Allow me,  Sir, to congratulate you on your election as President
of the General Assembly at its sixty-second session. I
believe that, under your presidency, this Organization
will make further progress in its reforms, enabling it to
respond promptly to the challenges faced by the
international community.
 From the outset, I would like to thank your
predecessor, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for her
efforts in performing the challenging tasks on the
agenda of the sixty-first session of the General
Assembly.
 The Slovak Republic fully aligns itself with the
statement delivered by the representative of Portugal
on behalf of the European Union. In addition, I wish to
make a contribution to the general debate on behalf of
the Slovak Republic.
 In spite of notable progress in some areas, the
Slovak Republic is not satisfied with the current pace
and scope of the United Nations reform process. We
think it necessary to make the work of newly created
structures and institutions more dynamic and to prepare
the United Nations to ensure the targeted prevention
and solution of concrete problems and conflicts.
 We appreciate the establishment of the
Peacebuilding Commission. We hope that it will
become a pivotal tool in post-conflict stabilization. It
should give the international community a vehicle for
solving issues that extends the scope of crisis
management.
 Slovakia also encourages efforts towards overall
reform in the system of human rights protection. We
have welcomed the commencement of work by the
Human Rights Council and recognize its primary
responsibility for promoting universal respect for the
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Within the ongoing process of institutional changes, we
expect the Council to effectively enforce its mandate
pursuant to resolution 60/251. The Slovak Republic
endorses the concept of protecting and promoting
human rights at the national and international levels. In
that context, we are prepared to assume our share of
responsibility. We will be honoured to receive the
support of other United Nations Member States for the
candidacy of the Slovak Republic to the Human Rights
Council for 2008-2011 in the election scheduled for
spring 2008.
 The Slovak Republic appreciates the measures
designed to reform the Secretariat. We support the
modernization of the Secretariat’s management system
so that it can flexibly respond to current needs and
challenges, and the strengthening of its accountability
for the implementation of its tasks. As a country
participating in several United Nations-led
peacekeeping missions, we have also expressed our
support for the restructuring of the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations.
 United Nations reform cannot be complete
without also reforming the structure and working
methods of the Security Council. Slovakia has been
actively engaged in this reform effort during the term
as a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
The membership of that United Nations body should
reflect the changed geopolitical reality. The number of
both permanent and non-permanent Council members
should increase and the Global South countries should
acquire more seats. Germany and Japan have our
explicit support in their ambition to become new
permanent members of the Council. As a small country,
we also support those proposals for the non-permanent
membership category that would restrict countries from
so-called “flip-flopping” between categories.
 Nor may the General Assembly evade the reform
effort. It is necessary to strengthen its role and
authority by focusing the Assembly’s attention on real
and acute problems of the current world. The Assembly
should also create mechanisms that would allow for the
monitoring of the implementation of its decisions and
at the same time provide for the elimination of
outdated measures that overburden its work.
 Thought should also be given to the
representativeness of the bodies established by the
General Assembly. Slovakia, as a member of the Group
of Eastern European States, appreciates the election of
Mr. Srgjan Kerim as President of the Assembly at its
sixty-second session. At the same time, it should be
emphasized that the Eastern European Group is the
most dynamically growing regional group in the
General Assembly, yet its representation in managerial
positions in the Secretariat and in United Nations
bodies does not reflect that situation. A prime example
of the situation is the fact that this year not one of the
Assembly's Vice-Presidents is from the regional group
of which the Slovak Republic is a member.
 Besides the efforts aimed at reforming the United
Nations, the Slovak Republic wishes to pay special
attention to the issue of security sector reform during
the sixty-second session. We believe that insufficient
reform or lack of reform in the security sector is often
a source or catalyst of conflicts, or even causes post-
conflict countries to lapse back to a conflict state. It
should also be borne in mind that a well-governed
security sector should, above all, ensure human
security, which represents the foundation for the
stability, good governance and, ultimately,
development of a country.
 We are expecting a comprehensive report by the
Secretary-General on security sector reform, which
should become the basis of a more in-depth discussion
on this issue within the United Nations. Therefore,
Slovakia has decided to initiate a thematic discussion
on security sector reform during the sixty-second
session.
 The Slovak Republic also expects the sixty-
second session to revitalize the discussion on
disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction. Slovakia has had an opportunity to
contribute to these efforts through its chairmanship of
the Security Council Committee established pursuant
to resolution 1540 (2004). In this context, in February
2007 Slovakia also initiated an open debate in the
Security Council on non-proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction.
 The destructive potential of weapons of mass
destruction increases along with the growing threat of
international terrorism. We therefore also wish to pay
special attention to this threat to international peace
and security. The United Nations Global Counter-
Terrorism Strategy adopted by the General Assembly
last year (resolution 60/288) provided for wide-ranging
international cooperation in this field.
 The Slovak Republic pays due attention to the
economic and social aspects of the United Nations,
where we wish to engage even more actively. In 2003,
we submitted our candidacy for membership in the
Economic and Social Council for the years 2010 to
2012. We will be pleased to receive support from other
Member States for our candidacy.
 As a new development aid donor, we want to
facilitate more effective cooperation with both
beneficiary and donor countries, integrate the work of
international agencies and make more efficient use of
the existing United Nations capacities in this area. We
wish to pay special attention to the development of
post-conflict regions, which currently receive the
largest portion of development aid. We believe that
there will be room in the Economic and Social Council
for Slovakia to utilize its experience in the field of
security sector reform in the joint work with other
bodies of the United Nations system.
 Over the past two years, Slovakia has worked for
the first time as a member of the Security Council.
When adopting our decisions on the sensitive problems
of the modern world, we took into consideration the
peculiarities of individual cases, yet at the same time,
we sought to promote the value system of a member of
the European and trans-Atlantic community. Slovakia
will continue to work within the United Nations in this
same spirit, even after the completion of its current
term in the Security Council. We also wish to make
good use of the experience we have gained in our work
in other United Nations bodies.
 The Slovak Republic is frustrated that no solution
to the Kosovo issue has yet been found. In our opinion,
Kosovo must not thwart the unification of European
nations nor set a negative precedent in terms of
international law.
 It is with hope that we view the adoption of
Security Council resolution 1769 (2007), granting a
mandate for the deployment of a joint African Union-
United Nations peacekeeping operation in Darfur. This
unprecedented decision has moved the cooperation
between the United Nations and regional organizations
to a new level.
 With regard to the Middle East issue, Slovakia
endorses a peaceful, fair and permanent solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The talks should result in
the establishment of a viable Palestinian State that will
coexist with Israel in an atmosphere of perpetual peace
and security. In this context, we appreciate the
resumption of dialogue between Israel and Palestine
and the measures taken in this respect by the Quartet.
 It has been seven years since our Millennium
session, when we discussed our vision for the future of
life on our planet. It has been neither seven rich nor
seven poor years. The United Nations has made some
progress. On the other hand, it has failed to cope with
many challenges. We must do better together to make
the future score fall more in favour of the United
Nations.


I wish  to express to Mr. Srgjan Kerim, President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-second session, Papua
New Guinea’s congratulations on his election. We
assure him of my country’s full cooperation during his
presidency. We compliment his predecessor, Her
Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for her
stewardship of our work during her tenure, and we
wish her well in her future endeavours.
 I would like to express our support to the
Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
for his leadership of the United Nations. Let me thank
him, in particular, for his courage and strong leadership
on the issue of climate change. By the same token, I
would also like to thank the staff of the Secretariat and
all United Nations agencies who continue to give
valuable service to my country, Papua New Guinea.
 On 18 September 2007, two days after
celebrating 32 years of independence, Papua New
Guinea convened its eighth National Parliament. This
was a result of another successful general election.
Democracy is a challenge, but Papua New Guinea
continues to thrive under it. My country of more than
800 tribes and languages continues to find in the
democratic principles the binding force and unity in
diversity in the 32 years of unbroken democracy.
 Papua New Guinea remains committed to the
principles and purposes of the United Nations. We
agree with the President that we must continue to work
with common purpose to renew, modernize and
strengthen this Organization so it can rise to the
challenges of the twenty-first century.
 The increasing incidence of human atrocities,
genocide and war, poverty, terrorism, HIV/AIDS, the
resurgence of malaria and tuberculosis, the
proliferation of small arms and light weapons, drug and
human smuggling, environmental degradation and
climate change are issues that, we believe, the United
Nations is best placed to address.
 Again we agree with the President that global
challenges demand multilateral solutions. The United
Nations is the appropriate multilateral forum to take
such action. That is why the revitalization of the
General Assembly deserves our highest attention. To
revitalize the Assembly is also to renew our faith in
each other and in our common values and destiny.
 We strongly endorse the President’s five priority
issues of climate change, financing for development,
achieving the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), countering terrorism, and the United Nations
reform agenda. To complement efforts in other forums,
Papua New Guinea with other countries of the Pacific
region has agreed to pool our limited resources under
the Pacific Plan, in order to address, as the basis of our
cooperation, many of these same issues, in particular,
sustainable development, climatic change and regional
integration.
 Let me turn now to an issue which my country
feels strongly about: climate change. To be clear, we
are very concerned to see certain industrialized nations
attempting to avoid responsibility for their own carbon
emissions and shifting the focus to developing nations.
Only after industrialized nations take responsibility for
the consequences of their own actions will the pathway
become clear for lasting solutions.
 However, as developing countries, we are willing
to contribute equitably towards a sustainable future.
During my earlier statements at the high-level event on
climate change, I put forward key principles needed to
guide future international agreements on climate
change after the year 2012.
 The time for leadership is now. If we are to defeat
this self-inflicted calamity, we must succeed in six key
areas: we must construct a shared vision for lower
global greenhouse gas concentrations; we must
aggressively deepen reduction commitments by
industrialized countries; we must create more
mechanisms to provide positive incentives for
developing countries; we must launch a global
framework to reduce emissions from deforestation and
degradation; we must scale up adaptation financing for
future generations; and we must mobilize sufficient
and sustainable resources to support positive incentives
and adaptation.
 The science is clear. Our planet is in distress. As
co-inhabitants of this world, we all must address the
root causes of the problem. To succeed, leadership is
required on both sides of the economic divide.
Together, and only together, we can grasp the
challenges before us and construct a sustainable future.
 Papua New Guinea supports the ongoing reforms
in the United Nations Secretariat. In order to
strengthen it to better address some of the key
challenges facing the membership, reform should
reflect the geopolitical, economic and social realities of
today, taking into particular account the different levels
of development facing the membership. Above all, the
reform must be fair and equitable.
 Global trade today is uneven and characterized
more by unfair trade practices by those already holding
decided advantages than by the opportunities it offers
to developing countries like Papua New Guinea. Our
efforts to develop a more equitable trading order are
hampered by the reluctance of our developed partners
to open their economies and engage in genuine
development discussions.
 The Doha Round of negotiations are at a critical
juncture. We need to collectively ensure that those
negotiations are revived so that different trade needs of
its members are addressed.
 Papua New Guinea has moved forward from an
export-driven economic growth strategy to a policy of
economic consolidation and empowerment. Its core
policy objective is to provide every Papua New
Guinean equal opportunity to build home, community
and country. To achieve this, strong emphasis will be
placed on agriculture, which has always been the
mainstay of our rural populace. Along with this aim,
relevant infrastructure will be built to support that
important sector.
 The country’s five-year medium-term development
strategy is being reviewed to strengthen its alignment
with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Achieving the MDGs by 2015 is a challenge that
requires our collective input in its implementation.
 We call on development partners, including the
United Nations, to play a supportive role in
implementing and sustaining these activities. That can
be done through fair trade opportunities, equitable
markets, increased foreign investment, transfer of
technology, capacity-building and providing quality
overseas development assistance.
 The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a serious threat to
social and economic security in many of our countries.
Greater efforts must be made to arrest it. In Papua New
Guinea, my Government has passed HIV/AIDS
legislation underpinned by a comprehensive HIV/AIDS
policy framework. We consider HIV/AIDS to be a
development issue and deal with it separately from
other health issues. But our experience suggests that
national action alone is not enough. A concerted global
response is required. HIV/AIDS is a threat that must be
addressed on all fronts and by all countries. We thank
the United Nations and its related agencies for their
efforts in addressing HIV/AIDS. We also thank former
President of the United States, Mr. Bill Clinton, for his
contribution to this work in my country.
 Of equal importance are the battles against
malaria, tuberculosis and other preventable diseases.
While, as a global community, we have focused on
HIV/AIDS and avian flu, little attention is given to
malaria, which remains the biggest killer disease in my
country. We therefore thank Mr. Bill Gates for
assistance given to research work on malaria in Papua
New Guinea. We call upon development partners to
support Papua New Guinea and other countries in
addressing these challenges.
 Despite many United Nations resolutions, the
conflict in the Middle East remains unresolved. Papua
New Guinea appeals to all parties to the conflict,
including those Powers that have the capacity to
influence a positive outcome, to make the necessary
concessions for a peaceful resolution to this long-
standing issue. We appeal to all parties to make full use
of the dispute-settlement procedures of the United
Nations.
 The work of the Special Committee on
Decolonization remains unfinished. There are still 16
Non-Self-Governing Territories   some in the
Pacific   that have yet to exercise their right to self-
determination. The forthcoming referendum in Tokelau
demonstrates once again the true spirit of cooperation
between Tokelau and New Zealand. We congratulate
both Governments and assure the people of Tokelau of
our respect for their ultimate decision. In the same
vein, we hope that other Administering Powers will
follow the example of New Zealand and assist other
territories reach a decision of their choice.
 While our world today provides untold
opportunities, we are at the same time faced with many
complex challenges. We must renew our commitment
to and faith in the United Nations and seek to reform it
in ways that are reflective of the realities of today.
Thirty-two years ago, when I brought my nation to take
its seat in the General Assembly, I said, and wish to
reaffirm today, that, within the limits of our resources,
Papua New Guinea will play an active and positive role
in the United Nations. That commitment remains.


It gives me great pleasure to
express, on behalf of the delegation of the United Arab
Emirates, our sincere congratulations to you, Sir, and
to your friendly country on your election as President
of the General Assembly at its sixty-second session.
We look forward to working closely with you as you
seek to successfully discharge your mission.
 I would also like to express our appreciation to
your predecessor, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for
her remarkable achievements during her presidency at
the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, in
particular her efforts to stimulate more active debate
among cultures.
 I also take this opportunity to express our
warmest greetings to His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
the Secretary-General, and to note our appreciation of
the initiatives he has taken to promote the role of the
United Nations since assuming his post.
 Our world still suffers from a wide range of
regional and international issues, conflicts and threats,
most visible among which are the worldwide spread of
poverty and epidemics, the degradation of the
environment, terrorism, organized crime, the spread of
extremism and violations of human rights, and attempts
to obtain nuclear weapons. This should prompt us to
make sincere and determined efforts to implement the
recommendations, decisions and plans of action
approved by the world’s leaders and by the United
Nations.
 Given its interest in and commitment to the
principle of good-neighbourly relations, as well as its
respect for the national sovereignty of other States, the
United Arab Emirates would like to draw attention to
the fact that, thus far, no progress whatsoever has been
made on the issue of the Iranian occupation since 1971
of three islands belonging to the United Arab Emirates:
the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa. This
is despite the consistent efforts expended and the
positive peaceful initiatives taken by my country,
which wants this issue settled by peaceful means,
either through bilateral and unconditioned negotiations
or by referral of the issue to the International Court of
Justice for legal arbitration.
 Severe conflict has sorely wounded our region,
and quick and effective treatment is required. As for
Iraq, we express our firm belief that all should abstain
from interference in Iraq’s internal affairs and should
show respect for the national sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Iraq. This requires that all parties should
cooperate to bring to an end the cycle of violence and
the inflaming of passions, and it calls for partition and
division. Let us give our support to an Iraqi
Government that truly works to achieve national
reconciliation. The United Arab Emirates renews its
encouragement for the efforts made to promote
reconstruction in Iraq.
 Regarding the Middle East crisis, we call on the
United Nations, and the Security Council in particular,
to play a more active role, together with the Middle
East Quartet, to give new momentum to the Middle
East peace process. We stress that no solution to the
Arab-Israeli conflict is possible without Israel’s
acceptance of the Arab Peace Initiative, which is based
on the relevant United Nations resolutions and offers a
balanced and comprehensive solution to this long-
standing conflict.
 In this context, we are following with interest the
efforts to convene the international peace conference
for the Middle East later this year with the
participation of all concerned parties. We look forward
to a balanced and fair settlement of the issue on the
basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, the United Nations
Security Council resolutions, and the rules of
international legitimacy. We also renew our support for
Syria’s right to regain its full sovereignty over the
occupied Golan Heights.
 We note with satisfaction the United Nations role
in restoring security and stability in Lebanon, thanks to
the pressure put on Israel to fulfil its legal obligations
under Security Council resolution 1701 (2006),
including respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty,
withdrawal from the Shaba’a farmlands and the village
of al-Ghajar and the handing over of detailed maps and
coordinates of the landmines that Israel planted in
southern Lebanon.
 We reaffirm our support for the reconstruction
efforts and for the stability and territorial integrity of
Lebanon as well as for the maintenance of its
constitutional institutions. In this respect, the United
Arab Emirates has undertaken a number of
reconstruction projects in Lebanon and has provided
humanitarian assistance. The United Arab Emirates
collaborates closely with the Lebanese Government
and the United Nations to remove mines and
unexploded ordnance, this work having originally
commenced as part of an initiative taken by the United
Arab Emirates in 2001, when my Government provided
initial funding of $50 million.
 We hope that talks between Iran and the
International Atomic Energy Agency will eventually
lead to a permanent, peaceful solution that will spare
the region further tensions and conflicts and will help
to reassure countries in the region that they will not be
faced with any threats to their security. We stress again
that Israel should not be excluded from the terms of the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
 The United Arab Emirates continues to cooperate
fully with all efforts to combat all forms of terrorism,
including associated money-laundering. We also
emphasize the importance of promoting dialogue
among cultures and civilizations and of enhancing
tolerance among religions.
 The United Arab Emirates contributes generously
to the financing of development projects in some
95 States. Such assistance has exceeded $70 billion and
is intended to promote a culture of peace and stability
in those countries and throughout the world. Consistent
with that approach, the United Arab Emirates has
created a number of institutions, including the Abu
Dhabi Fund for Development, the Zayed Charitable
and Humanitarian Foundation, the Khalifa bin Zayed
Foundation for Charitable Work and the Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charity, which recently
launched the “Dubai Cares” charity campaign, which
seeks to guarantee education for 1 million children
around the world, especially in Asia and Africa.
 Since its creation in 1971, the United Arab
Emirates has achieved economic, social and cultural
progress that has helped to establish stability and well-
being for citizens of the Emirates and job opportunities
for the millions who work in our country.
 We have also launched an interim political reform
plan, in whose first phase half of the members of the
Federal National Council were elected as an important
step towards political participation. In this context, I
should also like to make reference to the significant
national gains that have been made by women in the
United Arab Emirates. Two women sit in the Council
of Ministers, and women hold approximately a quarter
of the seats in the Federal National Council. They are
also represented in the judiciary and in other senior
leadership and decision-making positions.
 In the context of its national, regional and
international efforts and cooperation, the United Arab
Emirates has enacted laws to counter terrorist crimes
and money-laundering and has frozen many suspect
bank and corporate accounts. It has also enacted laws
on issues such as human trafficking and international
judicial cooperation on criminal matters, and has
adopted import and export control procedures for a
range of commodities.
In its desire for educational and cultural contact
with the rest of the world, the United Arab Emirates
has launched a number of initiatives, including the
$2-million Sheikh Zayed Book Award, designed to
motivate creative writers and intellectuals to make
contributions in all spheres of the humanities.
 As part of our efforts to bring the experience of
the world’s most prestigious universities to the United
Arab Emirates, we have recently launched the Paris-
Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and have inaugurated
the Emirates Foundation to raise our educational,
technological, intellectual and research resources to the
highest global levels. Further underlining our belief in
the importance of cultural communication among the
world’s peoples for the preservation of the historical
heritage of human civilization, we have agreed to build
two world-class satellite museums in the United Arab
Emirates: the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Guggenheim
Abu Dhabi.
 The United Arab Emirates prides itself on being
home for people of all religions, ethnicities, cultures
and countries from all continents. Indeed, the number
of countries represented in the Emirates exceeds the
total membership of the United Nations. All these
people live in the Emirates in harmony, forming a
model for what the modern world should be like.
 In compliance with its obligations under
international human rights and labour treaties, the
United Arab Emirates has enacted legislation to
guarantee the full rights of its expatriate workforce in
accordance with relevant national and international
laws and treaties. I affirm here that the relevant
authorities in the United Arab Emirates are determined
that these laws and treaties should be fully
implemented so as to protect workers and provide them
with the best working and living conditions.
 Finally, we hope that our deliberations on the
urgent international issues on the agenda of the current
sixty-second session of the General Assembly will
continue in a spirit of solidarity and will lead to
positive steps towards the eventual fulfilment of our
aspiration to peace, development and prosperity for our
world and its peoples.


Please  accept our warm congratulations, Sir, on your well-
deserved election to the presidency of our Assembly.
We are convinced that you possess all the necessary
qualities for the sound direction of our work. My
country assures you of its support as you carry out your
important task.
 We also wish to convey our gratitude to your
predecessor, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for the
efficiency with which she guided the work of our
sixty-first session. I also wish to pay a well-deserved
tribute to our Secretary-General, His Excellency
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who has been constantly playing a
significant role since his election in advancing the
ideals of our Organization.
 One important event has caught the attention of
Chad. On 25 September, the Security Council adopted
unanimously resolution 1778 (2007) authorizing an
international operation on the eastern border of Chad
and the north-east border of the Central African
Republic. That operation   and we should stress the
defensive nature of its mandate: the protection of
refugees, displaced persons, civilian populations and
humanitarian workers   is something that in Chad we
are very satisfied to see since it will lighten the heavy
burden borne thus far by the Chadian local police since
the beginning of the crisis in Darfur.
 Chad also wishes to thank the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and
the friendly countries who have supported the local
Chadian police. At this point, I wish also to pay tribute
to their courage and dedication because they did their
best in order to accomplish their sensitive and
dangerous mission.
 The new operation will be able to rely on the
availability and cooperation of Chadian authorities. We
venture to hope that it will stabilize and create
conditions for the reconstruction of the eastern part of
our country, which has been destroyed by incursions of
the Janjaweed militias from the Sudan and other armed
groups from Darfur. It will also especially require that
the Chadian displaced persons, who have so far been
neglected by the international community, be
reinstalled in their original localities.
 Above and beyond our hopes of stabilization and
reconstruction in the eastern part of our country, we
have the legitimate hope that the Darfur crisis will end.
More than any country, Chad would gain by that,
especially since our populations in the eastern part of
Chad have been the victims of the crisis as often if not
more than our sister populations of the Sudan in
Darfur. For that reason, our country has tirelessly
endeavoured to restore peace and security to Darfur. In
that regard, no one can ignore the extremely important
role played by the President of the Republic, His
Excellency Mr. Idriss Deby Itmo, in supporting the
peacekeeping measures taken by the international
community.
 The Republic of Chad has no intention of
departing from that course. For that reason we will
make the fullest possible contribution to the success of
the resumed inter-Sudanese peace talks on Darfur that
are scheduled for Tripoli on 27 October. We have also
contributed to the preparation of the peace talks
through our participation in meetings bringing together
the non-signatory movements of the Abuja Peace
Agreement, including meetings at Abeche in Chad, at
Asmara in Eritrea, at Tripoli in the Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya and at Arusha in Tanzania, as well as the
last Seminar of N’Djaména in Chad   all of which has
taken place under the auspices of the joint mediation of
the United Nations and the African Union.
 We have just underscored our resolve to work for
peace in Darfur in particular, and of course, in the
Sudan in general, because that work is in the interest of
peace and security in the subregion of Central Africa in
general and of Chad in particular. We all need peace
among our neighbours in order to fend off any risk to
the stabilization of our countries and to continue,
guided by the inspiration of His Excellency Mr. Idriss
Deby Itmo, President of the Republic and Head of
State, to build upon the democratic process that our
country has been committed to since 1990, as well as
to ensure the peace, security and social well-being of
the Chadian people.
 In that regard, we should highlight that, since last
year, Chadian political life has witnessed some positive
developments. A number of military and political high
officials of the Chadian rebellion have had their legal
rights restored, individually or in small groups or with
their entire organization.
 On 4 March 2007, a new Government was formed
under the leadership of one of the well known figures of
the political opposition to the presidential majority
Prime Minister Sem Nouradine Delwa Kassire
Koumakoye. Moreover, the new Government has
responded to the expectations of the opposition by
deciding to postpone the legislative and communal
elections in order to wait for the conclusions of a
political dialogue begun under the auspices of the
European Union. That dialogue is aimed at
strengthening the rule of law and the democratic
process by organizing the elections under conditions
that are acceptable to all actors in our political life, or
at least by the greater majority, which is devoted to the
peaceful settlement of political conflicts and has
renounced recourse to weapons and anti-constitutional
changes.
 That political dialogue led to the signing of a
political agreement on 13 August 2007. The signing of
that important agreement by the parties of the
governmental majority and the democratic opposition
clearly stems from the constant resolve of the President
of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Idriss Deby Itmo,
to establish a peaceful political life in the country.
 Furthermore, we wish also to warmly thank our
development partners, in particular the European
Union, whose valuable assistance enabled us to
produce the agreement that we consider historic. That
new fact in Chad’s political life has enabled us to note
with great satisfaction that a number of political exiles
have returned or intend to return without delay to the
country. We owe that situation to the facilitation of the
heads of State who are friends of Chad and we mention
in particular His Excellency El Hadj Omar Bongo
Ondimba of Gabon and His Excellency Mr. Boni Yayi
of Benin. In addition to the notable progress with the
democratic opposition and the Chadian political exiles
we note that we are looking forward   with the
support of the guide to the Libyan revolution and the
mediator of the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States
(CEN-SAD), our brother Muammar Al-Qadhafi   to
continuing with the useful discussions taking place in
Tripoli with the armed movements aimed at reaching
agreements with those organizations that have not yet
rejoined the great Chadian family. We hope that those
movements will renounce any recourse to weapons and
express their expectations within the peaceful
framework set by the historic political agreement of 13
August 2007 and with respect for the institutions of the
Republic.
 It is our view that all political initiatives having
to do with national reconciliation should fall within the
framework of the political agreement of 13 August and
should contribute to strengthening the State apparatus
for the benefit of the general interest. For we should
not forget that since its independence, Chad has known
only conflict or post-conflict situations, often, indeed,
internal, but including in particular those fuelled from
the outside to weaken the State or to topple the
country’s institutions. This is why we count on the
international community to unreservedly condemn all
attempts to destabilize the Chadian State, and also all
who use unconstitutional means, notably force, to seize
power. The Chadian people, victims of insecurity due
to the interminable armed struggles for power,
condemn these sterile struggles and rely on the
democratic political actors and on the international
community to block the path to violence.
 If we must extend a hand to the rebels, whose
causes sometimes seem to be from the world of a
revolutionary utopia, this should not be done to the
detriment of the highest interest of the rule of law and
of democracy. Unhappiness is at the heart of rebellions.
We find mercenaries in the pay of someone from the
exterior, and adventurers who use it as a source of
commerce to gain unwarranted material advantages or
to satisfy personal ambitions in exchange for their
return to legality, in disdain of the authority of the
State apparatus, of the law and of the country’s
regulations.
 After this brief overview of Chadian political
questions, allow me to raise some other issues
regarding today’s challenges: globalization with its
hopes and anguishes, poverty, inequitable international
trade, terrorism, the AIDS pandemic, and so forth. A
number of international meetings have been held on
these topics and on others. Resolutions and
recommendations have been adopted. However, no
decisive advances have been made in these areas. We
can only hope that the international community will
honour its commitments and that the richest will keep
their promises vis-à-vis the poorest.
 We cannot simply ignore another important event,
the High-level Event on Climate Change and its
consequences, which was held right here. We hope that
the international community will learn lessons with a
view to acting instead of indulging in fine statements,
as was the case after the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto.
 Yes, we need to act, and for us the most tragic
case deserving the attention of the international
community is that of the shrinking of Lake Chad,
whose surface has been reduced in a few decades from
25,000 square kilometres to 2,500 square kilometres.
Saving Lake Chad would not only contribute to the
struggle against disastrous climate change on a
planetary level, but would also meet the needs of
25 million people in the countries adjacent to the Lake.
 Another issue is just as worrisome, and that is the
conflict situations in Africa and on other continents.
How can we not take a stand? We applaud the efforts
of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations to
find lasting solutions to the conflicts in Africa or
elsewhere in the world.
 This prompts us to underscore the importance of
another event that has caught our attention. That is the
Security Council meeting held at the level of heads of
State on 25 September on the question of peace and
security in Africa. We are mindful of the Council’s
steadily growing interest in Africa, and that meeting
seems to pave the way for the strengthening of
cooperation between the United Nations and the AU,
especially with a view to building the capacities of the
AU so that it can accomplish its peace missions in the
best possible conditions. This is the moment to
condemn the recent barbarous attacks on the African
forces in Darfur and to express our condolences to the
families of the missing.
 We have great hope for the settlement of all crises
in the framework of the rebirth of multilateralism and
collective security, which our Secretary-General has
very strongly endorsed: hopes for peace in Côte
d’Ivoire, in Western Sahara, in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, in the Horn of Africa, in the
Middle East and so forth.
 Before I conclude, I would like to recall that we
have constantly condemned before this Assembly all
forms of violence and intolerance, especially their most
extreme form   terrorism. We reaffirm our
condemnation and our commitment to fighting these
phenomena. We would like to reaffirm our commitment
to strive to eliminate all sources of conflicts and all the
threats that jeopardize peace and security around the
world.
 In this regard, I wish to recall the need to respect
the principles of peaceful coexistence, which are
respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity
of States. This, of course, prompts us to reaffirm our
devotion to respect for internationally recognized
historical borders. We cite as an example our
attachment to the policy of a single China and our
opposition to Taiwan’s attempts to bring about a kind
of accession to the United Nations, under whatever
name they might choose.
 This also prompts us to express respect for the
sovereign right of States to develop nuclear energy for
peaceful purposes. And we welcome the good
arrangements to find solutions to the question of
nuclear energy through negotiations and to find a
peaceful solution to the problem of the dissemination
of weapons of mass destruction.
 This last prompts us once again to launch a
pressing appeal to our Assembly, especially to the
permanent members of the Security Council, to redress
the injustice of the African continent being the only
continent that does not have a permanent member seat
on the Council, when the bulk of the Council’s agenda
is comprised of African situations.


At the outset,
I would like to salute the international community,
legitimately represented here today. I would also like
to take this opportunity to personally congratulate
Mr. Ban Ki-moon on his election to the post of
Secretary-General of our Organization. I am confident,
Sir, that your able leadership, steadfastness and
commitment will assist us in our search for consensual
solutions to the issues that affect humanity in order to
make the world an increasingly safer, freer and fairer
place.
 Today, the world is confronted with global
warming, a consequence of the atmospheric pollution
resulting from human activity on Earth, which is
causing dramatic and dangerous climate change. The
world is also confronted with extremists who resort to
terrorism and the use of religion for political ends; with
growing militarism as a would-be response to
terrorism; and with the hoarding of capital, information
and know-how, all of which widen the gap between the
rich and the poor and generate social tensions around
the world.
 On the issue of terrorism, the model of an open,
democratic and tolerant civilization, with a State that
serves the interests of all, has shown that parties that
alternate in political office in the post-cold-war period
can coexist and fight for their principles and values
through peaceful means. I believe that the same model
can be successful if properly adjusted to the concrete
realities of other regions.
 At the same time, we must continue to deepen our
study and analysis of the threat of terrorism and use
peaceful means to seek an ever-broader consensus on
the collective responses needed to counter it.
 Islam can peacefully coexist in societies with
other religious beliefs. However, it is necessary to
neutralize fanaticism and prevent the Islamization of
the State, which is contrary to humanity’s modern legal
concept of a secular State.
 In our opinion, it is necessary to defend cultural
diversity and to render more inclusive and fair the
process of political, economic and social development;
to support and stimulate, in countries that are
predominantly Islamic, all the forces and movements
that defend modern life and the separation of State
from religion; and to support the values and privileges
of the universal culture that are enshrined in
conventions, charters and international treaties. This
movement is immense, it continues to grow and it can
be more effective than military action, which in our
understanding should only constitute a last resort.
 Ecumenism and dialogue among cultures are
other avenues for action that can be better and more
frequently used to bring together the dominant
religions and all the people of the world, based on the
ideals of peace, solidarity and fraternity.
 The fight against poverty and hunger in the
world, with a global plan monitored by the United
Nations as an international convention, higher and
fairer remuneration for commodities or natural
resources extracted from developing countries and
technical support to poor States would contribute
greatly to eliminating social inequalities and the social
seedbed and support of those who prefer violence.
 In this regard, the globalization of the economy
must be regulated in order to mitigate the asymmetries
between the centre and the periphery of the economic
system and to ensure that each person has the
necessary means for survival with dignity.
 Such regulation should further address
environmental matters. There are countries that have
experienced rapid industrial development without
paying due attention to the protection of the
environment. Other countries are now involved in an
identical endeavour, thus increasing the production of
carbon dioxide and worsening the greenhouse effect. It
is plain that a new meeting of all world leaders is
urgently required in order to approve and begin the
execution of a global plan of environmental protection.
 We therefore support the initiative of the
Secretary-General to that end, convinced that the
countries that most pollute the atmosphere, such as the
richest countries, should contribute more resources to
its protection.
 Today, the Republic of Angola is in a position to
engage more actively in this collective effort of
solidarity for humanity, because the country has been
at peace for a little more than five years and is moving
towards complete normalization of its political,
economic and social life. Proof of that lies in the fact
that Angola has already signed all the international
protocols in favour of environmental protection, such
as the Kyoto and the Montreal Protocols, while
contributing to conflict resolution and peace in its
region and in the African continent as a whole.
 As a country that has recently chaired the
Peacebuilding Commission, we are pleased to learn of
the important progress achieved in consolidating the
peace processes in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Serra
Leone.
 However, the conflict between Ethiopia and
Eritrea and the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, still prevail,
while the issue of Western Sahara’s self-determination
remains unresolved. I am convinced that the
Organization will remain engaged in the search for a
solution to these problems in the shortest time possible
and that United Nations forces will be urgently
deployed in Darfur.
 The Commission of the Gulf of Guinea is
currently headquartered in Luanda, where the
representatives of the Zone of Peace and Cooperation
of the South Atlantic met recently at the initiative of
Angola. Both institutions promote peace, security,

stability and multiform cooperation among their
members, in consonance with the principles of the
United Nations Charter.
 I must highlight the decisive role that regional
and subregional organizations can play in the
prevention and resolution of conflicts. At the same
time, they can alert everyone to the need to strengthen
the mandates and the financing of United Nations
peacekeeping operations, without prejudice to post-
conflict activities, such as disarmament and the
resettlement of populations, among other actions.
 In the particular case of Africa, it is in our
interest to see the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) fully achieved, so that the growth rate of the
entire continent can be aligned with that of the world
economy. The reduction of extreme poverty by 50 per
cent by 2015, as foreseen by the United Nations, must
be accompanied by a decisive fight against hunger and
disease, including HIV/AIDS and other endemic
scourges. The effectiveness of these actions depends,
however, on complementary achievements, such as
fairer trade with developed countries, greater fluidity
in the transfer of capital, official development
assistance and forgiveness of foreign debt.
 In recent years, significant progress has been
made in the reform of the United Nations system. It is
nevertheless important to continue to move forward in
that process, especially in regard to the Security
Council, with the objective of strengthening the
authority and the effectiveness of the Organization and
making it more representative, more democratic and
more participatory in the areas of international security,
development and human rights.
 In spite of criticism and some known failures, the
United Nations remains the only institution at the
international level with the prestige and credibility to
resolve inter-State conflicts and crises that, due to their
dimensions, escape the control of the authorities of a
State or endanger its population.
 The United Nations-led fight against
conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons and landmines, in addition to the
peacekeeping and humanitarian operations of the Blue
Helmets in many regions, have contributed to greater
world security. In that regard, it is important to
strengthen the monitoring of the implementation of the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
(NPT), so as to move towards a global disarmament
process and discourage a new arms race. It is also
urgent to relaunch the Middle East peace process in a
committed and comprehensive manner, for the Middle
East remains unstable and the source of a constant
threat to world peace.
 A recurring theme in the Assembly’s agenda is
the embargo against Cuba. It is imperative to put an
end once and for all to the economic, trade and
financial embargo imposed by the United States of
America, as it violates the principles of international
law and Chapters I and II of the United Nations
Charter. Angola hopes that the United Nations will
state its view on this matter and remain faithful to the
core of its Charter, according to which all actions must
be the result of a debate and a collective decision, thus
excluding unilateralism.
 The challenges that lie ahead of us entail a
constructive dialogue among all the countries involved,
especially among heads of State and Government, who
will have to overcome possible differences and
impediments and will have to find middle ground
between the possible and the desirable, between
boldness and realism.
 We believe that through joint action, the
promotion of dialogue among civilizations and the
revitalization of the spirit of international solidarity, it
will be possible to build a better world for all. A world
of peace, based on justice and the rule of law, without
weapons of war and without dangerous pollution is a
safer world. Its construction depends entirely on the
political will of all States Members of the United
Nations, especially the permanent members of the
Security Council. Let us all unite our forces for a better
world for all.


I wish to offer you my
heartfelt congratulations, Sir, on your election to
preside over this sixty-second session of the General
Assembly. Your experience in international affairs and
your first-hand knowledge of the Organization make
you particularly suitable for this important post. At the
same time I sincerely thank your predecessor,
Ms. Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, for her wise and
dedicated leadership of the Assembly.
 I want to begin my statement where I left off last
year, with Italy’s decision to defend human rights in
the world and to oppose the death penalty. In recent
months, Italy has worked very hard to enable the
Assembly to adopt a resolution on a universal
moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to its
complete abolition. It has been a source of great
satisfaction to see support for our initiative growing
day by day in Europe and in every other region of the
world. We have now reached a decisive moment.
 I trust that we shall all be united in this battle,
which is supported by Nobel laureates, statesmen and
stateswomen, and free men and women throughout the
world, and that the “growing trend in international law
and national practice toward a phasing out of the death
penalty”   to quote Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
(Press release SG/SM/10839)   will be officially
sanctioned by this General Assembly’s adoption of the
draft resolution we are about to submit together with
many countries from every regional group and from the
European Union. If genuine politics means showing
foresight, we shall perform a great political act through
the adoption of that draft resolution. It will
demonstrate that humankind is capable of making
progress not only in science, but also in the field of
ethics.
 A United Nations resolution against the death
penalty will prove that human beings are better today
than they were yesterday, even in moral terms. An
outcome with enormous consequences, heralding a
more just future, and a society that has at last freed
itself from the spiral of revenge, demonstrating that it
has heeded the ancient admonition: if you want peace,
you must work for justice.
 Last year we welcomed the ceasefire in Lebanon
and the launch of the new United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been under
Italian command for several months now. Today,
thanks in part to our common commitment, Lebanon is
in a better situation, although it has not yet solved its
problems, as the brutal attacks of recent days have
unfortunately demonstrated.
 We must continue to support the Lebanese
reconciliation process and help the country to regain its
unity through the election of a new President. We must
do this without ignoring the root causes of the conflicts
afflicting the Middle East, first and foremost the
Palestinian question. In short, we must continue to
mobilize support for reconciliation among peoples and
within a single people.
 Restoring peace to the Middle East is the top
priority of the international community, because if one
day this region should find greater peace, freedom and
prosperity, we shall all live in greater peace, freedom
and prosperity. I am therefore delighted that the United
States has promoted a new international meeting. We
are ready to provide our input and we are already
preparing it, knowing that the more countries in the
region that are behind this meeting, the greater the
possibility of success.
 Italy will continue to play its part in the rest of
the region too, beginning with dialogue. For it is
through dialogue that the most difficult issues can be
resolved. I have never seen a lasting solution to a
problem when the solution was imposed from above or
from outside.
 Today’s challenges, such as bringing peace to the
Middle East, are complex. If we wish to overcome
them we must rise to their dimensions. In other words,
we have to set aside all partisan interests in a world
that is increasingly shaped by global processes.
This applies also to climate change, to which this
session is most appropriately dedicated. As I said
yesterday at the panel convened by the Secretary-
General, Italy considers climate change a priority
issue. We are among the European supporters of a
unilateral 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions by 2020. We have made similar
commitments on energy efficiency, renewable energy
sources and biofuels. In Europe we have already made
various strategic decisions, but it is obvious that any
post-Kyoto agreement can only be achieved within the
United Nations, because when speaking about global
warming we are speaking about the pre-eminent global
problem of our day.
 National approaches to solving the world’s
problems no longer exist. The era of making and
unmaking national borders is long over. It is only
through multilateralism, by marshalling everyone’s
energies, that we can hope to do good.
 Our task today is to adapt the multilateral
structures at our disposal to a changing world and to
think of new forms of global governance, for there is
no other way to manage global processes.
 The challenge facing Europe today is not to
become resigned to the world as it is, but to seek to
improve it based on the values in which Europe
believes: freedom, democracy, respect for others, and
respect for the rules of peaceful coexistence. That is
why we are adapting our founding treaties. That is why
we are building a common foreign and defence policy.
That is why we have invented a new citizenship,
European citizenship, to which we are entitled by
choosing to share certain values, not by virtue of
kinship or nationality.
 The European dream is thus the child of the
universal dream of the United Nations. In the past year
the United Nations has continued to play a central role
in resolving international disputes. The cases of
Lebanon and Darfur demonstrate that if Member States
are willing to give the United Nations a strong central
role, the Organization is today up to the task. We have
to ask ourselves what the United Nations needs in
order to fulfil its worldwide mission and to be equally
effective in different crisis areas.
 First and foremost, we need an Organization
capable of renewal and adaptation. In the past two
years the revival of the reform process produced its
first positive results. One essential aspect of reform
relates to the General Assembly, which remains the
main decision-making organ of the Organization. I
never tire of repeating that we have to restore the
General Assembly’s central position, and exploit its
political guidance potential and, above all, its
universality.
 The principles of democracy and the
representation of every Member State underpin the
United Nations system. That is why we are opposed to
any concept of Security Council reform that would
establish new permanent members. The growing
contribution of a growing number of countries to the
Organization should not be wasted by introducing
elitist and selective reforms.
 It is clear that reforming the Security Council
means addressing one of the fundamental pillars of the
global security architecture. The Council’s central role
and its nature as the paramount source of international
legitimacy impel us to seek shared political solutions.
 Last year, in this very Hall, I advocated that
negotiations be started to break the deadlock and help
strengthen the Organization. I spoke of the need to start
negotiations based not on imposing predefined models
and positions, but rather on the search for solutions
based on the widest possible consensus.
 I am therefore delighted that, one year later, the
General Assembly has decided to make every effort,
through intergovernmental negotiations among others,
to reach a general agreement on Security Council
reform that we all hope will open a new chapter with a
view to an agreed solution, a solution that I hope can
include strengthening the presence of the leading
regional stakeholders in the Security Council. My
country is ready and will not fail to demonstrate
commitment and to contribute ideas in this new phase
of the Security Council reform process.
 Reform is also intended to make the Organization
more effective in the areas and on the issues where, by
history and vocation, it can provide greater added
value: Africa and development issues.
 The United Nations is deeply engaged in Africa.
Over two thirds of the Blue Helmets are deployed in
Africa on peacekeeping missions. Italy will pursue this
goal through the establishment of the African Peace
Facility fund, which will complement its European
counterpart fund. Darfur and Somalia remain two of
our central concerns.
But it would be a mistake to look only at the
negative side and forget the many encouraging signs of
development and unity coming from Africa. I am
referring to the growth of the economy and to the hope
that has arisen in many parts of the continent.
 In Europe we are now preparing for the second
Africa-Europe Summit. I hope that it will be held
successfully before the end of the year. Italy is working
above all to ensure that the Summit will spark a
European policy for Africa that is worthy of the name.
 That brings me to development. It is the
responsibility of the United Nations to keep
development at the top of the international agenda. It
will take more than lip service to the Millennium
Development Goals to achieve them. We all have to
work for their attainment. I have already expressed my
willingness to sit at a table next year for a progress
report on the implementation of the commitments we
made seven years ago.
 We can no longer ignore the reality around us:
one half of world trade and investment benefits 14 per
cent of the world’s population; the 49 poorest countries
in the world receive 0.5 per cent of the global product;
and 90 per cent of the planet’s wealth lies in the hands
of only 1 per cent of its inhabitants. Efforts are needed
from everyone, particularly those who have more to
give. The G-8 can play an important role in this area.
Here and now I pledge to make this issue the
centrepiece of the Italian presidency in 2009.
 The principles of solidarity and cooperation
underlying this Organization are as sound today as they
were 62 years ago. The spread of democratic values
and greater attention to the protection of human rights
should not make us forget that these principles and
values are still threatened and violated in far too many
parts of the world. What is more, insecurity leads more
and more people and countries to close themselves off.
 The danger is that this sense of insecurity can
cause societies to regress. Even the most free and
democratic nations, if they feel they are under threat,
may adopt measures that will undermine peace and
with it, the civil and political rights of their citizens.
 In the face of such risks, the principles and values
of the United Nations are our beacons and our stars.
They make it possible for us to navigate even by night
and in rough waters. Staying on course is not just a
political imperative. It is above all a moral imperative
for all of us.


My delegation associates
itself with the compliments extended to Mr. Srgjan
Kerim on his election to preside over the General
Assembly at this session and to his predecessor,
Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa of Bahrain. I also
wish to take this opportunity to welcome His
Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon and to assure him of my
country’s unconditional support during his tenure as
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
 Lesotho congratulates the presidency on having
invited Member States to comment on the theme
“Responding to Climate Change” during this session.
In 1992, the first Earth Summit, the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, was
held in Rio de Janeiro. It was at that conference that we
committed ourselves to achieving sustainable
development in the twenty-first century. We reaffirmed
our commitments in Johannesburg at the 2002 World
Summit on Sustainable Development. It would seem
that, for far too long thereafter, we agreed to disagree
until we were confronted by the glaring and compelling
scientific evidence that the link between global
warming and human activities was unequivocal. We
waited for the adverse effects of climate change to
begin to be felt all over the globe before we could
acknowledge that consensus was essential for
concerted action on climate change.
 Sadly, natural disasters have begun to strike. As is
usually the case, it is the poorest nations and the most
vulnerable countries that are being worst affected. My
country is one of these. Unfavourable climatic
conditions that are attributable to climate change have
led to severe drought, which has resulted in acute food
shortages. In order to address that crisis, my
Government has declared a state of emergency on food
security.
 As the world prepares for the United Nations
climate change conference, which will take place in
Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007, we need to be
reminded of the urgent need to build a solid and
sustainable consensus on a global response to climate
change for the period following the expiry of the 1997
Kyoto Protocol in the year 2012. My delegation calls
upon the international community to endeavour to
reach consensus on, among other things, steps that
must be taken to reach the 60 to 80 per cent emission
cuts that are required to stabilize the atmosphere. In
that regard, the industrialized countries must assume
the major responsibility, because scientific evidence
has confirmed that it is the greenhouse gas emissions
from those countries that are making natural disasters
worse. The international community must also reaffirm
its commitment to assisting the regions, such as Africa,
that are the most vulnerable to climate change. In
addition, my delegation calls upon developed countries
to assist developing countries in strengthening their
capacity to adapt to climate change.
 Allow us further to share our thoughts on what
we consider to be the role of the United Nations in the
twenty-first century. Our thoughts cover three areas:
democracy, conflicts and development.
 The United Nations was formed against the
backdrop of colonialism, particularly on the African
continent. As colonial rule slowly but surely ended, it
left behind a legacy of undemocratic Governments.
African countries were characterized by coups d’état
day in, day out. Very few African countries have not
had the “pleasure” of military rule.
 Faced with that disturbing reality, some regional
organizations adopted instruments to deal with
unconstitutional changes of Government by carrying
out sanctions. Here, mention should be made of the
Organization of African Unity; its successor, the
African Union; and the Commonwealth group of
nations. Significantly, however, our Organization, the
United Nations, has not adopted any instrument to
carry out sanctions against defaulting Member States.
That is what the United Nations must now do.
 Today, the overwhelming majority of the world’s
countries adhere to the principles of democracy. Those
countries hold periodic elections. However, the
broadest common denominator of developing countries
is the non-acceptance of election results; it has become
a tradition for losing political parties to dispute them.
Regrettably, that is done through unlawful means more
often than not, despite the fact that there are always
lawful mechanisms for challenging election results.
This is one area in which we see a role for the United
Nations, as the universal institution with the capacity
necessary to assist requesting Member States in
reversing these trends.
 Just as the United Nations plays a critical role in
world economic development, it should see as part of
its role aggressively inculcating the culture of
democracy in all nations. In particular, the
Organization must help developing countries fight the
culture of impunity. The common understanding must
be a simple one: “When the people have spoken,
respect their voice”. Victors must learn to accept
victory with humility and magnanimity, and losers to
accept defeat with grace. In that way, the post-election
period can be devoted to development, with all sides
joining hands in a collective national effort. We must
hasten to acknowledge the role that the United Nations
is now playing in democratization processes, but we
feel that it can do more.
 That brings us to the second area: conflicts.
Conflicts always feature prominently in our addresses
before the Assembly. We must acknowledge that inter-
State conflicts are on the decline across the globe. The
same, however, cannot be said about internal conflicts.
It cannot be denied that intra-State conflicts occur
where there is little or no regard for democratic
governance. If a country is not accustomed to holding
elections or to accepting election results, conflicts
arise. Other causes, which are also attributable to lack
of democratic governance, include a lack of judicious
sharing of a country’s wealth, rampant poverty and
ethnic strife.
 In all such conflicts, small arms and light
weapons have become weapons of choice. We therefore
still consider it regrettable that in the year 2005,
Member States were not able to adopt a legally binding
international instrument on the marking and tracing of
small arms and light weapons. We share the view that
such an instrument could curtail the production,
transfer and civilian possession of illicit small arms
and light weapons. It is the urgent responsibility of the
United Nations to facilitate the adoption of an effective
international instrument for curbing the illicit trade in
conventional weapons, which would make it harder for
such weapons to end up in the hands of criminals. We
hope that the arms trade treaty that is being proposed
can be concluded expeditiously.
 We must recall that in the year 2005, the
Assembly solemnly proclaimed that the role of the
entire international community, acting through the
United Nations, was to protect populations from
genocide, war crimes and other crimes against
humanity. Unfortunately, that is not what is happening
on the ground. We still notice inaction on the part of
the Security Council, or its reaction coming too late.
The harrowing experiences of Rwanda and now Darfur
are living testimony to that. We attribute such inaction
to the skewed composition and powers of the Council,
especially the right of veto, which we are now
convinced, more than ever before, is extremely
subjective and exercised according to the interests of
the concerned permanent member. That has, in some
instances, caused a breaking of the ranks among the
big five.
We continue to witness unilateral economic and
financial blockades being imposed against other
countries, and the denial to peoples of their right to
self-determination, while others are still subject to
occupation. Cuba, Palestine and the Western Sahara are
here cases in point. We submit that it must remain the
role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century to
proactively preserve international peace and security.
Our call is therefore that, where peace and security are
threatened, the United Nations, through the Security
Council, must act swiftly and decisively at all times.
 But the United Nations can do so only if its
structures are reformed to make them democratic and
representative. Our basic premise would continue to be
that the United Nations in the twenty-first century
should inculcate democracy not only in Member
countries, but also within itself.
 It is a hard fact that the reform of the United
Nations will not be complete without the reform of the
Security Council. Members of this body have on
several occasions reiterated the fact that the Security
Council in its current form does not reflect the realities
of today’s world, and yet, for more than a decade now,
the Assembly has remained stagnant on that issue. The
presentation per se of various positions by major
stakeholders, as well as various attempts to bridge
major differences in those positions, have thus far
failed to produce tangible results. Hence, my
delegation shares the view that it is now time to move
forward and begin intergovernmental negotiations.
However, we wish to underline that, while the reform
of the Security Council is possible, all Member States
need to garner the necessary political will to attain that
goal. The credibility of the Council is at stake.
 Sustainable world peace and stability create the
necessary space to deal with the development
challenges of our countries and peoples. The world has
acknowledged that the HIV and AIDS pandemic
represents the top most challenge. The untold miseries
brought about by that scourge are common cause. To
the extent that no cure is available, HIV/AIDS will
continue to be a threat to human existence. That threat,
particularly in Africa, is compounded by worsening
poverty and famine levels brought about, in most
cases, by unfavourable weather conditions,
compliments   in large measure, of climate change.
 It is our view that, in a country enjoying political
stability, the potential for all sectors of that nation to
address those challenges is greatly enhanced.
Moreover, no economic development can take place
without democracy, peace and stability. Of course, the
support of the developed countries will always be
called for; hence, the need for them to fulfil their
promise on official development assistance, which
plays such a critical role in the economic development
of the developing countries.
 My delegation congratulates the Secretary-
General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, on his commitment to the
strengthening of the Organization. For this
Organization to acquit itself successfully in the twenty-
first century, the role of its Secretary-General must
remain sacrosanct. He must remain immune to
influence by the interests of any groups or Powers. He
must be faithful to the interests of all in the service of
our family of nations. Above all, he must help, through
the United Nations, to create a world at peace with
itself.


For Peru, Sir, your election as President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-second session is a guarantee of
experience and exceptional work. I am convinced that
your performance will strengthen the principles of
dialogue and coordination that guide the efforts of the
United Nations to attain realistic commitments that
contribute to well-being in the daily life of humankind.
 On 15 August, an earthquake occurred in the city
of Pisco, seriously impacting the southern populations
of Peru, claiming priceless human lives and causing
great material damage. The Peruvian people deeply
appreciates the immediate and generous response of
the international community, as well as the speedy
action of the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Office’s
support showed that united action can make a
difference in a crisis situation and contributed to the
Government’s activities in attending to the urgent
needs of the victims. Our sincere recognition goes to
the cooperation received, which is now being
channelled by my country’s Fund for Southern
Reconstruction.
 The stabilization and growth of the Peruvian
economy over the past 76 months have generated
national and international confidence and expectation.
We are convinced that the investment and participation
of our productive forces will allow us to maintain
continuous growth and to exploit the opportunity to
enhance a model and national project of social
tranquillity and development.
 In the first year of his Government, President of
the Republic Alan García has laid the foundations for
greater dynamic growth in the country. We must now
consolidate and give practical and positive content to
the democracy, governance and economic stabilization
of the country in order to allow the growth indices to
generate national confidence and participation that can
be converted into transparency, equity, justice and
social peace.
 The struggle against poverty and inequity is the
most formidable current challenge to the national and
foreign policies of Peru. In the conviction that the
dignity of human beings and their welfare are at the
core of governmental management, and that economic
indicators should be based on the well-being of our
population without distinction, the Government of Peru
has redefined its social policy through a concept of
productive inclusion, access to education and
technological innovations, territorial institutional
development and support for the population. To that
end, we have begun implementing a national strategy
of rural development and a national strategy of food
security to address chronic child malnutrition.
Important road infrastructure works will complement
the incorporation of the Peruvian Andes and Amazonia
into the development of the country.
 Towards the fulfilment of the Millennium
Development Goals, Peru has set itself the concrete
goal of reducing the current level of poverty from 50
per cent to 30 per cent by 2011. Chronic malnutrition
will be reduced from 25 per cent to 16 per cent, and the
provision of potable water and electricity will be
extended to 90 per cent of citizens. Likewise, we plan
to eradicate illiteracy, reduce employment in the
informal sector from 53 per cent to 35 per cent, create
1.5 million jobs, and reduce the external debt from 24
per cent to 13 per cent of the gross domestic product.
 The Government’s new direction in State action
is focused on decentralization. The strategic
decentralization plan goes beyond the mere transfer of
resources or the execution of public works in the
interior of the country. The regions can now coordinate
their own development plan, efficiently distribute more
than 80 per cent of the national budget, interlink and
gradually integrate Peru as a whole, and promote the
better distribution of the population and income
through a process of national institutionalization that
supports optimal care of the environment.
 Peru has become one of the emerging countries of
the region thanks to the continuous growth of its
economy over the past eight years. Its strategic
location in the South American Pacific, the full force of
a modern legal framework that encourages investment
and exports, the diversity of its natural resources, its
growing diversification in the global markets, and its
political and macroeconomic stability are factors that
ensure a development process of genuine social
inclusion.
 Much remains to do. In the face of the
uncertainty of the Doha Round negotiations and a
cautious evaluation of the effective possibilities of
integration in the Andean subregion and Latin America,
Peru is striving to conclude free trade treaties with its
major commercial partners that will complement
regional and subregional integration schemes and
multilateral trade negotiations. In the Andean
Community   comprised of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
and Bolivia   Peru has an up-to-date free-trade zone.
Likewise, Peru has entered into free-trade treaties with
Chile and the United States, and is negotiating similar
instruments with Canada and Mexico. Negotiations
with the Central American countries are scheduled to
begin shortly. We have finished negotiating a free-trade
agreement with Singapore, negotiations with Thailand
have reached an “early harvest” agreement, and we
have begun to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the
People’s Republic of China. Likewise, the negotiation
of an agreement of association between the Andean
Community and the European Union has begun. Our
priorities are now to pursue negotiations with Korea,
Japan, India, Russia, Australia and New Zealand.
Our objectives are clear: to ensure access to the
markets of our main commercial partners; to establish
fair and predictable commercial rules and regulations
that complement the standards of the World Trade
Organization; to diversify the markets for our exports
of goods and services; and to attract investment and
technologies to modernize our productive structure,
reduce the technology gap, and modernize Peru’s
physical infrastructure in order to increase its
competitiveness.
 Following on the results of a regressive utopian
experiment in Latin America, we are convinced that
Peru’s model of integration into the global economy,
while consolidating regional economic expansion, will
allow us to ensure the participation of the large
majority of our people in the system’s benefits, with
concrete improvements in their daily lives. It will
thereby contribute to the people’s sense of belonging to
their social institutions and of full citizenship, as well
as to their perception of themselves as agents of social-
economic change and to the consolidation of the
democratic system.
 In the framework of such integration, my country
is also assuming growing international responsibilities.
In our efforts to foment dialogue, we are deeply
honoured to be able to organize a summit of heads of
State and Government of Latin America and the
Caribbean and the European Union, as well as the
summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Forum, both of which will take place in Peru in 2008.
 Formidable technological advances, especially in
the information field; the emergence of new powers;
energy insecurity; climate change; growing inequity
and poverty; and new challenges to international
security characterize a changing and ever-more
complex international scene to which States and
international institutions must adapt. Global society is
interlinked through productive processes, trade,
financial flows, the digital telecommunications
revolution, and so on.
 In this complicated scenario, Peru is participating
in the Security Council and in peacekeeping
operations. The Peruvian armed forces are present in
the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Ethiopia and Eritrea, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Haiti.
 Peru attaches special importance to cooperation
with Haiti, having assumed in January the coordination
of the Group of Friends of Haiti in the Security
Council. In that regard, we support the renewal of the
mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in
Haiti (MINUSTAH) for a year, as well as the gradual
reorientation of its work to promote development, in
support of its multidisciplinary and multidimensional
work. At present, we are contributing a contingent of
Peruvian military officers, which we expect to be able
to complement shortly with an engineering corps.
 Our permanent representation in New York has
presented a draft resolution that, inter alia, reaffirms
the urgent call to fulfil the contribution pledges,
pursuant to the priorities presented by the Haitian
Government, especially for cooperation projects to
eradicate poverty, improve basic health services and
strengthen national institutions. We expect the draft
resolution to enjoy consensus in the Security Council
so that the international contribution to Haiti can
continue.
 Last May, Peru, with the cooperation of Norway
and the United Nations Development Programme,
organized the Lima Conference on Cluster Munitions,
assuming a lead regional role in the endorsement of the
Oslo Process. At the Conference, Peru presented to the
69 delegations of the participating countries a proposal
to secure a declaration of the Latin-American region as
a zone free of cluster munitions, which have
indiscriminate effects on civilians. Our initiative
already enjoys the support of many countries of our
region.
 Peru is also committed to effectively
implementing the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-
personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. Peru is in
the final stages of preparing a national plan of action
against anti-personnel mines with a view to completing
the demining process along our northern frontier, in
cooperation with the brotherly country of Ecuador.
 Moreover, Peru is firmly committed to efforts to
attain complete disarmament and the non-proliferation
of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as
their delivery systems, which constitute a threat to
international peace and security. In that respect, we
support the strengthening and universalization of the
relevant binding multilateral agreements. In that
context, Peru organized a regional seminar on the
implementation of Security Council resolution 1540
(2004) in November 2006, in which most countries of
the region participated.
 The General Assembly is the forum in which the
middle-income countries can efficiently contribute to
identifying imaginative responses to conflicts and new
threats. That is why we resolutely support reform that
will strengthen the Assembly and ensure its ability to
adapt to change and to the most urgent needs on the
international agenda. In order to reinforce the
Assembly’s legitimacy, we need to sharpen procedures
and reduce its agenda. An equal priority is to carry out
more effective action against violations of human
rights. Security Council reform is needed urgently to
make the Council a more efficient, transparent,
legitimate and representative body with better working
methods. On the Other hand, we also want to highlight
the validity of the Economic and Social Council, an
essential instrument for promoting greater
effectiveness in the coordination of development
strategies, as well as assistance in emergencies.
 International reality presents many challenges to
the universal system for promoting and protecting
human rights. There is still a dichotomy between
security and individual rights, with a backdrop marked
by the poverty and the inequality in which the great
majority around the world live and which affect human
dignity. The new Human Rights Council and the
system integrated into it ought to help in the response
to these challenges.
 Discussion over the last few days in this
Organization shows that climate change is a world
problem that requires a collective response from the
international community in a framework of a
multilateral and worldwide commitment. Through
sustainable forest management, Peru has contributed to
the global commitment by reducing emissions caused
by deforestation. We have also made headway in
implementing our National Strategy on Climate
Change by strengthening national capacities to
maximize human and financial resources. The size of
the problem requires an agreement with goals for the
emission of greenhouse gases more ambitious than
those agreed in the first stage. Peru has great
expectations for the next meeting in Bali, and we will
work to ensure a common platform that will allow us to
very soon begin negotiations to define the new
international regime that we hope will be concluded in
2009.
 The official launching of the International Year of
the Potato will take place at Headquarters on 19
October. This celebration is especially important for
my country because the potato has its origin in Peru,
and it is the country with the greatest genetic diversity
of this product. The cultivation of the potato was
developed in ancient times by civilizations that gave
rise to the Peru of today and is one of the great
contributions to the world’s diet. Peru has proclaimed
2008 as the National Year of the Potato and has
developed a calendar of multisectoral activities for
outreach and research that will be a positive
contribution to the work programme of the Food and
Agriculture Organization.
 I shall conclude by noting that Peru participates
actively to ensure and strengthen the United Nations
Charter principles and objectives of peace, peaceful
coexistence and development, especially in the
Security Council and the Human Rights Council. In
accordance with this commitment, Peru will continue
to promote dialogue and coordination among peoples
of the world. It has put forward its candidature for the
Economic and Social Council and the Peacebuilding
Commission, bodies within the United Nations system
where we hope to achieve the support of all members
of the Assembly in order to contribute to working
towards a safer, more equitable world where
development can reach the large majority of
populations.


It is a  pleasure, Sir, to congratulate you on your election to
the presidency of the Assembly at this session. We
have every hope that your efforts will be successful. It
is also a pleasure for me to convey our appreciation
and pride to Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed
Al-Khalifa for the tremendous effort she undertook as
President of the General Assembly at the sixty-first
session.
 I would like to take this opportunity to express
our full confidence in the role of the United Nations
and all of its specialized agencies with respect to their
historic responsibilities regarding the Palestinian
question, responsibilities they will continue to bear
until this question is comprehensively settled. For
many decades, those institutions have continued to
reaffirm the established national rights of the
Palestinian people and to provide varied support for
our people, in the political, economic and humanitarian
realms. Here, we must commend the exceptional
ongoing work of the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA) and other institutions in safeguarding the
future for generations of Palestinian refugees and
providing them with the basic services they need. Our
appreciation goes also to those who have upheld the
basic human rights of the Palestinian people and who
have provided support in the areas of education and
culture and in strengthening the role of the Palestinian
Authority since its inception, as well as in building and
strengthening our national institutions.
 I would like also to thank Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, who has given top priority to the Palestinian
question, who has worked to reach a solution to the
Israel-Palestinian conflict and who has placed this
matter at the centre of his concerns. He has, in
addition, creatively contributed to seeking the means to
relaunch the Middle East peace process.
 The confrontations, wars and conflicts in our
region and their tragic repercussions for the peoples of
the region constitute the primary threat to global peace.
They call all of mankind to awareness. They demand
rapid intervention from the international community
with the aim of settling this situation boldly and
without delay. Our experience over the years and
decades shows that the policy of delaying a settlement
of the principal conflicts in the region, the policy of
providing partial solutions and the policy aimed at
containing the conflict by limiting the damage only
further complicate things, to the point where, today,
there is a clear threat of civil war or regional war.
Moreover this climate has been conducive to terrorism,
which unfortunately has spread to become a global
phenomenon.
 However, this grim picture should not mask the
fact that hope is still alive. Indeed, thanks to the
determination of the vast majority of our people, and
thanks to the support of the international community,
our people are capable of overcoming the tragic
situation that we are being pushed into by the forces of
occupation, extremism and aggression and, by those
who seek to provoke war and terrorism in our region.
 There are on the other hand responsible, active
forces in the Middle East, representing the
consciousness of the people and possessing a true
desire for freedom, progress and democracy for the
people. Although these forces are working in extreme
difficulty, they are firmly committed to overcoming the
current situation in order to create a  new future for the
Middle East in which our peoples would enjoy freedom
and equality.
 There can be no doubt that defending Islam   a
religion of moderation, of love and brotherhood; a
human religion   is the responsibility of those active
forces in our region who seek to counter any attempt to
undermine that true religion or to portray it in an unfair
manner that is entirely out of keeping with its precepts.
Islam is a religion of tolerance that opposes killing,
terrorism and assassination. It is a religion of
enlightenment, not ignorance or backwardness; a
religion of openness to the world. It is against
extremism and close-mindedness. We need to work
hand in hand to preserve our shared human values.
 Those values are today being violated,
undermined and weakened. We need to work to
strengthen human understanding among religions and
cultures because the attempt to foment conflict among
religions, cultures and civilizations is one of the most
dangerous methods used by international terrorism
today.
 That is why a dialogue among cultures, religions
and civilizations is necessary today, particularly
because we know that world wars have not been wars
of religion or culture, but rather wars of interest. That
reality is only one fragment of the overall picture. In
fact, missing recurrent opportunities to address the
issues of our region seriously so as to reach bold,
comprehensive solutions, in particular to the
Palestinian question, moves our people to the precipice
of despair and depression and makes them easy prey to
the forces of ignorance and fanaticism.
 Is it not high time to take this opportunity, the
beginnings of which we see today, as the international
community is moving towards relaunching the peace
process, which enjoys the support not only of Israelis
and Palestinians, but also of the international
community and the world at large? Is it not time to
move seriously towards negotiating a complete end to
the 1967 Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian
territories, thereby achieving the vision of two States?
Is it not time to create a Palestinian State, with East
Jerusalem as its capital, to settle the refugee issue and
to put an end to six decades of suffering? Is it not time
to reach a fair, agreed settlement under General
Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 1948? Is it not time to
end the policies of settlement expansionism, of taking
land from Palestinians under various pretexts, of
building the apartheid separation wall, laying siege and
creating checkpoints around cities and towns and
refugee camps? Is it not time to end the policy of
collective punishment and of denying freedom to the
more than 11,300 Palestinians who are rotting in Israeli
prisons, some for more than 25 years?
 Is it not time to make Jerusalem a city of peace
for all faiths and religions? Is it not time for Israel, the
occupying Power, to end any work that would change
the sacred nature of that city and all attempts to
displace its inhabitants and to violate sites sacred to
Islam and Christianity? Is it not time for Israel to end
the daily assassinations, displacements, destruction of
houses and seizure of land? Is it not time for our
people to be able to enjoy freedom and independence
on equal footing with all other peoples of the world so
that they can build a peaceful future together with all
of their neighbours, including the State of Israel?
 I hope that I will not have to come back to this
rostrum next year to ask the same questions.
 There is not the slightest obstacle to the
successful holding of the upcoming peace conference,
because our brotherly, Arab countries have
demonstrated through the Arab Peace Initiative their
true readiness to bring about a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace, from which all States of the
region would benefit. Those States would have normal
relations with Israel, once the Israeli occupation of
Palestinian and other Arab territories had ended and an
independent, sovereign Palestinian State had been
created within the 1967 borders. That is why we are
committed to the substance of that proposed meeting,
which should be held soon with the participation of all
parties concerned.
 Let me say quite frankly that not a single
responsible political figure or leader who does not
know that the solution to the problem lies solely
between us and our Israeli neighbours. Reaching such a
lasting solution can only be a result of the many
resolutions of the General Assembly, as well as of the
initiative of President Bush, who has urged a two-State
solution: a Palestinian State living side-by-side with
the State of Israel. It must also be based on the Road
Map, endorsed in Security Council resolution 1515
(2003), the Arab Peace Initiative and the various
negotiations, projects and plans that have been
proposed by many parties since 2000.
 I therefore address myself to the Israeli
Government, with whose head I have recently met. We
discussed the important issues in depth, attempting to
end the cycle of lost opportunities so that the
international conference will become a substantial
reality. We can move towards that conference together,
with clear, realistic, detailed plans with a view to
settling all of the final status issues, including
Jerusalem, borders, refugees, water security and other
key issues. I reaffirm here the full readiness of our
people to join a genuine peace process that will lead to
a comprehensive, full agreement on all final status
issues.
 As we promised, we will put such an agreement
to a popular referendum that will include all
Palestinian factions and groups so that they can give
their views and opinions on any decision that would
lead to defending and safeguarding peace
comprehensively and strategically.
 I also reaffirm that we will continue to deal with
the rebellion that took place in the Gaza Strip. We shall
do so in conformity with our basic laws and so that we
can preserve democracy in our country. Attempts from
whatever group or faction to impose their will and dark
ideas by force and armed revolt will not derail our
democracy. It would be wrong for anyone to think that
our people, which has for decades sacrificed martyrs,
prisoners and the wounded in order to obtain freedom,
independence and democracy and to build a free and
prosperous country, will follow such an armed group, a
closed regime and a closed, backward society.
 Some have attempted in the past to play the
Palestinian issue as a political card in the service of
regional interests in order to achieve expansionist goals
or to promote specific ideas or ideologies that would
ignore the true interests of the Palestinian people. But
we who have struggled all our lives for our national
cause, for the protection of the rights and interests of
our people and for rejection of hegemony and
occupation will not allow such a tragedy to reoccur. We
will not allow those who tried to undermine our
national destiny to achieve their aims.
 I came to this rostrum to convey a message from
an exhausted people which has long suffered from
occupation, displacement, prison and martyrdom. At
the same time, however, they are a people who, imbued
with dignity and faith, will build their own future, even
though their past has been the work of those who have
plotted against them and against their rights.
 I have come to reiterate the words of our
immortal leader Yasser Arafat, who was certain that the
green branch of peace, which never withers or dies
would never fall from his hand. I have come to express
the pain and suffering of every Palestinian man and
woman, of all those who have lost loved ones or whose
loved ones have been wounded, of all those who are
waiting for the release from prison of their brothers,
fathers, mothers and sisters, of all those who remain
trapped on the Iraqi or Syrian borders and of the
millions of Palestinians who are living as refugees on
their own land. I have come to affirm that the messages
of peace of the prophets and the other divine
messengers who trod the paths of our land remain
vibrant, like a tree that continues to grow and bloom. I
have come to affirm that the voice of peace remains
stronger than any other voice in our country. That is
why I urge that we move forward, hand in hand, on the
shining path towards peace, leaving expediency and
short-term interests far behind.
 In conclusion, and from this rostrum of the
United Nations, I say to the Palestinian people, both
those in Palestine and those abroad, that an important
historic opportunity is emerging. Therefore, let us be
united in order to make that opportunity a reality so
that our people, who have suffered so long, can recover
their legitimate national rights and achieve the peace,
stability and prosperity to which they aspire and which
they deserve. We also hope that peace will come to
other peoples who are suffering daily, such as the
brotherly Iraqi people, and to those who deserve to live
in security and stability within the framework of
democracy, such as our dear friends the Lebanese
people. Together, let us build a stable world   a world
of mutual assistance based on respect for life and for
the right to self-determination. I thank the Members of
the United Nations for their support.