It is a great honour for my country to congratulate
Mr. Ashe upon his election as President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-eighth session. He can count on
the unconditional support of the delegation of Panama
during his tenure. We cannot think of a more appropriate
theme for this high-level debate than to focus on “The
post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage”.
The theme invites us to reaffirm our commitment to
continuing to work towards an agreement on the new
development agenda. The agenda will be available for
our people and the planet.

The 13 years that have elapsed since we identified
a way to achieve development through the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) have witnessed the fastest
reduction in poverty in the history of mankind. In
that connection, we as Panamanians have had great
pleasure in carrying out studies indicating that half a
billion fewer people now live below the poverty line,

that infant mortality rates have fallen by over 30 per
cent, and that deaths owing to malaria have declined by
a quarter, among other things.

Panama has presented three national reports on the
MDGs. They have demonstrated our country’s progress
in improving the living conditions of our population and
in setting the issue of poverty as a priority on the social
agenda and focusing the Government’s contribution
on achieving clear, concrete and measurable goals to
reduce poverty and the inequality gap. We have made
notable progress in various areas. That is where we need
to redouble our efforts so as to provide Panamanian
citizens with a better future and so that all may benefit
from a better Panama.

In 2012, along with 17 other countries, Panama
received the Americas Award for reducing poverty and
hunger. On behalf of the people of Panama, we recently
accepted an award from the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organization for reaching the goal of
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, between
1990 and 2015, by halving the number of people who
suffer from hunger and by reducing the prevalence of
undernourishment by 50 per cent or more, with respect
to the levels in 1990-1992, now below five per cent. We
are pleased with the work we have done.

For the first time in history, humankind has the
technological, economic and sociopolitical structures
to eradicate extreme poverty. With an agenda for
development coordinated between the public and
private sectors and civil society, we can carry out
a meaningful process that makes a difference and
reaches everybody. Because of its capacity and scope,
the United Nations has played a facilitating role, unlike
that of any other organization, in order to coordinate
the global conversation about development, and it has
a special responsibility to its Member States to provide
information, analytical thinking and experience from
the field.

In that regard, I wish to thank the Secretary-
General for establishing a United Nations task force
and in particular for convening the High-level Panel
of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development
Agenda, whose extraordinary efforts are now giving us
more insights into a more productive discussion about
what path we should follow. The post-2015 agenda
should focus on eradicating extreme poverty from the
face of the Earth within a set time frame. Countries have
learned much about development. We have realized
that development that is not sustainable is simply not
development.

The MDGs were silent on conflict and the effect
of violence on global development, nor was the impact
and importance of institutions that guarantee freedom
of expression and the rule of law for development
included. The Government of the Republic of Panama
believes that we need to integrate the economic, social
and environmental aspects of development more
sustainably. For that we support the efforts resulting
from decisions made at the United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro and the
work resulting from the meetings convened for the
establishment of the High-level Political Forum.

Global inequality is still prevalent and very much
a part of this conversation. Some 1.2 billion people
account for only 1 per cent of global consumption. The
Republic of Panama has successfully reformed its trade,
tax policies and transparency. In the same manner, we
have reviewed the regulation of our financial markets
and productivity. As a result, we have, as far as possible,
charted a successful path towards development. It is
clear that now we face even greater challenges, different
from the previous ones.

Financing development is not easy, but we have
a great capacity and the patterns of productivity are
becoming more sustainable and equitable. Panama
supports the view that the post-2015 agenda must make
sustainable development a cornerstone and not leave
anyone behind.

The original promise of the MDGs must be
kept. The new route towards development must be
transformed from reducing poverty to ending extreme
poverty. Furthermore, the fight against inequality must
be a substantial part of our development agenda and
should be measured by the social inclusion generated
from economic growth. The promotion and protection
of universal human rights must be an integral part of a
post-2015 development agenda.

Similarly, institutions and the rule of law must be
evaluated as contributions toward the development of
countries. Equally, a sustainable planet is crucial not
just for the growth of our peoples, but also for their
survival. Finding a solution for global environmental
problems should be a priority of the development
agenda. That is why we support the integration of
sustainable development objectives into the post-2015
agenda.

Panamanians believe that unless we forge a
global partnership, nothing we say in this Hall will be
effective. We need a new spirit of mutual accountability
that supports the post-2015 agenda and the work done
by the United Nations towards that end. There is no
doubt that the post-2015 agenda will depend on new
economic partnerships and financing.

The post-2015 agenda cannot possibly succeed
without the active support of the Group of 20 and the
institutions of economic cooperation and governance,
such as the International Monetary Fund and the World
Trade Organization. The General Assembly has been
given an historic opportunity to promote a platform for
global development, with so many leaders present here,
together, with only one theme in mind. We believe that
effective political leadership emanating from the high-
level event on the Millennium Development Goals and
its forum can give us decisive momentum to make a
legitimate change to our post-2015 agenda.

As we ponder the post-2015 development agenda, we
cannot set aside the purpose for which this Organization
was created, namely, to ensure the maintenance of
world peace, through undivided and full respect for the
human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people
on Earth, without any discrimination.

In that regard, we cannot let this moment pass without
expressing the deep concern that Panama shares with
many members of the Assembly on the grave situation
in Syria. We condemn, in the strongest terms, the use
of chemical weapons against the civilian population
of Syria. We share the view that such acts constitute
a crime against humanity that should be investigated
and punished in accordance with the norms of existing
international law. We firmly call upon all members of
the Security Council to assume their responsibilities to
ensure compliance with international humanitarian law
and international protection of the human rights of the
Syrian people.

We are concerned about the escalating violence in
the Middle East and the veiled and open threats of the
use of nuclear weapons, which infringe on the right of
countries and peoples to live in peace in their territories.
Our global Organization has the supreme duty to speak
forcefully and clearly in support of world peace and the
right of humankind to continue living on our planet.
In this crucial time for life and survival on Earth, we
must not fall into the habit of believing that nothing
serious is happening and that life will still go on after
the atomic mushroom cloud delivers its final verdict of
death to every species on the planet. The number of
interested parties in the Middle East with nuclear power
and the capacity to introduce and test weapons of mass
destruction in a conflict situation is sufficiently large
that those of us gathered here cannot afford to ignore
what is happening there. This is no time to hide our
heads in the sand like ostriches, thinking that we can
thereby stave off the danger that threatens us and save
our lives. It is rather the moment to firmly demonstrate
our collective responsibility to defend world peace and
life itself.

I wish to inform the General Assembly that
my Government is aware of a request made by the
Government of the Republic of Nicaragua to the
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf,
established under the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea, to extend its continental shelf beyond
200 nautical miles. Without objecting to the right of
the Republic of Nicaragua to make such a request, as
stated in paragraph 8 of article 76 of the Convention,
my Government wishes to express its strong concern
about the fact that the coordinates given in Nicaragua’s
application constitute an unquestionable infringement
on our maritime space and on treaties between the
Republic of Panama and its neighbours, resulting in
a reduction of our maritime area of 49,892.54 square
kilometres.

The serious concern on the part of the people
and the Government of Panama is not motivated by
Nicaragua’s request to extend its continental shelf but
rather because, despite the fact that our two countries
are connected through friendship, geographic and
regional proximity and political and economic
integration, we were not consulted before the request
was made, so that we could consider all of its possible
effects. The Republic of Panama, in accordance with
its national Constitution, complies with the standards
of international law and has always recognized the
jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice as one
way of achieving the pacific settlement of disputes,
as laid out in Chapter VI of the Charter of the United
Nations.

In that regard, we should also emphasize that
according to article 59 of the Statute of the International
Court of Justice, the decisions handed down by the
world’s highest universal tribunal should neither benefit
nor harm third parties. My Government is therefore
compelled to categorically reject the Republic of
Nicaragua’s attempt to delimit its maritime boundaries

in this manner, since it violates existing treaties with
the Republic of Panama that we have complied with in
good faith, as well as our legitimate maritime rights,
recognized and accepted by the international community
in that area. In accordance with international law, I
will produce all the necessary evidence to correct the
Republic of Nicaragua’s efforts in this matter. But on
the occasion of the current session, officials from both
our countries have begun the process of resolving our
disagreement, which I hope will soon reach a happy
conclusion.

Today I also wish to mention a third issue that is
very important to Panama, the case of the merchant
vessel MV Chong Chon Gang, sailing under the North
Korean flag, detained in Panama since mid-July. My
country, as a State Member of this international forum,
complies with the norms and regulations of its internal
bodies, and article 4 of our Constitution requires
Panama to comply with the norms of international law.
That mandate has governed all of our acts as a nation.
The vessel in question was transporting undeclared
war materiel from the Republic of Cuba destined for
North Korea. Acting on intelligence that we obtained,
we detained the vessel before its transit through the
Canal on the suspicion that the cargo contained drugs.
When the ship was seized, an enormous amount of war
materiel — which, by definition and because of its
destination, clearly violated Security Council Sanctions
Committee mandates — was discovered hidden under
200 tons of raw sugar.

In compliance with the mandates in question, my
Government notified a panel of experts and invited
them to Panama to verify the findings and confirm our
initial impression, as presented by the drugs prosecutor
who initiated the investigation under the Republic of
Panama’s laws. The panel inspected the cargo and
later made a preliminary report in accordance with
Security Council resolutions. The evidence is now with
the Security Council. My Government would like to
emphasize the significance of the action it took, not just
as a Member State but also in its promotion of respect
for the decisions of this body and of the peaceful
coexistence of nations. We are talking here about an
unprecedented and possibly unique situation, at least
on our continent, which is why I stress its importance
today. Panama complied with its duty as a Member State,
even in the face of possible risks, high material costs
and potential consequences to be defined in accordance
with Panamanian law, as outlined in Security Council
resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009) and 2094 (2013).

As President of a sovereign nation, I have not
come before this forum to demand action against the
countries involved in the incident. Panama simply
desires and requests recognition that our conduct was
based on our firm wish to comply with the rules that the
Organization has laid down. We will respect the results
of the investigation, and we wish to make it clear that
Panama has no issue with the States involved in the
matter, which is why its settlement is not a bilateral one.
We Panamanians did our duty, and the United Nations
must now also do its duty, at a time when following
the rule of law is the only way to solve the delicate
international problems that threaten the peaceful and
human coexistence of the peoples of the world.

Panama and its people anxiously await just
recognition of their act, which we see as an important
precedent for our hemisphere. We call on the
international community to implement programmes
and solutions conducive to peace. Panama reaffirms
its historical position that we should use the tools of
mediation and dialogue to deal with all current conflicts
in the region and to seek solutions that defend and
protect the right of peoples to live and work in peace.

Since the end of my term is approaching and this
is the last address I will give to the General Assembly,
I wish to say that I feel the satisfaction of a task
completed as I leave Panama in the place it now occupies
in the world. We leave behind a legacy of social and
political stability and sustained high economic growth
throughout the Latin American region, and we have
helped to promote and build the common welfare of the
Panamanian nation.

I would like to cite some favourable statistics that
illustrate our growth and social welfare, published by
entirely credible international entities. On the index
of human development for 2012, according to the
United Nations, Panama is classified as a country of
high human development, scoring 0.780 as compared
to the average for Latin America, which is 0.741, and
for the world as a whole, which is 0.694. In a country
of 3.63 million inhabitants, 1.83 million are men and
1.79 million are women, according to the United Nations
Human Development Report 2013. On the literacy
index, Panama is at 94.1 per cent, also according to
the Human Development Report 2013. Panama invests
4.6 per cent of its gross national product in public
expenditures for culture and health, the highest level
in Central America, according to the Genral Treasury
of the Republic. Average life expectancy in my country

is 76.3 years, according to the Human Development
Report 2013.

When it comes to the enjoyment of political rights,
we have a rating of 1 according to Freedom House in
2012. Panama’s competitive ranking on the 2013 index
of the World Economic Forum was forty-eighth out of
148 countries reviewed, and its Fitch investment rating
was upgraded from BB+ to BBB, indicating a stable
perspective. Our Moody’s rating was Baa2, a stable
perspective, and according to Standard and Poors
we rose from BB+ to BBB, again indicating a stable
perspective.

The latest United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development report shows Panama as one of the
highest ranked Latin American countries for maritime
connectivity. According to the 2013 index, Panama
improved its score from 42.38 to 44.88, similar to
Mexico, which moved from 38.81 to 41.80, while
Brazil dropped from 38.53 to 36.88. The United
Nations Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean estimates that Paraguay leads Latin
American growth with an increase of 12.5 per cent
in gross domestic product, followed by Panama, with
7.5 per cent.The International Monetary Fund estimates
regional gross domestic product growth in the region as
follows for 2013: Paraguay at 11 per cent and Panama
at 9 per cent. In sum, Panama is on a firm path to full
development, and with the support of the international
community we will continue responsibly to meet the
challenges that still face us in order to achieve the
sustainable development for the well-being of all our
citizens.

The year 2013 has been one of great international
events for our country. We will soon have the honour for
the second time of hosting a Summit of the Americas,
the thirteenth, when Heads of State and Government
will discuss the Ibero-American community within
the new global context as it pertains to the political,
economic, social and cultural spheres. In November,
we will also host the forthcoming Conference of States
Parties to the United Nations Convention against
Corruption, which reflects the priority that our country
accords to the struggle against corruption as a factor
in development. In a similar vein, we will continue to
advance projects for the establishment in our country
of a regional hub for humanitarian assistance and
of a regional centre of the United Nations for Latin
America and the Caribbean. That project will serve as
our contribution to the international community, with
respect both to humanitarian actors and to the United
Nations system, and expresses our full support for their
efforts on behalf of those most in need.

I am an optimistic man. I believe in human
intelligence and in the capacity of our species to
recognize errors and dangers in order to change course
and ensure our continuity on this planet. Moreover,
the nation of men and women of which I am the leader
shares the dreams of a world united by its respect
for life and by the way it values and loves the vast
cultural heritage that has been built by generation upon
generation of people. I am convinced that however
great the challenges and dangers that lie in wait for
us may be, we will know how to meet and overcome
them with courage and intelligence. Nevertheless, I feel
compelled to mention the great dangers that surround
us today. Only through concerted, responsible action
will we be able to overcome the difficult hour that faces
humankind.

Today, multilateralism itself is being sorely tested.
We are facing one of the most serious and decisive
moments in the history of the planet and the human
race. At this unprecedented moment, the Organization
will have to take serious decisions in order to honour its
responsibility to our peoples with concrete results. The
Governments of the world need to focus their efforts
on raising the level of discussion so that our ambitious
contract with humankind and our planet can be fulfiled
in time. Not to do so in the face of all the destructive
forces that exist on the face of the Earth, and to allow
the passions that lead peoples and nations to conflict
and war to be unleashed, would be to lose one of the last
remaining opportunities for humankind.


I come from
the South. At the conjunction of the Atlantic and the
River Plate, my country is a gentle, temperate plain
where livestock graze. Its history is one of ports, leather,
salted beef, wool and meat. There were dark decades of
lances and horses until finally, with the outset of the
twentieth century, we were at the forefront of social,
education and governmental affairs. I would say that
social democracy was invented in Uruguay.

For nearly 50 years, the world saw us as a kind of
Switzerland, but in reality in economic matters we were
the bastard children of the British Empire. When the
empire ended, we experienced the bitter and terrible
terms of trade and we yearned for the past for almost
50 years, remembering Maracaná. Today, we have
re-emerged in a globalized world, having learned from
our pain.

My personal story is that of a boy — because I
once was a boy — who like others wanted to change his
times and his world and dreamed of a free and classless
society. My mistakes were in part the results of my era.
Obviously I take responsibility for them, but sometimes
I cry: “If only I had the strength that I had when we
enjoyed such utopia!”

However, I do not look towards the past because
what we have today was created from the fertile ashes
of yesterday. On the contrary, I am not on this planet
to settle scores or to reminisce. I am greatly anguished
by the future that I will not see, and to which I have
committed myself. Yes, it is possible to have a world
with more humanity, but perhaps today the main task
is to save life.

I am from the South and I have come from the
South to this Assembly. I share with the thousands of
poor compatriots in cities, in the jungles, in the plains,
in the pampas and the canyons of Latin America the
common fatherland that we are creating. I bear upon
my shoulders the indigenous cultures, the remains
of colonialism in the Malvinas, and the futile and
regrettable blockades of Cuba under the Caribbean
sun. I also bear the consequences of the electronic
surveillance, which does nothing but create the distrust
that poisons us needlessly. I also come with a huge
social debt and with the need to defend the Amazon, the
seas, and our great rivers of America. I also have the
duty to fight for all on behalf of my fatherland and so
that Colombia can finally regain peace. I have the duty
to fight for tolerance for those who are different and
with whom we have differences and disagreements. We
do not need tolerance for those with whom we agree.
Tolerance is the foundation of peaceful coexistence,
understanding that we are all different in this world.

I fight against the illicit economy, drug trafficking,
theft, fraud, corruption — the contemporary scourges
unleashed by an opposite set of values and by those

who maintain that we are happier when we are richer,
no matter by what means. We have sacrificed the old,
immaterial gods and we are now occupying the temple
of the Market God. This god organizes our economy, our
politics, our habits and our lives, and even provides us
with rates and credit cards and the illusion of happiness.
It seems that we have been born only to consume, and
when we can no longer consume we are overcome by
frustration, poverty and self-loathing.

It is true that today, in order to spend and to bury
our garbage in what science calls the carbon footprint,
if in this world we aspired to consume like the average
American, we would need three planets in order to be
able to live. In other words, our civilization has mounted
a deceitful challenge, and as we go on it is not possible
for everyone to achieve that goal. Indeed, our culture is
increasinglt driven by accumulation and market forces.
We are promised a life of spending and squandering;
in fact, it is a countdown against nature and against
future humankind. It is a civilization against simplicity,
against sobriety, against all natural cycles; worse yet, it
is a civilization against freedom, which requires time to
experience human relationships and the most important
things: love, friendship, adventure, solidarity and
family. It is a civilization against free time that does
not pay, that cannot be bought and that allows us to
contemplate the beauty of nature.

We have destroyed the real jungles and sown
anonymous cement jungles. We have tackled a
sedentary lifestyle with walking, insomnia with pills,
solitude with electronics. Can we be happy when we
are so far from the human essence? We have to ask
ourselves this question. Stupefied, we have rejected our
own biological imperative, which defends life for life’s
sake as a superior cause, and we have replaced it by
functional consumerism and accumulation.

Politics, the eternal mother of all human
endeavours, has remained shackled to the economy
and to the marketplace.Going from one adventure to
another, politics achieves little more than perpetuating
itself, and as such it delegates its power and spends its
time bewildered, fighting for the Government. Out of
control, human history marches forward, buying and
selling everything and innovating in order to negotiate
what is, in a way, non-negotiable. Marketing exists for
everything: cemeteries and funeral services, maternity
wards, fathers, mothers, grandparents, uncles,
secretaries, cars and vacations. Everything is business.
Marketing campaigns deliberately target children and
psychologically influence older children to reserve
safe territory for the future. Abundant evidence exists
of such abominable uses of technology that sometimes
induce mass frustration.

The average city dweller wanders between financial
institutions and tedious office routines, sometimes
moderated by air conditioning. He often dreams about
vacations and freedom. He dreams about having the
ability to pay his bills until one day his heart stops and
he is gone. Other such soldiers will fall prey to the jaws
of the marketplace, sharing in material accumulation.

The crisis really rests in the powerlessness of
politics, which is incapable of understanding that
humankind cannot and will not escape nationalism,
which is practically etched into our DNA. Today, it is
time to fight to prepare a world without borders.

The globalized economy has no other driving force
except that of the private interests of the very few,
and each nation State seeks only to maintain its own
stability. Today, the great task for our peoples and our
humble way of seeing things becomes the be-all and
end-all. As if that were not enough, truly productive
capitalism is a prisoner of the banks, which are at the
summit of global power. More clearly, the world is
clamouring for global regulations that respect scientific
achievements, which abound, but it is not science that
governs the world.

Today, we need a lengthy agenda of definitions. We
must define working hours throughout the world. We
need to have convergence among currencies. We need
to finance the global struggle for water and against
desertification. We have to figure out how to recycle
more and how to counter global warming. What are the
limits of each human task?

We must achieve a broad planetary consensus to
unleash solidarity among the most oppressed and to
punish and tax waste and speculation by mobilizing the
large economies not to produce disposable goods, but
rather useful goods without planned obsolescence or
excess, which would help the world’s poorest peoples.
Useful goods could stand against world poverty. Turning
to a useful neo-Keynesianism on a global scale in order
to abolish the world’s most flagrant embarrassments
would be a thousand times more profitable than making
war.

Perhaps our world needs fewer global organizations,
organized forums and conferences, which serve only
to aid hotel chains and airlines; perhaps no one really

benefits from their decisions anyway. We must return
to what is old and eternal in human life, along with
science that strives to serve humankind, and not only
the rich. With scientists, the counsellors of humankind,
we can create agreements for the entire world. Neither
the large nation States nor transnational companies, not
to mention the financial system, ought to govern the
world of humanity. Yes, lofty politics combined with
scientific wisdom — it must come from science, which
is not attracted by material gain but looks towards the
future and tells us about things we may not foresee.
How many years ago did they tell us in Kyoto about
certain facts linked to climate change?

We have finally learned that intelligence must be
at the helm, guiding the ship to port. Actions of this
nature and others that we cannot name, yet which we
believe to be crucial, require life and not acquired
wealth. Obviously, we are not so naïve; these and other
things like that will not come to pass. Many pointless
sacrifices still lie ahead of us. We still must deal with
the consequences and not tackle the causes. Today, the
world is incapable of establishing global regulations for
the planet, due to the failure of lofty global politics,
which meddles with everything.

For a time, we were protected by more or less
regional agreements, established to create a deceitful
so-called free trade that in the end constructed
protectionist, supranational barriers in some regions
of the globe. In turn, important branches of industry
and services dedicated to saving and improving the
environment will arise. We will be comforted by that
for a while. We will be distracted.

But of course, the accumulation will continue
unabated, to the delight of the financial system. Wars
and fanaticism will continue until nature calls us to
account and makes our civilization non-viable. Perhaps
our vision is too crude, not compassionate enough,
and we view man as a unique creature, the only one on
Earth capable of acting against his own species.

I reiterate that what some call our planet’s ecological
crisis is the result of the overwhelming triumph of
human ambition. This is our triumph and our defeat,
given our political impotence to fit into the new era that
we have helped to build without realizing it.

Why do I say this? The numbers tell the story.
The truth is that the global population quadrupled and
gross domestic product grew by a factor of at least
20 over the past century. World trade has doubled
approximately every six years since 1990. We could
continue to list numbers that clearly establish the
march of globalization. What is happening to us?
We are entering a new era, and rapidly, but with our
political bodies, cultural accessories, parties and young
people all reduced to old age before the horrific and
accelerating changes that we cannot even grasp. We
cannot manage globalization because we do not think
globally. We do not know if this is a cultural limitation
or we are reaching biological limits.

The portents of revolution are present in our age
as in no other in the history of humankind, yet our age
does not have a conscious direction or even a basic
instinctive direction, and still less organized political
direction, because we do not have even the beginnings
of a philosophy with which to face the speed of
oncoming changes.

The greed that has been such a negative force and
such a driver of history has also pushed forward the
material, scientific and technical progress that has
made our era and our time what it is and has enabled a
phenomenal leap forward on many different fronts. At
the same time, this very tool — the greed that pushed us
to domesticate science and transform technology — is
paradoxically pushing us over the edge into a shadowy
abyss, towards an unknown fate, an era without history,
and we are left without eyes to see or the collective
intelligence to continue to colonize and transform
ourselves.

If there is one thing that defines this tiny little
human creature, it is that it is an anthropocentric
conqueror. It seems that things come alive and submit
to men. Glimpses of these things abound everywhere,
glimmers that should allow us to discern these things,
or at least make out the direction in which things are
headed, but it is clearly impossible to make collective,
global decisions about the big picture. Individual greed
easily triumphs over our species’ greed. Let us be clear.
What is the big picture of which we speak? It is the
system of global life on Earth, including human life,
with all the fragile balances that make it impossible for
us to continue as we are.

On the other hand — and this is less contentious and
more obvious — in the West in particular, because we
are indeed from the West, though we are also from the
South, the republics arose to make the claim that men
are equal, that no one is better than anyone else, and
that Governments should represent the common good,
justice and equity. Often, these republics become warped

and fall into the habit of ignoring ordinary people, the
man on the street, the common people. Republics were
not created to outgrow their constituents, but instead
are historical phenomena designed to function for their
own people. They must therefore answer to majority
and must fight for its interests.

As for the traces of feudalism that persist in
our societies, or the domineering classicism, or the
consumer culture that surrounds us all, in the course
of their existence republics often adopt a way of daily
life that excludes and holds at arm’s length the common
man. In fact, that common man should be the central
cause of the republic’s political struggle. Republican
Governments should increasingly look like their
respective peoples in the way they live and the way they
deal with life.

The fact is that we tend to cultivate feudal
anachronisms, spoiled affectations and hierarchical
distinctions that undermine the best feature of
republics — the fact that no one is better than anyone
else. The interaction of those factors and others keeps
us living in prehistory, and today it is impossible to
renounce war when politics fails. Thus, economies are
strangled and resources wasted. Every minute in the life
of our planet, we spend $2 million on military budgets
around the world — $2 million a minute. Medical
research on all manner of diseases, which has made
huge advances and is a blessing that promises longer
life, receives barely a fifth of what is budgeted for the
military. That process, from which we cannot escape,
perpetuates hatred, fanaticism and distrust, fuels new
wars and wastes fortunes.

I know that it is very easy politically to criticize
ourselves at the national level, and I think it naive
in this world to propose that resources that could be
saved and spent on other, useful things. Again, that
would be possible if we were capable of making global
agreements and working on global prevention and
world policies aimed at ensuring peace and offering
the weakest among us guarantees that do not exist.
Enormous resources would have to be cut to address
the most shameful things on Earth, but one question
suffices. Where can humankind as it is today go
without those guarantees? Thus, each wields arms
commensurate with his size.

And that is where we are today, because we can
barely reason as individuals, let alone as a species.
Global institutions, especially today, languish in the
shadow of the dissenting great nations. Clearly, such
nations wish to hold on to power. They block action
by the United Nations, which was created in the hope
and with a dream of peace for humankind. But what
is even worse is that they have cut it off from global
democracy. We are not all equal. We cannot be equal
in a world where some are strong and others weak. As
a result, our world democracy is wounded, and we face
the historical impossibility of reaching a global peace
agreement. We patch up diseases when an outbreak
occurs as one or other of the great Powers wishes, while
we look on from afar.

It would be difficult to invent a force that is worse
than the chauvinistic nationalism of the great Powers.
Nationalism, a force that liberates the weak through
the process of decolonization, has become a tool of
oppression in the hands of the strong. The past two
centuries are full of examples. The United Nations is
languishing and becoming increasingly bureaucratic
from lack of power and autonomy, above all of
recognition of democracy for the weak of the world,
who are the majority.

By way of a very small example, our little country
is in absolute terms the largest Latin American
contributor of soldiers to peacebuilding missions,
and we go wherever we are asked to go. But we are
small and weak, and in the places where resources are
distributed and decisions made, we cannot go even to
serve coffee. In our heart of hearts we long to help
humankind emerge from prehistory — and people who
live with war are still living in prehistory, despite the
many artifacts they can build — but as long as we do
not emerge from prehistory and retire war as a resort
when politics fails, that is the long march and challenge
we have ahead of us. We say that in full awareness; we
are familiar with the loneliness of war.

Such dreams, however, require us to fight for an
agenda of world agreements that can begin to steer our
history and overcome life’s threats, step by step. Our
species should have a Government for all humankind
that supersedes individualism and creates political
leaders who follow the path of science and not merely the
immediate interests of those governing and suffocating
us. At the same time, we must understand that the
world’s poor are not from Africa or Latin America;
they are all part of humankind, and that means that we
must help them to develop so they can lead decent lives.
The necessary resources exist. They can be found in the
waste of our predatory civilization.

A few days ago a tribute was delivered in a fire
station in California. An electric bulb had been turned
on for 100 years. It had been on for 100 years! How many
millions of dollars have they taken from our pockets
deliberately creating junk so that people will buy and
buy and buy? But globalization means a brutal cultural
change for our planet and for our life. That is what
history demands from us. The entire material basis has
changed and it has changed man. In our culture, we act
as if nothing had happened. Instead of us controlling
globalization, it controls us.

Almost 20 years ago, we discussed the humble
Tobin tax, which could not be applied at a global level.
All of the banks with financial power rose up against it.
Their private property and who knows how many other
things would be harmed. However, that is the paradox.
With talent and collective work, with science, step by
step humankind can make deserts green; humankind
can bring agriculture to the seas; humankind can
develop agriculture that lives with salt water.

If the power of humankind is focused on what is
essential, it is infinite. Here we see the greatest sources
of energy. What do we know about photosynthesis?
Almost nothing. There is a great deal of energy in
the world, if we work together to use it properly. It
is possible to eliminate poverty from the planet. It is
possible to create stability. It will be possible for future
generations, if they begin to reason as a species and
not just as individuals, to bring life to the galaxies and
pursue this dream of conquest that we, human beings,
have in our genes.

But if those dreams are to come true, we will have to
control ourselves or we will die. We will die because we
are not capable of being at the level of the civilization
that we have been developing with our efforts. That
is our dilemma. We should not spend our time merely
correcting the consequences. Let us consider the deep-
rooted causes, the civilization of waste, the present
civilization that is stealing time from human life and
wasting it on pointless matters.

Let us remember that human life is a miracle.
Consider that human life is a miracle, that we are
alive as a result of a miracle, and that nothing is more
important than life. Our biological duty is, above all, to
respect life, promote it, take care of it, reproduce it and
understand that the species is our being.


Allow me at the outset, on
behalf of the President of the Republic of Suriname, His
Excellency Mr. Desiré Delano Bouterse, and the people
and the Government of Suriname, to congratulate
you, Mr. President, on your well-deserved election.
With your election you bring honour to your country,
Antigua and Barbuda, and to the Caribbean. With your
background in sustainable development, you are well
prepared to lead us in our deliberations on this year’s
theme, “The post-2015 development agenda: setting the
stage”. I assure you of the support and cooperation of
Suriname during your presidency.

I should also like to take this opportunity to pay
tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi., for his
leadership during the sixty-seventh session of the
General Assembly. Furthermore, I commend Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon for his management of the United
Nations with regard to peace and security in various
parts of the globe.

Setting a new stage urgently requires much effort
at the national as well as the international level to
achieve the ultimate goal of improving the standard of
living of our peoples and bringing about the sustainable
development of our countries. The Millennium
Development Goals are an important first step towards
addressing some of the worst socioeconomic conditions
facing approximately 40 per cent of humankind,
targeted as they are at reducing the worst manifestations
of underdevelopment.

In our view, the success of the Millennium
Development Goals depends on two sets of simultaneous
actions: first, a reorientation of national responsibilities;
and, second, of equal importance, the reorientation of
the international community. Such reorientation will
enable us to chart a more meaningful path towards
meeting the targets of the Millennium Development
Goals and moving towards the post-2015 Development
agenda.

That is particularly relevant if we take heed of the
2013 report on the Millennium Development Goals,
which reveals some rather interesting facts, such as:
most developing countries are performing well in
meeting the targets; and developed countries, which
have committed themselves to Goal 8 by making their
aid pledges viable and effective, are nevertheless well
behind in their general performance in meeting the
targets.

Official development assistance is in constant
decline, and the agreements concluded in 2001 within
the context of the World Trade Organization to improve
access to international markets have been stalled during
the Doha Round. That stalling has proved to be so
harmful that dealing with market access on behalf of the
poorest nations has been left out of subsequent agendas.
Furthermore, as we all know, the ongoing financial
and economic crisis is having a detrimental impact
on developing nations because official development
assistance is drastically declining.

Clearly, a number of large developing countries,
mainly in Asia, as well as some countries endowed with
natural resources in Africa and South America, have
made substantial economic progress. Their statistics,
however, should not blind us to the fact that inequality
is rampant and that almost 1.2 billion people are still
living in extreme poverty and do not have access to
affordable and adequate health services, while millions
of children are still denied their right to primary
education.

We have learned the important lesson that developing
countries are obliged to undertake adequate measures
to strengthen economic interactions among themselves
in addition to ties with their traditional trading partners

in the North. We must give substance to South-South
cooperation. That is an important consideration for
setting a new stage for global sustainable development.
In this context, foreign direct investment is considered
to be a factor of vital importance.

It is encouraging to note that a number of countries,
including my own, Suriname, have been upgraded
from low-income status to middle-income status by
international financial institutions and United Nations
agencies. Our efforts to develop prudent macroeconomic
and appropriate fiscal policies, combined with our
initiatives to diversify our economy, and the sacrifices
borne by our people, have led to this improved status.
Applying per capita income as the major indicator for
determining our development status has, however,
manoeuvred us into a position where we have lost
access to the necessary concessional loans and grants.
The conclusion can be drawn that our people are being
punished for their ability to overcome some of the
obstacles that have made them less fortunate in the past.

Within this interdependent world, we will continue
to build on our own strength as the main driving
force for the achievement of our development agenda.
Furthermore, we believe that building upon national
strengths, within the context of participation in
subregional and regional cooperation frameworks, is
the right way forward to finding proper solutions for
development. On the basis of what has been achieved
at the regional level, a global approach might become
more feasible.

Suriname shares the view that we should base the
post-2015 development agenda on a people-centred
approach, with a specific focus on the most vulnerable
in society, in particular, women, youth, the elderly
and people with disabilities. In so doing — and
this
we emphasize — we should strike the right balance
between our positive macroeconomic situation and a
micro situation that is in dire need of improvement.

We are in the course of developing policies and
programmes to fight non-communicable diseases that
have led to decreased productivity. Non-communicable
diseases have now become the leading cause of death in
Suriname and in other countries in our region. There is
special emphasis on improving education and bringing
it closer to our socioeconomic reality. We intend to work
more closely with relevant international organizations
such as the Pan American Health Organization, the
World Health Organization, UNESCO, UNICEF and
others.

The Government also attaches great importance
to issues involving young people. In this regard, a
large-scale after-school programme with the aim of
enhancing better learning for youth deserves mention.
The successful experiences in regional cooperation
mechanisms, such as the one in the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM), as well as the one that is
being considered in the Union of South American
Nations (UNASUR), are clear examples of how youth
can contribute to the connectivity between peoples and
the enhancement of unity.

Taking into account global processes and cognizant
of the opportunities and challenges from CARICOM
and UNASUR, the post-2015 development agenda
should emanate from an inclusive, intergovernmental
process. That process should be directed towards: the
continued eradication of poverty; a people-centred
approach, combining economic activity with the social
need for education and health care, thereby promoting
the welfare and well-being of all; and the integration of
economic and social action and strengthening of human
capital.

Global warming has a direct negative impact on
the development of small island developing States
and low-lying coastal States, including Suriname.
Suriname shares its grave concern regarding the state
of the global climate and the stalled United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change process.
The Government of Suriname strongly recommends
that the General Assembly face these challenges by
making them part of the post-2015 development agenda.

In setting the stage for development goals
beyond 2015, we cannot ignore the various threats to
international peace. International peace, security and
human rights are indispensable in creating an enabling
environment for sustainable development. Suriname
is well aware of the fact that national sovereignty
and national security are seriously affected by the
indiscriminate use of violence in fighting terrorism
and other forms of transnational organized crime.
Challenges related to armed conflicts, poverty, food,
the environment, education, public health, migration
and energy require increased collaboration. In this
respect, partnership among Governments, international
and regional organizations and civil society is a must.
We applaud the South American and Caribbean nations

for their efforts towards regional peace and stability.
Their willingness and capacity for further dialogue and
persuasion is a better way to achieve and maintain peace
than the use of violence and military intervention.

We are proud to belong to a region that has declared
itself a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

We express the hope that the two-State solution to
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will gain more substance,
allowing the peoples of both countries the prospect of
peace and prosperity. Suriname maintains the position
that the multilateral process within the United Nations
should prevail in the search for a peaceful solution for
the crisis in Syria.

The Cuban people have the right to participate
as full members in all regional organizations, and we
strongly urge that all obstacles that have prevented
their full participation so far be removed, including the
outdated and inhuman unilateral economic, financial
and commercial embargo.

With regard to the Republic of Haiti, the
international community tends to lose attention for
the necessary follow-up activities to get Haiti back
on its feet. Once again we call upon the international
community to fulfil its commitments.

In closing, I take advantage of this opportunity
to inform the Assembly that, exactly 30 days ago,
my country, Suriname, took over the pro tempore
presidency of the Union of South American Nations,
a young and vibrant regional body. We pledge that
Suriname will, during its presidency, further the goals
of UNASUR and contribute to international peace,
security and sustainable development.


I bring to all warm
greetings and the good wishes of the Afghan people.
I have the honour to address the General Assembly
in the last year of the current elected Government of
Afghanistan. I therefore think that it is useful briefly to
revisit the story of Afghanistan over the past 12 years,
our historic successes, the achievements that have
transformed Afghanistan and, yes, the challenges we
have faced continuously during that time. I should
then like to share with the Assembly the vision of
the Afghan people and Government for the future of
freedom, dignity, prosperity and democracy that we
are striving to solidify in our country and, briefly, to
address the critical importance of our relations and
cooperation with countries in our region and with the
broader community of nations.

To better illustrate the journey that Afghanistan
and its noble people have been on over the past 12 years,
I should like to share two contrasting pictures of the
reality of Afghanistan — in the year 2001, at the time of
the collapse of the Taliban regime, and in the year 2013,
as we are going through a historic period and a process
of transition.

For a little more than two decades prior to November
2001, when the Afghan people ousted the Taliban regime
from power, with military backing from the United
States-led international military coalition, the people
of Afghanistan suffered incalculable pain, deprivation
and losses through three distinct periods. Between
the communist coup in 1978, followed by the invasion
of our country in 1979, and the fall of the communist
regime, more than 1 million Afghan men, women and
children were killed, more than 2 million were made
orphans or left with severe war wounds, and more than
5 million were forced out of their villages and towns
into refugee camps in neighbouring countries, mainly
in Pakistan and Iran, as a result of the brutality of the
occupation and the communist regime and in the course
of our resistance against that occupation. We fought for
our freedom and independence — our holy jihad — and
we won, in the process helping the national freedom
and independence movements in Eastern Europe.

The international community that had supported our
struggle for several years abandoned us when the defeat
and withdrawal of the Red Army became apparent.
Exploiting the vacuum and internal strife created during
the early 1990s, the foreign-backed Taliban movement
rose to power and quickly controlled more than 90 per
cent of Afghan territory. Then, equally quickly, they
removed their masks and revealed their true identity,
holding the Afghan nation hostage and embarking on a
period of particularly cruel and barbaric violence and
cruelty under the guise of Islam. With their backward
views, violence and brutal suppression of the rights and
freedoms of the Afghan people, especially women, they
turned our country against itself. The international
community did not mobilize to take action against the
Taliban regime until the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the
United States, including in this city.

At the end of 2001, when, with the military backing
of the United States-led international coalition, we were
getting ready to drive the Taliban regime from power,

Afghanistan was in near-total isolation from the region
and the world community. The Afghan people were a
terrorized population, without rights or freedoms and
without protection from the Taliban regime’s brutality.
Severe poverty and disease were endemic, with little
or no access to health-care services. The education
system, which completely excluded women and girls
and had fewer than half a million male students
attending schools and universities, was a catastrophic
failure. The average annual per capita income was
about $100 and the country lacked a single national
currency. Our roads, bridges, irrigation networks and
other components of critical national infrastructure
were completely destroyed. Afghanistan was without
a national army or a national police force, and all our
other State institutions had been reduced to nothing. In
short, Afghanistan was a failed State, ruled by a proxy
militant group that provided shelter to international
terrorists, thus posing a real danger to regional and
international peace and security.

The situation in Afghanistan during that period
was indeed bleak. The Afghan people had little hope for
their own or their children’s future. However, following
the Al-Qaida terrorist attacks in the United States, the
Afghan people came together and, with support from the
United States and a multitude of other friends and allies
in the international community, removed the Taliban
from power and embarked upon a new era of hope,
reconstruction, development and progress — a new
era marked by an entirely different reality. Primarily
as a result of our own sacrifices and the considerable
sacrifices and support of our international friends and
allies during our 12-year partnership, Afghanistan once
again has become the home of all Afghans, men and
women, where they enjoy equal rights and freedoms
under our democratic Constitution.

Today Afghanistan is a forward-looking young
democracy with functioning State institutions, an elected
President, an elected Parliament and elected provincial
councils in each one of our 34 provinces, backed up by a
powerful civil society movement. Afghan independent
media, with approximately 50 independent television
channels, more than 100 community FM radio stations
and hundreds of print publications, are arguably among
the freest in the region. Today there are more than
20 million mobile-phone users across Afghanistan,
an increasing number of them accessing information
and using various platforms on the Internet. Per capita
income has increased from $100 a year to $600 a year,
our national currency has been consistently stable,
and our trade ties with the outside world are rapidly
expanding.

Today in the new Afghanistan the number of children
attending school stands at well over 10 million, 40 per
cent of them girls, and there are hundreds of thousands
of young men and women attending some 70 public
and private colleges and universities. More than 70 per
cent of our people today have access to basic health-
care services. That, among other things, has increased
average life expectancy from approximately 40 years to
more the 60 years in just one decade.

We have built thousands of kilometres of roads,
irrigation canals, bridges and other pieces of our
country’s critical physical infrastructure, thereby
cutting travel time and facilitating trade and movement
within the country and with neighbouring countries.
Afghanistan today is a proud and active member of
the international community, while managing its ever-
expanding relations and cooperation with countries and
organizations throughout the world, through a network
of some 70 diplomatic and consular missions.

The examples of rejuvenation and development,
progress and achievements that I have just described
represent the true picture of today’s Afghanistan.
Considering that 12 years is not a very long time in
the history of a country, especially a country such as
Afghanistan, which has gone through more than 35
years of war and destruction, those achievements and
gains are nothing short of a historic transformation.

I have drawn that clear contrast between the
Afghanistan of 10 years ago and the positive reality of
today for two main reasons: first, to underscore a model
of collective action and international cooperation in
support of one country’s efforts to establish peace,
security and development; and, secondly, to counter
a narrative of doom and gloom for Afghanistan by
those who are ignorant about our progress, or who
harbour ill-will towards us. The new Afghanistan is
indeed currently going through a critical period of
security, economic and political transition that comes
with its difficulties and challenges but that is helping
us to consolidate our fledgling democratic order and
strengthening our national sovereignty, independence
and ownership of our own affairs.

That is the vision of the Afghan people and
Government for the years leading up to the completion
of the transition in 2014 and into the transformation
decade of 2015 to 2024. In the security area it is our

more than 350,000 brave and professional soldiers
and police officers — not foreign soldiers — who are
directly responsible for the security of more than 90 per
cent of the Afghan population. The transfer of security
responsibilities from the international forces to Afghan
national security forces, launched in the summer of
2011, will be completed throughout the country by
the end of 2014. Our forces have demonstrated their
courage, commitment and effectiveness in successfully
taking over from their international partners. It is
through the enormous and selfless sacrifices of our
proud and patriotic national security forces on a daily
basis that security in most cities and towns that have
gone through transition has improved and the Taliban
have been beaten back. We are fully confident that, with
the continued financial assistance of the international
community for equipment and other requirements and
needs, as pledged at the Chicago NATO Summit in May
2012, Afghan national forces will be able to provide
security to the Afghan people and defend the country
against external threats.

Parallel to our ongoing efforts to enhance the
capacity and capabilities of our national security
forces, the Afghan Government is pursuing a political
process of peace and reconciliation with the Taliban.
The key principles and conditions for that process
are clear: respect for Afghanistan’s Constitution,
which guarantees full and equal rights to Afghan
men and women; the preservation and enhancement
of the advances made over the past decade; and the
renunciation of violence against the population.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a major neighbour,
can play a key role in supporting our peace process.
We have been heartened by the recent successful visit
to Islamabad by President Karzai and the positive and
constructive dialogue that took place between the two
Governments during that visit. We look forward to
further steps and progress in the weeks and months to
come. Pakistan’s essential role in advancing the Afghan
peace process is a clear example of the support that
Afghanistan’s neighbours and other countries in the
region, especially Muslim countries, can provide to the
Afghan peace process.

As far as the economic component of transition
is concerned, the presence of a large international
military force over the past 10 years has generated
employment and income opportunities for thousands of
our citizens, so it is natural that there will be an adverse
impact resulting from the withdrawal of those forces.
In addition to our best efforts to fulfil Afghanistan’s
role as the trade, transit and economic integration
roundabout in the heart of Asia region for the benefit
of all people of the region, the Afghan Government is
keen to reduce the negative economic impact of the
international military withdrawal and to strengthen our
national economy in at least three ways.

The first is by focusing on the development of the
agriculture and agribusiness sector, in which more than
70 per cent of our population is directly or indirectly
engaged, and where there is enormous potential for
growth and employment generation.

Secondly, Afghanistan is estimated to hold trillions
of dollars of natural resources, including minerals and
hydrocarbons, representing a guaranteed source of
wealth and income for generations to come. We already
have several State-owned and private companies — from
China, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, the
United Arab Emirates and other countries, in addition
to Afghan companies — expressing a keen interest in
investing billions of dollars in copper, iron ore, gold,
rare-Earth minerals, oil and gas. We are actively
seeking to attract additional foreign investment to this
sector, while remaining duly diligent to make sure that
our natural riches serve the goal of a strong legitimate
national economy and improved prosperity and welfare
for the Afghan people.

Thirdly, the Tokyo Conference last July pledged
more than $16 billion through 2015 to help the Afghan
Government fill its projected fiscal gap. Conference
participants also committed to providing additional
financial assistance to Afghanistan beyond 2016 at
or near the levels of the past decade. That generous
financial support will be critical in tiding us over the
next few years.

In addition to the security and economic transitions,
we have a crucial political transition coming up next
year, namely, the presidential and provincial council
elections. Next year’s presidential elections will mark
the first time in our history that one elected President
will transfer power to another elected President
through a peaceful democratic process. The Afghan
Government is doing everything possible to ensure
free, fair and credible elections, so that the Afghan
people can choose who the next President will be. A
successful presidential election will entrench our
democratic process and greatly contribute to our efforts
towards lasting peace, security and prosperity.

As we go forward in implementing the transition
agenda and preparing for the transformation decade,
another key foundation of our long-term success will
be the strategic partnerships we have forged with some
of our closest friends and allies over the past few years.
Since October 2011, when we signed our first long-term
strategic partnership agreement with the Republic of
India, we have entered into similar partnerships with the
United States, Germany, Australia, France, the United
Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Poland.
We have also concluded or are currently negotiating
similar partnerships with the European Union, Turkey
and the United Arab Emirates. In that regard, I should
like to reiterate the Afghan Government and people’s
appreciation for the solid and broad-based expression of
long-term political support for a peaceful, prosperous,
democratic Afghanistan by more than 100 countries
and organizations at the historic international Bonn
Conference, kindly hosted by the German Government
in December 2011.

With the United States, we are negotiating a
separate bilateral security agreement that will define
the parameters of the long-term security and defence
cooperation between our two countries. I should like
to reiterate our long-standing principled position that
any bilateral security agreements that Afghanistan
signs with other countries, including the United States,
will be purely for the purpose of ensuring peace,
security, development and the consolidation of our
young democracy, and not directed at our neighbours
or any countries in the region. Afghanistan belongs to
its region. As recent history has clearly demonstrated,
the peace, security and stability of Afghanistan, as the
centre of the heart of Asia region, has a direct impact
on the peace, security and stability of the entire region,
and vice versa. We want Afghanistan to serve its
rightful role as a key land bridge in our vital region
for the flow of people, goods and investments. In that
context, the Istanbul Process on Regional Security and
Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Afghanistan, which
we launched together with our Turkish friends and all
other participating and supporting States in November
2011, is of vital importance for confidence-building
and promoting results-oriented cooperation.

Two follow-on ministerial meetings, in Kabul in
June 2012 and in Almaty in April of this year, have
taken the Process to the level of maturity. It has now
developed into a meaningful forum for discussion on
specific confidence-building measures and enjoys
considerable momentum. As the permanent co-Chair
of the Process, the Afghan Government is particularly
grateful to the People’s Republic of China for hosting
the next ministerial meeting next summer.

In addition to improving cooperation and confidence
on a whole range of other issues, all countries in our
region, and our allies and friends in the international
community, must continue decisively to confront
the single biggest challenge that still endangers our
collective peace and security and undermines the
welfare of our people, namely, the continuing menace
of terrorism and extremism and their sanctuaries and
support systems in the region. We will not achieve the
full potential of our citizens or realize true and lasting
peace and security in Afghanistan or the wider region
until we have dealt decisively with the brutality and
evilness of the terrorists who try to harm us every day.
Fortunately, we are more hopeful now than in the past
about a gathering common approach against terrorism
and extremism in our region.

This year’s General Assembly session is taking place
at a time in which the United Nations has seen a number
of conflicts continue, while new ones have taken shape.
In Syria, we watch the ongoing immeasurable suffering
of the great people of that country. Afghanistan calls
for an immediate halt to the violence there, which has
taken the lives of more than 100,000 people, forced
more than 2 million Syrians to become refugees and
left 6.8 million people in urgent need of humanitarian
assistance. We strongly support a political solution,
reached through a broad-based national dialogue that
meets the aspirations of all Syrians. Moreover, the
international community must provide the support
necessary to address the humanitarian needs of those
affected by the conflict, including the millions who
have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Speaking of long-standing conflicts, none is more
evident than the decades-long strife between Palestine
and Israel. Following years of deadlock and impasse,
we see that renewed efforts for a peaceful settlement
have emerged with the resumption of direct negotiations
between the two sides. That is an important development,
which we hope will result in durable peace, enabled by
the establishment of an independent Palestinian State.
We also hope to witness the inclusion of the State of
Palestine as a full Member of the Organization.

In conclusion, as I stand before the Assembly, I
feel more strongly than ever that our shared vision of a
world free from violence, conflict and destitution will
be achieved only if we put our differences aside and act

as one. If we adhere to the principles of understanding,
solidarity and cooperation, we will be able to secure our
collective future, as evidenced in the historic successes
we have achieved in Afghanistan over the past 12 years.

The United Nations has been a reliable partner in
helping us come this far. As we prepare to embark upon
the transformation decade, we expect the Organization
to continue its support through a renewed approach that
reinforces Afghanistan’s leadership and ownership. Let
me also assure the Assembly that, as we in Afghanistan
work to preserve our gains and consolidate our young
democracy in the crucial years ahead, we will remain
an active Member of the United Nations.


Defining the post-2015
strategy for development is among the most important
long-term multilateral agendas existing today. The task
is complex, but the mission — to make our common
development sustainable — should be clear. It is not just
a synonym for the protection of the environment. The
mission is to make sure that our societies, economies,
environment and partnerships will serve us all and
serve the generations to come.

By 2030, our population will be 9 billion people,
65 per cent of whom will live in cities, forming
consumer societies with ever-growing demands but
using the same or a declining pool of natural resources.
Civil societies and other non-governmental players have
more influence than ever on our values and decisions.
We are racing against climate change. Our perceptions
of progress, equity, inequality, affluence and resource
management are changing as we speak. The post-2015
development agenda has to reflect these changes.

As we face a turning point in our history and the
state of the Earth, it is only with a fundamental shift in
mindset that humanity will succeed in a transition to
global sustainable development. We have to accelerate
progress towards the goals set out in the Millennium
Development Goals. However, we know that by 2015
we may not be able to meet all the targets we set in
2000. Therefore, the next important step is to create
a single agenda through which we will complete the
unfinished business and make sure that the results
will last even in the light of the tremendous challenges
facing humankind.

We should aim at eradicating extreme poverty
in a single generation. The transformation to
sustainable development is costly; however, it would be
incomparably more costly to miss the chance. We should
learn from past mistakes and find better alternatives.
We all need economic growth. We all need justice,
respect for human rights, gender equality, dignity, good
governance and successfully implemented national
development plans. We all deserve to live free of want
and from fear of devastating conflicts. Our objective
should be not a zero-sum game but a win-win outcome.
We all share the consequences; therefore we should be
aware of our common responsibility as well.

The decisions we make today will also need to be
relevant in 15 years. When our successors look back
in 2030 on the agenda we are about to decide on, they
should acknowledge the purpose, priorities and targets
jointly set. They should be convinced that our action
had the right impact and made this world a better place.
I thank the Member States for the confidence they

have shown in Hungary by entrusting us to co-chair
the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development
Goals. We will do our best to achieve a consensual,
forward-looking, win-win formula as the outcome of
the negotiating process.

Hungary attaches the utmost importance to the
issue of water and sanitation. We believe that it needs
to be addressed in an integrated way to achieve a
human rights-based social development prosperity and
ecological balance. Water is a source of life, health,
prosperity and a shared future, but it can also be a
source of risk.

In order to take stock of the various international
developments in the field of water, Hungary has
decided to organize the Budapest Water Summit, to
be held in our capital from 8 to 11 October. Hungary
is a downstream country with about 95 per cent of all
fluvial waters originating beyond our State borders. We
have accumulated precious know-how in flood control,
drinking water, wastewater treatment and irrigation,
just to list a few. The Summit will be accompanied by
a science forum, a youth forum, a civil society forum,
a business leaders’ forum and Expo, and a philanthropy
round table. We look forward to welcoming Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations agencies
active in the field of water, as well as other international
and national leaders to the conference. More than 100
countries and international institutions have confirmed
they will be represented in Budapest. The Summit
will adopt the Budapest Statement, and we hope that
it will, as a synthesis document, greatly contribute to
and facilitate the discussions and negotiations on the
sustainable development goals.

The appalling situations in various parts of the
world leave no doubt as to the interdependence and
mutually reinforcing nature of democracy, peace and
security, development and human rights. A cross-policy
approach that takes account of those interrelationships
should be integrated into the work of the various bodies
and forums of the United Nations.

Hungary welcomes the measures that the United
Nations system is introducing to mainstream human
rights. Likewise, it encourages national initiatives
and contributions to the protection of human rights.
Hungary remains dedicated to the promotion of human
rights and fundamental freedoms. It was in this spirit
that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
established the annual Budapest Human Rights Forum,
intended to apply an interrelated philosophy to address
current human rights challenges. The next Forum is
due to take place in November and will be dedicated,
among other things, to the relationship between human
rights and sustainable development.

Hungary is committed to disarmament and
non-proliferation efforts, which are fundamental for
maintaining global peace and security. We urge all
countries to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention.
We also support the establishment of a zone free of
weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, as
foreseen by the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties
to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons.

My country was greatly honoured to chair the
International Atomic Energy Agency’s International
Conference on Nuclear Security in July and sincerely
hopes that the results of that Conference will contribute
to a safer world.

On the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
(CTBT), I am confident that its entry into force will
greatly strengthen global peace and security. Only
a treaty in force will confine the chapter on nuclear
testing to the history books. We therefore need to
further intensify our respective efforts. I and my
fellow article XIV Coordinator Mr. Marty Natalegawa,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, will make an
attempt to bring us closer to that goal. I look forward
to our co-coordinatorship of the CTBT for the period
2013-2015 with a view to accelerating the ratification
process.

The use of chemical weapons in Syria was a
crime against humanity. The international community
has finally embarked on action to ensure that similar
attacks will never be repeated. We urge that the
perpetrators of all war crimes be brought to justice.
Without justice there is no reconciliation. Without a
chance for reconciliation, there is no lasting settlement.
We welcome the United States-Russia agreement on
the framework for the elimination of Syrian chemical
weapons as well as the consequent resolutions adopted
by the Executive Council of the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and the Security
Council. We look forward to a timely, transparent and
full-scale implementation under the watchful eyes of
the international community.

Hungary is ready to provide chemical and biological
experts on the ground to facilitate those international

efforts. We urge the Syrian authorities to take full
responsibility to ensure that their chemical weapons are
stored securely until inspection and destruction, and do
not fall into the hands of any other State or non-State
actor. Syria should live up to its commitments, including
by providing full access to the international inspectors.

We hope that these developments will bring us
closer to a lasting and sustainable political solution,
which should remain the backbone of our efforts in
the Syrian crisis. Well over 100,000 lives have already
been lost and 5 million people displaced in this conflict.
Most regrettably, it was only after a terrible chemical
attack last August that the Security Council became
ready to fulfil its duties and embarked on action. I urge
all partners in the international community to seize
this momentum and reinvigorate the process leading
to the long-overdue “Geneva II” international peace
conference on Syria.

Last, but not least, my country is shocked by and
strongly condemns the surging terrorist attacks against
civilians at the Westgate Mall in Kenya, students in
Nigeria, and Christian, Muslim and other communities
in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Our
solidarity and sympathy go to the innocent victims.


At the outset,
I would like to congratulate Mr. John Ashe on his
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
its sixty-eighth session and wish him every success
in fulfilling this highly responsible duty. We are also
grateful to Mr. Vuk Jeremi. for his able presidency of
General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session.

This year’s general debate is taking place during
a period of serious threats and challenges to peace,
security and sustainable development. Environmental,
economic and social indicators demonstrate that
the models for progress and development need to
be modified and adapted. The theme of the current
general debate, “The post-2015 development agenda:
setting the stage”, is timely and topical in providing

an opportunity for evaluating the progress achieved so
far and identifying new ways of overcoming existing
obstacles.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
which were adopted to address extreme poverty and
multiple other forms of deprivation and for defining
future development priorities, are of key importance in
making future positive differences in the world.

Azerbaijan recently became a donor country and
contributes to the sustainable development efforts of
countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This is a
brand-new chapter in the history of my country and its
activities in the international arena. A national entity,
the Azerbaijan International Development Agency,
which was established for that purpose, has already
carried out various assistance programmes in more
than 20 countries. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation
has also conducted various humanitarian and social
programmes.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations recently commended Azerbaijan’s
achievements in combating hunger and recognized that
the country has accomplished the first MDG, namely,
combating undernourishment. Moreover, gender
equality, the empowerment of women and the fight
against HIV/AIDS have also been identified as areas
of progress.

One of the key elements that Azerbaijan is
considering in the context of the post-2015 agenda is
information and communications technology (ICT),
which is a driving force of development and progress.
To achieve the objective of ensuring improved access
to ICT, efforts must be intensified to enhance regional
synergies for promoting investment in ICT capacity-
building, refocusing tools and content so as to address
the particular needs of populations and thus better
deploying ICT in the service of sustainable development.

In that connection, Azerbaijan has put forward
a proposal to establish the Eurasian Connectivity
Alliance, a regional platform in support of improved
connectivity and greater cooperation in the field of
ICT. We are encouraged by Member States’ support for
that initiative through the adoption of resolution 67/298
in September and look forward to further cooperation
with interested Governments and other stakeholders.

The world is still witnessing violations of the
fundamental norms and principles of international law.
Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world
continue to suffer from acts of aggression, military
occupation, ethnic cleansing and a prevailing culture of
impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the
international community.

Twenty years ago, in 1993, the Security Council
adopted four resolutions — resolutions 822 (1993), 853
(1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993) — condemning the
use of force against Azerbaijan and the occupation of its
territories. In those resolutions, the Council reaffirmed
respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan, reconfirmed that the Nagorno Karabakh
region is an integral part of Azerbaijan, and demanded
the immediate, full and unconditional withdrawal of
the occupying forces from all the occupied territories.

The resolutions also made specific reference to
violations of international humanitarian law, including
the violent displacement of a large number of civilians
in Azerbaijan, attacks on civilians and the bombing of
its territory.

A series of Security Council presidential statements
on the issue adopted between 1992 and 1995 are phrased
along the same lines. All in all, the aforementioned
resolutions, which are clearly the most authoritative and
binding rulings on the problem, acknowledge that acts
of military force were committed against Azerbaijan
and that such acts constitute a serious violation of
international law.

To our deep regret, the Security Council’s principled
demands, including, in the first place, the withdrawal
of occupying forces from the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan, have still not been implemented, and the
mediation efforts conducted for more than 20 years
within the framework of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), have yet to yield
results. Against that background, with a view to
deflecting the attention of the international community
from the urgent need to address the main problems
caused by its continuing aggression against Azerbaijan,
Armenia has been undertaking efforts to distort the
actual situation and downplaying the relevance of
Security Council resolutions and misinterpreting their
provisions. Moreover, Armenia’s continued claims of
annexation and the consistent measures it has been
undertaking in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan
with a view to further consolidating the status quo of
the occupation and preventing the return of hundreds
of thousands of internally displaced persons to their

homeland represent an open challenge to the conflict-
resolution process and pose a serious threat to
international and regional peace and security.

On our initiative at the United Nations in 2005
and 2010, OSCE-led fact-finding and fact-assessment
missions visited the occupied territories. Both missions
documented the fact of illegal activities in those
areas, involving, inter alia, the insertion of settlers,
the extensive redrawing of boundaries, the changing
of original geographic names, and the discriminatory
treatment of cultural property and sacred sites. However,
the missions’ recommendations remain just on paper.
Moreover, the latest reports on the transfer of Syrian
Armenians into the Nagorno Karabakh region and
seven other adjacent occupied districts of Azerbaijan,
along with other illegal activities, including efforts to
operate flights into and out of those territories, provide
yet more evidence of Armenia’s deliberate policy of
annexing Azerbaijani land.

In that regard, it is critical that the international
community continue to insist on the need for an
immediate and unconditional end to all actions that
are seriously obstructing the prospects of a negotiated
peaceful settlement to the conflict. Armenia’s policy of
annexation has absolutely no chance of succeeding. The
Nagorno Karabakh region was, is and will always be an
inalienable part of Azerbaijan. The only way to achieve
a durable and lasting solution and to establish civilized
relations between the two neighbouring States is to
de-occupy Azerbaijani territories, fully re-establish
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,
and comply immediately with the inalienable right
of refugees and internally displaced persons to
return to their homes. That is what international
law and the relevant Security Council resolutions
require, something that can in no way be introduced
as a bargaining chip during the conflict-settlement
process. Above all, Azerbaijan will never compromise
its territorial integrity or the rights and freedoms of
its citizens. Without prejudice to its rights under the
Charter of the United Nations, in particular those set
forth in Article 51, Azerbaijan has embarked upon, and
remains committed to, the conflict-settlement process.

We have no doubt that the Azerbaijani and
Armenian communities of Nagorno Karabakh will
one day live side by side in peace and dignity in this
region of Azerbaijan. It is therefore essential and
vital to continue efforts towards peace, agreement
and coexistence between the two communities of the
Nagorno Karabakh region. We consider those aspects
to be an important part of the entire reconciliation
process, which should be given the attention it deserves.

Azerbaijan highly appreciates the principled
stance of the States Members of the United Nations
that has been expressed on issues that are important
for Azerbaijan and pertaining to its sovereignty and
territorial integrity. We count on the continued resolve
of the international community to defend the purposes
and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, as
well as its strong solidarity with the just position of
Azerbaijan.

We note the encouraging developments in the
Middle East peace process with the resumption of direct
negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The current
situation of insecurity in the whole region necessitates
progress in the peace process as never before. It is
imperative that the parties demonstrate responsibility
to sustain international efforts towards achieving the
two-State solution and avoid actions that would risk
undermining that objective. The economic, financial
and humanitarian situation in Palestine requires
continued international attention and assistance,
particularly in order to ensure humanitarian aid for the
region.

In June, Azerbaijan hosted a conference of the
Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation on the establishment of an Islamic
financial safety net in support of Palestine, as well as
a donors conference in support of the city of Al-Quds.
States members of the OIC and other international
organizations attending the conferences pledged to
contribute to improving Palestine’s economy, health
care and education, as well as two infrastructure
projects.

We welcome yesterday’s adoption of Security Council
resolution 2118 (2013), regarding the safeguarding and
destruction of Syria’s chemical-weapon stockpiles.
We hope that the unanimous and strong position
demonstrated by the Council will contribute to finding
a political solution to the conflict in Syria, putting an
end to the suffering inflicted on the Syrian people and
ensuring that all parties concerned comply with their
obligations and commitments under international law.
Azerbaijan strongly condemns the use of chemical
weapons in Syria, particularly the resulting killing of
civilians. Resolution 2118 (2013) affirms that the use
of chemical weapons constitutes a serious violation of

international law and qualifies such an act as a threat
to international peace and security. By endorsing the
Geneva communiqué of 30 June 2012 (S/2012/522,
annex) and calling for the convening of an international
conference on Syria, the Security Council paved the
way for achieving a peaceful transition, stability and
reconciliation. It is imperative that all parties cease
armed violence, engage constructively in the political
process and commit to the implementation of the
Geneva communiqué.

In conclusion, I would like to express our hope
that during the sixty-eighth session of the General
Assembly, Member States will be able to take
successful steps towards a stronger and more effective
United Nations. We look forward to the continued
commitment and engagement of the United Nations
system, both in reinforcing the implementation of
national development goals by individual countries and
in ensuring the implementation of the decisions and
resolutions adopted by the Organization.


I
congratulate Mr. John Ashe on his election as President
of the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session.
I convey my deep gratitude and appreciation to the
Secretary-General for his work to strengthen the
role and effectiveness of the United Nations, fully
supporting the principles of the Charter of the United
Nations.

I take this opportunity to emphasize my country’s
alignment with the positions of the European Union,
presented by the President of the European Council,
Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, in his address (see
A/68/PV.8).

Greece remains fully committed to the objectives
of the United Nations, whose universal ideals have
never ceased to inspire us. We are deeply committed
to our collective work for sustainable peace, prosperity
and safeguarding human dignity. In that spirit, we lend
our full support to the efforts to reform and strengthen
the Organization in order to meet the challenges of the
twenty-first century.

We welcome the special event on the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and the High-Level
Political Forum that took place this week and highlighted
the broad themes of international development and
cooperation.

The effective management of migration can have
a positive impact on the countries of origin and of
destination. The High-Level Dialogue on International
Migration and Development to be held on 3 and 4 October
presents an important opportunity to develop a global
agenda for the effective and inclusive management of
migration and to reaffirm the necessary political will.
Greece is committed to participating actively in joint
efforts to that end.

Greece and the other countries of southern Europe
are under great pressure with regard to the issue of illegal
immigration, which weighs heavily on our financial and
administrative capacities. The effective management
of migration represents for our country a key political
option in that it relates directly to safeguarding and
respecting human rights, social cohesion and public
security, and to maintaining the economic stability
of our countries. On the basis of our experience of
recent years, we have reviewed our national action
plan to reform the system of asylum and immigration.
Furthermore, migration and mobility issues will be
among the priorities of the Greek presidency of the
European Council in the first term of 2014.

The promotion of human rights is a priority interest.
Greece will lend its full support to strengthening the
Human Rights Council with a solid mandate. Greece is
determined to contribute actively to the mission of the
Human Rights Council and is presenting its candidature
for the 2017–2019 term. Greece is strongly devoted to
the decisive role of the United Nations in peace and
security. In spite of financial restraints, we remain
firmly committed to peacekeeping operations, to which
we contribute personnel and resources, including to the
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. We support
efforts to prevent conflicts and promote the peaceful
settlement of disputes. Moreover, we attach particular
importance to cooperation between the European
Union and the United Nations in the field of crisis
management, and we welcome the work undertaken to
further strengthen that cooperation.

(spoke in English)
The relaunching of peace negotiations between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority, facilitated by the
United States, provides an important opportunity to
reach a final settlement to this long-standing problem,
to the benefit and stability in the wider region, based
on a two-State solution with a secure Israel and a
sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestine living side
by side. Prime Minister Netanyahu and President
Abbas must be praised for their leadership and courage
to engage in the peace talks. Now is the time to take
bold and concrete steps towards peace.

Greece is very concerned with the ongoing
crisis in Syria, which jeopardizes stability in a very
fragile region. Greece and the European Union have
unequivocally condemned the use of chemical weapons,
and we strongly support the United States-Russian
Federation initiative for the collection and destruction
of Syria’s chemical arsenal. We welcome the diplomatic
breakthrough expected to be achieved by the Security
Council on the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.
It is our fervent hope that it will be a crucial turning
point in the Syrian crisis, providing vital momentum
towards a “Geneva II”-type process that can take us to
a viable and inclusive political resolution of the Syrian
crisis.

Greece has always been a firm supporter of a
European future for the Balkan region. The process
of European integration means leaving behind old,
divisive mentalities and moving towards an era of close
cooperation, on the basis of shared values and principles.
Demonstrating political courage, Belgrade and Pristina
concluded an historic agreement in April, which is a
major development towards consolidating peace and
stability in the Western Balkans and advancing the
European integration of both sides.

We seek to develop our relations with the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the basis of the
principles of the Charter of the United Nations and
within the framework of good neighbourly relations.
Greece is committed to the ongoing United Nations-
led negotiation process and to finding a solution on
the issue of a name. We therefore continue our efforts
to reach a mutually acceptable name for all uses, erga
omnes, that will leave no grey areas and allow for a clear
distinction between our neighbouring country and the
region of Macedonia in northern Greece. The solution
of the name issue will enable both Greece and its
neighbour to develop multidimensional and productive
cooperation at the bilateral and regional levels. It will
also contribute to the stability and prosperity of South-
East Europe and boost the country’s Euro-Atlantic
aspirations.

Thirty-nine years after the Turkish military invasion
of the island, the Cyprus problem remains first and
foremost an issue of illegal military occupation of well
over one third of the territory of a Member State of the
United Nations and European Union. A comprehensive
agreed settlement of that major international problem is
a top priority for the foreign policy of Greece. In that
context, Greece greatly values the Secretary-General’s
mission of good offices, in particular his ongoing efforts
to successfully relaunch the intercommunal negotiating
process. We also fully support President Anastasiadis’
renewed constructive package proposal.

We hope that Ankara will decide at long last to
pursue a new policy of normalization of its relations

with the Republic of Cyprus. Such a Turkish policy
would decisively facilitate the relaunching of
intercommunal negotiations on a just and viable
solution to the Cyprus issue within the framework of
the relevant Security Council resolutions, in line with
the acquis communautaire and approved by the Cypriot
people through a referendum. The new developments
in the energy sector regarding the exploitation of
hydrocarbons can serve as a factor for development,
peace and stability throughout the region.

Relations with our neighbour Turkey are set on
a positive course. Institutionalized cooperation at
the highest governmental level, as well as increasing
tourism and economic cooperation, can create further
potential for the future. Nevertheless, critical factors
needed to promote substantial and promising prospects
for our relationship with our eastern neighbour are full
respect for international law and international legality
and, within this framework, a just and viable solution
to the Cyprus issue.

The Greek people have succeeded in restoring
the country’s credibility. Greece has already
achieved the highest structural primary surplus in the
Eurozone — 5 per cent of gross domestic product. Greece
has achieved a peacetime historical first — a fiscal
adjustment of 19 per cent of gross domestic product
in the four years from 2009 to 2013. We have done so
in spite of six years of recession. We have carried out
necessary structural reforms in public administration,
the investment sector and the labour market, and our
privatization programme is already yielding results. But
all of that has, of course, come through great sacrifices
borne by the Greek people and at a very high social
and political cost. Defending democracy and the rule of
law against forms of racist, xenophobic conduct and all
forms of social violence is a fundamental engagement
of the Hellenic Republic.

I also wish to say a few words about the priorities
of Greece’s upcoming presidency of the Council of the
European Union in the first half of 2014. Coming at
a time of unprecedented economic challenges for the
Union, our presidency will carry forward the vital
debate on the future of Europe — a debate that will
intensify as we approach next year’s European elections.

All the issues that humankind is facing and that are
being dealt with by General Assembly at this session
highlight the need to enhance the role of the United
Nations and to further consolidate the institutions of
global economic and political governance. The hopes of
the international community are oriented towards the
United Nations. Our Organization has to send a strong
and clear message of peace, security and prosperity
to the peoples of the world, particularly the younger
generation.