Right at this very moment, as I begin my address here, a young pregnant woman from the Sahel is boarding an overcrowded plastic raft, risking her life to cross the sea in search of a better future. She knows that the end of the journey is not assured, because the Mediterranean has sadly become the world’s largest watery grave. She is fleeing hunger and drought, but she has no other choice. On the other side of the Atlantic, a Central American family crosses northern Mexico on foot, because they are so desperate that no wall, however high, could stand in the way of their quest to find peace, food and shelter for their children.
Right at this very moment, even as I address the Assembly, a robot is operating with pinpoint accuracy on a patient in a Tokyo hospital, saving him from what years ago would have been a certain death. In the waiting room, on the other side of the operating theatre wall, the patient’s loved ones are staring at the TV, watching a Wayapi family cry inconsolably because their homes and their villages, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, are being consumed by flames.
At the same time, in the bustle of the city streets, one of the thousands of couriers working in Manhattan, London or Madrid is receiving an order that someone has just placed from their mobile phone. The courier will be paid mere pennies for each minute of the journey, but even so he will get on his bicycle, make the delivery and hope to receive another message soon and so continue his working day. He has no other choice.
What I am describing to the Assembly could easily be an excerpt from the screenplay of one of the many dystopian series on television these days. But no: these are the real stories of real people who are crying out for us to take action. These are clear examples of the magnitude of the global challenges that we face today: the climate emergency, hunger, migratory pressure, the technological and digital revolution, social and gender inequality and hate speech, which is so prevalent today.
Gathered here today are representatives of the almost 200 countries that make up the United Nations. I want to take advantage of the privilege that it is for me to be standing here at this rostrum to send a simple but resounding message: we must act. We must act now because the Earth is bleeding. We must act now because the problems of our peoples simply cannot wait. We must act now because the challenges of this millennium are exceeding the limits and capacities of our nation States.
We must act so that the Assembly can make a real difference. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked of us that we make fewer speeches and offer more plans. We must replace grandiose speeches with clear commitments. What our citizens want from us is action. Never before in the history of humankind has the need to elaborate a shared world project been so critical and so urgent. It is our imperative responsibility to determine our vision for the future.
Allow me to ask a few questions: are we clear about the problems we are discussing here today? Have we all reached the same conclusion? Do we know the kind of world we want to leave our great-grandchildren? Have we decided what our role in this change is going to be? I would like to believe that we know the answers to these questions. In this spirit, allow me to answer them from Spain’s perspective and describe the contribution of the country that I have the honour to lead.
First, it is abundantly clear to me, as the President of the Government of Spain, that the most urgent challenges are precisely those faced by the protagonists of the stories I have just told the Assembly: hunger, the climate emergency, the digital revolution, economic and social inequality, gender inequality, access for the disabled, the violence of war and, without a doubt, discrimination.
Secondly, Spain advocates concerted global action. That is why every time we come here we invoke the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That is why we signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Thirdly, we know exactly what kind of world we want to leave our descendants. We want a world that is just, sustainable and egalitarian. We want an international community that is committed to a new global social contract, the 2030 Agenda. We want Governments that share a sense of responsibility and that are committed to the conservation of our planet, to sustainable development and to the expansion and reaffirmation of democratic values.
Lastly, we are very clear on the role that Spain wants to play: that of a committed, compassionate and conscious society — a society that takes the lead and wants to be at the forefront, along with other countries, of major transformations.
On the eve of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, in 2020, Spain, which was one of the world’s first modern States, was not, however, one of the founding States of this great institution: the United Nations. Spain was not one of the founding States for one simple reason: Franco’s dictatorship, which held our country hostage for 40 years and collaborated with the Nazi regime during the Second World War — a fact that was incompatible with our becoming part of an Organization that was created for the opposite reason: to promote peace and democratic values.
Spain later embraced democracy, emerging from that dark dictatorship 40 years ago, and has succeeded in building a prosperous and free country, a decentralized State committed to diversity. Spain has one of the best health-care systems in the world; it is also one of the world’s safest countries; and it is internationally considered to be one of the world’s strongest democracies, protected by robust safeguards. It is the world’s preferred travel destination and one of the best countries in which to live.
Today, 24 September, is a very important day for Spain. Today an announcement has been made that is very important to Spanish society. We have symbolically closed the democratic circle, as the Spanish Supreme Court has authorized the exhumation of Franco the dictator’s remains from the public mausoleum in which he was buried with State honours. This is a major victory for Spanish democracy. On this day, 24 September, we are therefore closing a dark chapter of our history, and work is beginning to remove Franco the dictator’s remains from where they had lain — indefensibly — for far too long, because no enemy of democracy deserves to lie in a place of worship or of institutional respect.
The Spanish people chose peace, freedom and democracy, and with these tools we are going to continue building the future. Today we want to share the achievements we have made in the past 40 years and our transformative spirit.
In our country, a great revolution is brewing that will forever change our vision of the world; I am speaking here of the fourth wave of feminism. I can say with pride that, in Spain, the momentum of equality is unstoppable. There are two dates on our calendar that exemplify this perfectly: 8 March, International Women’s Day, and LGBTI Pride Day.
The strong voice of Spain’s women can be heard loud and clear in every corner of the country and of the planet. Machismo is not just a Government concern but a daily concern shared by the general public. The LGBTI community has given us a true lesson on human rights, as there is no better flag than that which embraces diversity as a source of human wealth.
Spain is today a geostrategically significant power with an international vision, a committed democracy that has been actively participating for decades in United Nations peace missions and that is implementing at the national level policies to further democracy and expand the rights and freedoms promoted here at the United Nations.
As a full member of this Organization, Spain is also calling for a change. The historic contributions of the United Nations are many and undeniable, but our peoples expect even more from us. It would seem that our reflexes are slow and that our response capacity is at times sluggish, and we are not going to be able to rise to the challenges facing us if we are not able to give the best of ourselves. Now is the time for action.
We are living in paradoxical times, times of great contradictions, times in which poverty, hardship and social exclusion coexist with technological transformation and the digital revolution — times in which we are increasingly aware of what lies ahead of us and of how what happens on the other side of the world can have consequences in our own environment. Yet we do not seem to be able to summon up the courage required to sit down together and forge the agreements necessary to address our problems.
It is clear that global challenges call for coordinated actions at the international level. They are expressions of a true change in era and of a new stage in the history of humankind. Major transformations without a doubt represent threats, but they can also represent major opportunities. That is why all responses based on maintaining the status quo or on returning to a past that was idealized, if we look at it objectively, are doomed to failure. Those who shut themselves away behind protectionism or ultranationalism, that is, the narrative of fear, are profoundly mistaken. Looking back to the past will not make the future disappear; we will only succeed in erasing ourselves from the future. The changes I have mentioned are not going to stop, nor are they going to respect borders or any sort of wall, no matter how high that wall may be.
On the contrary, we must be aware that this future can be won only if we approach it with empathy, courage, cooperation and leadership, and only if we are ambitious and aware that multilateralism has no realistic alternative in today’s world. The future will be what we want it to be. It is in our hands, and this Organization, the United Nations, has much to say about it. It is possible. Let us therefore act.
The Paris Climate Agreement and 2030 Agenda, inter alia, contain the diagnosis, the objectives and the road map. We have worked hard over the years to give them shape and to achieve consensus, and it has not been easy. But we did it, and we did so because we need a future that includes everyone, that leaves no one behind — no country, no region and no human being.
Our task now is not to continue reflecting or continue debating, but to turn the Sustainable Development Goals into reality. The decisions we take now will affect the future of the next generations. Consequently, not acting is no longer a matter of choice; it is in fact an enormous irresponsibility.
I have just referred to 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, and I would like to underline the operative word, which is, in my opinion, essential for the world in which we live, namely, “sustainable”. Nothing that is not sustainable is acceptable any more. And this, as the Assembly knows, is not an ideological opinion, but — even if some may find it hard to admit it — a forceful and obvious scientific fact. We need to save our planet, and no one is exempt from that responsibility. It has been said from this very rostrum — we are facing a climate emergency that will not brook any kind of excuses. This emergency requires us to transform the way we think, produce, consume, in short, live.
Let us act now to respond to the climate emergency and let us do so from a multilateralist point of view. I say this because Hurricane Dorian in the United States, the cold drop in Spain a few weeks ago and the desertification of Senegal are the symptoms of the same evil. Much-needed local solutions and national solutions are not enough. Let us therefore act. Let us act, for example, to recognize some ecosystems as global public goods with their own special status.
Spain is making a great effort to be part of the group of countries driving the climate agenda. It is one of the central axes of my Government’s programme, and we want to demonstrate our firm commitment with deeds. We have set out to decarbonize our economy by 2050 in a socially just, supportive and efficient manner, without leaving anyone behind. To this end, we have approved and presented an ambitious strategic framework for energy and climate.
We set ourselves the challenge of climate change as a great opportunity — and not as a great threat — to transform our economic model, modernize our labour market, create quality employment, gain in energy security and innovation, improve citizens’ health and position our country, Spain, at the forefront of the technologies that will dominate the next century.
The climate emergency also requires the mobilization of financial resources at all levels. For this reason, I announced at the Climate Action Summit on Monday that Spain will contribute €150 million to the Green Climate Fund over the next four years. We will also ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal, and we will contribute €2 million to the Adaptation Fund.
I think all of us in this Hall have seen the recent photo of dogs pulling a sled over the thawed waters of Greenland. It was not an edited photo; the temperature of the waters in that area has risen by five degrees in just one year. That is a real alarm, as is watching the Amazon burn before the impotent gaze of the indigenous populations.
Why have we not acted forcefully enough? We already have examples of good practices that I would like to champion: for example, decades-long joint efforts under the Montreal Protocol are bearing fruit — they have been effective — and we are regenerating our ozone layer. We also have good ideas. Let us get the Green New Deal going. The climate emergency is the great threat of our age, but we have alternatives. What is important is that we take action.
In addition to sustainability, we need much more social justice. The so-called millennials and centennials today are 20 per cent less likely to be middle class than their parents. They also have fewer options to work at what they are qualified for. Online delivery companies, for example, are today full of university graduates.
The inequality gap does not stop growing: some recent reports point out that, in 2030, 1 per cent of the world’s population will accumulate two thirds of our planet’s total wealth. While being a dramatic figure, it is not the worst figure of all: according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, more than 800 million human beings on our planet are suffering from hunger.
The concepts of sustainability, justice and human dignity cannot be understood without the necessary and tireless fight against hunger, poverty and precariousness. All these concepts are enshrined in the 2030 Agenda and require us to transform our societies in depth, in a structural way. But we will not really be able to talk about progress if we do not put the human being at the centre of our policies. I say this because the issue of progress must be met with a progressive response.
Globalization must be based on rights, freedoms and actions to curb inequality and environmental degradation. Everything is ultimately interconnected: industrial relocation generates unemployment in the departed region but also causes environmental impacts in the destination region. Global warming affects the livelihoods of the countries of the South and also provokes migratory movements towards the North. The rich countries of the North are seduced by racism and hate speech and blame the migrants for their so-called first-world problems. Inequalities in the welfare state are a breeding ground for illiteracy and pandemics in developing countries.
Let us act. Spain assures the Assembly that it is doing so. Accordingly, I would like to make two important announcements. The first of them is that Spain will contribute €100 million over five years to the Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund. The second announcement is that Spain will return to the donor community of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by making a contribution of €100 million over the next three years.
Let us also talk about technological transformation and changes in the world economic order. As the Assembly knows, the technological revolution has already profoundly transformed our societies, and it will continue to do so without us being able to see their limits, their potential and also the risks that they bring. Our systems of production, consumption, health, transport and even of socialization and security are changing radically. As just one example, the mobile technology we all have in our pocket is superior to that used to send us to the Moon for the first time. We are also seeing previously unimaginable new phenomena that could undermine States: cyberattacks and fake news are different manifestations of the use of technology as a transnational weapon of attrition.
Nevertheless, big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things are concepts — terms — that only a part of the world can experience. Not everyone can be operated on by a robot. Inequality includes technological inequality. Fighting technological inequality is also a Sustainable Development Goal.
Faced with the disruptive nature of this revolution, we in the public sphere must ensure that progress is at the service of human beings. The jobs of the future will be different. As is often said, we do not know exactly what the work of our children and grandchildren will be. But what we have to be very clear about is that, while these jobs may be different, they also have to be dignified.
The transport of the future will be faster, but it must be sustainable, affordable and accessible also for people with disabilities. The future we want must also be able to create wealth and distribute it fairly. However, trade tensions represent a major threat to prosperity. The stability of the world economy is ultimately at stake.
In the face of mistrust and dirty wars, bridges need to be built. An example of this is the new trade agreements reached recently by the Southern Common Market and the European Union, which are committed to opening up the economy to trade, while protecting labour, social and environmental rights.
The outbreak of a trade war with unpredictable consequences can and must be avoided. It is up to us to abandon unilateral actions and resolve our differences in the framework of the rules-based multilateral trading system, centred on the World Trade Organization, which should of course be reformed.
Let me reiterate that my vision of a just world cannot be understood without a key basic principle — that of gender equality, equality between men and women. I have said it on more than one occasion and I reaffirm it today. I am a feminist President and I have the honour to be part of a feminist Government. My commitment in that area is absolute.
That is why Spain will promote the fight against male violence against women here at the United Nations and at the European Union, incorporating the recommendations of UN-Women and promoting the European Strategy on Gender Equality at the European Union. That Strategy must be binding for each and every country of the European Union. We will work towards a joint definition of femicide and homogeneous legislation on the subject.
We will continue to lead the women and peace and security agenda. Together with Finland, we promoted the initiative Commitment 2025 on Women’s Inclusion in Peace Processes, including the ambitious commitment to ensure that in five years’ time, the inclusion of women in peace processes will be the rule and not the exception.
During the current session, we will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. We will firmly uphold the consensus forged for more than two decades. We cannot roll back progress in such areas as universal access to sexual and reproductive health services. We cannot stand by and allow women to be tricked into boarding small boats by sexual exploitation mafias. We cannot stand by and allow forced marriage or female genital mutilation to take place. We cannot stand by while the rights of half the human race continue to be violated in every corner of the planet. We must act.
Migration is part of the human condition and is an extraordinarily complex phenomenon in today’s societies. That is why we have an obligation to regulate it. When migration is safe, orderly and addressed in a comprehensive manner, it enriches all those involved. Spain firmly supports close cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination.
We must say no to crude and simplistic policies that are born of hatred and rejection. We must continue working towards a joint and coordinated response to the humanitarian challenge of migration. We must fulfil our commitments under international humanitarian law and the Marrakech Compact on Migration and live up to our responsibility as countries of refuge. We must overcome the current dynamic of short-term solutions. We must wake up and seek a compassionate global response.
I am concerned about conflicts on the international stage and the consequences of war and geopolitical tensions that end up affecting, as always, the weakest and most vulnerable, in particular women and girls. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees continues providing alarming statistics: 70 million people are forcibly displaced, of whom nearly 26 million are refugees. That is unacceptable.
I am concerned about the regional impact of the crisis in Libya. The Sahel is also a source of instability. However, for a country like Spain, Africa is, first and foremost, synonymous with hope and opportunity. In spite of the major challenges faced by Africa, six out of every 10 countries with the highest rate of growth in the world are in that continent. That is why we will become directly involved in contributing to the full development of its capacities and transformation into a democratic and peaceful continent of opportunity.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unfinished business for the international community. Spain firmly supports the two-State solution. We call for respect for and application of the gains made by the United Nations. Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace and security in their own States and the international community must support them in the process of reaching an agreement.
The situation in Western Sahara is also on the agenda. The Government of Spain defends the central role of the United Nations and wishes to contribute to the Secretary-General’s efforts to achieve, pursuant to Security Council resolutions, a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, according to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
I am concerned about escalating tensions in the Gulf and the possibility that the wrong response could trigger a conflict with extremely serious consequences in the Near East. We call on parties and stakeholders in the region to act with restraint and we applaud the mediation efforts.
The dismantling of the nuclear deal with Iran would be a major international failure. It is a key element in the fight against nuclear proliferation and an essential milestone for the security of the region.
The situation in Syria is one of the most tragic and the Government of Spain is very concerned. Eight years of conflict have led to chilling statistics — more than 400,000 deaths, 5.6 million refugees, 80 per cent of the Syrian population below the poverty line and 11.7 million people with humanitarian needs. The United Nations can offer a way out of the civil and humanitarian conflict. The utmost pressure must be exerted and Spain pledges its full support to the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General.
The global threat of terrorism still looms. Returning foreign terrorist fighters are a source of concern for Governments. It is essential to promote international judicial cooperation, control their movements, obtain evidence and ensure the proper treatment of prisoners — all without forgetting to show solidarity with the victims of terrorism.
I must also mention the situation in the brotherly country of Venezuela. Spain hopes that Venezuelans themselves will freely decide their country’s future. We believe that it is essential to hold presidential elections, which must be free, democratic and transparent, with all the necessary safeguards. That is the only way to return to democratic and institutional normalcy in that country.
There is another international event which, although not violent in nature, concerns me. The United Kingdom has decided to withdraw from the European Union. I respect that decision, although as I have said publicly on many occasions, I regret it profoundly. I hope that the United Kingdom will withdraw in an orderly manner that benefits British and European citizens, as well as the economic stakeholders that require legal certainty. The deadline is looming large and we must spare no effort in attempting an orderly withdrawal.
The United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union will of course have consequences for Gibraltar. I hope that, with respect to the United Nations position with which Spain aligns itself fully, we will be able to develop an area of prosperity that encompasses Gibraltar and the neighbouring Campo de Gibraltar and achieve social and economic convergence for the entire region.
I will end my statement by reiterating what I said at the start of it. To achieve the world we want, we need a method for action. We need to strengthen multilateralism. It is the only tool that offers a solution to the challenges we have listed — hunger, the climate emergency, the digital revolution, economic and social inequality, gender inequality, the violence of war and discrimination.
It troubles us to see certain parties questioning the most basic points of consensus in those areas. Retreating behind protectionism and ultranationalism threatens the norms that contribute to peaceful coexistence, progress and global prosperity. That is why we must equip multilateralism with the capabilities necessary to ensure that it is active, inclusive and effective. In that regard, we support the Secretary-General in his efforts to reform the Organization.
As I speak, some of the migrants who fled poverty will have realized their dream of achieving a better future. I hope that, thanks to the response we decide on today to address the climate emergency, the soil of their native lands will again become fertile so that no one else is forced to leave ever again. In the past few minutes, a patient has been cured thanks to artificial intelligence. I hope that technology continues progressing to improve the lives and well-being of all people — not only of some but of all people. In the past few minutes, many couriers have arrived on their bicycles at their destinations and have delivered their orders. I hope that in the future they will all again have decent working conditions.
We must ensure that the United Nations plays a lead role in the world we want. We, the representatives of 200 countries, must ensure that the United Nations acts now.


It is indeed a distinct honour to address, for the first time, the General Assembly, which is entrusted with the responsibility of charting the way forward on the wide array of issues that impact our collective development. On behalf of the Government and the people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, I extend sincere congratulations to Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. We look forward to the excellence that he will demonstrate and thank him for the steady hand of leadership he brings to that high office. Allow me also to extend our gratitude to his predecessor, Her Excellency Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces of Ecuador, who served with great distinction as the first female from the Latin American and Caribbean region to be elected President of the General Assembly.
As we approach the seventy-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, a challenging road lies ahead unless we collectively do what is necessary to alter the current trajectory of global events. We continue to note with alarm the number of persons living in poverty, the innumerable threats posed by the effects of unmitigated climate change and the continued exclusion of the most vulnerable in our societies with respect to access to education, social protection and health care. Migration, violent extremism, the scourge of terrorism, the threat of violent conflict and the spread of communicable diseases — such as the recent resurgence of Ebola and measles — are pressing challenges that transcend the borders of individual countries.
We have witnessed extreme flooding, droughts, coral bleaching, rising sea levels, heatwaves and devastating hurricanes with increasing strength and frequency in many parts of the world. In that regard, it was with profound sadness that we witnessed, just a few weeks ago, the horrific destruction of our Caribbean Community (CARICOM) neighbour by Hurricane Dorian, which sat on the small islands of the Bahamas for almost 30 hours. I join with other speakers in offering our deepest condolences to the Government and the people of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas on the loss of life and extensive destruction of property and livelihoods as a result of that unprecedented weather event. Trinidad and Tobago stands in solidarity with and strong support of our brothers and sisters in the Bahamas.
As a family of nations, the challenges we face require us to place emphasis on multilateral approaches rather than unilateral ones. We should be strengthening our partnerships through mutual respect and cooperation. That approach would allow us to regain some ground in reversing the current patterns of growing inequality and insecurity and transform current circumstances for the benefit of all humankind. It is against that backdrop that I welcome the opportunity to share the perspectives of Trinidad and Tobago on the appropriately selected theme of this general debate, namely “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion”.
In Trinidad and Tobago, our citizens have been central to our development since 1956 and, in fact, our people remain our greatest assets. We must create a society in which all basic needs are met and each individual is valued and given the opportunity to participate and contribute. That means that we must ensure food security and eradicate poverty, inequality, discrimination and disease, and address the lack of access to health care as well as substandard and inhumane living conditions. We must build a society that shares the principles and cultural norms of trust, goodwill, honesty, respect, tolerance, integrity, civic pride, social justice and community spirit. Accordingly, Trinidad and Tobago has adopted an integrated national poverty-reduction strategy that is collaborative, sustainable and meaningful for all stakeholders involved.
The consolidation of our economic stability and capacity to remain effectively integrated into the global financial and trade architecture remains a priority for my Government as we continue the quest for measures to strengthen our fiscal resilience through diversification. Our national development ambitions should be buttressed by an enabling international economic environment through international trade, development cooperation, business activity and finance.
We are well aware that financial services play an important role as contributors to economic growth and international trade and investment. It is in that context that we express grave concern regarding the unilateral insertion of some CARICOM member States, including Trinidad and Tobago, on the list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions by a number of our international partners. The label of non-cooperative tax jurisdiction has the potential to inflict irreparable damage to the reputations and economies of small island developing States such as ours. Trinidad and Tobago therefore calls upon its international partners to adopt a more collaborative, just and fair approach in addressing that issue.
Trinidad and Tobago also remains deeply concerned about the progressive decline in correspondent banking services by international banks. That is particularly problematic for CARICOM member States, as it threatens our financial stability, impedes our efforts to alleviate poverty and limits our achievements with respect to socioeconomic growth and development. Further, the withdrawal of correspondent banking services undermines the region’s efforts to consolidate a global partnership that will achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Trinidad and Tobago joins with other CARICOM member States in calling for international banks to engage collaboratively with affected member States to restore mutually acceptable financial relationships.
We welcome the observation by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government in July that eligibility for official development assistance and other forms of concessional financing should include vulnerability criteria. Trinidad and Tobago therefore takes this opportunity to reiterate its call for the international community and international financial and development institutions to consider the formulation of new, multidimensional parameters in determining access to concessionary financing. We continue to endorse the view that the United Nations development system should be driven by a multidimensional approach to development assistance, which is more appropriately suited to each country’s specific needs and national priorities.
We remain troubled at the fact that, even as we approach the third decade of the twenty-first century, women, girls and persons with disabilities in many parts of the world are unable to enjoy basic human rights and freedoms. In our effort to combat that challenge, Trinidad and Tobago reaffirms its commitment to delivering improved health care, the continued enhancement of the educational system and increased accessibility and support to persons with disabilities. Women and girls must also be equal partners in our collaborative efforts to build peaceful and sustainable societies and promote and protect human rights. The promotion of gender equity and equality is essential in that regard. It is equally important to consolidate an integrated social protection system that improves living conditions and creates opportunities for women and girls so that they can achieve their full potential.
We have no doubt that climate change represents a very real threat that jeopardizes our pursuit of sustainable development. In the circumstances, my Government is moving towards the deployment of a multi-pronged approach to adapt to and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. Trinidad and Tobago recognizes that climate change adversely affects all countries, regardless of how much they contribute to global emissions. In that respect, I wish to reiterate my Government’s unwavering commitment to addressing the adverse impacts associated with climate change through a combination of collaborative approaches, improved partnerships and networking with stakeholders in order to meet our international obligations, in line with our national laws, policies and priorities.
For us in Trinidad and Tobago, the marine environment and its resources remain critically important to the livelihoods of our people, our cultural and social identity and our sustainable development ambitions. Trinidad and Tobago therefore remains hopeful that the adoption of an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdictions, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, may become a reality in the not-too-distant future. We maintain that that agreement would establish a platform for both the achievement of sustainable development and the protection of the common heritage of humankind for this and future generations.
The foreign policy of Trinidad and Tobago is guided by the tenets of respect for the sovereignty and sovereign equality of all States, non-interference and non-intervention in the internal affairs of other States and respect for and adherence to international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. As a small island developing State, we remain fervent in our conviction that despite existing in a world where the well-established principles of multilateralism are under threat, our right to be heard ought not to be diminished or dismissed.
For us in the Caribbean region, our sustainable growth and development hinge on the maintenance of peace and security. In that context, I wish to turn to the situation facing our closest neighbour, Venezuela, which is located only seven miles off the coast of Trinidad. Earlier this year, Venezuela became the epicentre of a global stand-off that saw the threat of the use of force by external forces against the country. As that worrisome development continued to escalate, Trinidad and Tobago joined with fellow CARICOM member States to push for an urgent de-escalation of tensions and build a platform for dialogue and negotiations, with a view to achieving a peaceful resolution of the situation. Arising out of CARICOM’s non-interventionist stance and diplomacy of peace, the Prime Ministers of Barbados and Saint Kitts and Nevis and myself, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, met with Secretary-General Guterres, the Permanent Representatives of several influential Member States and other stakeholders — as mandated by CARICOM — to underscore our concerns about the volatility of the Venezuelan situation, the safety of the citizens of Venezuela and the stability of our region.
We remain resolute in our conviction that for our region to remain a zone of peace, dialogue is critical and indispensable. Trinidad and Tobago therefore remains in full support of the Montevideo Mechanism and any other suitable initiatives that seek to bring about a peaceful resolution through meaningful and constructive dialogue. In that regard, I wish to make special mention of the Norwegian Government and applaud its efforts so far in bringing both sides to the negotiating table, most recently in Barbados. We recognize that in order to achieve meaningful progress, the negotiation process requires time and patience, and all parties must engage in good faith. We therefore urge external forces not to further engage in unilateral intrusions, which could potentially undermine the negotiations and ultimately cause further hardship for the Venezuelan people. The objective of the international community should be to ensure that both parties are allowed to arrive at conditions of progress in Venezuela, with the ultimate aim of achieving political stability, peace and economic well-being. The initiatives of the Norwegian Government, CARICOM and the Montevideo Mechanism are worthy of support to that end. We are saddened by the recent withdrawal of one party from that sane and sober initiative, but we trust that that development will be temporary, because only Venezuelans can take proper ownership of their situation, and we in the Organization can only help them along the path to security and economic stability.
For us in Trinidad and Tobago, our sustainable development would be difficult to attain without successfully managing irregular migration. Trinidad and Tobago has not been unaffected by the influx of migrants from Venezuela. To manage that situation, my Government implemented a migrant registration framework system for both documented and undocumented persons who have entered our country. The aim of the framework is to safeguard the human rights and humanitarian needs of Venezuelan nationals within our borders, while also safeguarding national interests such as national security. Those registered have been granted approval to work for one year, in the first instance. It should be noted that the registration process has afforded those persons the opportunity to be self-funded through employment during their stay in Trinidad and Tobago.
As a responsible member of the family of nations, the Government and the people of Trinidad and Tobago recognize our duty to assist our neighbours in their time of distress. We are undertaking to do that for just over 16,000 of our neighbours from Venezuela, despite our small size and very limited resources. Experience has shown that there are both opportunities and challenges with respect to migration. Our policy is rooted in the human attributes of respect and dignity and ensuring that empathy shines through as a beacon to the destitute.
Those challenges are magnified for countries like Trinidad and Tobago, with limited resources and other capacity constraints. We note with concern that criminal activity has moved from random acts of criminality to criminal networks, the activities of which are being carried out in an organized, highly sophisticated and technological global environment. It is Trinidad and Tobago’s experience and that of the Caribbean Community as a whole that these compounded challenges represent a threat to our socioeconomic well-being, the rule of law and our peace and security.
While it is important to tackle violent extremism from a security perspective, the threat and effect of the phenomenon should be neither overlooked nor dismissed. The global threat of young people being lured by extremist groups remains a major concern. In that regard, Trinidad and Tobago reaffirms its commitment to joining the international community in building an alliance for a strategic, collective security architecture that addresses the conditions that give rise to violent extremism. That framework ideally ought to be buttressed by a robust international legal system that allows all people to live freely and in dignity, with equal protection before the law and without fear of persecution or xenophobia.
History has taught us that the maintenance of international peace and security cannot be separated from sustainable development. In that regard, we maintain that the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed on Cuba, a Caribbean nation, which has been in place for almost six decades, undermines the country’s potential to achieve sustainable development and economic growth. Trinidad and Tobago further maintains that the imposition of unilateral coercive measures against Cuba under the Helms-Burton Act is inconsistent with international law and the Charter of the United Nations. Trinidad and Tobago thus reiterates its call for the unconditional lifting of the economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba.
Trinidad and Tobago supports the mandate of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is to help put an end to impunity for perpetrators of the most heinous crimes of concern to the international community, as well as to contribute to the prevention of such crimes. As a country that advocated for the establishment of the ICC through the pioneering work of the late Arthur N. R. Robinson, former President and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, we remain resolute in our commitment to support the mandate of the Court. Despite its detractors and other challenges, the ICC continues to be a ray of hope for all victims who are seeking justice for crimes falling under its jurisdiction. For that reason, we continue to encourage those countries that have not yet submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court to do so, sooner rather than later, so that it can aptly and fully fulfil its mandate as a universal court.
Trinidad and Tobago maintains that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons constitutes a crime against humanity and a violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and the Charter of the United Nations. Lamentably, we have witnessed in recent times the elimination of restraints on nuclear weapons at both the bilateral and the multilateral levels. Trinidad and Tobago, as part of the Caribbean Community, participated in the 2017 United Nations conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination, and welcomed the adoption of the historic Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In that regard, I am proud to announce that yesterday, 26 September, Trinidad and Tobago signed and deposited its instrument of ratification for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The reform of the Security Council continues to be an area in which CARICOM remains actively engaged in advocacy for early and comprehensive reform. We look forward to the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform at the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly, building on the work done at the seventy-third session. We therefore reiterate our call for all Member States to work collaboratively in the spirit of compromise to reform the Security Council in a manner that would effectively address its functioning and credibility, making it more relevant to the United Nations and better equipped to fulfil its mandate in today’s context.
As CARICOM, one of our positions for the reform of the Security Council has been to advocate for the guaranteed representation and inclusion of small island developing States through a dedicated seat to be rotated among SIDS across all regions. While we remain hopeful that such a proposal will eventually find favour among Member States, at this moment it is with great pride that we congratulate CARICOM nation Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on becoming, earlier this year, the smallest nation ever to secure a seat on the Council. This historic achievement has convincingly demonstrated that our small islands remain indomitable as we continue to make noteworthy contributions in all spheres. At this juncture, I would like to assure the General Assembly of Trinidad and Tobago’s continued dedication to the maintenance of international peace and security, as evidenced in our candidature for membership in the Council for the period 2027-2028, for what could be the second time in our nation’s history.
As the United Nations stands on the threshold of celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary, Trinidad and Tobago is pleased to recommit itself to the purposes and principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. As States Members of the United Nations, we need to recalibrate our efforts towards ensuring that our Organization is effective, relevant and fit for purpose and that no one is left behind. I am confident that we possess the inherent desire, the will and the impetus to achieve those goals.


I am deeply honoured to address this supremely important Assembly on behalf of the President of the Republic of Botswana, Mr. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, and of our people.
Allow me, on behalf of my delegation, to join previous speakers in congratulating you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. We are confident that we will benefit during your tenure of office from your able leadership and wealth of experience. You can count on my country’s support in the discharge of your mandate. Let me also take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to your predecessor, Her Excellency Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, for her sterling stewardship throughout the seventy-third session, which has just drawn to a close. She leaves behind a legacy we are convinced you will carry forward.
Botswana fully endorses the theme of the seventy-fourth session, “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion”. It is both relevant and timely, as it reaffirms the key role of the multilateral system as the ultimate framework through which we can collectively transform our societies. This theme further challenges us as the global community to recommit to the noble goal of leaving no one behind, and to do our utmost to reach those furthest behind, which usually includes the vulnerable in our societies, such as women, youth and people with disabilities. My delegation is particularly pleased that the theme embodies the priorities you, Mr. President, have identified. We therefore concur that we should redouble our efforts to effectively tackle poverty and all forms of inequality. Inequality remains a problem in developing countries, including middle-income countries such as my own. Inequality and exclusion are threats to peace, therefore requiring that we all come together to urgently address them.
At the same time, we wish to acknowledge the pivotal role of quality education and the need to invest more in this sector to enable us to step up implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In that regard, we applaud your commitment, Sir, to leveraging high-level meetings — such as the summits on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate action, universal health coverage and financing for development — to galvanize political commitment to urgently address the most pressing global challenges affecting our people and the planet. Such high-level engagements, involving as they do world leaders from Government, the private sector, academia and civil society, provide a unique opportunity to build and reinvigorate partnerships around our common development objectives.
We note with satisfaction that 2019 has been a significant year for SDG implementation, with a number of countries presenting their voluntary national reviews, indicating their status of implementation against the Goals. Botswana presented its review in 2017. We view the process as a valuable accountability mechanism to monitor progress towards the attainment of the SDGs, and we encourage its continuation.
Botswana, like many States Members of the United Nations, is facing many challenges, including extreme poverty and inequalities. In that regard, our Government continues to direct significant resources towards inclusive development and economic growth. Consequently, we have in place various policies and poverty-eradication programmes to support the most vulnerable in our society, such as orphans and people living with disabilities. The national voluntary review process was indeed instrumental in identifying the gaps and major challenges that still hinder our full implementation of the SDGs. Those challenges include youth unemployment, poverty, increasing social and economic inequalities, climate change and unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. The process further identified financing gaps. In that regard, we view public-private partnerships as critical for mobilizing resources for the implementation of the SDGs. It is equally important that we continue to work together to create an enabling global environment to ensure that all countries can participate in a fair and rules-based global trading system.
As already indicated, Botswana recognizes the importance of quality education, that is, education that empowers, fuels prosperity and positions citizens to be globally competitive. In recognition of that, Botswana has invested significantly in all levels of education. Indeed, we are pleased to report that we have successfully attained gender parity in access to education. However, much remains to be done. We must address issues including large class sizes, underresourced schools and institutions, old infrastructure and insufficient and outdated technologies. Those challenges are significant because it is only with quality education that a country can be a participant in, and beneficiary of, the fourth industrial revolution.
Climate change is indeed one of the greatest challenges we face today. We therefore commend the Secretary-General for convening two summits on climate change at the present session of the Assembly, involving world leaders and the world’s youth. They provided an opportunity for deliberations on climate change-related actions, addressing the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions and achieving the target of net-zero emissions by 2050. The science is very clear: unless there is urgent action, climate change will reverse the many gains we have made in key sectors of our economy.
Botswana, like others African countries, is already experiencing the effects of climate change, including desertification, heat waves and recurrent droughts. As I address the Assembly today, Botswana and some of our neighbours have declared 2019 a drought year. Crops have failed and livestock are dying. Moreover, our neighbours Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe suffered catastrophic impacts from Cyclone Idai, which resulted in significant loss of life and massive destruction of infrastructure and property. We take this opportunity to commend our subregion and the international community for the timely response they rendered in support of the countries affected by the cyclone. We note that rebuilding lives and livelihoods will take time, and therefore urge that support continue to be directed to those countries.
We also reiterate our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Government and the people of the Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. It is clear that we need to adopt permanent mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as put in place robust response systems to collectively support affected countries.
Botswana remains fully committed to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, in which we have anchored our national development objectives. In that regard, as part of our mitigation and adaptation drive, we have developed a climate change policy and strategy. Furthermore, in our intended nationally determined contribution, Botswana has committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 15 per cent by 2030, based on the 2010 baseline. We therefore appeal for concerted global action to support our efforts through the provision of technology, financing and capacity-building in order to achieve our intended nationally determined contributions.
Allow me to address an equally pressing environmental issue of major concern to Botswana. I must say, as we collectively grapple with finding prudent and innovative ways of managing our environment and its ecosystems for sustainable use, human-wildlife conflict is a serious challenge for Botswana and our subregion. Our elephant population has grown to unmanageable proportions and is now exceeding the carrying capacity of its designated area of habitat. Elephants are now aggressively encroaching on many human settlements around the country. Elephants outside national parks invade homes and farms, kill people and destroy property. Moreover, elephants within parks are destroying their own environment because of overpopulation.
Botswana has an outstanding track record in the conservation and protection of its wild flora and fauna. In that context, 40 per cent of our land is reserved as protected areas for wildlife and conservation. That demonstrates our steadfast commitment to protecting wildlife and curbing the illegal trade in wild species. That commitment comes at a huge cost and sacrifice. A multifaceted response with the support and understanding of our international partners is urgently required.
We fully concur that, as espoused in the founding principles of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), people and States should and must be the best protectors of their own wild fauna and flora. In that regard, Botswana, together with the Southern Africa subregion, has been working tirelessly to find sustainable solutions.
As I already intimated, Botswana firmly believes that part of the solution lies in working with the very communities that live in, or are adjacent to, protected areas. Those communities must be supported to effectively coexist with wildlife and to enable them to contribute to anti-poaching efforts. That is indeed critical as competition for food and land between people and animals intensifies.
In an effort to bolster our elephant conservation and management efforts, Botswana and the countries of the subregion recently presented a proposal to allow a one-off sale of ivory from countries whose populations are currently listed in CITES appendix II. That prudent approach was regrettably rebuffed, despite our best efforts to demonstrate that revenues accruing from such sales of ivory stockpiles would be used in conservation efforts, just as in the past. We were therefore disappointed that much of the discussion at the eighteenth Conference of the Parties to CITES focused on increased restrictions on wildlife trade, when the fundamental purpose of the Convention is to regulate and facilitate international trade. Equally disheartening were attempts to extend the scope of the Convention in a manner that would infringe upon sovereign matters. That proposal, which did not succeed, sought to close all domestic ivory trade.
I cannot emphasize enough that, in order to deliver on our development aspirations to live in harmony with nature and ensure the sustainable use of our natural resources, we must facilitate the implementation of pragmatic natural resource-management plans that contribute to our national development agenda.
Botswana welcomes the convening of the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development. In that regard, the United Nations should continue to pay special attention to the unique needs of least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States (SIDS), middle-income countries and countries emerging from conflict.
We welcome the convening of the High-level Meeting to Review Progress Made in Addressing the Priorities of Small Island Developing States Through the Implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway. That review will afford us an opportunity to reassess priorities, build on lessons learned and develop meaningful and transformative solutions.
Equally important is the high-level midterm review on the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action on Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2024, which will be convened in December. The review will provide an opportunity for us to take stock of the progress made and to address challenges to the implementation of the Programme. At the national level, we consider the Programme to be a vital framework to further drive our development agenda through trade facilitation and greater access to global markets.
Botswana is of the view that South-South and triangular cooperation is a fundamental platform for enhancing cooperation among all countries for mutual benefit. We recognize its importance for sustainable development and that it is complementary to North-South cooperation. To this end, Botswana has developed a South-South and Triangular Cooperation Strategy. The Strategy will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences, as well as leverage appropriate technologies to bolster national capacities to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
As a global leader in diamond mining, we stand firmly behind the Kimberley Process, an international mechanism set up to stem the flow of conflict diamonds and promote the legitimate diamond trade. We therefore look forward to chairing the Kimberley Process in 2021, and will work with all other members to strengthen its mechanisms. Furthermore, our priorities will include capacity-building for members of the Kimberley Process, especially those emerging from conflict.
As part of our commitment to a peaceful world order, Botswana recently became a State party to the Arms Trade Treaty. We have also just signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. That speaks to our commitment to contributing to global peace and security through complete disarmament by eliminating the illicit trade in conventional and nuclear weapons. Humankind should invest not in its own destruction but in its own prosperity.
The scourge of terrorism threatens to reverse hard-earned peace and security gains. We should spare no effort in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We note with satisfaction that the new Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact will, among other things, provide capacity-building and technical assistance for developing countries, particularly in Africa. Similarly, we welcome the efforts of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism to address these challenges.
Botswana remains fully committed to combating all acts of terrorism and to resolutely confronting associated bad practices, such as illicit financial flows and money-laundering. However, we wish to caution that the de-risking approaches taken by Governments, correspondent banks and other financial institutions should take into consideration the unintended consequences of such measures, including discouraging the use of banking facilities, limited access to banking facilities and the possible collapse of small banks and economies. Moving forward, though, we will remain engaged with all relevant stakeholders to eliminate any deficiencies in our anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism strategies.
As we strive for world peace and prosperity. I wish to affirm that Botswana aligns itself with the statement delivered on behalf of the United Republic of Tanzania, Chair of the Southern African Development Community, regarding the lifting of sanctions on Zimbabwe (see A/74/PV.10). There is no doubt that those prolonged sanctions gravely undermine the economy of Zimbabwe and inflict severe hardship on the ordinary people of that country. We also wish to note that sanctions against any country negatively affect not only the target country but also its neighbours and trading partners. The case of Zimbabwe is no exception.
In conclusion, it is evident that our multilateral system is under serious threat. We cannot deny that we are experiencing an unprecedented deterioration of the very common values that bind us together in the United Nations family, as enshrined in the Charter. It is imperative that we marshal our collective resolve to revive the culture of diplomacy, tolerance and mutual respect and fully embrace the strength of our diversity for the survival of our multilateral system. We therefore call for a restrengthening of the rules-based world order, anchored in the principles of international law and geared towards strengthening international cooperation for the prosperity of all nations, large and small. Botswana remains committed to the multilateral order and believes in a strong and effective United Nations as an Organization that is people-centred, representative, harmonious, accountable and anchored in the sovereign equality of nations.
As we look forward to the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, we must seize the opportunity to reconfirm that it remains as relevant today as it was at its founding in 1945.
Once again, I take this opportunity to reaffirm my Government’s commitment to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063 and to creating a better world characterized by shared prosperity and where no one is left behind.


Seneca said that none of us love our homeland because it is great. We love it because it is ours.
I thank Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces for having successfully presided over the General Assembly at its seventy-third session. I also congratulate the President of the Assembly, Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, who is already promoting a highly proactive global debate.
Guatemala is a strong advocate of the rule of law and democratic ideals. In that spirit, this year we are holding free elections that are based on international standards of electoral democracy. It is important to also highlight that for the first time in Guatemala’s political history we implemented voting from abroad, which sets a precedent for guaranteeing the right to vote outside our borders. Guatemala now has stronger institutions with technical capabilities to be able to fulfil its role in society.
In the area of education, the average number of full school days was increased from 163 days, in 2015, to 198 full school days, this year, which is also unprecedented in Guatemala’s recent history. Educational coverage was also increased to include 3,122,000 students, and I can proudly say that we quadrupled our investment per day in school meals. For that, we rely on the parents of each school, who guarantee the transparency of the programme, focusing on the education and health of our children.
For the first time ever, the State provided over 1,000 schools with technological equipment in a single year and fully complied with the delivery of educational materials and school texts in Mayan and Spanish, something we have never done before. Over time, financial resources have also been transferred to all educational programmes and we have guaranteed access to free Guatemalan education. In addition, we implemented the Acompañame a Crecer programme, which seeks to aid development in early childhood for children from zero to age 4 who have not previously been in public education. Moreover, for those who have been unable to study in the regular education system, a certification-of-skills system was initiated that recognizes and certifies the knowledge and skills of people who work in a trade learned throughout their lives, both for Guatemalans in Guatemala and those living in the United States of America.
On another area of development, we prioritized the Open Government Partnership for the period 2016 to 2018, which resulted in a national policy on transparency and combating corruption. My Government Administration has focused on fostering a culture of transparency and good governance. We launched the Presidential Commission for Open Public Administration and Transparency, which goes hand in hand with the Government’s fourth national open action plan for the period 2018 to 2020.
In terms of security, we have taken firm steps that have led to highly positive indicators. We have reduced the homicide rate for every 100,000 inhabitants, which has maintained the most favourable downward trend of the past 20 years. That was possible thanks to a cleanup of our security forces and ensuring their greater professionalism and efficiency.
The national civil police managed to dismantle dangerous criminal gangs that were engaged in extortion, kidnapping, vehicle theft and property crime. This year the number of police officers increased from 31,000, in 2015, to 42,000 national civil police, who are now better equipped and have higher wages.
In the area of infrastructure, we inherited a collapsed road network, with 60 per cent of roads in poor or terrible condition. However, after solving budgetary, administrative and judicial problems, which plagued a large number of contracts, today we can say that 72 per cent of road surfacing has a rating of good to optimal, according to the assessment carried out by the national competitiveness programme. We hope to end this year with more than 85 per cent of roads in optimal condition, which would allow the next Government to not only reach 100 per cent but also to build the many more roads that the country still needs.
In terms of the environment, we have increased the protection of our forests, which are part of the world’s lungs. We are planning to reforest 1.2 million hectares of trees by 2032, in which my Government has invested $50 million per year, the equivalent of $200 million in forest incentive programmes. I want to take this opportunity to express our dismay at the recent fires in the Amazon rainforest.
As the Assembly is aware, Guatemala has vast water wealth and we have therefore formulated a process to protect and decontaminate our rivers, lakes and seas. We now represent a benchmark for the world in this area, thanks to the creation and implementation of biofences — handcrafted tools that stop large amounts of floating debris. There are currently 196 biofences installed throughout the country. If anyone is wondering what a biofence is, they are simply handmade pieces of mesh made from plastic waste that serve as a barrier to waste floating in water currents. We have found the invention to be effective, and countries on ours and other continents are now extremely interested in cooperating with Guatemala in that area. The Assembly can rest assured that we will not hesitate to support other members, because we are committed to preserving natural resources. That tool is one of Guatemala’s legacies to humankind.
Speaking of legacies, I wish to share with the Assembly that we recently released the results of the twelfth national population census and seventh housing census to the people of Guatemala. After 17 years of waiting, we settled a historic debt with Guatemala that translates into real statistics for engineering our development model. The twelfth population census is one of the first in the region to be conducted and framed within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It was carried out using the United Nations Population Fund’s international standards.
In matters of foreign policy, Guatemala and Belize concluded the peaceful process of submitting Guatemala’s territorial, insular and maritime claim to the International Court of Justice. That is a historic milestone for Guatemala, Central America and the world, which has resulted in a peaceful and definitive solution to the years of dispute between Guatemala and Belize. The peoples of Guatemala and Belize conducted popular and peaceful consultations with positive results and a desire to finally resolve the dispute before the International Court of Justice. Relations between Guatemala and Belize have never been better, and we are determined to continue strengthening them. I extend my deep and sincere thanks to the group of friendly countries that supported Guatemala and Belize in the process, where dialogue — the basis of true democracy — prevailed.
I am also pleased to share with members that, in November last year, Guatemala successfully held the twenty-sixth Iberoamerican Summit of Heads of State and Government in Antigua. It was one of the best attended in history and enabled us to develop cooperation policies under the slogan “A Prosperous, Inclusive and Sustainable Iberoamerica.”
At the international level, Guatemala believes that all countries, in particular those that embrace democracy and the principles that gave life to the United Nations, have the right to belong to this great Organization. We believe that the experience and capabilities of the Republic of China on Taiwan can contribute to strengthening multilateralism from this Organization and its specialized agencies.
The Guatemalan Government reaffirms its commitment to migration policies that place human beings at the centre of development and prosperity. We are eager to collaborate with comprehensive immigration governance that respects the human rights of migrants at all times. We firmly share the ideals of safe, orderly and regular migration. For that reason, we are coordinating efforts with different countries to mitigate the actual causes of such migration. However, in order to mitigate irregular migration, we must assume that shared responsibility in a responsible manner, because all countries have a role to play in today’s reality, and only by working together can we take firm steps to safeguard our nations.
Our presidential Administration has been based on a strategic plan, which is scheduled until 2032. That trajectory for the country aligns our general Government policy for the period 2016 to 2020 with the 2030 Agenda, and every one of our public policies involves fulfilling the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
In the view of the State of Guatemala it is essential to maintain peace, the nation’s security, sovereignty and respect for the rule of law. A culture of respect for States’ sovereign decisions must prevail. That applies to the same Secretariat that violated our democratic principles of self-determination.
The reason for the existence of the Organization is to maintain world peace and global harmony and to strengthen modern States. However, the Secretariat of this great multilateral Organization polarized Guatemalan society through the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The Commission violated the principles of national sovereignty, disrespected the laws of our country, undermined institutional autonomy, put social peace at risk and challenged the governance of the nation. However, the saddest and most worrisome fact is that it did it with the consent of the United Nations, under the guise of fighting corruption and impunity. That gave it the perfect discourse to politicize justice and judicialize politics, which we Guatemalans do not allow; we have been a free, sovereign and independent country since 1821.
Moreover, when speaking of independence and national sovereignty, I wish to inform the Assembly that although the mandate of CICIG has ended, the consequences of its actions in Guatemala must be thoroughly investigated. Under the leadership of Ivan Velasquez Gomez, the Commission used the image of the United Nations for political purposes in Guatemala. Ivan Velasquez Gomez turned criminal prosecution into a tool of selective persecution and political harassment, violating universal rights, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights, as well as violating the political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala. Moreover, he disregarded the principle of presumption of innocence, the right to self-defence and the judicial guarantee of due process, abusing the honourable position entrusted to him.
My first question to the Assembly is: was CICIG a United Nations body? The answer is no. I quote the agreement that gave rise to the CICIG, “as a non-United Nations organ, functioning solely in accordance with the provisions of this agreement.”
I must therefore ask once again: to whom was CICIG accountable? To the Secretariat, donor countries or the Guatemalan Government? Interestingly, the agreement does not state to whom it was accountable. To answer that question, we must therefore reflect on the following. When the country where CICIG operated submitted its concerns about the abuses committed by CICIG to the Secretary-General, why were those concerns ignored, given that Guatemala is a founding State and Member of this Organization? Who is to blame for those human rights violations in Guatemala, seeing that several people died as a result of CICIG, many others were unjustly imprisoned and others remain in custody without having given their provisional statement? It is worth clarifying that the closure of CICIG will have no repercussions on the judicial processes in which it participated, since all proceedings that were initiated will continue at the request of the legally competent authorities in Guatemala.
I am clarifying these facts because the former head of CICIG has unfortunately dedicated himself to discrediting my country, with success, taking advantage of the international position he held to promote an agenda full of political and ideological interests that are alien to the principles of the United Nations. His actions divided the Guatemalan population, however, above all, he betrayed the confidence that our country placed in him to fight criminal structures, supposedly his main task. Instead, he turned CICIG into a criminal structure that co-opted Guatemalan justice.
It is most unfortunate and very worrying that international officials who serve States, are devoting themselves to discrediting our country before the international community. That is disloyalty. Guatemala opened its doors to the United Nations in order for it to support us to better fight corruption and impunity. However, the low morale and unprofessionalism of the former CICIG Commissioner led him to commit a series of actions that upstanding Guatemalans are not willing to tolerate or forget. His thirst for power compelled him to move from the judicial field to the political sphere, to which I can attest, while publicly supporting former prosecutor Thelma Aldana, a presidential candidate in our most recent elections. Incidentally, former prosecutor Aldana is currently a fugitive from justice for several reasons. It was she who said that no one is above the law, and so we hope that she soon returns to Guatemala. No one should ever be able to take advantage of the position they hold to promote personal interests, even more so when they represent the United Nations or its actors, which must ensure the independence, impartiality and objectivity of justice.
With regard to the role of the press in my country, I will limit myself to respectfully citing His Holiness Pope Francis, who recently said: “We need a journalism that is free, at the service of truth, goodness and justice; a journalism that helps build a culture of encounter.”
Guatemala appreciates the valuable support of the international community, but wishes to make it known that not a single penny donated to CICIG was administered by the Guatemalan Government. For the sake of transparency, we believe that it would be appropriate for the Secretariat to provide the Assembly with detailed information about every single penny of its resources that was spent, from CICIG’s establishment in Guatemala until its closure. To guarantee transparency, it would be worth hiring one of the world’s most prestigious auditing firms. I am sure that such accountability before Member States would be very positive and highly valued by the friendly donors who relied on an unprecedented United Nations effort that failed in Guatemala.
Who will provide explanations to the relatives of the CICIG victims? Some individuals died in jail as a result of abusive pre-trial detention; others were deprived of their freedom for years and then acquitted for lack of evidence. That is a serious matter. However, there is something even more serious and extremely critical that we must not forget: the use of false witnesses and media slander, which are despicable and condemnable acts — even more so when they came from this Organization, which promotes respect for human rights.
Those are all serious violations of the human rights of Guatemalans, which should not remain unpunished, much less so because they were committed by a Commission that fought against impunity. Nor can those facts weigh heavily on donor countries, whose good faith was betrayed. Accountability should not only apply to Member States, but also to CICIG and any agency, commission or authority operating under the auspices of the members of the Assembly.
Last August, Ivan Velasquez Gomez submitted a report that was completely devoid of truth from the start. Given that the country’s national and international laws were violated, as well as the human rights of its citizens, I therefore urge the Assembly to produce an objective and exhaustive report of the actions of CICIG in Guatemala, with the participation of countries that can guarantee its accuracy. As Jesus of Nazareth said, the truth will set you free.
Against the backdrop of fighting organized crime and drug trafficking in Guatemala, a terrorist act was perpetrated in my country on 3 September. Three members of the Guatemalan armed forces were massacred in a northern community of the country. Following that incident, we made the decision to decree a state of siege in 22 of the country’s municipalities. In that regard, I wish to express the rejection by the Republic of Guatemala’s Government of an attempt to promote an independent investigation by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). We believe that such action is another example of the abuses that United Nations agencies have committed in my country. In that context, the Guatemalan Government wishes to express to OHCHR that it will not allow it or any other United Nations agency to carry out activities outside of their mandate. I would ask the Assembly to take note of those abuses committed in Guatemala. The investigation and clarification of that terrorist act is the strict responsibility of the Office of Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor through the corresponding prosecutor’s office, with the help of Guatemala’s security forces and legal system.
I now turn to an extremely important issue — that of coffee, which is of paramount importance to Guatemala, as a producer. I take this opportunity to propose the creation of more favourable mechanisms for this commercial activity. We also advocate for better conditions, prices and access to more fair markets for the well-being of our economies. We urge the International Coffee Organization to comprehensively, transparently, respectfully and fairly address that issue.
At the regional level, the worrisome crisis that persists in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela compels us to consider and support the various efforts to restore democracy in that South American country. As a member of the Lima Support Group, we have strongly supported efforts to search for dialogue among all parties, in order to guarantee the rule of law in Venezuela.
It has been a great honour for me to have spoken to the Assembly, and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to strengthen Guatemala’s multilateral relations with the rest of the world. I wish all members the best, and our country will continue to play its historic role by faithfully complying with the Charter of the United Nations.
I conclude, as I began, with Seneca, who said that none of us love our homeland because it is great; we love it because it is ours.


It is my distinct honour and privilege to take the floor during the general debate at the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique, who is unable to attend this august gathering owing to national imperatives and a complicated schedule.
I would like to take this opportunity to warmly congratulate His Excellency Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on his election as President of General Assembly at the current session. We offer him Mozambique’s unequivocal support during his term. We also hail Her Excellency Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, President of the Assembly at its seventy-third session, for her work and the progress achieved during her term, particularly in mobilizing the international community to fulfil international commitments and implement actions that enhance the United Nations as a more relevant space for multilateral coordination on multiple challenges and global commitments.
I would convey our warm gratitude to His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his selfless efforts aimed at strengthening the United Nations system by reforming the international peace and security architecture and repositioning the development system to better respond to the aspirations of Member States, with a particular emphasis on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The seventy-fourth session takes place at a time when the world faces a surge in political, geostrategic and trade tensions, the devastating effects of climate change and an increase in inequality among States and in access to quality basic social services that are essential to sustaining a decent standard of living. Sub-Saharan Africa, where Mozambique is located, is an example of this reality, as we remain the region with the largest number of disadvantaged people facing such multidimensional deprivations as low income and reduced access to education, health, food, water and sanitation, as well as the inadequate provision of socioeconomic infrastructure that drives sustainable development.
In that context, the focus of this session’s theme on eradicating poverty is timely, as the issue of poverty challenges all of us and drives agendas all over the world, particularly the 2030 Agenda. To this end, Mozambique reiterates the relevance of the principle of shared but differentiated responsibilities, the need to adhere to that principle and the importance of partners respecting the commitments undertaken under the framework of the internationally agreed development goals, including the predictability of aid flows from our partners in accordance with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
In an environment characterized by growing mistrust among nations, the world continues to be plagued by inequality, tensions and debilitating divisions that challenge the role of multilateralism as the preferred mechanism to debate ideas, coordinate and reach consensus. In keeping with the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, the Organization’s central mission is to forge lasting solutions to put an end to prolonged insecurity caused by political instability and internal and external conflicts involving States and other actors, particularly in the African continent and the Middle East. The prevalence of acts linked to fundamentalism and violent extremism, as well as arms proliferation and trade, particularly in weapons of mass destruction, small arms and light weapons, threaten national, regional and global peace and security and are added causes of concern for our country.
In that regard, and under the framework of our peace policy, we support all global initiatives and partnerships, including actions focused on dialogue through international disarmament mechanisms and on combating fundamentalism and related activities, violent extremism and all forms of terrorist acts. Accordingly, Mozambique reiterates its full support for the Secretary-General in his efforts aimed at reforming the United Nations development system as well as his peace and security initiatives to promote dialogue as the fundamental tool in an agenda based on conflict prevention.
Mozambique considers Security Council reform to be a fundamental goal in the framework of the conflict- prevention and management architecture. We reaffirm our wish for the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform to move more quickly so that the Council can achieve greater credibility and legitimacy and better reflect reality in the twenty-first century through a wider membership and broader action.
In the light of international law and the United Nations Charter, Mozambique again joins other States in calling for adherence to the United Nations road map for the peaceful resolution of the dispute in Western Sahara through a referendum on the self-determination of the Sahrawi people.
We remain concerned about the prevailing situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. In this regard, we reiterate our appeal for a negotiated lasting solution to the Palestinian issue based on dialogue, through which the two States accept to live side-by-side as neighbours in keeping with the principles of peaceful coexistence and international law.
Mozambique reiterates its appeal for the normalization of the political, diplomatic, economic and financial relations between Cuba and the United States of America. The economic blockade against Cuba has no justification in a world that we wish to be more harmonious and committed to a global development agenda devoid of exclusion. We also call for the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and dialogue to help the leaders of both States to find fertile ground and that the legacy of peace, harmony and coexistence be cultivated and transmitted to future generations.
In a similar vein, we join the Foreign Minister of Tanzania in his plea for lifting the sanctions against Zimbabwe (see A/74/PV.10). We believe that the people of that country should coexist successfully and harmoniously within the global village.
Mozambique has incorporated the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals into its national governance programme, which gives priority to agribusiness, economic and social infrastructure networks, the expansion of the electric grid’s coverage and ecotourism, which, combined with other cross- cutting efforts in socioeconomic fields, will drive our eagerly desired sustainable development.
Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion is an appeal to our collective responsibility to leave no one behind. In this regard, the Government of Mozambique has adopted an approach focused on protecting and respecting human rights, promoting gender equality and equity, and building the capacity of women, young people and other vulnerable social groups, while keeping in mind the need for Mozambican society to secure a demographic dividend.
Due to its geographic location, Mozambique is considered by some scientists as the country in the world the second-most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The two extremely severe tropical cyclones — Cyclones Idai and Kenneth — which devastated vast regions of our country in March and April, attest to that assertion, with a toll of 689 deaths and the destruction of the economic and social fabric in the central and northern regions of our country, while the south continues to suffer from the effects in 2018 of drought and Cyclone Dineo.
We wish to take this opportunity to reiterate our gratitude to all bilateral and multilateral cooperation partners, the Secretary-General and the United Nations system of funds and specialized agencies for their multifaceted support during our emergencies and in the process of rebuilding infrastructure and the socioeconomic fabric affected by the cyclones. Aware that the effects of two cyclones was beyond our country’s capacity to respond, we convened an international donor conference in the city of Beira in May, in coordination with cooperation partners, which resulted in commitments in the amount of $1.2 billion, which is a portion of the $3.2 billion required, according to the estimates of the post-disaster needs assessment.
The new Government continues to make efforts aimed at securing resources to fill the reconstruction-financing gap. I once again wish to express our profound gratitude for the pledges of support and solidarity and reiterate our continued readiness to work with our partners to accelerate the process for the disbursement of the pledged aid.
We are also committed to strengthening adaptation and resilience measures in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which we signed in June 2018, as we are aware that natural disasters driven by climate change have become recurrent phenomena. On behalf of our country, we take this opportunity to express our solidarity with and condolences to the families of the victims of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas.
Actions to manage the effects of climate change on our country also include strengthening the early- warning system for natural phenomena and mapping vulnerable areas in order to prevent natural disasters and mitigate their consequences. Our actions also include the establishment of risk-response and management structures, the activation of the Mozambique Emergency Relief Fund and joining the risk pool of the African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited, a specialized agency of the African Union for assisting participants in recovering from natural disasters.
In that regard, we thank the Secretary-General for his wise and timely decision to convene the Climate Action Summit this week so as to mobilize the international community in boosting its ambitions towards achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, with a view to reversing the harmful consequences of global warming, which is a major threat to our planet and humankind.
With respect to integrated rural development and the sustainable management of biodiversity, ecosystems and natural resources, Mozambique has made efforts to preserve biodiversity by creating conservation areas covering approximately 25 per cent of the 800,000 square kilometres of its national territory. These actions have been reinforced by the continued increase in the use of cleaner and renewable sources of energy — natural gas, wind, solar and hydroelectric — so as to provide energy for all of our citizens by 2030.
On 6 August, in Maputo, we signed the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement, which reflects the success of our internal dialogue and creates the conditions necessary to galvanize the Mozambican development agenda. With that positive step behind us, we express our utmost recognition to the international community, particularly the dialogue facilitators and the contact group, coordinated by the Swiss Ambassador with the support of the United States Ambassador in Maputo, for that historic accomplishment, which cements the consensus reached around the administrative decentralization and military affairs agenda. The disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process currently under way covers aspects related to the command structure and direction of our national defence and security forces in order to achieve that goal.
We recognize that the accomplishment of this important process requires a robust technical and financial capacity. For that reason, we take this opportunity to reiterate our appeal to the international community for continued support and assistance in implementing the agreement, particularly in maintaining dialogue as the key platform for resolving disagreements.
We wish to share our great happiness at having received, from 4 to 6 September, His Holiness Pope Francis, the Head of the Catholic Church, whose visit, under the theme of “Hope, peace and reconciliation”, strengthened our conviction and hope in relation to the consolidation of national unity, peace, harmony and common well-being through continued dialogue among Mozambicans.
The full implementation of the agreement will allow our country to further strengthen democracy and hold presidential, legislative and provincial elections on 15 October, motivated by a spirit of peaceful democratic coexistence.
The successes we have achieved in our internal dialogues are a positive development in our agenda of achieving permanent peace. However, this positive development was marred by negative forces in the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of Mozambique, who continue to be a source of concern as they sow death, destroy the socioeconomic fabric and create instability in areas of that region. The Government has vigorously carried out its constitutional duty to protect its citizens and their property as well as the economic and social infrastructure.
The restoration of peace in our country bolsters and consolidates our efforts to create an increasingly attractive and favourable environment for public and private investment, both domestic and international. The fiscal and monetary reforms under way in Mozambique have led to an effective recovery of our macroeconomic stability. It was in that context that the city of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, became the African business capital when it welcomed the twelfth United States-Africa Business Summit, with the participation of African Heads of State and Government, senior representatives of the United States Government, and business leaders from the African continent and the United States of America. We would further highlight the convening of the international “Growing Blue” conference in Maputo, which focused on the sustainable use of the oceans and seas under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These and the other events that we have hosted are part of the economic diplomacy that we are pursuing, which we wish to make more active and intensify in order to bring tangible benefits to our country and the entire nation of Mozambique.
I will conclude my remarks by reaffirming Mozambique’s trust in the United Nations as a privileged platform for multilateral coordination in the quest for solutions to the common challenges facing humankind. Let us demonstrate, today, tomorrow and always, our spirit of cohesion in the noble mission of globally promoting the triad of peace and security, development and human rights for the advancement and well-being of the peoples of our wonderful planet.