eesti keeles

Press Releases
Open in print mode

The President of the Republic spoke at UN General Assembly General Debate
22.09.2004


President Arnold Rüütel spoke at UN General Assembly General DebatePresident Rüütel today in New York delivered a speech at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly 59th Session. The Estonian Head of State in his speech focused on possibilities to implement the goals defined in the UN Millennium Declaration and to bridge the digital divide, and also dealt with the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.

According to the President of the Republic, Estonia was aware of its co-responsibility for the wellbeing of the world, but also of its vulnerability to global threats. "In the situation of today's new threats and changed global security, the need for joint solutions is more acute than never before. The UN is the only organisation that has been created to coordinate the efforts of the states in safeguarding international stability and security. The United Nations Organisation has to be even more decisive and efficient in order to perform such a responsible role successfully in a new situation," spoke President Rüütel.

Speaking about Estonia's responsibility for securing balanced development in the world, the Estonian Head of State said: "Time has shown that the experience, which Estonia has accumulated from building up its democratic institutions, implementing economic reforms and involvement of civil society in public life and decision making process, could help other countries, where such processes are still in their initial stage."

Thereafter, President Rüütel elaborated on the issue of digital divide and, at the same time, outlined Estonia's hitherto success in information and communication technology. "I believe that as a former transition country Estonia has experience, which could be very useful for developing countries in developing information and communication technology. We have to admit that in Estonia the potential of giving development aid first of all includes knowledge based counselling. We have already taken some steps to that direction," added the President of the Republic and presented briefly our e-Governance Academy as well.

The Estonian Head of State, due to the forthcoming end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, dedicated the last part of his speech to the rights of indigenous peoples. Referring to the 4th World Congress of the Finno-Ugric Peoples, which in August took place in Estonia, President Rüütel repeated a suggestion, made there, to create a Red Book of Peoples.

Before addressing the General Assembly, President Rüütel attended a luncheon for the heads of delegations at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel organized jointly by the USA holding the G8 presidency and the UNDP. At this event, a UNDP-financed report to the UN Secretary-General and a G8 Action Plan, both dealing with the promotion of enterprise as a priority in combating poverty and fostering economic growth in developing countries, were under discussion.

During his conversation with UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown, that took place at the luncheon, President Rüütel confirmed Estonia's readiness to share more extensively than so far our experience accumulated from reforms and in the field of information technology. Estonia's E-Governance Academy in collaboration with UNDP has carried out numerous workshops and other training events in several countries. Mr Brown, too, acknowledged these activities.

This evening, Ambassador Jaak Jõerüüt and Consul General in New York Peeter Restsinski will host a dinner in honour of the President of the Republic. President Rüütel and his accompanying delegation will leave New York on Thursday and, flying via Helsinki, arrive back in Estonia on Friday morning.


Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
New York, September 22, 2004


© 2006 Office of the President l tel: + 372 631 6202 l fax: + 372 631 6250 l sekretarvpk.ee