UN: One of the biggest-ever gatherings of world leaders came to an end in New York last night on a note of disappointment at the lack of progress, mixed with some hope that the minimal advances made could be built on for the future.
The three-day summit failed to give the inspiring leadership which will almost certainly be required to meet the 2015 target-date to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for halving the level of extreme poverty in the world and tackling disease and lack of educational opportunity.
At the same time there was agreement on significant measures such as the Responsibility to Protect, which would permit the UN to intervene in states where citizens were subject to genocide at the hands of their own government, or that government was unable or unwilling to protect them.
The establishment of a Peace-Building Commission to assist areas emerging from conflict was also seen as significant but this was accompanied by a signal failure to address the issue of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.
German foreign minister Joschka Fischer told the summit: "It is regrettable that no agreement could be reached on the key issue of disarmament and non-proliferation, or on the definition of terrorism."
Speaking in the absence of the chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, who is fighting a general election, Mr Fischer added that: "Our task now must be to discuss how we can nonetheless make progress in these spheres of key importance to international security."
Meanwhile, the so-called "G4" (Group of Four) countries at the United Nations have pledged to make a renewed attempt to secure permanent membership of the Security Council. The four member-states - Brazil, Germany, Japan and India - agreed to revive their campaign at a meeting of their foreign ministers during the World Summit.
A two-thirds vote of the 191-member General Assembly is required, in the first instance, to alter the composition of the council and the G4 strategy has been based on trying to secure African support for their campaign. But any of the Permanent Five ("P5") members can exercise their veto to halt the process.
After the G4 meeting, which took place in India's UN Mission, Indian external affairs minister Natwar Singh told journalists the group was "very confident" and already had almost 100 General Assembly votes out of the required 128.
In his speech, Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi pleaded the case for changing the position whereby permanent council seats are confined to the victorious powers in the second World War.
"The world has changed dramatically over the last 60 years. Asia and Africa, once under the shackles of colonialism, are now significant players in our global community," Mr Koizumi said.
Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon told the General Assembly that it was now "the Palestinians' turn to prove their desire for peace" in the wake of Israeli withdrawal after 38 years in the Gaza Strip.
"The most important test the Palestinian leadership will face is in fulfilling their commitments to put an end to terror and its infrastructure [ and] to eliminate the anarchic regime of armed gangs," he said.
"Until they do so, Israel will know how to defend itself from the horrors of terrorism."
Insisting that Israel was committed to the "road map" peace framework which includes the creation of a Palestinian state, Mr Sharon said the Gaza withdrawal "opens a window of opportunity for advancing towards peace in accordance with the road map". He added: "They [the Palestinians] are also entitled to freedom and to a national sovereign existence in a state of their own."
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez received enthusiastic applause for a speech attacking US foreign policy. He described the US as "a country that does not respect the resolutions of this assembly". He complained that visas had been refused to his security and medical personnel.
China's president Hu Jintao echoed a call by Russia's president Vladimir Putin for the UN to play a co-ordinating role in the fight against international terrorism.