I would like to begin my speech by conveying my deep gratitude to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and to all heads of State and Government who have sent their condolences to the Uzbek people on the occasion of the untimely passing of the first President of the independent Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. Under his leadership, Uzbekistan embarked upon the path of confident independent development and was recognized as a sovereign State and full-fledged Member of the United Nations.
The President of Uzbekistan spoke from this high rostrum many times. In this very Hall, he announced a number of important international political initiatives aimed at establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, promoting peace in Afghanistan, overcoming the consequences of the Aral Sea ecological disaster and bolstering the effectiveness of international cooperation in the struggle against international terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking. All of those proposals, put forward by the leader of Uzbekistan, were fully supported by the international community and, today, are making a tangible practical contribution to ensuring common peace, stability and sustainable development.
In the 25 years under Karimov’s leadership, Uzbekistan became a modern and dynamically developing State. As Acting President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoev underscored at a recent session of our Parliament, in the years following its independence Uzbekistan’s economy grew by a factor of six. The real income per capita rose by a factor of nine. Over the last 11 years, gross domestic product growth rates have remained above 8 per cent. According to estimates, this year’s growth rates will continue the same trend. As the Secretary-General acknowledged in his congratulatory message on the occasion of Uzbekistan’s twenty-fifth jubilee anniversary of independence, our country has made steady progress in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
I would now like to briefly touch upon some important issues.
First of all, Uzbekistan will maintain its consistent foreign policy aimed at the protection and advancement of the country’s fundamental interests. Its foreign policy is grounded in a firm commitment to the fundamental principles of international law as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as in all international legal instruments to which Uzbekistan is a signatory. As Acting President Mirziyoev has stated, Uzbekistan will continue to promote friendships and constructive cooperation with all foreign countries, on the basis of the principles of mutual respect, equality and interests.
Uzbekistan is a firm believer in not interfering in the internal affairs of other States and addressing emerging tensions and conflict only through peaceful and political means. Our country has made the principled and unambiguous choice not to join any military- political blocs or alliances, not to allow the stationing of foreign military bases on its territory and not to send our servicemen beyond the country’s borders.
Secondly, Afghanistan was and continues to be one of the main threats to international security and stability. Regrettably, we see little hope for the resolution of that country’s accumulated contradictions any time soon. The settlement of the Afghan conflict will be possible only if it is based on an intra-Afghan national accord and attained through peaceful political negotiations among the major hostile groups, under the auspices of the United Nations, and, very importantly, without any preliminary conditions. This is important so that the donor countries and international institutions can commit to allocating assistance to Afghanistan aimed at real socioeconomic improvement and the raising of living standards of the population. Above all, assistance must be channelled to education and learning.
Peace in Afghanistan will bring tangible benefits to all countries of the Eurasian continent. Sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan will stimulate the construction of motorways and railroads, the development of regional and transregional commerce and the establishment of numerous pipelines going in all directions. In that regard, the international community should start seeing Afghanistan, not as a source of regional problems, threats and challenges, but rather as a unique strategic opportunity that ends the status quo once and for all and establishes the basis for multilateral relations that will allow us to attain our goals of prosperity and well-being for all.
Thirdly, the protection and preservation of the environment has a central place in the Sustainable Development Goals for the period between 2016 and 2030, as adopted by the General Assembly last year. The tragedy of the Aral Sea is a vivid example. The significant ecological, climatic, socioeconomic and humanitarian consequences of the tragedy have been a direct threat to the sustainable development of the region and to the health, gene pool and future of the people residing there. The most important task today is to preserve the natural biological diversity of the Aral Sea region, reduce the environmental impacts of the Aral Sea tragedy, and, most importantly, preserve the many vital activities that allow millions of people in the region to survive.
Fourthly, the Republic of Uzbekistan supports the strengthening of the entire United Nations system. We must reinforce its structures’ role in addressing regional and international security problems and ensuring sustainable development. For some time now, Uzbekistan has supported institutional reform at the United Nations to ensure efficiency in its work and a better functioning in the way its principal bodies — the General Assembly and Security Council — interact. Furthermore, the General Assembly must preserve its central role as a major advisory, policymaking and representative body, while the Security Council must be reformed step by step, including through its expansion.


I take the floor on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Joseph Kabila Kabange, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whom I am honoured to represent. It is a true pleasure to join previous speakers in congratulating the President on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-first session and to wish him and his Bureau full success in the execution of their mandate. I also address this well-deserved tribute to his predecessor, in the light of his tireless efforts that have so greatly served our Organization.
Motivated by the desire to achieve peace, security and development in every one of our States and throughout the world, in September of last year together we adopted a new global development agenda, which we intend to inspire us for the next 15 years. It was meant to overcome the challenges of underdevelopment and poverty and create a more just world with greater solidarity and stability, where equal opportunity would no longer be only a dream.
The theme for this general debate, “The Sustainable Development Goals: a universal push to transform our world”, is an inarguable opportunity. It allows for a first overall assessment of the focus of the new agenda so that, if necessary, we can adjust the path forward in order to guarantee the full achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Taking into consideration lessons learned from the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the Democratic Republic of the Congo chose to integrate the SDGs into our national strategic development plan. It is based on a long-term view and a strategic framework to ensure that our policies and actions align with the issues of climate change as well as the priorities of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which has committed us to a process aimed at raising the Democratic Republic of the Congo into the middle-income-country category by 2021, the emerging-country category by 2030 and the developed-country category by 2050.
The implementation of this plan will take the form of five-year plans, the first of which covers the period from 2017 to 2021. In this first five-year plan, priority will again be given to the improvement of human capital, by taking on the problem of the demographic dividends that require strict collaboration among various stakeholders in development at both the national and international levels, with a view to ensuring strong, sustained and, above all, inclusive, economic growth. Particular attention is therefore paid to the specific needs of youths and women in terms of education, job training, improvement of their scientific and technological knowledge, health and employment. Actions stemming from this option are designed to jointly implement a programme for building the transportation infrastructure needed to bring agricultural and mining products to market and stimulate the mobility of persons and goods.
Beyond that, there are many challenges, including that of strengthening the national statistical system and the population and housing census, with a view to having reliable updated data for designing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes. In the case of my country, these efforts are naturally linked to the mobilization of funds, in particular by easing the conditions for donors and diversifying financial resources.
With regard to the political situation, my country has entered into a crucial phase of administrative decentralization in order to enable local management. Each of the 26 new provinces of my country currently have authorities that the population has freely chosen, following the elections for provincial governors and deputy governors of the province, which took place in March and April. This new democratic experience will continue when future elections are organized for local authorities in both urban and rural areas, to take place concurrently with the presidential, legislative, national and provincial elections. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has made an irreversible choice in ensuring that access to State power is possible only through the elections.
I would also like to most solemnly reaffirm that, despite delays in registration and preparations, the general elections initially slated for the end of this year will be organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which has, under the Constitution, exclusive jurisdiction over them. The elections will take place as planned, that is, as soon as technical conditions permit. Many other challenges need to be overcome in order to allow the organization of free, transparent, credible and peaceful elections. In order to come together and meet these challenges in a consensual manner, the presidential majority, the political opposition and civil society came together over a two-week period in order to engage in an inclusive national political dialogue facilitated by the African Union with the assistance of an international support group.
The right to elect and be elected is a fundamental right both for Congolese citizens who live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and for those who live abroad. The major challenge today in exercising that right is to ensure that we have inclusive and reliable voting registers. In that regard, I would like to welcome the importance of the voter registration process that began on 31 July, which gives the possibility for people to run for office and to vote. It has included more than 14 million Congolese, those who live in the country or abroad, representing one third of the electoral core, who could not have enjoyed this right without those reforms.
The current political national dialogue in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the process of peaceful resolution of disputes among Congolese with a view to organizing the elections and consolidating our democracy should benefit from everyone’s support, in particular of political actors who are not yet participating in the process, but who are encouraged to do so. On the other hand, any recourse to the use of violence should be strongly condemned and the perpetrators punished, and any invitation to any insurrection or other unconstitutional mode of access to power should be denounced.
The promotion of human rights has made progress in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a post- conflict State that has had to face numerous challenges. Two months ago, we hosted a visit from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the context of cooperation with his Office and the Human Rights Council. We are planning to pursue and deepen reforms in this area. That has certainly been the case with respect to the protection of women’s rights. Two important laws have been recently enacted — one on gender equality and one on changing the outdated provisions of the family code, in order to align the law with international law in force. With regard to violence against women, we have seen reliable indicators that have shown a net reduction of 50 per cent in cases of sexual violence from 2014 to 2015.
With specific regard to the right to health care, significant progress has been achieved in fighting HIV/AIDS and malaria. However, we need to remain vigilant with regard to certain cross-border diseases that had been eradicated in the past, namely, yellow fever and cholera, of which we have recently seen some signs of resurgence.
The mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) was extended to 31 March 2017, pursuant to resolution 2277 (2016), in order to support the laudable efforts that the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo have been deploying to root out the armed groups that are still resistant to peace. While welcoming the assistance, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo notes that thanks to the security sector reform currently under way, the national defence and security forces have shown greater efficiency and competence in the execution of their mission to protect the national territory and provide security for goods and persons. They are therefore relying on the strategic dialogue with the United Nations to achieve a progressive reduction of MONUSCO personnel and a subsequent transformation of the Mission.
Having informed the Assembly about the situation in my country, I would now like to express the vision of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on several major issues of concern in the world today.
Throughout its existence, the United Nations has made numerous important achievements and attained success in the areas of peace, security, international cooperation, human rights and socioeconomic development. In spite of these results, international peace remains an ongoing quest. In addition, as it operates in a world that is constantly changing and evolving, the United Nations is called upon to exercise its specific mandate to constantly question itself and adapt in order to better confront the new challenges and threats that the world is facing.
That is why reform of our international Organization and its methods and modes of operation is necessary. In that regard, we need to look into broadening the membership of the permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council. The Democratic Republic of the Congo attaches importance to that reform, which, in order to be viable, must take the political and numerical weight of Africa in the General Assembly into account and allow that continent to fully take part in decisions that concern it, especially since two thirds of the situations reviewed in the Security Council concern Africa. To that end, the Ezulwini Consensus remains the only acceptable basis for negotiation. In the same context, it is important to also strengthen the decision-making power of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council to promote peace, social justice, democracy and development.
The international commercial and financial architecture must also undergo profound transformations so that it can adapt to developments and changes on the international scene and so that the United Nations can be a source of hope for all. Moreover, our Organization should promote greater transparency and democracy, particularly in selecting the next Secretary-General, while preserving the rules and practices that have proved to be effective, in particular the regional rotation scheme.
The fight for peace is also a fight against terrorism. That scourge of our century must remain one of the priorities of our Organization. For my country, terrorism is now the most serious threat to international peace and security. The despicable and indiscriminate acts that characterize that phenomenon demand international solidarity and continuous dialogue in order to better organize our response. The peoples living in the eastern part of my country, particularly in the region of Beni, have on more than one occasion become the innocent victims of terrorist violence. That is why we reiterate here our support for the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, as well as our firm condemnation of the scourge of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Our planet is confronting an unprecedented environmental challenge in the form of climate change, which has a direct negative impact on the quality of our lives and which mortgages the very future of humankind. That is why, after having actively participated in the negotiations and the conclusion of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, through the intervention of its Head of State, signed the Agreement on 22 April here in New York. Now we are finalizing the ratification process, which should be completed before the end of this year.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo welcomes another major advancement with regard to international governance, that is, the adoption of the final document
of the recent high-level meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, namely, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (resolution 71/1, annex). It is high time to put an end to the thousands of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean and address the root causes of those displacements, which are mainly poverty, armed conflicts and the lack of resilience to disasters. We must make sure that we resolve those problems so that all citizens of the world, and in particular those in developing countries, can live happily and peacefully in their own countries. That is the very basic principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, that is, to leave no one behind.
I have focused my comments today on the launch by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals from the beginning of 2016 by determining priority actions, while noting the links between its goals and my country’s new strategic development plan. I have also given a general overview of the political, electoral and human rights situation in my country, while mentioning the partnership between my Government and the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In so doing, I called for United Nations reform through the enlargement of the Security Council and the strengthening of the mandate of the General Assembly. I stressed that there is a need for international solidarity and ongoing consultations in order to better organize our common response to the fight against terrorism. I also recalled the huge importance of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and welcomed the adoption of the New York Declaration, which provides us with the strategy for managing the large-scale displacements of refugees and migrants, by noting the need to tackle the root causes of those evils.
I will conclude my remarks by once again reiterating our faith in multilateralism and expressing the hope to see everyone uphold and promote its principles and values in the interest of international peace and for the good of humankind. I would like to salute and pay tribute to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, whose mandate as Secretary-General of our Organization is coming to an end. We would like to thank him for his significant contributions to the preservation of the principles and values of our Organization and for his decisive contribution to re-establishing peace and stability in my country.


On behalf of the Government of San Marino, I would like to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Peter Thomson on his election as President of the General Assembly at the seventy-first session. We wish him a fruitful session, and the San Marino delegation assures the President of its full cooperation throughout the work of the General Assembly. I would also like to express my country’s gratitude to the outgoing President, His Excellency Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, for the work he did during the seventieth session.
At the end of the last year of his second term as Secretary-General, my country extends its special thanks to His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon for the energy and determination with which he has led the United Nations, and for the sensitivity he has shown towards all Member States without distinction.
The theme chosen for this session, “The Sustainable Development Goals: a universal push to transform our world”, offers an interesting opportunity to make a constructive contribution to the work of the Assembly. The United Nations today faces challenges whose level of complexity and degree of interrelatedness are unparalleled in its history. The Organization must adapt quickly to new global challenges but also to the new opportunities offered by globalization in order to be more effective in carrying out its mandate. At the same time, the very complexity of these global challenges, which cannot be solved by any single State alone, unequivocally reaffirms the value and central role of the United Nations as a forum for solving global problems. In this context, the determination shown by the Secretary-General in submitting a proposal to the Organization for adaptation and requesting similar adaptation from Member States must be highlighted. This is why many of the initiatives undertaken have yielded significant results during his mandate.
The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015 in the presence of many Heads of State and Government including Their Excellencies the Captains Regent of the Republic of San Marino was one of the most important moments in the history of the United Nations. This ambitious Agenda integrates the three dimensions of sustainable development — economic, social and environmental. As an expression of a strong political consensus on the approach to sustainable global and innovative development, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines our future and the vision of the world we want to live in. The transformation process for a new model of sustainable development is now under way.
Our country appreciates the commitment shown by Member States to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. Our country also attaches great importance to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and to the monitoring mechanism identified in the High- level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The real challenge today lies in the firmness of our will to effectively implement this vision. This is the response that the peoples we represent in this forum expect from us: that our Organization fulfil its mandate of protecting the citizens of the world and that Member States resume their responsibilities without letting national interests prevail over the ideals of solidarity and respect for the universal rights of every human being. Any hesitation in doing so will inevitably exact a very heavy toll in terms of destruction and loss of human lives.
Over the past few years, we have unfortunately witnessed a series of events that constitute a very serious threat to international peace and security and therefore are an obstacle to the complete fulfilment of our mandate. We are facing the persistence of wars that have caused an unprecedented global humanitarian crisis, an increase in terrorism and violent extremism, the tragedy of the large movements of migrants and refugees, and a rise in populism and intolerance.
The conflict in Syria, which has continued uninterrupted since March 2011, has already caused more than 270,000 deaths, of which over 13,000 are children and more than 8,000 women. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people have been wounded. Inevitably, the humanitarian situation in Syria has drastically deteriorated. Most of those who need primary care, in particular women and children, live in besieged areas that cannot be reached by humanitarian convoys.
In five years, the Syrian conflict has caused 4.8 million people to become refugees in neighbouring countries — hundreds of thousands in Europe — and 6.6 million displaced people inside Syria itself, out of a population of over 20 million people before the war. More than 130 million people worldwide need humanitarian assistance as a result of armed conflicts and natural disasters. In Syria, for example, more than 13 million people need humanitarian assistance because of the war. In Yemen, there are more than 20 million who require assistance.
The Republic of San Marino has always strongly condemned all violations of human rights and international humanitarian laws perpetrated in Syria by all parties to the conflict, without any distinction. These are violations that are unfortunately still occurring today as we gather to affirm our commitment to peace and security. San Marino supports the action of the Secretary-General in Syria through his Special Envoy and expresses its appreciation for the work carried out there.
San Marino is well aware of the extreme seriousness of the world situation and of the need for each international stakeholder to play its part. In recent months it has contributed concretely to addressing the present humanitarian emergency. Besides contributing financially to various international programmes, San Marino has joined the Humanitarian Corridors project promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy and the Waldensian Table, supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has hosted some migrants in the Republic of San Marino — a small contribution from a micro-State with great determination.
It is therefore necessary to have a united approach that combines the long-term perspective embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a short-term focus that makes it possible for us to address the emergencies that are evident to all. This united approach can only result from a significant cultural change based on the awareness of belonging to one human family and recognizing, as a consequence, the culture of understanding and of peaceful coexistence among different peoples and cultures as the only way to face the challenges of globalization without excluding anyone. Indeed, working together is the only way to build a planet for all.
With a view to fulfilling that mandate, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the Secretary-General for having placed the protection and promotion of human rights at the core of his agenda. Today, we can say that this is a cross-cutting issue and that human rights are reflected in every action of the United Nations aimed at achieving peace, security, justice and sustainable development. Only once we fully recognize and share the sense of the inalienable value of the person, in whatever condition or stage of life, will the cultural and religious differences and the many traditions within our Organization be seen not as obstacles to possible solutions but rather as valuable resources that make it possible to harmonize the diverse interests of the international community. In this regard, promoting full respect for individuals is not just one of the many goals but, on the contrary, the foundation upon which all our actions must be based in order to eliminate poverty, share prosperity, offer decent work to all and, ultimately, protect our planet.
The work of the United Nations and its specialized agencies contributes to affirming the culture of respect for fundamental rights, mutual knowledge and understanding, tolerance and hospitality. This is the culture that we, the States Members of the United Nations, must strive to disseminate among our citizens, starting with our young people, because it is only by affirming those values that the objectives set out by our Organization will be achieved.
The Republic of San Marino, in accordance with its history and tradition of freedom and democracy, firmly believes in that mandate and will support any action that helps strengthen the United Nations as it strives to fulfil it.


Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is proud whenever a member of our small island developing States assumes the presidency of the General Assembly. As we thank the outgoing President for his noble efforts, we place special trust in the new President to lead our Assembly at this crucial juncture. From our Atlantic archipelago to his Pacific one, we pledge our cooperation and solidarity as he discharges his important mission.
With each passing year, the Assembly has heard more and more voices with greater and greater intensity chronicling the shortcomings, as well as the possibilities, of our modern global order. As that crescendo of collective wisdom has grown evermore powerful, it has become increasingly apparent that the inbuilt inequalities of our global architecture are threatening the very foundations of this 71-year-old international experiment — inequalities of access and opportunity, unequal distribution of global burdens and benefits, a system of double standards untethered from principle, a calcification of the very divisions that globalization was meant to obliterate.
However, even as the voices have grown more powerful, the inequalities they decry have remained stubbornly intractable. The voices from the periphery, no matter how loud or plentiful, appear unable to rouse the core beneficiaries of a flawed system from their affluent apathy. No matter how many global crises have been and are plainly rooted in global inequalities, powerful short-term self-interest has prevailed in the face of collective common sense.
The year 2016 has seen the ripening of the fruit of that short-sighted approach. The pressure for change now comes not only from the marginalized outposts of globalization’s casualties, but internally, from within the rich and powerful nations themselves. The globalization’s discontents and its discontented have reached critical mass within the citadels of casino capitalism and consumption. That discontent has been transmitted with crystal clarity by way of the ballot boxes from Montana to the British Midlands, where the cool logic of the status quo was trumped by emotional appeals for a return, however undesirable, to past glories imagined or real. The crescendo of voices is now borderless and cross-cutting. It is impossible to ignore any longer.
The threadbare clichés of globalization’s presumed benefits are of cold comfort to marginalized nations and peoples. The latter have fasted too long at the dry spigot of promised trickle-down prosperity. The longed-for rising tide that lifts all boats has come in the form of rising seas that threaten to inundate small island developing States and a tsunami of corporate consolidations that has had a deleterious effect on small States, small businesses, small farmers and the poor. This year, we must address the chasm between our idealistic expectations and our deeply flawed realities. Modern globalization as a concept, as a rules-and- norms-based system and as an international practice is unbalanced and unsustainable. It is a system that is broken, one that is not beyond repair, but in urgent need of reform. Globalization benefits few and is an onerous burden on too many. To use a cricketing metaphor, we must take a fresh guard.
It is that urgent need for a fresh and transformative approach that adds impetus and a sense of immediacy to the President’s theme for this year’s general debate, which calls for a universal push to transform our world. In order to achieve that transformation, the President has recognized the potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in doing so has correctly identified our existing difficulties as being rooted in the inequities that the SDGs seek to address. Our collective quest to achieve those Goals is indistinguishable from the overarching pursuit of a fairer, more just and more equal world. We must accept the President’s invitation to rethink and redesign our global compact, not in the narrow interests of modern-day robber barons, but with people-centred programmes and policies in mind.
In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, my Government has comprehensively incorporated the 2030 Agenda into its planning. It has focused on economic development and job creation, quality education, poverty eradication, the strengthening of institutions and infrastructure, renewable energy, climate resilience and the health, well-being and security of citizens. These are all central to our national medium-term development plans.
This year, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines launched a zero-hunger trust fund, inspired by Goals 1 and 2 of the SDGs. The zero-hunger trust fund employs a narrowly targeted and multifaceted set of tools that are designed to ensure that, by 2020, no citizen goes hungry. We hope that the fund will be generously supported by our developmental partners and that it will become a best practice that can be adopted and adapted in other small island contexts.
Goal 7 of the SDGs calls for the development of renewable energy with particular emphasis on small island States. In our quest for affordable and clean energy, our country has heavily invested in developing its geothermal resources. We anticipate that by 2019, 50 per cent of our national energy will be geothermal and 80 per cent of our energy will come from a mixture of renewable resources, including hydroelectric and solar energy. We are indebted to the Clinton Global Initiative, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Caribbean Development Bank, and the International Renewable Energy Agency, to name but a few, for their invaluable support of the initiative.
As major greenhouse-gas emitters continue to dither, more frequent and more intense hurricanes continue to sweep our lands and to wash away large portions of our gross domestic product. We are already experiencing the terrible effects of climate change. The spotlight on mitigation should now also be shone on adaptation, which is a more immediate concern. The trajectory we face is one of rising temperatures and the mitigation pledges made by countries ahead of the Paris Agreement in December 2015 put us on track for a 3-3.5°C increase in global temperatures by the end of the century. I applaud the international community for reaching the much-anticipated Paris Agreement on Climate Change in December last year, as well as the Secretary-General for convening the high-level event on entry into force of Paris Agreement during the current seventy-first session.
However, the promises made in the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change and to provide climate financial aid are inadequate and unenforceable. Indeed, as President Obama of the United States noted in his final address to this Organization, the Paris Agreement is just a framework; therefore, we need to be more ambitious. The failure to mobilize sufficiently and facilitate access to promised climate financial aid mirrors official development aid scenarios, where the majority of developed countries have failed to meet the 0.7 per cent target of gross national income that was agreed to in the Monterrey Consensus in 2002. Accessing the promised financial aid has been extremely difficult.
For globalization to be legitimately transformed, it must be fully inclusive. That inclusivity must be based on the principles of sovereign equality, non-interference embodied in the letter and the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and on an end to the cynical enabling of major Powers’ interests at the expense of people’s lives and livelihoods. Nowhere is that cynicism and feigned impotence more apparent than in the civil war that has devastated the Syrian Arab Republic over the past five years. The Assembly and the Security Council have too frequently turned a blind eye and stayed silent when faced with the actions of countries that have sought to fund and foment war and instability in Syria. Creative diplomacy, not military victory, is clearly the answer for putting an end to this conflict.
The impotence of learned helplessness and the tyranny of failure to intervene has meant that many nations have been repeatedly and unjustly excluded from the promise of an integrated world. The people of the State of Palestine are victims of that impotence, despite the overwhelming recognition of Palestine and the obvious need for an independent and internationally supported contiguous State, where the population is able to live in peace alongside its Israeli neighbours.
The people-centred and progressive leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean, who dared to dream of alternatives to an iniquitous status quo, are once again being punished for their impertinence — from the continued embargo against the noble Cuban people and the externally stoked unrest in Venezuela, to the parliamentary coup d’état in Brazil. We are entering a new but depressingly familiar chapter in a book that is already soaked with the blood of progressive heroes. However, the schemes of yesteryear, with their dirty tricks and divisions, will fail when faced with the new solidarity that has taken root across our region. Our States, as part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas as well as the signatories to the Petrocaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement, understand the unshakeable strength that comes from unity and the courage of our collective convictions.
This year marks the inauguration of a new, democratically elected President of the Republic of China on Taiwan. The Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines reaffirms our continued solidarity with the aspirations of the Taiwanese Government and people, just as they have stood with us throughout our post-independence development journey. We decry the myopia of a body that pretends 24 million people do not exist and that has forced people to choose between two magnificent exemplars of the noble Chinese civilization. Such behaviour marginalizes a vibrant population and creates space for parasitic opportunists to prostitute principle for personal gain. We must recognize Taiwan’s exemplary global leadership and citizenship and its commitment to development worldwide. It is high time that the Republic of China on Taiwan be allowed to participate meaningfully in all of the specialized bodies and programmes of the United Nations system. There is absolutely no compelling argument to the contrary.
I have spoken in the past of the shameful failure on the part of the United Nations to acknowledge its indisputable role in the spread of cholera in Haiti. The catastrophe has now killed over 10,000 Haitians and infected almost 800,000 others. The outbreak shows no sign of abating. Last month, the United Nations belatedly acknowledged its culpability while continuing to use claims of immunity to deny the victims of such a tragedy their fundamental right to be made whole. The cholera epidemic and the failure of the United Nations to address or arrest it has laid bare a shameful ethical bankruptcy and institutional cowardice through legal subterfuge. The report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Mr. Philip Alston, has called the response of the United Nations to the cholera epidemic, “morally unconscionable, legally indefensible and politically self-defeating” (A/71/367, p. 2). We agree.
In Haiti’s neighbour, the Dominican Republic, the human rights crisis affecting tens of thousands of Dominican-born citizens of Haitian descent remains unresolved. As the Caribbean community and other actors have sought to persuade the Dominican authorities to respect the rights of its citizens against statelessness and State-sponsored ethnic and racial victimization, indifference on the part of the United Nations is wholly unacceptable.
The Caribbean communities’ determined quest for reparatory justice for victims of the transatlantic slave trade — a native genocide — continues to gather momentum. Historians, economists and other academics, human rights lawyers and social activists across the world have coalesced into a formidable advocacy and educational force around our cause. Our citizens continue to be enthusiastically engaged in the process of discussion and awareness. We call upon the European nations that created and profited immeasurably from the indefensible trade of human beings to join us in the conversation about the contours of a just and appropriate response to such a monumental tragedy and its consequential legacy of underdevelopment.
The uneven prolonged aftermath of the 2008 global economic and financial crisis highlights the need for reform in all the major global institutions. We are having difficulties across the world with heavy- handed financial regulations that hamper legitimate transactions and the corresponding banking relations.
As I conclude, I stress that the dream of equitable development cannot be deferred any longer. Let us imagine a better world, a fairer world, a peaceful world, a world with a safe and sustainable future — and let us work towards that world, unburdened by the errors of the past or constrained by the shackles of a learned helplessness, but confident, optimistic and clear- sighted about the boundless possibilities of genuine international cooperation. The universal push to transform our world is urgent and necessary. We know and feel that fundamental truth. It is time for focused and meaningful action. Let us get on with it.


First of all, I have the honour to convey to the peoples of the nations represented here greetings and best wishes for their peace and prosperity from His Excellency Mr. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan.
I would like to congratulate Mr. Peter Thomson on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-first session and to wish him every success in his responsibilities. I would also like to express our appreciation to Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the Assembly at its seventieth session, for his effective work.
The current state of global realities and the nature and direction of their political, economic and social processes require Governments and major international organizations to cooperate ever more closely and with greater coordination if they are to achieve their principal shared goal of ensuring international peace
and security and preserving the legal and institutional pillars that form the foundation of today’s world order. The effectiveness of that cooperation, and our ability to strike a reasonable balance between national interests and those of the international community as a whole, will also determine to a large degree our success in solving other no less important global problems in the areas of the environment, energy, food security and in combating terrorism, drug trafficking and other challenges.
Unfortunately, we are currently witnessing complex processes that are undermining global cooperation in those areas, foremost among them the ever-expanding area of the world with potential for conflict and the spread of breeding grounds for tension. Conflicts are escalating in various parts of the globe, and the parties involved in them increasingly resort to the use of force and military means. We are seeing brazen disregard and at times outright contempt for the rules of international law.
In view of the situation, Turkmenistan calls on Member States to evaluate such manifestations clearly and unambiguously and to join in supporting strict and scrupulous adherence to the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and the foundational international conventions, accords and agreements designed to resolve conflicts. We urge Member States to launch broad-based consultations with a view to identifying uniform conceptual approaches to de-escalating conflict based on international legal standards and under the leadership of the United Nations as a universal mechanism for settling disputes. We think it would be advisable to convene a special meeting of the General Assembly, within the framework of the seventy-first session, devoted to strengthening the role of international law in the maintenance of global peace and security.
The role of the peacebuilding tools at the international community’s disposal is growing, particularly the potential of the notion of neutrality and its conceptual foundations as a basis for strengthening general stability and security. That received special emphasis at the high-level international conference held in Ashgabat in December 2015 to mark the twentieth anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutral status. We take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude to the Member States and international organizations that participated in the forum and contributed to its success. The conference’s final document reflects a willingness within the United Nations to consider Turkmenistan’s proposal for proclaiming an international day of neutrality. Our country has prepared a draft resolution for the General Assembly on the subject, and we urge the States Members of the United Nations to launch a discussion of the text during this session.
The civilized world is facing a threat that transcends national borders and political and ideological doctrines. Terrorism falls outside human morality and threatens to undermine the entire world order and its principles, values and foundations. It is precisely for that reason that the fight against it must be conducted simultaneously at the global, regional and national levels, taking into account the specific circumstances and political and social realities of each.
For the States of our region, it is crucial that we ensure effective, coordinated action through the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia. The work in that area has recently been significantly intensified and multilateral cooperation in various fields has been strengthened. Major international forums on the issue, organized on Turkmenistan’s initiative, have helped to give our joint efforts an essential, clearly defined and substantive regional context. The major documents adopted on the issue in 2011, the Ashgabat Declaration and Action Plan on countering terrorism in Central Asia, will serve as its road map. We believe that they contribute to multilateral efforts aimed at combating the terrorist threat, and their practical implementation will go a long way towards ensuring our shared success in this work. We look forward to more active international cooperation, including that of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia.
Exactly a year ago today, within these very walls, the World Summit adopted the long-term 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are our common responsibility, our common objectives. In that context, I would like to specifically stress the need for the implementation of the SDGs in the national plans and programmes of all States Members of the United Nations. Turkmenistan will responsibly and constructively continue to address those issues. Turkmenistan, jointly with the United Nations Development Programme and other United Nations agencies, has developed appropriate indicators for the elaboration of its national programmes. Just a few days ago, those indicators were officially adopted by the Government of Turkmenistan.
One of the main focuses of the General Assembly at its current session is the desire for Member States to continue the wide-ranging dialogue on climate change as the most important element of the United Nations comprehensive strategy for the achievement of the SDGs. In our view, national and international instruments are the most important tools for meeting the SDGs. It is appropriate to recall that Turkmenistan’s President, speaking at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, said that progress could not be selective and that development would not be truly sustainable and long-lasting unless it were comprehensive and the undeniable right and heritage of all nations, States, regions and continents, without exception.
Turkmenistan fully embodies that tenet in its main approach to the global environmental agenda. Our country has begun to implement its national development plans, which are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, with a true sense of responsibility. At the legislative level, we have adopted the national climate change strategy, which provides for a gradual transition to environmental safety standards in all major spheres of industrial activity. The strategy envisages the priority development of high-technology industries and the creation of conditions for the development of the green economy as a fundamental element for the functioning of our entire infrastructure.
Tomorrow, Turkmenistan will sign the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We regard that step as a landmark in the overall implementation of environmental tasks and goals. In that connection, we believe that it is high time to fulfil the core of the Paris Agreement by intensifying United Nations efforts aimed at developing new international rules linked to climate change and environmental protection.
At the same time, we need to begin preparing specific regional plans for the near and medium term. We suggest the convening next year, under the auspices of the United Nations, of a special conference dedicated to ways of improving the environmental situation in Central Asia. This year, Turkmenistan will assume the chairmanship of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. Very shortly, we will begin broad consultations with the States of the region and United Nations specialized entities with a view to developing overall policy and specific arrangements for our joint work during the upcoming period. In Central Asia, we have major reasons to focus on water resources — how they impact regional development, the overall environment and social and economic problem, and what role they play in resolving serious environmental issues. Given the conditions, it has become extremely important for the States of the region to design a unified strategy on the issue of the use and preservation of water resources.
Our country accords top priority to cooperation with the United Nations. In that regard, we believe it is advisable to step up the efforts aimed at implementing the decisions reached at the seventh World Water Forum, held in 2015 in Daegu, Republic of Korea. We view international cooperation in fighting desertification and soil degradation as important areas of work. In 2014, Turkmenistan hosted an international conference on desertification and soil degradation in Central Asia, which was organized jointly by the Government and the United Nations. Delegations from many States took part in the conference, together with international organizations. The outcome document of the conference defines the areas of future work on those issues, which we believe deserve the most scrupulous attention and evaluation at the level of the United Nations.
Today, an effective model for international cooperation is urgently required to reduce the risks of natural disasters. Turkmenistan firmly believes that efforts aimed at reducing the risk of disasters should be automatically incorporated into future programmes and plans for sustainable development and should be implemented with close cooperation at the bilateral, regional and international levels. We call upon Member States to intensify their efforts in that area, on the basis of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which was adopted last year at the Sendai Conference.
Today, as a result of various circumstances, we are facing acute problems because of the number of migrants, refugees and stateless people. It is apparent that there are no magic formulas for solving these problems. Nevertheless, in our view, it is high time to devise targeted international cooperation initiatives, tailored to each specific situation. A key role in that regard should be played by specialized entities of the United Nations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and by the International Migration Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other organizations. We stand ready to assist them to the utmost. Our country has had positive experiences in that area. In 2012, jointly with the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, we hosted an international ministerial conference on refugees in the Muslim world. In June 2014, the Government of Turkmenistan, jointly with the International Migration Organization and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, organized the International Conference on Migration and Statelessness: Identifying Challenges and the Way Forward, which was held in Ashgabat.
We call upon all Member States to step up efforts aimed at implementing the main provisions of the outcome documents of those international forums. We also reaffirm our desire and readiness to continue to work closely with the United Nations, Member States and all interested parties in solving this pressing problem of our times.
The comprehensive achievement of the SDGs must be viewed as the main pillar of the Organization’s global strategy, which not only has political, social and economic components but is also a moral framework for the modern world order. A great deal has already been achieved. In that connection, we note the role of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose determination, political will and persistence have enabled us to achieve some results.
Notwithstanding the diversity of tasks facing each individual country, we are brought together by our common hopes, concerns and threats. Turkmenistan stands ready to search together with its partners for new approaches and ways to overcome the challenges facing humankind. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to cooperate with the United Nations, our active involvement in, and support for, its political and diplomatic efforts aimed at preserving and strengthening the existing architecture of global security and implementing its plans and programmes in the economic, social, environmental, humanitarian and other areas. Turkmenistan regards its partnership with the United Nations as a strategic foundation for all its work in the international arena.


It is indeed a great honour and privilege for me to address the General Assembly at its seventy-first session. May I join others in congratulating Mr. Thomson on his election to preside over the deliberations of this session. I am confident that, under his able leadership, the General Assembly will successfully address the pressing issues on its current agenda. I am also confident that he will steer the Organization in the right direction and that we will have fruitful discussions on the well-considered theme of this session, entitled “The Sustainable Development Goals: a universal push to transform our world”.
Allow me to also convey my appreciation to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who will be concluding his mandate as Secretary-General this year. Through his leadership, Mr. Ban Ki-moon has distinguished himself as a world leader committed to tackling key global challenges, such as reducing poverty and addressing climate change. He has been instrumental in ushering in the Sustainable Development Goals, the successor of the Millennium Development Goals. He has distinguished himself as a global leader, focused on fairness and justice for all nations. Therefore, as he winds up his onerous responsibility as Secretary-General, I would like to convey to him, on behalf of the Zambian people, our best wishes in his future endeavours. Well done. And we thank him once more for his great efforts to improve the lot of humankind.
We are meeting during a special period, when our countries are embarking upon the implementation of the current global development blueprint, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Africa appreciates the important synergies of the 2030 Agenda and our own Africa Union Agenda 2063 — the Africa We Want, which was adopted by the African Union Heads of State and Government at the African Union Summit in January 2015. This convergence is a clear demonstration that our continental aspirations and those of the broader international community are well aligned in terms of achieving a better world for all global citizens.
My Government accords the highest priority to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and we believe that there can be no meaningful development without the elimination of poverty. In that context, special attention should be focused on the least developed countries. They are more vulnerable and need more support to strengthen their economies in order to overcome the challenges they face.
In our quest to address the issues of poverty, unemployment, hunger and income inequality, Zambia has taken specific measures aimed at promoting economic transformation. Those measures include, but are not limited to, the development of value-chain clusters, the diversification of the agriculture sector, the promotion of forestry and the establishment of multi-facility economic zones and industrial parks. We are strongly resolved to promote industrialization through the agriculture and manufacturing sectors in order to speed up the diversification of the economy away from an over-dependency on mining.
In that regard, my Government is addressing the challenges faced by micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, such as access to finance, markets and technology and the enhancement of entrepreneurial skills. These deliberate interventions are expected to spur enterprise growth and job creation. The renewed focus on economic diversification is expected to further transform our country from dependency on primary products to the development of value-added products through industrialization.
In our quest to foster economic growth, my Government has developed its seventh five-year national development plan, which will take effect in January 2017. The plan focuses on enhancing productive capacities in the agriculture sector and promoting rural development, which will improve the livelihoods and well-being of rural communities.
Like most developing nations, Zambia is today faced with the challenges of population growth, and in particular the need to harness the demographic dividend. There is a mismatch between the growth in the youth population and their assimilation into the job market. That is why the Zambian Government is implementing necessary policies focused on skills development, entrepreneurship, education and infrastructure development. Zambia is ready to learn from, and share with, other countries best practices to address the challenges faced by our young people. It is therefore critical that youth remain actively engaged in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The development of appropriate infrastructure is cardinal in fulfilling Africa’s desire to accelerate economic growth and in enhancing the continent’s competitiveness on the global market. Africa must expand intra-African trade and bolster its productive capacities. In line with this, Zambia has embarked upon infrastructure development, including the construction and rehabilitation of roads, railways, bridges and airports.
As the current Chair of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries, I wish to reiterate our call for the international community to remain committed to the guidelines of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2024, which aims to improve the living conditions of the half a billion people who live in the 32 landlocked developing countries.
It is evident that climate change has had an adverse impact on the growth of our economies. Zambia has been negatively affected by climate change, which has led to poor crop yields as a result of adverse weather patterns. We have suffered energy deficits as a result of low water levels in our hydropower dams, which account for more than 98 per cent of our power production. We are therefore pursuing a greater energy mix through investment in alternative sources of energy, such as solar, wind and geothermal, among others.
I also wish to join other countries that are calling for the provision of adequate resources to make fully operational the Green Climate Fund, as that would greatly contribute to climate-change mitigation and adaptation. Zambia applauds the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It calls for fulfilment of the pledges made by parties at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change .
Zambia also recognizes the importance of food security, and it therefore reaffirms its commitment to prioritizing a range of agricultural practices, including appropriate technologies that respond to climate change, such as conservation agriculture for sustainable and increased food production. Zambia supports calls for improved access to global and local agro-food markets, including transparent and open trading systems, as long as they do not negatively impact on local production. We therefore invite more investments in agro-processing industries to add value to our products and increase employment opportunities.
Zambia is making major strides in addressing various challenges in the health sector. We want to ensure easy access to health services by all our citizens. We are making steady progress in addressing communicable diseases such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. We are decentralizing primary health-care services and improving the financing mechanisms for major communicable diseases to strengthen the health systems.
At the regional level, the strengthening of the Southern African Development Community Strategy on Pooled Procurement of Essential Medicines and Health Commodities is among the positive interventions that are contributing to our improved health systems. Current interventions in relation to HIV and AIDS include the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and the treatment of all children who are HIV-positive. Our overall goal is to reach a zero-infection rate, in line with the global HIV and AIDS aspirations.
The Zambian Government has put in place policy measures to ensure that our people have access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including family planning. In addition, my Government has increased the number of health centres, in both rural and urban areas, where these services are accessed.
Zambia has made efforts to strengthen the legal framework for gender equity and equality by enacting the Gender Equity and Equality Act of 2015. That progressive law has put into effect domestically the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, and the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development. At the continental level, in 2016 Zambia was among 11 countries presented with a gender award for the promotion of gender economic rights. In 2015, I was also humbled to receive the title of promoter of the He for She campaign from UN-Women in recognition of the role that Zambia has played in the area of women’s empowerment.
This exemplifies the special attention and efforts that Zambia has continued to devote to issues related to the empowerment of women and young people in order to promote inclusive and sustainable growth. The measures that my Government has taken include promoting women’s participation in commerce, trade and industry. In order to address some of the challenges that women face, we need support for the creation of lines of credit for women’s empowerment programmes, skills development, employment creation, poverty reduction, and technical assistance in fostering environmentally friendly agricultural methods.
Africa needs strong institutions, not necessarily strong men. In that regard, Zambia is endeavouring to build a peaceful, just and inclusive society, particularly by consolidating democracy. The importance of democracy in our societies cannot be overemphasized. It is an extremely important aspect of our political systems that empowers people to freely participate in governance. As the Assembly is aware, Zambia held elections on 11 August, and they did indeed represent another opportunity for Zambia to demonstrate its commitment to upholding and promoting the tenets of democracy. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the international community for supporting us during the process. Equally, I would like to thank the Zambian people for their peaceful conduct during the elections. I want to assure the Assembly that my Government will use its mandate to continue protecting our peaceful democratic legacy and meeting the aspirations of our people.
My Government yearns for a community of nations that recognizes and respects the sovereign equality of all nations, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. As States Members of the United Nations, we all have positive roles to play in promoting peace and security in order to attain sustainable development for present and future generations. However, Zambia is concerned about the fact that the world today continues to witness unbridled acts of conflict and terrorism and rising levels of poverty, which remain overarching and pressing challenges to our aspirations. We must therefore eradicate conflict if we are to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.
Zambia, as a member of the African Union Peace and Security Council, will dedicate its three-year term on that important decision-making body to promoting peace and security on the African continent. I therefore reiterate Zmbia’s continued commitment to the ongoing efforts for peace and conflict resolution of the Southern African Development Community, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and the African Union. We believe that the solution to African problems lies in Africa finding its own solutions. We nonetheless welcome and express our gratitude to the international community for its continued support to conflict resolution and peace processes on the continent.
While Zambia believes that the United Nations should be at the core of global governance and efforts to meet the challenges of collective peace, security and development, there is a pressing need to reform the Organization so that it can reflect the contemporary realities of today’s global order. Zambia therefore fully supports the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, representing the African common position on reform of the Security Council. It is not right that Africa remains the only continent without permanent representation on the Security Council. That historical injustice must be corrected. We therefore urge Member States, including those that have vested interests in maintaining the status quo, to give due consideration to this legitimate demand from Africa. We all have an obligation to make the Security Council more representative, democratic and accountable if the Organization is going to demand democracy, representation and accountability from its Member States.
Zambia’s belief in the ideals and role of the Security Council remains unshaken, and it is in that regard that I reiterate our steadfast commitment to continuing to contribute to the operations and well-being of the United Nations.


I feel honoured to participate for the first time, as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, in the work of the General Assembly.
Let me start by warmly congratulating you, Mr. President, on your election. My delegation wishes you every success in your important mandate as President of the General Assembly at its seventy- first session. I would like to take this opportunity to express, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, our appreciation to Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his work as Secretary-General and his valuable efforts aimed at redefining the role of the United Nations and adapting it to a world in continuous flux.
I would also like to thank the outgoing President of the General Assembly, Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, for showing leadership and dedication during the previous session and for promoting an inclusive and transparent approach to the process of selecting a new Secretary- General. We believe that such an innovative approach should be used in future and that the criteria of equitable geographic representation should be formalized so as to allow all regional groups to have been represented in the highest elected post at the United Nations.
We call on all States Members of the United Nations, particularly members of the Security Council, to elect a Secretary-General from the Eastern European region, the only region that has not been represented in this high position despite its having put forward a number of qualified candidates. The issue of gender equality should be also considered in the selection process. We believe that a possible decision to elect a woman as the United Nations Secretary-General will have positive resonance with the growing international expectations in this regard.
The year 2016 has indeed been a difficult year for the Organization. Serious conflicts and crises have continued to have a negative impact on international peace, security and stability. We have witnessed new and tragic manifestations of conflict in various parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. All of us are deeply concerned by the ramifications and consequences of these conflicts, particularly the conflict in Syria.
International terrorism and various forms of violent extremism, fed by offensive ideologies, have continued to strike indiscriminately in countries everywhere, including Europe. The Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy and the Secretary-General’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism lay out the activities that need to be undertaken, individually and collectively, bearing in mind that some of their provisions complement our national legislation, in particular the law of the Republic of Moldova on countering extremist activities.
The Republic of Moldova welcomes the General Assembly high-level meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants and the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees held earlier this week. The two high-level meetings allowed the participating States and organizations to discuss principles and policies designed to address migration and the refugee crisis. We share the deep concern expressed about the challenges the international system is facing in this regard. The large movements of people, the scale of migration and the refugee crises, unprecedented since the Second World War, require a global humanitarian partnership capable of delivering the needed protection, as provided for by the international law.
In our view, it is important to bear in mind the complex nature of motives that drive people to move and to make a clear distinction among them. The solutions identified should be tailored to every individual situation, and a comprehensive global long- term solution should be outlined, one that goes beyond an ad hoc emergency response. In this context, we appreciate the indispensable contribution made by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which joins the United Nations system as a full-fledged agency pursuant to the Agreement concerning the Relationship between the United Nations and the IOM signed on 19 September. We must also fight smuggling and trafficking in persons in a comprehensive and resolute manner.
The Republic of Moldova also attaches critical importance to fostering development partnerships aimed at supporting countries in need of assistance to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In our view, the United Nations development system is indispensable for forging such partnerships, including at the country level. We note with interest the progress achieved by those countries whose efforts to implement the SDGs are already under way. Many were presented at the 2016 High-level Political Forum held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, where the Republic of Moldova serves as a member.
The Moldovan Government, partnering with the United Nations Development Programme and other stakeholders, launched a process of localizing the SDGs and is currently working on putting in place a mechanism to measure progress in their implementation. For coordination and monitoring purposes, the National Coordination Council for Regional Development was established in July within the Office of the Prime Minister. To ensure synergy between the SDGs and the national development framework, we plan to review our national strategy for development, “Moldova 2020”.
Mindful of the constraints in the current international environment — which is not promising in terms of increases in aid — we should look globally and nationally at ways to develop innovative sources of financing and increase the effectiveness of existing aid. The efforts of the Moldovan Government to increase aid effectiveness continue to be guided by the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
Coordination with development partners in the Republic of Moldova in this area is based on the Partnership Principles Implementation Plan. We believe that through the effective use of resources, this institutionalized model of coordination and partnership will facilitate the gradual achievement of the SDGs in our country. In this context, I would also like to stress our interest in obtaining development financing and assistance for climate and disaster resilience, in the light of the climate-related vulnerabilities of our country.
We recognize climate-change risks and implications for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Republic of Moldova supported the negotiation and adoption of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. I take this opportunity today to inform the Assembly that the Republic of Moldova signed the historic Agreement at the recent treaty event, an action that will be followed soon by ratification of the Agreement by our Parliament.
Perhaps never before has there been such a clear correlation between migration, sustainable development and climate change, on the one hand, and peace and security, on the other. We cannot realistically expect to fulfil the 2030 Agenda in the absence of peace and security, just as peace and security will always be vulnerable in the absence of sustainable development.
The unprecedented increase in the number of regional and internal conflicts, the intensification of armed violence at the global level and the resurgent arms race are only a few ingredients that have fundamentally changed the international environment. International terrorism and all forms of violent extremism have continued to caused innocent human causalities and material losses everywhere, including in Europe. The horrific scenes of suffering and death in France, Belgium, Germany and many other countries, widely broadcast by the global media networks, show that these phenomena cannot be countered by military, political or economic means alone. We must look for solutions that will address rather than exacerbate the threat, based on a clear understanding of the factors that generate terrorism, fundamentalism, fanaticism and the new forms of violence.
We note with appreciation the Secretary-General’s initiatives aimed at reforming the Organization to make it more effective. The Republic of Moldova welcomes the ongoing United Nations reform process, particularly regarding Security Council reform. Too often, that principal body has been criticized for its failure to maintain international peace and security. It is therefore essential to make it more efficient in discharging its primary responsibilities.
In our view, efficiency can be achieved by improving the Council’s representativeness, legitimacy, transparency and accountability, as well as by restricting the right of veto on issues of substance, as provided for by the Charter of the United Nations. We expect the members of the Security Council, especially the permanent members, not only to react but to act preventively, promptly and impartially whenever peace and security are threatened, the principles of international law are disregarded or the sovereignty and integrity of the States Members of the United Nations are blatantly violated.
Under the provisions of Chapter VIII of the Charter, certain regional organizations have been entrusted by the United Nations with dealing with a number of conflicts that are not a principal focus of the Council’s work. In our view, more systematic outreach to these regional organizations is needed. Steps should also be taken to increase their accountability, particularly in the case of protracted conflicts, when the situation is not improving or is even worsening over the years.
Lack of progress should prompt more direct involvement from the appropriate United Nations bodies. We believe that no conflict falls outside the purview of the United Nations, regardless of whether it is on the Security Council’s agenda or not. In this context, we welcome the high-level event on strengthening the capabilities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as a Chapter VIII organization, organized by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, at the margins of the seventy-first session of the General Assembly, which allowed the participants to discuss issues relevant to the aforementioned considerations.
Accordingly, we appreciate the fact that the General Assembly agreed to include in its agenda item 32, “Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development”. These unresolved conflicts — some, like the one in the Republic of Moldova, date back 25 years — continue to have a negative impact on the political, social and economic development of the GUAM States. The General Assembly’s debates under this item do not, as some fear, undermine the existing mechanism to negotiate the settlement of these conflicts. On the contrary, the ongoing monitoring of the situation in the areas in question, along with a proactive approach by the United Nations, when necessary, can effectively address attempts aimed at changing the political borders of some GUAM States through methods that run counter to democracy and international law.
The Transnistrian conflict that the Republic of Moldova has endured for many years is, first and foremost, a product of the long-standing geopolitical interests associated with our region. External factors played a decisive role in igniting this conflict in the early 1990s. It was triggered shortly after the Republic of Moldova declared independence, on the very day our country was granted United Nations membership, 2 March 1992. Unlike other internal conflicts that are generated and fostered by ethnic and religious antagonisms, the Transnistrian conflict has a purely geopolitical character. In theory, that feature of the conflict makes it easier to resolve and therefore strengthens our conviction that it can be resolved through the resolute joint political efforts of all the parties involved.
The similar ethnic composition of the populations living on both sides of the Nistru river and their mutual lack of hatred or intolerance towards one another speak for themselves and illustrate both the artificial character of the Transnistrian entity and the falsity of its ideological and political tenets. The recurrent declarations by the exponents of the Transnistrian regime on the need to make the territory it controls a part of another country, with no common borders with Moldova, are not only unrealistic but also seriously undermine the settlement process.
Despite the many difficulties encountered in the settlement process, the Moldovan authorities are determined to find a political solution to the Transnistrian conflict, using the 5+2 negotiating format and based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, by way of granting special legal status to the Transnistrian region. We are firmly convinced that the only way to reach this goal is through negotiations. However, negotiations can succeed only if all the stakeholders show the needed political will, act in good faith and refrain from putting forward rigid preconditions in negotiating the political aspects of the settlement.
What is the right path to final settlement? We believe that the joint and resolute actions of all parties to the 5+2 settlement format on the basis of a common agenda and common objectives are what is required, as are enhanced confidence-building and the bringing together of the people on both banks of the river Nistru in all spheres of social and economic life. It will also entail the identification of solutions for topical issues and the engagement in serious and objective political discussions on the future of the Transnistrian region as an integral part of the Republic of Moldova. In addition, it will involve a firm commitment to maintaining stability and refraining from stoking tensions.
Only by acting in this way will we be able to stop and prevent the violation of human rights in the Transnistrian region, discourage unilateral destabilization and gradually create an environment of confidence and trust. That is the path the Moldovan authorities will continue to follow, which, hopefully, will deliver the desired result — a viable and comprehensive settlement of the Transnistrian conflict and the reintegration of the Republic of Moldova.
With respect to factors that have a negative impact on the political environment and regional security, I would like to reiterate our deep concern over the lack of progress in the withdrawal of Russian armaments and troops stationed on our territory without the prior consent of the Moldovan authorities, contrary to the provisions of the our Constitution. Likewise, we are deeply concerned about the increasing frequency of military exercises involving foreign troops, which are often conducted jointly with the military and paramilitary units of the Transnistrian regime.
The fragile security conditions in our region as a whole, amplified by the destabilizing factors in eastern Ukraine, require a constructive re-engagement of all States participating in the 5+2 settlement format, as well of other relevant or interested actors, particularly the OSCE and the United Nations, with a view to identifying as swiftly as possible responses and solutions for these long-standing problems, in conformity with the international law. We expect the General Assembly to focus constructively on the Transnistrian and other protracted conflicts, particularly when it considers the annual resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE.
This year, the Republic of Moldova is celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of its independence. In that time, we have achieved many but not all of the objectives that we set for ourselves. We have nevertheless laid the foundations for a democratic society, based on European political, economic and social values. We are fully committed to the idea of European integration, which has become our national project, and our journey on that path is being guided by the Association Agreement we concluded with the European Union. The Republic of Moldova is currently in a period of transition, during which our main priorities are the reforms that should facilitate our country’s modernization and enhance its institutions. The Government that I am privileged to lead is determined to finalize ongoing, meaningful reforms and will rely on the support of external partners in that critical endeavour.
During the past 25 years as a State Member of the United Nations, Moldova has shared the common values, responsibilities, achievements and setbacks of the Organizations. On this occasion, I would like to reiterate the Republic of Moldova’s commitment to the United Nations and its strong desire to cooperate with all States Members of the United Nations with a view to fulfilling the noble purposes and principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter.