Sircar was addressing the joint debate of the 59th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on "Cooperation between the United Nations and the other organisations."

He said that in an increasingly globalised world, cooperation among the international organisations was crucial. The Millennium Declaration recognised the need for the United Nations to work more closely with parliaments in the areas of peace and security, economic and social development, international law and human rights, and democracy and gender issues.

Sircar urged the parliaments to explore the ways of assisting the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. He also said that national parliaments could contribute a great deal to better the lives of people around the world.

Referring to the practice of democracy in Bangladesh, he said that Bangladesh had come a long way in strengthening democracy and making it an integral part of her national life.

He said that despite efforts of the UN, war, conflict, poverty, hunger and malnutrition remained global scourge, which destroyed the lives and aspirations of millions of the world.

"We firmly believe that nations big and small, weak and powerful all need the UN, as much as the UN needs them. It is only by combining our endeavours and uniting our resolves that we will be able to achieve our objectives of peace, security, development and stability," the Speaker added.

The Speaker also attended the 2004 Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations headquarters from October 19-20.