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82.

The UN As a Center of Agreed Actions to
Meet the Challenges of the New Millennium

STATEMENT
OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNITED NATIONS OFFICE
AT GENEVA
DR. VLADIMIR PETROVSKY
AT THE 38TH GENEVA GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAM

Palais des Nations, Room VII, 3 July 2000

Ladies and Gentlemen.
Dear Friends,

I t is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Palais des Nations
today for the Geneva Graduate Study Program. These meetings
are not taking place here for the first time but are an established
tradition which provide an open line of communication between graduates and
the international community This year's meeting however, has very special
meaning. You are visiting the United Nations at Geneva, the second largest
Headquarters of the UN, on the eve of the Millennium Assembly - which will
bring together Heads of States seeking the answer to the challenges of
globalization. The focus of their discussion at this Assembly will be the report
of the Secretary-General “We the Peoples”, the core of which is to put the
needs and interests of ordinary people at the center of the complex issue of
globalization.

Globalization is a multi-faceted process. The computer revolution is
transforming our ability to trade, travel and communicate with one another.

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