H.E. Mr.

JULIAN ROBERT HUNTE

President of the fifty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly
 See also:

Our Priorities
Highlights of the Fifty-eighth General Assembly
Text of resolution, A/RES/58/126, on Revitalization of the work of
the General Assembly, adopted by consensus, on 19 December
2003
Resolutions adopted during the session
Previous Presidents

H.E. Mr. Julian Robert Hunte, President of the fifty-eighth session of the
United Nations General Assembly, is Minister for External Affairs,
International Trade and Civil Aviation of Saint Lucia, a Senator and
Member of Parliament, a Justice of the Peace and a business executive.

Mr. Hunte, who has extensive experience in the multilateral process, and a keen interest in the
issues of regional cooperation and the role of small states within the United Nations, was Saint
Lucia's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1998 to 2001.
During this time, he served as Chairman of the Special Committee on Decolonisation, formally
known as the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the
Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. He has
participated in various international summits and conferences convened by the United Nations,
including the 2000 Millennium Summit, the 2002 International Conference on Financing for
Development, in Monterrey, for which he served as Vice-President, and the 2002 World Summit for
Sustainable Development, in Johannesburg, to which he led his country's delegation.

At the regional level, Mr. Hunte has provided leadership for standing bodies of the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM). In 2002 and 2003, he served as Chair of the Council for Foreign and
Community Relations, responsible for coordinating foreign policy matters among CARICOM member
states. In 2001, he was entrusted with carrying out CARICOM's diplomatic initiatives to bring about a
resolution to the political and economic challenges facing the Republic of Haiti. He has led several
CARICOM missions to Haiti and has also participated in joint CARICOM/Organization of American
States (OAS) missions to that country. From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Hunte served as founder and
Chairman of the Standing Conference of Popular Democratic Parties of the Eastern Caribbean
(SCOPE), an alliance of political parties of Eastern Caribbean States having common aims and
ideologies for national political development.

Mr. Hunte's career as a political activist and politician spans more than thirty-five years. Entering
Saint Lucia's politics in 1967, he served first as a City Councillor and, from 1970 to 1971, as Mayor
of his home city of Castries. Joining the Labour Party in 1978, he became its Vice Chairman and
chaired its reorganising committee. In 1984, he became the Party Leader and was elected to
Parliament in 1987, serving as Leader of the Opposition until 1996. In 2001, he was appointed to the
Senate of Saint Lucia and was invited by the Prime Minister to join the Cabinet that same year.

In the Government of Saint Lucia, Mr. Hunte has held a number of key positions in national
development planning and implementation, most notably as Chair of the Saint Lucia National
Development Corporation, the country's principal development agency and investors' link to relevant
Government ministries. Mr. Hunte has also served as Director of the Saint Lucia Development Bank
and the National Commercial Bank of Saint Lucia. Other national development programmes and
initiatives to which he has provided leadership and direction include the Saint Lucia Model Farms
Limited and Halcyon Days Hotel Limited, managers of a major resort facility owned in part by the
Government of Saint Lucia, and he has served as Chairman of the Insurance Advisory Council of
Saint Lucia and Director of the Windward Islands Banana Development and Exporting Company.

An advocate of labour rights and fair labour standards, Mr. Hunte has also been active in the trade
union movement, serving as President of the National Workers Union, as Treasurer of the Saint
Lucia Seamen and Waterfront General Workers Trade Union and as an executive member of the
Saint Lucia Civil Service Association.

In his business career, Mr. Hunte is Chairman and Chief Executive of the Julian R. Hunte Group of
Companies, with a network of agencies dealing with insurance, real estate and packaging and
storage.

In support of culture and the arts, Mr. Hunte co-founded and chaired for two decades the Saint Lucia
National Trust, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to identifying and preserving the
historical and cultural legacy of Saint Lucia. He has served in various capacities with many other
organisations, holding, among others, the post of President of the Saint Lucia Mental Health
Association.

An avid sports enthusiast, Mr. Hunte has participated in the game of cricket both as a national player
and as an administrator at the national, regional and international levels. He has served as President
of the Saint Lucia National Cricket Association and of the Windward Islands Cricket Board of
Control, and as Vice-President of the West Indies Cricket Board, which he has represented on the
International Cricket Council, the institution responsible for international governance of the game.

Educated in Saint Lucia, Mr. Hunte has undertaken extensive studies in Business Administration
and Accounts.

In June 1979, Mr. Hunte was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE), in recognition of his
dedicated service to the Government and people of Saint Lucia.

Born on 14 March 1940, in Castries, Mr. Hunte is married to Charlotte Elizabeth Jennifer Hunte (nee
Clarke) and has four children.

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which accept the obligations of the Charter and, in the judgement of the
Organization, are willing and able to carry out these obligations.

The admission of any such State to membership in the United Nations

will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the
recommendation of the Security Council."
Article 4, Chapter 2, United Nations Charter

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having received a standing invitation to participate as observers in the
sessions and the work of the General Assembly and maintaining
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Executives Board (CEB) for
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ACC was established by the Secretary-General in 1946 at the request of the Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Resolution 13 (III). The main purpose of the
Committee was to supervise the implementation of the agreements between the United
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 home > the wto > what is the wto?

What is the WTO?

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global
international organization dealing with the rules of trade
between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements,
negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations
and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers
of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their
business.
The WTO in Brief FACT FILE
A starting point for essential information about Location: Geneva,
the WTO. Switzerland
> Browse html version online Established:
> Download in pdf format (8 pages, 658 KB) 1 January 1995
Created by: Uruguay
Round negotiations
About the WTO — ‘Understanding the (1986-94)
Membership:
WTO’
147 countries (on
An introduction, in more depth, to the WTO and
23 April 2004)
its agreements.
Budget: 162 million
Swiss francs for 2004
Browse Secretariat staff: 600
> Browse html version online Head: Supachai
Panitchpakdi (director-
Download whole document general)
> Download in Word format (115 pages; 827KB)
> Download in pdf format (116 pages; 4441KB) Functions:
• Administering WTO
Download by chapter (pdf format): trade agreements
> Chapter 1: Basics (23 pages; 1004KB) • Forum for trade
> Chapter 2: The Agreements (32 pages; 506KB)
> Chapter 3: Settling disputes (8 pages; 1420KB) negotiations
> Chapter 4: Cross-cutting and new issues (14 pages; 271KB) • Handling trade
> Chapter 5: The Doha Agenda (16 pages; 467KB) disputes
> Chapter 6: Developing Countries (8 pages; 442KB)
> Chapter 7: The Organization (15 pages; 864KB) • Monitoring national
trade policies
• Technical assistance
10 benefits of the WTO trading system and training for
developing countries
From the money in our pockets and the goods and
• Cooperation with
services that we use, to a more peaceful world —
other international
the WTO and the trading system offer a range of
organizations
benefits, some well-known, others not so
obvious.
> Browse html version online
> Download in pdf format (18 pages, 1034 KB)
10 common misunderstandings about
the WTO
Is it a dictatorial tool of the rich and powerful?
Does it destroy jobs? Does it ignore the concerns
of health, the environment and development?
Emphatically no. Criticisms of the WTO are often
based on fundamental misunderstandings of the
way the WTO works.
> Browse html version online
> Download in pdf format (14 pages, 911 KB)

The WTO — a training package

A more detailed and technical explanation of the
WTO in the form of an interactive training
package.

Videos
> From GATT to WTO
> To the heart of the WTO
> Basic principles of the WTO system
> Why is it important to liberalize ?
> A virtual tour of the WTO

WTO policy issues for parliamentarians,

2001
Governments created the WTO's Agreements for a
reason. This guide explains why they did so. It
also provides explanations about the important
role individual governments play in the WTO and
just how much freedom they have to protect
their people, their morals, their food and their
environment and still benefit from trade.
> Download the guide (pdf format, 48 pages,
741 KB)

WTO/CPA booklet for MPs

The WTO and Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association have published a new booklet on the
multilateral trading system, based on regional
workshops for African and Caribbean
Parliamentarians held in Cape Town and Port-of-
Spain in 2003.
 > Download (pdf format, 36 pages, 1.4MB)

A word of caution: the fine print

While every effort has been made to ensure the

accuracy of the texts in this introductory section,
they cannot be taken as an official legal
interpretation of the agreements.

In addition, some simplifications are used in

order to keep the text simple and clear. In
particular, the words “country” and “nation” are
frequently used to describe WTO members,
whereas a few members are officially “customs
territories”, and not necessarily countries in the
usual sense of the word (see list of members).
The same applies when participants in trade
negotiations are called “countries” or “nations”.

Where there is little risk of misunderstanding, the

word “member” is dropped from “member
countries (nations, governments)”, for example in
the descriptions of the WTO agreements.
Naturally, the agreements and commitments do
not apply to non-members.

In some parts of the text, GATT is described as an

“international organization”. The phrase reflects
GATT's de facto role before the WTO was
created, and it is used simplistically here to help
readers understand that role. As the text points
out, this role was always ad hoc, without a
proper legal foundation. International law did not
recognize GATT as an organization. For
simplicity, the text also uses the term “GATT
members”. Officially, GATT signatories were
“contracting parties”.

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What is the Network?

The UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security is a global

partnership approach towards tackling rural development challenges at the country
level.

Established in 1997 by the UN Administrative Committee on Coordination (today UN

System Chief Executives Board for Coordination), it brings together key actors for
the achievement of the shared goals of "food for all" and rural poverty reduction.

Comprising 20 UN organizations, the UN System Network is an inter-agency

mechanism for follow-up to the World Food Summit (1996) and World Food Summit:
five years later (2002) and supports the International Land Coalition. The Network
Secretariat is managed by FAO, in close collaboration with IFAD and WFP.

The UN System Network aims to:

• support efforts by Governments and its partners to implement the World

Food Summit Plan of Action and rural development and food security
programmes;

• reinforce ties between UN System organizations and other stakeholders,

notably NGOs and civil society organizations;

• foster synergies between Network members;

• exchange and disseminate information, experiences and best practices.

Focusing on country-level needs

The dynamic core of the UN System Network consists of national Thematic Groups
(TGs) working on rural development and food security issues. Each group defines its
themes and agenda according to the different needs and priorities at the national
level. By the end of year 2002, more than 80 TGs have been established in the
world.

Encouraging the participation of all

A national TG typically comprises representatives from UN organizations,

governments, donors, NGOs, civil society and private sector, whose participation is
being strongly encouraged given their role as key actors for development.

This broad-based membership creates a collaborative framework in which to plan

and implement rural development activities; promote new projects; share
information, knowledge and expertise; promote discussion on the main development
challenges and ensure coordinated technical support to national efforts.

The Network web site periodically reports on the TGs activities, provides information
on worldwide broad-partnership and multistakeholder initiatives for rural
development and food security.

Meeting development challenges

Thematic Groups set an agenda and methodology of work, responding to priority

themes for action in each country. Topics are wide-ranging and can typically include
assistance to the formulation of rural development policies and laws, coordination on
specific issues related to rural development and support to specific projects or
programs such as the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) or the Food
Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS).

Many Thematic Groups are also creating strong linkages between sectoral
programmes and multisectoral UN initiatives, such as the Common Country
Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework
(UNDAF), and some are supporting national governments in the preparation of
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs).

The national Thematic Groups are also likely to play a significant role in the
implementation of the International Alliance Against Hunger which was formally
approved in the final declaration of the World Food Summit : five years later that was
held in Rome from 10 to 13 June 2002.

All these initiatives are supporting the implementation of the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs).
Read more...

• The Thematic Group - what it is, what it does and where it works

• UN Partners in the Network

• "Building Partnerships for Food Security"

- leaflet (238 KB) presenting the UN System Network on Rural

Development and Food Security, its aims, structure and activities;
- booklet (5,691 KB) published by the UN System Network covering
10 case studies on the experiences of national Thematic Groups on
rural development and food security. (Click on below link/s to
download the booklet chapter by chapter in pdf format).

Introduction (557 KB)

Africa
Congo (278 KB)
Ethiopia (276 KB)
The Gambia (143 KB)

Asia and the Pacific

Pakistan (268 KB)
Samoa (154 KB)
Viet Nam (268 KB)

Europe
Turkey (118 KB)

Latin America and the Caribbean

Nicaragua (135 KB)
Peru (142 KB)
Uruguay (109 KB)

Near East
Morocco (237 KB)

Conclusion (431 KB)

Visit Adobe Website to download a free version of Acrobat Reader:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.

For more information about the booklet, click here.