The United Nations, conceived during and born at the end of the Second World War to save the succeeding generations of mankind from the scourge of war, is 57 years old today. Even though the threat of another world war is almost non-existent nowadays, the need for the United Nations has not diminished. Due to the challenges being faced by mankind today, the international community has unanimously acknowledged that the re-levancy of the United Nations, as a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the maintenance of international peace and security, and in the search for the solutions of international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems, is greater than ever. In this connection, the United Nations anniversary commemoration is a very meaningful occasion.

The United Nations started with 51 Member States, and is now an organization with near universal membership. There is no doubt that the soundness and validity of the fundamental principles enshrined in the Charter have helped the United Nations overcome various difficulties during the period of past fifty seven years and the Organization is now cohesively standing tall, enjoying unanimous support of the international community. It is the first and foremost duty of all the Member States to ensure that the United Nations never deviates from these time-tested principles in order to protect and promote the common interest of all Member States, big or small, rich or poor, powerful or weak.

The United Nations must be strengthened further to enable it to tackle the problems being faced by mankind in the 21st century.

The development gap between the industrialized and developing countries has continued to widen.

The number of people living in poverty has not diminished. There is pervasive hunger, poverty, illiteracy, and ill-health. It is , therefore, imperative that poverty alleviation efforts by the United Nations be given unstinting support by the international community.

The challenges being faced by mankind include those which cause hardships and those which threaten the continued existence of mankind. The latter category jeopardizes the common interest of mankind. In responding to such challenges, the entire mankind needs to be united with a single objective. One of the major challenges of the United Nations is to halt and reverse the effects of environmental degradation and to promote environmentally sound and sustainable development in all countries through effective international cooperation. This global partnership is essential to set the world community onto a new course for a more sustainable, secure and equitable future in the new century.

Myanmar became the 58th Member State of the United Nations when she joined the Organization on 19 April 1948. Since then Myanmar has been a faithful and responsible member of the United Nations. On this 57th anniversary occasion of the United Nations, I would like to reaffirm Myanmar's unswerving support for the Organization. I wish the United Nations every success in carrying out its most noble duties