifies and extends the goals of the fiftieth anniversary and calls for reiteration of the ideals and objectives of the United Nations and consolidation of all gains so far. The Organization can take pride in its striking attainments in peace, security, human rights and international cooperation. Nevertheless, many scourges remain - war, conflict, violations of human rights, gaps between North and South and new crises such as HIV/AIDS. They all seem to augur for difficult times ahead. The United Nations thus needs our support to meet the legitimate aspirations of the people of the world, he concluded. Biya started by praising the UN for its efforts to solve global problems. Then he turned to the assembly on the matters he felt needed more attention. - Today it is up to us to give the Organization the means to pursue its objectives. This includes finding a just and equitable solution to the problem of debt. Research is also needed to prevent armed conflict. In addition, if globalization is not accompanied by a new moral order, peace, which is so cherished in our time, will be put in jeopardy. Ethics constitutes an essential expectation of the entire human community. On this point, Biya turned to human rights questions. "How can we speak of human rights without the right to development?" he asked. "What is democracy and good governance without the ethic of management for the common good?" Biya thus called for the establishment of a committee or international observatory, which would be entrusted with promoting, both between and within nations, fundamental and universal human values. With the human rights record of Biya's government, his proposal is not believed to be taken seriously.
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