institutions should increasingly provide new aid in the form of grants rather than loans. He called on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to finalize an agreement as soon as possible to cancel the debt of the world's poorest countries. The elimination of trade barriers was needed because the future of millions of the world's citizens hung in the balance. Nations must tear down the walls that separated the developed and developing worlds, and needed to ensure that the poor had the same opportunities to live their dreams and provide for their families. He reiterated the challenge to work together to eliminate agricultural subsidies and create open markets, and said that the United States was
ready to do that. By expanding trade, nations would spread hope and opportunity to the world.
All who stood for human rights must also stand for human freedom, and
the United Nations had a vital role to play to nurture freedom's progress, he stated. Every free nation had a responsibility to advance the cause of liberty. Calling on the United Nations and Member States to continue to stand by the Iraqi people, he said the Organization had played a vital role in Iraq's January elections. The United Nations, he added, must be strong and efficient, free of corruption and accountable to the people it served. It must also stand for integrity and live by the high standards it set for others. It had taken the first steps toward meaningful institutional reforms, and the United States would join with others in that process this fall. If Member States wanted the United Nations to be respected and effective, they should begin by making sure it was worthy of respect. The world needed the United Nations to live up to its ideals and mission, and that would require the work of many hands. End.