UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- With an eye to next year's 75th anniversary of the United Nations, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands said Tuesday that the multilateral bastion is based on dialogue and cooperation where everyone and every country counts.
The world organization is a system that "places international agreements and rules above ultra-nationalism and power-based spheres of influence," he told the UN General Assembly General Debate.
"As a result, we have improved the lives of billions of people and made our world more secure," he said.
"The Netherlands believes in the need for an effective multilateral system because it offers the best guarantee of stability, peace and sustainable development," the monarch said, calling for urgently enacting the reforms UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres seeks.
"Reforms are needed in order to prevent the system from coming to a standstill and losing its credibility," he said.
Cooperation among member states, honoring of financial commitments and spending funds efficiently also are crucial, the king said.
Every person counts, and every member state counts, he said, adding that the UN "will have an inclusive future or no future at all", therefore, the voice of the small island developing states must be heard more at the UN level, to date their concerns have too often fallen on deaf ears.
"Let us remember where we began, 75 years ago," King Willem-Alexander said. "Let us realize that the building of an international framework for cooperation has given billions of people hope, security and confidence."
