It is a singular honour
and privilege for me to address this gathering of the
international community. Allow me, on behalf of His
Excellency the President of the Republic of Botswana,
Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, to
join other delegations in extending our warmest
congratulations to the President on his election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth
session. We are confident that his vast experience and
dedicated service to the Government and people of
Uganda will contribute significantly to the successful
conclusion of this session. My delegation and I wish him
every success as he embarks on this new responsibility
of steering the work of the sixty-ninth session of the
General Assembly. We also extend fitting tribute to his
predecessor, His Excellency Ambassador John Ashe,
for his sterling leadership of the sixty-eighth session of
the General Assembly. We commend him for his tireless
efforts to overcome many of the challenges confronting
the international community today.

My delegation welcomes the theme that the President
has chosen for the current general debate, namely,
“Delivering on and implementing a transformative
post-2015 development agenda”. We consider it both
pertinent and timely, especially as it coincides with
ongoing efforts by Member States to formulate a new
global development agenda to succeed the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). We shall tirelessly work
with the President and the international community
as we define the post-2015 development agenda. The
priorities that the President has laid out for this session
of the Assembly, that is, the issues of climate change,
poverty eradication, the empowerment of women and
gender equality, the rule of law and international peace
and security, are among the most critical and central to
the success and sustainability of a global development
agenda.

As we draw the curtain on the Millennium
Development Goals, it is important that we reflect on
our successes and failures in order to draw vital lessons
from our experience. The global community, most
notably in the developing world, has faced significant
challenges in fully realizing the MDGs. That has
resulted in many of our countries failing to deliver
tangible development achievements to their citizens, as
cogently set out in the MDGs, despite their best efforts
and intentions. We continue to witness intolerable
levels of poverty, disease, economic stagnation and
environmental degradation, as well as other drawbacks,
precipitated in large part by natural disasters and severe
resource and capacity constraints.

While Botswana has made impressive gains in the
implementation of the MDGs, it has not been without
enormous challenges, chief among which were resource
and capacity constraints. The Botswana Government has
strived to achieve the MDGs and improve the quality of

life of its citizens by allocating a substantial percentage
of the national budget to the sectors with significant
bearing on the country’s development, including
education, health, infrastructure, the development of
human capital, and women and youth empowerment.
Botswana continues to make every effort, in the
remaining time before the target 2015 completion date,
to finish the unfinished business remaining from the
MDGs, especially Goals 4 and 5, relating to infant and
maternal mortality.

The outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus disease,
evolving, as it did, into a public health catastrophe, is
a serious setback to the achievement of the MDGs. We
therefore implore the Assembly to call on all partners
and organizations of goodwill to spare no effort in
rescuing the West African region from that scourge.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development of 2012 mapped a clear and strategic path
for the achievement of global sustainable development,
calling for an inclusive and transformative agenda that
integrates the three pillars of sustainable development,
namely, economic, social and environmental protection.

Botswana has keenly followed the work of the
Open Working Group on Sustainable Development
Goals, which has had as its primary objective the
formulation of a single, transformative and global
development agenda, as mandated by the Rio+20
outcome document. We are highly encouraged by
the spirit of consultation and the collective will and
commitment of the international community to craft an
ambitious yet inclusive, measurable and sustainable set
of goals, which should inspire and challenge us all to
excel in our quest for the attainment of the future we
want. I commend the co-Chairs of the Open Working
Group on Sustainable Development Goals for their
exceptional performance in driving the negotiation
process to its logical conclusion. We look forward to
the intergovernmental negotiations on the broader post-
2015 development framework, which will begin during
this session of the General Assembly. I assure the
Assembly of our fullest cooperation and constructive
engagement in those deliberations.

My delegation will actively participate in all
deliberations on the key development priorities outlined
by the Secretary-General, in particular the elaboration
of the post-2015 development agenda. However, there
are issues of major strategic importance to Botswana.
They include climate change, landlocked developing
countries, middle-income countries, countries in
special situations and issues of peace and security and
the advancement of human rights.

On climate change, Botswana knows only too well
the devastating effects of that phenomenon, which
continues to cause extreme temperatures, changes in the
patterns of rainfall, land degradation, desertification
and persistent droughts. In that regard, we believe
that addressing those problems should be a primary
consideration in the current deliberations on the post-
2015 sustainable development agenda. We therefore
look forward to the twentieth Conference of the Parties
to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, to be held in Lima this year, which
is supposed to lay the foundation for a legally binding
agreement for adoption at the next Conference of the
Parties in Paris. We commend the Secretary-General
for his initiative in convening the recently concluded
Climate Change Summit, which successfully injected
much-needed political momentum into the process as
we move towards 2015.

As a middle-income, landlocked developing
country with particular vulnerabilities, we also strongly
hope for a comprehensive account of those issues in
the post-2015 development agenda. We welcome the
10-year review of the Almaty Programme of Action,
to be held in November in Vienna, which will broadly
consider effective mechanisms for addressing the
vulnerabilities of landlocked developing countries. We
hope that, during the review, special attention will also
be given to countries with ever-increasing elephant
populations, whose numbers not only give rise to
serious animal-human conflict, but also devastate the
very environment that the elephants depend on for their
survival. Botswana has the largest elephant population
in Africa.

On issues of social development, I am delighted to
inform the Assembly that Botswana is making steady
progress in eradicating abject poverty, as a result of
the implementation of the national poverty eradication
strategy that was launched in 2010. Furthermore, we
have been able to achieve universal primary education
and access to HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support
services. However, challenges remain on the issues of
maintaining quality in education and general services.

Financial support, technology transfer and
capacity-building must invariably be factored into the
post-2015 development agenda discussions. Failing

that, our efforts towards poverty eradication and
sustainable development will be rendered futile. We
keenly await the adoption of the new development
agenda, which will, we trust, support our individual
and collective efforts to deliver our shared aspirations
of a safe, secure and prosperous world for both present
and future generations.

Threats to international peace and security
continue to be among the greatest challenges to human
development. Botswana is gravely concerned about the
increasing trend of instability, insecurity and violent
conflict in various parts of the world. We are currently
witnessing unimaginable levels of human suffering,
with thousands of innocent lives being lost and the
world hurtling precipitously towards calamitous levels
of humanitarian crises.

The Palestine/Israel conflict and the protracted
brutal war in Syria defy human imagination. In Africa,
the frequent eruption of violent conflicts in certain
parts of our continent, now particularly in South Sudan
and the Central African Republic, are distressing.
Regrettably, Iraq is also under siege by the Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant and the Nusra Front.
Those terrorist groups threaten not only the stability
and security of the Middle East, but the maintenance of
international peace and security at large.

Not only are we failing as nation States to exercise
our duty and responsibility to protect populations from
war crimes and crimes against humanity, we in effect
inadvertently acquiesce in the annihilation of future
generations. Last June, Botswana and the Netherlands
co-hosted the fourth meeting of the Global Network
of Focal Points on the Responsibility to Protect, in an
effort to further consolidate that fundamental principle,
which promotes our individual and collective sense of
responsibility towards our citizens.

While such efforts may be effective in terms of
awareness-raising, swift and decisive action remains the
domain of the Security Council. It is therefore incumbent
upon members of the Security Council to demonstrate
exemplary leadership and a genuine regard for their
Charter responsibilities to maintain international peace
and security, as mandated by Article 24 of the Charter.
Botswana is deeply disappointed and concerned that
some permanent members of the Security Council
consistently thwart any efforts to find lasting solutions
to conflict situations. Surely, responsible members of
the international community would not, and should
not, abdicate their solemn responsibility and allow
the Council to be seemingly impelled into a state of
grim paralysis as the world burns towards extinction.
Just this past May, the Council failed to adopt a draft
resolution seeking to refer the situation in Syria to the
International Criminal Court (ICC). Needless to say,
that was nothing short of a travesty of international
criminal justice.

Botswana’s commitment to an effective international
criminal justice system remains steadfast. To that
end, we continue to support the independence and
credibility of the ICC as the only existing international
judicial mechanism available for the investigation and
prosecution of genocide, war crimes, crimes against
humanity and the crime of aggression. However, the
role of the Security Council in facilitating the work of
the ICC cannot be over-emphasized. It is our sincere
hope that, going forward, reason and basic human
compassion will prevail in Council decisions aimed
at eliminating threats to international peace and
security and at fostering a global culture of judicial
accountability, inclusive governance, the rule of law
and respect for human rights. In that regard, Botswana
welcomes the French initiative regarding voluntary
restraint on the use of the veto by the permanent
members of the Security Council in situations of mass
atrocities.

Botswana also commends those countries, human
rights defenders and humanitarian organizations that
have valiantly contributed to efforts to relieve human
suffering wherever it occurred around the world. We
especially applaud Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
for his unwavering commitment to the pursuit of
international peace and security, including addressing
the plight of vulnerable groups in society, such as
women and children.

Let me conclude by reiterating and reaffirming
Botswana’s commitment to the principles and ideals
of the United Nations as enshrined in the Charter. We
remain steadfast and resolute in our obligation as a
member of the international community to contribute,
in our own small way, to the creation of a peaceful,
secure and prosperous world for all.


I would like to thank and congratulate Mr. John Ashe of
Antigua and Barbuda, who during his time as President
laid the foundation and established the conditions
for formulating a new development agenda geared
to influencing the sustainable development of the
members of the General Assembly.

I would also like to congratulate the new President
on his election to the presidency of the Assembly
at its sixty-ninth session. His tenure comes at a time
when the global family is facing very serious threats
from the Ebola virus and from what I call the terrorist
virus, threats that demand that we all marshal our
human, financial and other resources in a global
partnership aimed at combating these modern plagues.
The President’s tenure also comes as we are about to
commence the second phase of our formulation of the
post-2015 development agenda. I am confident, as I am
sure we all are, that he will administer and lead with
distinction.

Today it is a privilege for me to share with the
Assembly the perspectives of the Government of
Trinidad and Tobago on our priorities for delivering
on and implementing a transformative post-2015
development agenda, according to the President’s

aptly selected theme. Last year we considered how
we would set the stage for the process to be launched
during this sixty-ninth session on finalizing the post-
2015 development agenda. I noted then that when we
adopted the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2)
and introduced the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), a new chapter opened for the United Nations
(see A/68/PV.10). That chapter would see the United
Nations positioned as a vehicle for assisting developing
countries, especially the most vulnerable, in their
efforts to reduce poverty and hunger, and for providing
an environment that would enable States to develop
their economies and thus help their people rise out of
persistent poverty.

Measures must now be put in place to spur a
proactive rather than reactive approach to the issue of
development in this transformative post-2015 agenda.
With the experience of the challenges and lessons
encountered in the past 14 years in the implementation
of the MDGs, we are now at a critical juncture in
putting into operation the elements we agreed to at
the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development (Rio+20) so that they will constitute the
future we want. The current model was built on what
we agreed to at the Millennium Summit, but in some
ways it has fallen short of the expectations of many
developing countries.

However, the Government and people of Trinidad
and Tobago have been able to achieve this objective
because it formed an integral part of our 2011 medium-
term policy framework, through which we incorporated
and aligned the MDGs and their targets with Trinidad
and Tobago’s medium-term national priorities.
Consequently, some of the goals, targets and indicators
were modified in the light of Trinidad and Tobago’s
unique development circumstances and its achievement
of several of the MDGs. That approach resulted in,
for example, modified targets for education, including
achieving universal early-childhood education and a
60 per cent participation rate in tertiary education.

However, I am delighted to say that we have
surpassed many of our own targets, as well as some
of the MDGs. So in Trinidad and Tobago we now
have universal free primary- and secondary-school
education, and, as I said, we have surpassed our target
of 60 per cent in the tertiary sector and have 65 per
cent participation. That too is free. I am also pleased
to underscore that my country is well poised to achieve
70 per cent of the 43 targets across the eight goals that
are considered relevant to the national context. That
percentage consists of 42 per cent of targets that have
already been met and 28 per cent that are likely to be
met by 2015. So we say that with good success, and
lessons learned, we know what we still have to work on.

I now turn to a short discussion of the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM). Trinidad and Tobago, as part
of the CARICOM region and the global community,
welcomes the outcomes of the various milestones in
the process we have achieved to date. As a member of
CARICOM, we have been an active participant in the
Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development
Goals. We have therefore been witness to the sweeping
and unprecedented global participation and interest in
that process and its outcome. As a collective effort,
the crafting of the sustainable development goals
undoubtedly captured a spirit of openness, inclusiveness
and partnership, all of which underpin this new phase
of policy design and implementation. Along with the
report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts
on Sustainable Development Financing (A/69/315), the
17 goals adopted in July form a solid foundation.

It is my respectful view that in delivering on and
implementing a transformative post-2015 development
agenda we must and should prioritize key issues for this
session of the General Assembly. I have identified four
such priorities. The first, I believe, is for us to renew
our commitment to achieving the MDGs. Even in the
one year we have left, with more dedicated effort we
can make further advances on our original objectives.
As the MDG Gap Task Force Report, 2014: The State
of the Global Partnership for Development highlights,
although progress has been made in some areas, the
gains must be accelerated and in some areas a renewed
effort is needed to close the glaring gaps that still exist.
Some of those gaps are in important areas such as
access to affordable essential medicines, and in long-
term debt sustainability, particularly for small States,
which is an essential element of the global partnership
for sustainable development. Implementation will be a
key measure of our commitment to the aspirations for
the post-2015 development agenda.

The second priority is operationalizing “The
future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex). In the
Rio+20 Conference in 2012, we agreed on many of
the foundation elements for the post-2015 development
agenda. Coming out of that, we now have several
key documents to further inform and guide us on
the way forward. We have, for example, the report of

the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Global
Sustainability (A/66/700); the sustainable development
goals; the report of the Intergovernmental Committee
of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing; the
outcomes of the structured dialogues on a technology
facilitation mechanism (see resolution 68/310), and
the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable
consumption and production.

“The future we want” also outlines some key
emerging challenges that we need to urgently address in
the context of the post-2015 development agenda. Some
of those issues, as the Assembly will recall, include
non-communicable diseases, the increasing urgency
to address climate change, and the imperative of
addressing the needs of marginalized groups, including
women, youth, children and persons living with
disabilities. Those are the building blocks of the future
we want to form the basis of the post-2015 development
agenda. Together with the institutional support of the
high-level political forum on sustainable development,
the reformed Economic and Social Council and the
United Nations Environmental Assembly, we have a
solid foundation for fashioning a global partnership
in support of poverty eradication through sustainable
development.

We look forward to the Secretary-General’s
synthesized report, which should place all of those
elements in the context of a fully integrated post-2015
development agenda and give due consideration to the
needs of countries in special situations, including small
island developing States, least developed countries,
landlocked developing countries and Africa. As a
specialized conference mandated in “The future
we want”, the outcome document (A/CONF.223/3,
annex) of the recently concluded Third International
Conference on Small Island Developing States — the
Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities
of Action — should also be appropriately addressed in
the upcoming Secretary-General’s report.

The third priority is for us to revitalize the global
partnership in support of sustainable development. The
8 August 2014 draft report of the Intergovernmental
Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development
Financing has highlighted that current financing
and investment patterns will not deliver sustainable
development. In fact, it goes on to say that

“[w]hile design and implementation of policies
will be on the national level, achieving sustainable
development will require international support and
cooperation”.
Those are the core prerequisites for a global partnership
in support of sustainable development. However, in
order make such a partnership meaningful, it is my
respectful view that it must also include the following
four particular elements.
First, it must include reform in the international
financial institutions, targeting on systemic failures
and focusing on building resilience that can sustain
growth in open and vulnerable economies.

Secondly, it must include the successful completion
of the Doha Round of trade negotiations, which will
ensure that the rules of trade and commerce do not
continue to operate so as to slow, impede or negate
development gains and aspirations in our very small
and vulnerable economies. I note that the third
International Conference on Financing for Development
is scheduled to take place in July 2015. That will be
critically important to ensuring that a meaningful
and effective global partnership for development will
become a reality for the implementation of the post-
2015 development agenda.

Thirdly, on the point of a revitalized global
partnership in support of sustainable development, I
wish to strongly reiterate the support of Trinidad and
Tobago for an end to the economic embargo against
Cuba. The perpetuation of those measures against
a developing country undermines our collective
aspirations for a post-2015 development agenda in
which no one should be left behind.

Fourthly, our priority should be for us to address
the mitigation gap for achieving the target of below
2 or 1.5˚C target for limiting the increase in global
greenhouse gas emissions and achieving an ambitious,
legally binding agreement on climate change in 2015
to be applied from 2020. That agreement should set
the world on track to achieving carbon neutrality by
2070, and by so doing ensure that the global climate
will support the sustainable development of present as
well as future generations.

Our collective action on climate change should
take into account the survival of the most vulnerable
States in particular, such as our small island developing
States, as the front line of increasingly severe impacts
of climate change. It should also be firmly rooted in the
principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,

recognizing that developing countries’ finance needs
for mitigation and adaptation to climate change cannot
be met exclusively from domestic resources, given the
competing demands on public finance. I believe that
every Head of Government and every Head of State
would recognize those competing interests in their own
nation States.

It is therefore essential to put the Green Climate
Fund into force early. It is my hope that the partnerships
and announcements made at the United Nations Climate
Summit 2014 on Tuesday, 23 September, will serve to
catalyse more ambitious action on climate change in the
near as well as in the long-term and build the momentum
necessary for a successful Conference of the Parties to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, to be held in Lima in December and in Paris
in 2015.

Those are the elements of the global framework,
which should occupy our full attention and commitment
over the course of the sixty-ninth session of the General
Assembly. Those elements will be supported by critical
enabling actions at the regional and national levels.
For us in the context of the Caribbean Community, we
have been doing our part as a subregion of small island
and low-lying developing States to foster regional
integration in support of the sustainable development
of all of our peoples. CARICOM Heads of State and
Government have agreed on the vision of

“a Caribbean community that is integrated, inclusive
and resilient; driven by knowledge, excellence,
innovation and productivity; a community where
every citizen is secure and has the opportunity
to realize his or her potential with guaranteed
human rights and social justice; and contributes
to and shares in, its economic, social and cultural
prosperity. A community which can be a unified
and competitive force in the global arena”.
That vision is the collective ambition of the States
members of CARICOM, agreed in the context of a
strategic framework plan for period 2015-2019. That
plan will come through the implementation of six
integrated strategic priorities, which include building
economic, social, environmental and technological
resilience through a coordinated foreign policy and
research and development innovation.

In support of the implementation of those six
priorities, CARICOM Heads of State and Government
have called for a post-2015 development agenda that
will work in tandem with what we are discussing at
the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly and
needs to focus on the eradication of poverty as a central
pillar, the adoption of a people-centred approach
through an intergovernmentally agreed agenda, and
an agenda that incorporates broader measures and
appropriate approaches and criteria to complement
the gross domestic product per capita as a measure
of development. Importantly, those broader measures
must foster an enabling global policy environment that
is more conducive to the achievement of development
objectives and affords greater policy coherence across
institutions, including those in the areas of trade,
finance, environment and development.

Those regional initiatives in support of advancing
the sustainable development of the people of CARICOM
are being designed and implemented in the context
of a broader strategy for mitigating the vulnerability
inherent in countries as small and open as ours, In
the context of a limited and narrow resource base,
the focus is on nurturing and developing our human
resources through an emphasis on innovation and
entrepreneurship. It is an approach that focuses on the
full realization of the human rights to development and
a life of dignity.

Consistent with this approach, I turn to another
matter close to our hearts in the region as we continue
to advance the global cause of truth, justice and
reconciliation, within the context of reparatory justice
for the victims and the descendants of the trans-Atlantic
slave trade. As a region we are determined to engage
in reparatory dialogue with the former slave-owning
European nations in order to address the living legacies
of these crimes. This is a critically vital element of the
socioeconomic development aspirations of the region as
the victims of these crimes and their descendants were
left in a state of social, psychological, economic and
cultural deprivation. In addition, they have been left
in a state of disenfranchisement that has ensured their
suffering and debilitation to this day, and from which
only reparatory action can alleviate their suffering.

I hold that sustainable development cannot be
achieved in an environment where people are denied
their basic rights to live free from fear, with daily
deprivation of the necessities of life due to the ravages
of war and other types of instability. It is for these
reasons that Trinidad and Tobago is concerned by the
developments in Ukraine and other parts of the globe,
which have caused pain and suffering to hundreds of

innocent victims. They too must be allowed to live
freely.

At the same time, we note with grave concern
the continued failure to find a lasting solution to the
decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict, which has caused
tremendous loss of life and destruction of property in
the Gaza Strip, and has left emotional and psychological
scars on those almost 2,000 families who lost loved
ones. Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to the
negotiation of the two-State solution as the preferred
means to bring lasting peace to the region so that the
people of Palestine, so long denied their rightful place in
the international community, can live in larger freedom
with their Israeli brothers and sisters. To that end, we
call for the implementation of all relevant Security
Council resolutions geared towards the resolution of the
conflict and the lifting of the illegal embargo imposed
on the Palestinian people since 2005.

Likewise, as co-sponsors of Security Council
resolution 2178 (2014), on threats to international
peace and security caused by terrorists acts, adopted
at Wednesday’s summit, we remain optimistic that
the resolution may serve as a catalyst for greater
international cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

We in Trinidad and Tobago have been the victim of
terrorists in 1990, when there was an attempted coup
against the newly elected Government by terrorists and
extremists. Members will agree that this new terrorist
phenomenon could be dubbed a terrorism “virus” as it is
spreading throughout the global family. The Assembly
will agree that terrorism has been undermining, and
continues to undermine, the sovereignty, territorial
integrity and peace and security of the peoples of the
Middle East and further afield.

Members of the Assembly will also recall that, in
my inaugural address to this body in September 2010
(see A/65/PV.20), I indicated that the time was right
for the adoption of a treaty to regulate the international
trade in conventional arms. That has now come to be
history with the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty
(ATT); after yesterday’s High-level Treaty Event, it
now has the requisite number of States parties for its
entry into force, which is likely to be on 25 December
of this year. We are very happy about that.

The entry into force of the ATT will require States
parties to make important decisions to implement
the provisions of the Treaty at the First Conference
of States Parties, which is likely to be convened by
mid-2015. One of these decisions is on the location
of the ATT secretariat. Over a year ago, my country
announced its candidature to have the ATT secretariat
located in Port of Spain. That bid has been endorsed
by all 14 CARICOM States and has so far received the
support from a number of States from diverse regions.
The hosting of this important body in a region which
is disproportionately affected by the illicit trade in
small arms and light weapons and its association with
other trans-boundary crimes, such as drug trafficking,
would be a significant development. It will assist in the
full and effective implementation of the Treaty, and
contribute to the reduction, if not the elimination, of
illegal weapons in the hands of criminals whose actions
continue to threaten the sustainable development of our
region.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is
committed to providing the necessary resources to
host the secretariat, and this has been transmitted to
all Members of the United Nations. I call once more
on all those States which have not yet announced their
support for our candidature to do so and to ensure that
the principle of equitable geographic distribution in the
location of major global bodies is observed. No country
or region, in my respectful view, must continue to have
a monopoly in hosting important institutions which are
established for the benefit of all.

Trinidad and Tobago is satisfied that, among the
17 sustainable development goals adopted by the
General Assembly on 10 September, goal 3 ensures
healthy lives and promotes well-being for all ages.
The health and well-being of our people are critical
to ensuring productive lifestyles which are critical
to sustainable economic development, growth and
achieving a transformative past-2015 development
agenda. Health and well-being are one of the 10 thematic
areas of development identified by the Government of
Trinidad and Tobago.

It will be recalled that CARICOM, of which we
are a member, was largely responsible for calling
the attention of the General Assembly to the need
to adopt a resolution to focus attention of the effects
of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as a major
contributor to human mortality. Nevertheless, while
we continue to make strides in tackling the incidence
of NCDs, we are cognizant of the need to combat the
spread of infectious diseases within our region and in
different regions, which threaten the survival of people
in many nations.

Security Council resolution 2177 (2014), which
was co-sponsored by Trinidad and Tobago, garnered
unanimous support, including that of the Secretary-
General, for dealing with the Ebola virus. We
congratulate the Secretary-General. Members pledged
to take action at the global and regional levels to combat
the spread of Ebola to supplement the United Nations
Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Trinidad
and Tobago remains committed to playing our part in
eradicating infectious diseases undermining the health
and well-being of our people.

It is for this reason that, prior to the adoption of
resolution 2177 (2014), on Ebola, as Prime Minister of
Trinidad and Tobago I wrote to the Secretary-General
of CARICOM requesting that a meeting of States
members of the Community be convened to discuss and
agree on sustainable policy responses at the national
and regional levels alike concerning public health
issues, including Chikungunya and the Ebola virus.

Finally, the Assembly can rest assured of the support
of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in assisting
the United Nations family in shaping a transformative
post-2015 development agenda. Our support will come
not only through our representation in the various organs
of this global institution but also by continuing to adopt
policies at the national level geared towards putting
people at the centre of all developmental objectives.
I say once again: any development agenda which
alienates people or places them at the periphery and not
the centre will not bring sustainable development and
will be doomed to failure. Such failure stands against
the commitment we have all made and the purposes we
are serving at the Assembly. Our work is cut out — for
all of us, together in global partnership, to achieve the
goals that we have set ourselves.


At the outset,
allow me to warmly congratulate Mr. Sam Kutesa of
the Republic of Uganda on his election as President of
the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. I have
full confidence that, under his guidance, the sixty-ninth
session will proceed to a successful conclusion. I would
also like to take the opportunity to extend my great
appreciation to Mr. John William Ashe of Antigua and
Barbuda for his wise leadership and relentless efforts
as President of the sixty-eighth session in guiding us to
many outstanding achievements.

In many ways, the world in which we are living
is at a critical juncture, and the current picture is
rather bleak. The international community remains
seriously concerned over recent geopolitical security
developments in many parts of the world. The self-
declared Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and its
horrendous crimes are menacing peace, security and
stability in those countries, which have already been
seriously hit by armed conflicts and acts of violence.
In Syria, the continued armed hostilities have not only
caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people and
children, but have also led to millions of refugees.
In Africa, some countries have also suffered armed
conflicts and violence, which have placed peace and
stability at risk in that part of the world. All those armed
conflicts and crimes are threatening peace, stability
and human security, not only in those regions, but also
in the world at large.

To contribute to the peace process in the Middle
East and Africa, Cambodia has participated actively
in United Nations peacekeeping operations. We have
dispatched more than 2,000 peacekeepers to Lebanon,
Mali and South Sudan. In November, Cambodia will
deploy another detachment of 216 peacekeepers to
the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated
Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic.

While extremism is threatening the world’s peace
and security, the spread of the Ebola epidemic in Africa
has also become one of the worst threats to the world
today. It is of critical importance that the international
community make concerted efforts to address that
global challenge in an effective and timely manner.

With regard to the hostilities between Palestine and
Israel, despite the fragile ceasefire recently concluded,
the situation remains a serious concern. We call on all
parties to make efforts to resume meaningful peace
talks in order to reach a viable political solution of
two States living peacefully side by side. Cambodia
believes that that is the only way to definitively put an
end to that long-lasting conflict.

The situation in the eastern part of Europe, in spite
of the delicate ceasefire, remains worrisome and its
implications could presage a return to the Cold War.

In Asia, the launching of missiles by the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea has aroused international
concern and aggravated the situation in the region. The
Six-Party Talks should be resumed in order to explore
a possible avenue for peaceful dialogue to bring about
a peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Climate change is currently an obvious global
challenge, as well as a human security issue. The rapid
pace of climate change is having devastating effects
for both developed and developing countries. The
developing countries, dependent mostly on agriculture,

suffer more from the various negative effects of climate
change, such as frequent typhoons, storms, floods
and droughts. For instance, in 2013, heavy monsoon
rains caused extensive flooding across Cambodia,
claimed 168 lives, caused $1 billion in damages and
affected 1.8 million people. Even this year, 12 out of
the 25 provinces and various cities of Cambodia have
suffered on account of floods, killing 45 people and
afflicting almost 100,000 families.

According to a report by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, the global warming caused
by the increase in greenhouse gases is generated by
humankind’s use of fossil fuels. There is no doubt
that the industrialized countries, which consume most
of the world’s fossil fuels, emit the largest amount of
greenhouse gas, while the developing countries, which
produce only small amounts of such gases, are the main
victims of climate change. It is therefore imperative
that the international community provide further
impetus to revitalize and prioritize actions to address
climate change based on the United Nations principle of
common but differentiated responsibilities.

With that concept in mind and while applauding the
fruitful outcome of the recent United Nations Climate
Summit, held on 23 September in New York, Cambodia
hopes that the twenty-first Conference of the Parties to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, to be held in Paris in December 2015, will
bring about concrete measures to reach a new global
agreement with legal force applicable to all parties
under the Framework Convention.

In line with the United Nations principles for
sustainable development and in order to mitigate
the threat of climate change, Cambodia has adopted
its national strategic plan on green development for
2013-2030, which aims at achieving economic and
social development in a sustainable manner, while at
the same time protecting the environment, through the
efficient use of raw materials and natural resources,
clean development and green preservation. Cambodia
has also adopted several legal instruments for green
growth development, including the memorandum of
understanding on green growth cooperation between
Cambodia and South Korea’s Global Green Growth
Institute and the National Council on Green Growth.

South-East Asia, which is highly vulnerable to
the adverse impacts of climate change, established
the Climate Change Initiative of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2009 as a
consultative body to further increase the region’s
capacity in both mitigation and adaptation efforts. As
a member of ASEAN, Cambodia is fully engaged in
the implementation of that ASEAN initiative through
the ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change and
the ASEAN Action Plan on Joint Response to Climate
Change, with the goal of enhancing closer and deeper
regional and international cooperation on climate
change.

Next year marks the deadline of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). While some MDG targets
have been achieved, we have to acknowledge that much
more effort is need to reach the set goals of the MDGs,
as progress has been uneven and insufficient. Many
developing countries have not attained their MDG
targets, primarily owing to unfulfilled commitments,
lack of resources, insufficient dedication, and food
insecurity. The situation was further aggravated by the
financial uncertainty in the developed countries, which
has had an impact on their commitment to official
development assistance. Therefore, bolder and more
focused global efforts are needed as we approach the
final year to realize the MDGs.

With the aim of realizing the MDGs, Cambodia
has adopted its own development targets, known as
the Cambodia MDGs, which have been incorporated
comprehensively into our National Strategic
Development Plan 2014-2018. As a result, substantial
progress has been achieved, positioning Cambodia
to meet some goals of the MDGs by the end of 2015.
Cambodia’s target in reducing the poverty rate to
19.5 per cent by 2015 has already been achieved ahead
of schedule, as the nation’s poverty rate had already
fallen to 19 per cent in 2013. As a result, Cambodia
received a United Nations Award for cutting hunger in
half before the deadline.

In combating HIV/AIDS, Cambodia has made great
strides by progressively reducing HIV prevalence to
0.6 per cent in 2013. In order to achieve that indicator, the
Cambodian Government has further adopted a getting-
to-zero policy, aiming to realize zero new infections,
zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination by
2020.

In addition to tracking the Cambodia MDGs
achievements, the Royal Government of Cambodia has
put forth a Cambodia MDGs acceleration framework
with an approach aimed at accelerating progress in
achieving the MDGs and other human development
goals. The framework could provide the essential

input for the implementation of our National Strategic
Development Plan 2014-2018 aimed at completing the
remaining MDGs, as well as at setting the stage for the
preparation of the post-2015 development agenda.

Cambodia shares the view expressed in the
report of the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on
the Post-2015 Development Agenda, entitled A New
Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform
Economies through Sustainable Development, to be
adopted during the sixty-ninth session of the General
Assembly, that

“a new development agenda should carry forward
the spirit of the Millennium Declaration and the
best of the MDGs, with a practical focus on things
like poverty, hunger, water, sanitation, education
and health care”.
Cambodia is of the view that the post-2015
development agenda should be realistic and built
upon the lessons learned from the difficulties in
the realization of the MDGs; in particular, it should
ensure that any process towards a broader development
objective is truly balanced and comprehensive.

Next year, 2015, is a crucial year as the United
Nations celebrates the seventieth anniversary of its
creation and the tenth anniversary of the 2005 World
Summit, where world leaders agreed to reform the
United Nations to meet the needs of today’s geopolitical
and global challenges (resolution 60/1). To that end,
the General Assembly should be further empowered
so that it can play a leading role in strengthening the
wider United Nations system. The Security Council, as
a body mandated with the primary responsibility for
the maintenance of international peace and security,
should represent the world’s realities today. In sum, we
think that more equitable representation in the United
Nations organs would assist the Organization in coping
with the urgent global challenges.


Allow me to extend warm
greetings to the President of the General Assembly
upon the assumption of his duties at the sixty-ninth
session. I also recognize the exemplary stewardship of
Mr. John Ashe, the outgoing President, and record our
appreciation of the Secretary-General’s stewardship of
the Organization during these difficult times.

What defines the great communities of our times
is their ability to overcome the unexpected and to
persevere and adapt to changing realities — from the
daunting effects of climate change and the ever-pressing
challenges of poverty and want to the uncontrollable
spread of disease. Communities everywhere are striving
to overcome such obstacles. When communities are
subject to challenges that are impossible to bear, they
think beyond the realm of possibilities and begin
seeking different answers to the same questions. That
is when they nurture their ability to bounce back
from adversity, shock and threats. The ultimate goal
of fostering resilience is to overcome the unexpected.
Sustainability is about managing, but resilience is
about thriving.

For the past eight decades, the Maldives has been
on a journey to consolidate democracy. Last year,
our democracy faced unprecedented challenges. Yet
we were able to overcome those hurdles entirely by
peaceful means. Even though it sometimes felt as if
we were quite alone in this fight, we are proud of what
we have achieved. We take pride in the fact that our
democracy is home-grown. Our systems are organic.
Our young institutions, as in the older democracies
of the world, are gradually settling into patterns and
traditions that are unique to our string of islands and in
harmony with our Islamic heritage and our traditions.

Our experience clearly shows that holding elections
or introducing a multiparty political system does not
instil democratic values in a society. Democracy
cannot be traced in the pages of laws. The only way
for a new home-grown democracy to achieve resilience
is to shift the way its people think. A transformation
in their normative framework is necessary. Democratic
values need to find a place in the hearts and minds
of the people. The Government of President Abdulla
Yameen Abdul Gayoom and the people of the Maldives
are determined to achieve a modern and authentic
Maldivian democratic State.

Promoting and protecting human rights is central
to Maldivian democracy. Our Constitution is very
clear on what those rights entail. Yet with every right
come responsibilities. It has been a daunting challenge
to make human rights a way of life. That is why the
Maldives advocates cultivating a culture of respect for
human rights. Policies need to be rights-based. People
need to be rights-minded.

People must lie at the heart of every decision we
make and every policy we adopt. The ultimate goal of
every action must be to improve the lives of our people.
The Government of President Yameen has embarked
on an ambitious programme aimed at realizing the
full potential of our young people. The goal of the
Government is to create opportunities that would help
to unleash their creativity. Young people are the future

of any country, and, without the full realization of their
productive capabilities, countries cannot prosper.

A few days ago, the United Nations marked an
important milestone: the twentieth anniversary of the
adoption of the Programme of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development. Today, we
celebrate the achievement of many of the goals of that
Programme — most notably, low maternal and infant
mortality rates, gender parity in school enrolment and
equal pay for equal work.

Next year, we will celebrate the twentieth
anniversary of the adoption of another important
document, the Beijing Platform for Action. It is a fact,
not mere speculation, that for building resilience and
building sustainable societies, women’s contributions
are a necessity. Women have achieved remarkable
progress since the Beijing Platform. Maldivian women
are among the most emancipated in South Asia, with
no structural barriers to education, employment or
mobility. Still, much remains to be achieved. Just as
an example, I ask the Assembly to think back over
the past week of general debate. How many women
spoke at this rostrum? How many countries can claim
to have achieved parity between men and women
at decision-making levels? In the Maldives, we are
committed to empowering women and have adopted a
zero-tolerance policy towards violence against women.

The resilience of our people in overcoming adversity
in their lives is rooted in their ability to rise up from
the fear of want and the fear of need. The Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) were framed to do just
that. The MDGs committed to a new partnership to
reduce extreme poverty, halt the spread of HIV/AIDS
and provide primary education for all. The MDGs set
benchmarks and gave targets to Governments. Those
targets enabled them to plan effectively. The MDGs,
though remarkable for their time, were limited and are
now reaching their expiry date. We ardently believe that
the post-2015 development agenda must be inclusive,
transparent and people-centred. The new development
agenda should succeed where the MDGs failed.

At times, the violence, bloodshed, conflict and
upheaval that we witness on a daily basis seem
unbearable. In July 2014, we watched with grief the
horrendous attack on the Gaza Strip — another in a
countless cycle of aggression and brutality. Our hearts
bleed for the countless children who lost their lives, the
mothers who lost their children, the nation and the State
of Palestine, which lost countless citizens. After the
global outcry and the outpouring of condemnation, the
guns have stopped firing and the bombs have stopped
dropping. The world seems to have moved on to the next
crisis. The news cycles have found their next headline.

Yet, we recall here again, the siege is not over. The
blockade has not ended. Gaza has been destroyed and
its development set back several years. Palestinians are
still being denied their right to a sovereign nation of
their own, to their own lands and to the fruits of their
labour. Palestinian children are being denied a right to
determine their own destiny. Are we willing to let that
continue? We must do more to help realize the dream
of peace in the Middle East and a two-State solution.
We must resume peace talks with a clear goal and an
endpoint in mind.

The biggest challenge to our development and our
way of life is ignorance, violence, subjugation and
perpetual poverty. Misinformed yet talented young
people can easily be lured into fanaticism, radicalism
and extremism. Islam’s identity as a religion that
supports innovation, knowledge and scholarship is
slowly eroding away. The golden era of our religion is
almost forgotten.

Today, the world has a choice to make. Should we
allow extremists to shape our future? Or should we take
decisive actions to defeat the extremist ideologies? Our
answer to those questions will define the way in which
we deal with the so-called Islamic State and other
terrorist groups. Not only are those groups un-Islamic,
they are anti-Islamic. They are terrorist organizations,
not religious groups. Islam, our great religion of
peace, compassion and tolerance, is being hijacked by
radical and extremist elements to perpetuate hatred
and violence. We, the Government and the people of
Maldives, condemn in the strongest terms those groups,
their ideologies and their activities. We join our fellow
Muslims around the world in saying “not in my name”.

The unique challenges faced by small island
developing States are well known. Climate change
exacerbates those challenges. We remain hopeful that
a legally binding treaty will be agreed to next year in
Paris. The Maldives stands ready to do all it can to
make this hope a reality, for the sake of our children
and our nation.

Earlier this month, we agreed to a new highway
for development, the Small Island Developing States
Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway. We commend
Samoa for its leadership in setting the vision for a new

gateway for small States. To make the partnership
enduring, we need the small island developing States to
make their voices heard and to be united in the quest.
The Maldives has therefore been inspired to take the
lead in forming the Alliance of Small Island States for
the purpose of facing the challenges of post-2015 and
beyond. We call on others to join us in that journey.

Nine days ago, on 21 September, we celebrated
49 years of membership in the United Nations. The
Maldives joined the United Nations a mere 58 days
after independence — we were the smallest Member
State at the time. As we look forward to celebrating
50 years of membership in 2015, the Maldives is happy
to note that the United Nations has served us well. We
joined the United Nations in 1965, amid questions over
the viability of small States. In the past 49 years, the
Maldives has taken the lead in showing the world that
small States are not only viable, but in fact valuable in
finding common solutions to common problems. Today,
at the United Nations, we continue to prove that small
States can also lead and that it is not size but smart
ideas that make a nation’s destiny.


Like the
other Heads of State and Government who preceded
me at this rostrum, I, too, would like, on behalf of the
delegation of Côte d’Ivoire and on my own behalf, to
extend to you, Sir, our warmest congratulations on
your well-deserved election as President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-ninth session and to assure you of
our full support throughout your mandate. Your election
to this post does honour to your country, Uganda, and,
beyond its borders, to the entire African continent.

My congratulations also go to His Excellency John
Ashe, President of the General Assembly at its sixty-
eighth session, for his outstanding guidance of the work
of the Assembly throughout the past year. I should
like in particular to commend the Secretary-General,
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his dedication to the objectives
and ideals of the Charter of our Organization.

Now that the stage has been set and the ground
prepared, as we were urged to do at the sixty-eighth
session, the time is now ripe to translate into reality our
commitment and our vision of a world free from the
ravages of the poverty and vulnerability that still affect
millions of individuals.

I welcome, therefore, the relevance and the scope
of the theme of this session, “Delivering on and
implementing a transformative post-2015 development
agenda”, which is taking place in the framework of
the continuation of the previous session and reflects
our commitment to meet together the challenge of
development.

Since the adoption of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), in September 2000, and one year before
the deadline for their implementation, it should be
noted, as rightly stressed by the Secretary-General in
his recent report, that the main objectives have been, or
are in the process of being, achieved on a global scale
and that considerable efforts will be needed in order
for regions such as sub-Saharan Africa to in their turn
succeed in doing so.

At the national level, thanks to the efforts of my
Government, the implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals is tirelessly being pursued within
the framework of the implementation of the national
development programme and the strengthening of
cooperation with our partners. We will use the time
between now and the deadline of the end of 2015 to
accelerate efforts to reduce poverty, improve maternal
and child health, consolidate the remarkable progress
made in the fight against HIV/AIDS and concerning
access to primary education, and, finally, ensure access
to clean drinking water for all of our compatriots.

In the past three years, Côte d’Ivoire has
made a significant qualitative leap forward in the
implementation of the MDGs and intends to continue
with that same dynamic process. We entered the
twenty-first century determined to conquer poverty
and inequality, and to build a world of opportunity. The
MDGs have been the vehicle for this great ambition and
the impetus for a solidarity of the kind rarely expressed
in this forum. At a time when the world that we wish to
see post-2015 is taking shape, the MDGs are becoming
clearer. We must finally give the most vulnerable
peoples a decent life; we must also give our planet a
reprieve and the opportunity to exist for centuries to
come.

The post-2015 agenda should pay particular
attention to the priorities of the developing countries,
particularly those of African countries, as set out in the
African Common Position, which my country supports.
The intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015
development agenda should therefore be inclusive and
balanced and achieve specific, measurable objectives
so as to facilitate their ownership by States and regions.

The adoption of the post-2015 development
programme next year will take place in a favourable
economic context for Africa. Indeed, Africa has become
one of the most attractive regions for international
investors and one of the most dynamic in the world,
with the annual growth rate of its gross national product
at 4.5 per cent on average over the past 15 years.
Africa offers unique opportunities in the areas of
infrastructure, energy, agriculture, employment and the
capability of ensuring food security for the continent.
The health sector and that of combating climate change
are also active.

Africa is entering an era of progress and development
that will depend on its security environment. Indeed,
the unprecedented spread of terrorism from the Horn
of Africa to the Sahelo-Saharan area, the explosion of
maritime piracy, various types of criminal trafficking,
and, more recently, the resurgence of pandemics such
as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, which has been ravaging
certain countries in West Africa, are threatening the
African continent and risk making it lose a decade of
human progress and economic growth. Unlike the wars
of yesteryear, these trans-border threats will in the long

term spare no State and no region. That is why we must
face them collectively.

The current international mobilization against
terrorism and extremism is very positive. However, it
would benefit from being extended to Africa in order
to sustainably destroy the terrorist movements that are
now active at the doors of Europe. Africa must not be
the forgotten continent in the fight against terrorism.

I know that Africa is not alone in facing these
threats. I would like to reiterate here my sincere
gratitude to our bilateral and multilateral partners,
including France, the United States of America, the
United Nations, the European Union and the African
Union, which all are by our side. I should like in
particular to thank President François Hollande for the
decisive role played by France in the resolution of the
crises in Mali, Guinea-Bissau and the Central African
Republic, as well as for the convening of the Elysée
Summit for Peace and Security in Africa and the recent
conference of heads of State on the question of Boko
Haram in Nigeria.

I wish to thank President Barack Obama for the
important measures he announced in August at the
United States-Africa Summit, which will help to
strengthen African capacities to combat terrorism. I
also wish to thank him, and, through him, the American
people for the bold, outstanding measures taken by the
Government of the United States of America to help
West Africa to overcome the Ebola epidemic. Those
measures, in addition to those taken by the World
Health Organization, non-governmental organizations,
France, the United Kingdom, the World Bank, Japan,
the European Union and other countries, must serve as
an impetus for an international mobilization.

In the same spirit, I would like to acknowledge
the support provided by the international community
to the brotherly country of Nigeria in its fight against
the terrorist group Boko Haram, and commend the
African Union for its decisive involvement in Somalia.
The fact remains that, with respect to the Sahel and the
fight against Boko Haram, the major Powers and the
United Nations need to go further in their support for
the continent and show the same determination as that
has been demonstrated by France against the terrorists
in northern Mali.

For Africa, security is the primary sustainable
development goal that must be achieved. In the quest
for stability and security, the consolidation of the
continent’s various partnerships is a true lifeline to
the future. Those partnerships also provide solidarity,
openness and development. They must ultimately enable
us to pursue together the fight for the eradication of
poverty, while taking into account the three dimensions
of sustainable development: the economic, social and
environmental dimensions.

Sustainable development is inclusive, and that is
what we want for our people. In that respect, I recall
the need to focus on developing methods for cleaner
production and for reversing the current trend of global
warming. In the light of the pronouncements we made
at the Climate Summit, held on 23 September here in
New York, a final effort will certainly be needed to
reach an ambitious climate agreement in 2015 at the
Paris summit.

I would like now to turn to the situation in Côte
d’Ivoire. My country is at peace and at work. It has
regained its partners’ trust, as shown in particular by
the definitive return of the African Development Bank
to Abidjan. Thanks to the unity of Ivorians, the strength
of our national institutions and the reforms undertaken
by the Government, economic growth continues to be
strong and is close to reaching double digits.

At this stage in my country’s path towards
economic transformation and inclusive development,
the major work that remains is that of strengthening
national reconciliation and caring for and protecting the
most vulnerable of my countrymen. That will involve,
fundamentally, restoring meaning to the concept of
solidarity and the national pact underpinning the Ivorian
nation. Today, Côte d’Ivoire is an ambitious nation that
has set a course towards democratic institutions and
exemplary governance.

Let me conclude by highlighting that a better world
for all is possible. We all need to believe in it and
work with determination to achieve it. The sustainable
development goals will be achieved if national efforts are
supported by the expected level of official development
assistance, the level to which the developed countries
have committed. The post-2015 development agenda
will be an asset that will enable our countries to meet
the challenges our people and especially our youth will
face in a changing world.


I am greatly honoured
to address this forum and to share with the General
Assembly the views of the Republic of Macedonia on
issues of global concern. In the current dynamic, hyper-
connected and changing world, one thing remains
constant — the need for greater predictability, a quality
on which peace, security and stability depend, as well
as global welfare and progress.

Humankind today faces many challenges, of which
two demand our full attention. The first one relates
to the natural world, and the second relates to the
international order. The root of the first challenge is the
human neglect of natural laws. The second challenge
arises from the violation of international law.

Guided by the idea that man is the measure of
all things, humankind has made a wrong calculation.
We are competing in a race for progress and new
discoveries that goes hand in hand with a race for the

unequal exploitation of resources — a race whose only
rule is that there are no rules. Everything is possible
and everything is allowed, including the pollution of
the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil that
produces our food.

As humankind, we were selfishly focused on
immediate needs and desires. We forget that natural
resources have been given to us in trust to preserve for
our children. In opposing nature, we are undermining
the foundations of our future. Our citizens, States and
economies have already begun to pay the price. We will
face a period of extreme weather conditions, when it
will become ever more likely that cities will be flooded,
rivers will dry up, crops will fail and the price of food
will increase.

Natural disasters at the global level serve as loud
alarms telling us that climate change is a new reality that
is changing our lives and the lives of future generations.
Recently our region, South-Eastern Europe, was hit by
such a disaster and reminded of that reality.

The Republic of Macedonia is the first country in
our region to have completed its third national report
under the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change. We have already defined the next
steps in all key sectors of the economy and society at
the national and local levels for disaster risk reduction
and climate change adaptation by promoting strategies
and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
increase energy efficiency.

We welcome the initiative of the President of
the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session, His
Excellency Mr. Sam Kutesa, to take decisive and
concrete measures to remedy two of the world’s great
miseries: increased global poverty and diminished
access to basic resources, including clean water,
education, health care and a clean environment.

Here at the United Nations, we are all one family;
as a family, we should help each other to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals. But we must focus
on two things, that is, reducing global poverty and
ensuring sustainable development.

Next year will be one of great expectations
worldwide, including the expectation that a genuine
synergy involving all the major challenges will finally
be achieved, inter alia, climate change adaptation,
disaster risk reduction and sustainable development.
We expect the post-2015 development agenda to include
global, holistic, scientifically grounded, feasible and
legally binding goals aimed at ensuring a safer world
for our descendants. However, we should be aware that
the natural balance is disturbed and that many things
will therefore not be as before. We will need to learn to
live in a changed world.

Just as the challenge posed by nature is a result
of the human neglect of natural laws, the challenge
to the international order arises from the violation of
international law by some countries. I said before that
we are all one United Nations family. And in every
family there are rules of conduct and mutual respect.
Families without such rules are known as dysfunctional
families.

The Republic of Macedonia is strongly committed
to respecting the Charter of the United Nations, which
is one of the primary foundations of the purposes
and principles of international law. The rule of law is
incomplete and impossible without respect for human
rights. As a member of the Human Rights Council, the
Republic of Macedonia is committed, in spirit and with
determination, to protecting and promoting human
rights and the right to human dignity throughout the
world. The Republic of Macedonia has achieved the
highest standards of respect for human rights and the
rights of communities worldwide. That is possible
thanks to the Macedonian model of coexistence as a
model of integration without assimilation, which is
not based on tolerance alone, but rather on respect for
diversity.

In fact, the human rights and human dignity of
Macedonian citizens are being continually denied
by one Member of the United Nations family and a
member of NATO and the European Union. Identity
and language are inseparable parts of our personality,
of freedom of expression, of human rights. Those are
universally accepted principles that should never be
compromised. Respect for human rights, including
the rights to self-identification and human dignity,
represent the highest values of the United Nations and
are among the political criteria for the Republic of
Macedonia’s accession to the European Union.

The country that is blocking my country is
demanding the impossible, namely, that we give up the
Macedonian identity, thereby violating the fundamental
principles of the European Union in order to meet
conditions for membership in it. That would force my
country to violate a rule and betray the global family.

In 2008 at the NATO Summit in Bucharest,
basing its position on international law, my country

refused to change the identity of the Macedonian
people as a precondition for its already well-deserved
membership in NATO. On 17 November 2008, we
launched proceedings against our southern neighbour
under the auspices of the International Court of Justice,
again acting on the basis of international law. On
5 December 2011, on the basis of international law, the
International Court of Justice ruled that the obstruction
of the Republic of Macedonia’s integration in NATO
was illegal and that international commitments had
been violated. For years my country has tolerated
unprincipled and illegal blockades, and we have done
so because of international law — because we believe
that only international law can provide predictability
and certainty on behalf of world order.

By our example we have demonstrated in principle
how other countries should respect international law.
Even the International Court of Justice, in an almost
unanimous decision, concluded that we had acted
correctly. Despite that, the Republic of Macedonia
is ready for a mutually acceptable solution under the
framework provided by United Nations resolutions, the
Interim Accord and the judgment of the International
Court of Justice. The issue of identity has never been
part of that framework, because identity can neither be
discussed nor negotiated. I therefore urge the United
Nations and the competent authorities to become
engaged and to devote maximum attention to finding
mutually acceptable solutions within the framework of
international law.

Two years ago, I was at the General Assembly (see
A/67/PV.12) and remember well that the session was
preceded by the High-level Meeting on the Rule of
Law at the National and International Levels (see A/67/
PV.3). The General Assembly debated the Secretary-
General’s report (A/66/749) entitled “Delivering justice:
programme of action to strengthen the rule of law at
the national and international levels”. Two years have
passed, and we are still debating. We are still waiting
for rulings of the International Court of Justice to be
respected.

Our southern neighbour continues daily to violate
international law. It continues to violate the various
1993 United Nations resolutions on the subject, as
well as the 1995 Interim Accord. It also still ignores
the ruling of the highest legal authority in the world.
But that ruling does not apply only to the State that
blocks us, the ruling applies, erga omnes, to all member
States of the international organizations that still block
our membership. Every blockade in our European
and Euro-Atlantic integration process undermines the
international legal order. By tolerating the blockades,
a dangerous precedent is created, one of mutual
blocking and blackmailing that is motivated by narrow
national interests at the expense of the collective
interests of the European Union and NATO. Hence,
dysfunctional families are created that do not respect
the rules of conduct. Disrespect for the highest legal
authorities implies an erosion of the culture of respect
for international law in the world. Such an erosion
suspends the rule of law and leaves room for anarchy.

For years, we have pertinently pointed out that,
if someone pollutes the spring, then its flow and the
entire watershed will also be contaminated. If someone
questions basic human rights — the right to human
dignity and the right to self-identification — then
the rest of international law will also be challenged.
We have warned of the violation of international law
in the case of the Republic of Macedonia, but others
have rarely listened. Today, the price we pay is higher.
Everyone calls upon international law when others are
expected to respect it, but they ignore it when they
themselves must respect it. We do not want to follow
the example of those who break the law, because we are
aware of the consequences.

If we remove one link, one factor or one participant
from an ecosystem, that can cause instability and
unpredictability in its functioning. We live in a
world and an age of global interdependence, a
global ecosystem. When a State fails to comply with
international commitments, it encourages others to do
the same. Today we are witnessing the consequences
of such behaviour. Under the conditions of an impaired
international legal system, the world has been rapidly
sinking into the dark areas of anarchic international
relations.

The world order is in a latent crisis. The processes of
global interdependence and subnational fragmentation
have transformed our previous perceptions of the
world. In less than a decade, we have experienced two
major changes. The terrorist attacks of 11 September
2001 shook the global political and security order, and
the collapse of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008
struck the global economic order. The only remaining
order of the world we used to know is the international
legal order. However, the legal system has been
challenged as well.

The Republic of Macedonia sees its future in
NATO and the European Union. With its expansion
policy, the European Union has long served as a beacon
lighting the path for the States of East and South-East
Europe towards the more advanced European family.
We were recently informed that this beacon will go out
of service in the next five years. If it does, there will be
the danger of shipwreck. The region of South-Eastern
Europe remains vulnerable. I want to send a message
to partners in the European Union that by postponing
its enlargement, the EU has been creating a vacuum in
what has been historically the most porous geopolitical
space. Sooner or later, that vacuum will be filled.
That is why we need as soon as possible to integrate
all the Balkan countries within the European Union.
While the membership card is not that important for us,
the necessary membership criteria and standards are
important. In our case, the European Union’s beacon has
grown dim because of its toleration of a devaluation of
international law, human rights and the right to human
dignity, which provide the essential fuel that powers the
beacon. In losing its light, the European Union is losing
what has been most valuable — its power to motivate
States to strive for even higher values, standards and
criteria.

I also want to send a clear message to my region
that in these circumstances, now is the time for Balkan
countries to demonstrate maximum solidarity and
unity in achieving shared goals — cooperation on such
issues as integration, our economies, infrastructure,
energy, environmental protection, terrorism and the
suppression of organized crime. We must resist and
jointly address those shared challenges. In a world that
is rapidly changing, the need for greater predictability
in international relations remains. Only international
law can offer the reliability and predictability on which
world peace and the progress of our countries depend.
International law is the only barrier that protects us
from a disaster within the international order, and
international law has been constantly breached.

We are in this Hall today as the highest
representatives of our countries in the world family. I am
confident that most members of the General Assembly
agree with those conclusions. But the question is, how
many of us are willing to take action to change things.
I wish that we were not in a situation where we could
simply debate and draw conclusions over and over again.
It is high time that we start with actions. This is the last
call. We should ask ourselves whether the natural order
has an alternative and what that might be. Our failure to
comply with natural laws has led to accelerated climate
change — to more floods, earthquakes and fires. The
failure to comply with international law has contributed
to increased anarchy in international relations and
interventions against those who have flooded, burned
and destroyed the natural order today.

Not long ago, in August, the sixth United Nations
Alliance of Civilizations Forum, held in Bali, focused
on unity in diversity. While the world has been talking
about unity in diversity, radical extremists have become
united in their intentions to destroy those who differ. As
we speak, millions of faithful believers around the world
feel the pain caused by narrow-minded individuals and
groups imbued with religious fundamentalism. As we
speak, the systematic destruction of individuals and
communities is occurring. As we speak, hundreds of
thousands are being persecuted. Their homes have
been devastated, their temples destroyed and their past
erased, and their future is in question.

Recognizing that terrorism cannot and should not
be identified with any religion, nation or civilization,
we strongly condemn mass atrocities committed by
anyone anywhere. We commend yesterday’s debate in
the Security Council (see S/PV.7272). What we need
are urgent measures. The Republic of Macedonia has
already taken the first steps. Recently, we adopted
amendments to the criminal code regarding foreign
fighters, who are a real threat to the entire region.
Everything that is happening in the crisis hotspots
reflects on Europe, which has its own crisis hotspot
now in Ukraine.

It is sad that in the twenty-first century we have
witnessed tragedies in the Middle East and North
Africa. It is sad that this is happening in Europe, in
a year that has been declared an international year of
peace. It is obvious that, on the centenary of the First
World War, the lessons of the past have not yet been
learned.

The majority of victims of the Ukraine crisis are
innocent civilians. There have also been material losses.
The Republic of Macedonia supports all efforts aimed
at restoring peace and stability in that country. I am
convinced that political dialogue and diplomacy will
enable Ukraine to address the challenges and regain its
path towards a prosperous future for its citizens.

The world is facing serious challenges, including
natural disasters and political issues — both of which

mask double standards. Double standards generate
issues that introduce equations with many unknowns,
leading to a world where the only thing we are certain
of is that the future of our children is uncertain.
Only respect for international law will ensure greater
certainty, thereby helping to avoid storms in our
dynamic world.

The Republic of Macedonia supports the reform
of the Security Council as a significant part of the
overall reform of the United Nations. It is a complex
and sensitive process. We agree with the proposal to
negotiate the actual text. At the same time, we stress
that the text must receive maximum support from the
membership and ensure respect for international law
and international commitments and rules. Such reform
must provide greater predictability in the world. As
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the opening
of the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly,
“We shall have neither peace nor development without
respect for human rights and the rule of law” (A/67/PV.6,
p. 3). Only international law provides the opportunity
to solve the equation and thus to plan the future, based
on security, stability and peace.

Young people continue to be the main victims of
double standards and violations of the norms of national
and international law by prior and current generations,
as well as of natural disasters. They breathe the polluted
air, drink the polluted water and eat food grown in
contaminated soil. They will become the victims of
systems of injustice unless we do something to change
that.

In 2003, we initiated the first Forum of the Dialogue
among Civilizations, which was held in Ohrid under
the leadership of former President Trajkovski. The
Dialogue among Civilizations, both chronologically
and in essence, predated the United Nations Alliance
of Civilizations, which was formed in 2005 at the
initiative of the Governments of Spain and Turkey.
Indeed, only through dialogue will we join together in
an alliance of civilizations. The Brdo-Brijuni Process
Meeting was recently held with the participation of
the German Chancellor, Her Excellency Mrs. Merkel.
An entire chapter of the joint declaration is devoted
to youth. As President of the Republic of Macedonia,
it will be my honour to organize, together with the
Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Irina Bokova, the
upcoming Dialogue among Civilizations in 2015, which
will be entirely dedicated to youth.

In the year when we are marking the centenary of
the First World War, we recall the positive experiences
of Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer in
establishing the Franco-German Youth Office in 1963.
That experience of cooperation among young people
should be applied in establishing an office for young
Europeans from all the countries of South-Eastern
Europe, transforming our region into a Europeanized
Balkans. We call on the leaders to devote greater time
and attention and invest in youth. We cannot change
our past, but we can, by changing the present, change
the past of the generations to come. That is why it is
necessary to educate young people about the importance
of dialogue, which involves respect and the acceptance
of diversity.


I am Juan Orlando Hernández. I was born in
a humble village called Rio Grande, in the department
of Lempira, a region with very high rates of inequality
and poverty, although that is now changing, as is my
whole country. I am here in my capacity as President
of Honduras, a country located in the heart of the
Americas. It is a country small in size, but with a great
desire to achieve development based on its own identity,
and with a people who struggle daily to advance and
progress, and who aspire to better living conditions.

In 2009, our country suffered one of the worst
political crises in its history. It led to several hundred
million dollars in losses, and most unfortunately, to
thousands of divided families and more poverty. That
crisis caused more damage than any hurricane or
natural disaster. However, today we can say that we
have overcome the political crisis.

Honduras is a country where full democracy is
practised and there is complete freedom to choose its
leaders. In addition to representative democracy, we
practice participatory democracy. Proof of that is the
dialogue that will lead to a compact for Honduras that
will be the result of listening to the views of different
sectors of society on central issues for our people. Our
Everyone for a Better Life Plan includes four basic
pillars: restoring peace, generating investment and
large-scale employment opportunities, supporting
families living in extreme poverty, and combatting
corruption and promoting greater transparency in the
culture of the Honduran people.

Since taking office eight months ago, I have been
completely devoted to recovering and maintaining
peace and tranquillity, creating opportunities with fairer
conditions for everybody. We need more investment to
come to our country in order to create jobs that will
translate into greater income for our families. To that
end, Honduras has amended its Constitution to create
one of the best platforms in the world for investment and
employment. It is a very innovative. I am referring to

the Zone for Employment and Economic Development,
which is better known by its acronym ZEDE.

The Honduras ZEDE model is not just another free
trade zone, similar to the 3,500 that already exist in the
world. Ours is different because it is comprehensive. It
is a jurisdiction with four dimensions: legal, economic,
administrative and political. The Honduran ZEDE
is a L.E.A.P. zone, which in English means “to jump
forward”. In Honduras, the ZEDE will help us take a
competitive leap forward towards greater well-being.
Rather than joining the race to the bottom, Honduras
has decided to compete upwards, welcoming global
investment through a special jurisdiction of the highest
level to employ the most productive and profitable
workforce in a highly favourable location at the centre
of the Americas, bringing the Pacific and the Atlantic
together.

In the legal dimension, ZEDE offers a common law
system, with compulsory arbitration and international
judges. Economically speaking, we are competitive in
an open market, with a series of agile simple regulations,
with highly attractive and sustainable incentives for the
creation of good jobs under decent conditions. In the
administrative dimension, ZEDE provides a technical,
non-political structure without bureaucratic obstacles
that is effective for companies that must operate at the
speed of the markets and technology in the twenty-
first century, and with full guarantees of transparency
and security within the rule of law. Finally, to attract
long-term investment and ensure good jobs, we
guarantee political stability and transparency based
on international treaties and agreements, with the
support of an international commission of 21 trustees to
ensure compliance with best practices for workers and
the investors. I invite everyone to discover the great
opportunity Honduras offers the world.

We have also created a participatory model
of Government enterprises and the private sector,
with mixed capital — in other words public-private
partnerships. We are building an interoceanic logistical
corridor linking the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean,
allowing us to move cargo between both Oceans in less
than six hours — I repeat, less than six hours. Our hope
is to capture at least 5 per cent of the demand to move
goods from one ocean to another.

We have made progress, but we also recognize that
much remains to be done. For example, there has been a
rise in the number of Hondurans going abroad, including
an unusual migration of children and vulnerable youth
to North America, many unaccompanied by an adult.
This migration is the result of the violence created by
the movement of drugs through our territory, poverty
and the lack of opportunities. Special attention must be
dedicated to this phenomenon, especially in countries
that are responsible for the problem either because
they produce the drugs or because they are the market
where the drug is consumed. We believe that this is a
shared responsibility. Faced with the scant interest in
solving the problem shown but those who created it, we
Hondurans must stress this issue in every forum that
we possibly can, because we must speak clearly and
forcefully about that issue.

Honduran territory is today one of the main
battlefields of a war that is not our own. We did not start
this war. Its strategies are decided outside Honduras,
and it involves drug-consuming countries in the North
and drug producing countries in the South. It is a real
monster — a multinational, criminal octopus without
nationalities, borders or scruples, which is dedicated
to the trafficking, trade and consumption of drugs and
to encouraging demand, especially in the wealthiest
societies.

The drugs transiting through Honduras and
Central America destroy the lives and peace of our
people, our youth, our children and our women. From
those who orchestrate and organize the transnational
activity within our territory to ordinary citizens and the
children involved as pawns in drug dealing and addicts,
all are affected. They are all embarking on the path of
no return, which will tear apart our society, destroy
families, corrupt officials and destroy institutions. I
invite members to ask themselves: Who are the real
culprits in this cycle of death, misfortune, mourning,
struggle, blood and pain? It is not Hondurans, I can
assure the Assembly of that.

In forums such as this, we need to agree on the
basic contours of the issue and the facts. We cannot,
in the midst of crisis and without coming to useful or
concrete conclusions, put forward proposals based on
legalizing production and consumption, on the one
hand, and on waging a merciless war on trafficking and
illegal drug use, on all fronts and regardless of cost,
on the other. I ask myself, and I invite members to ask
themselves: Who are the true victims of this tragedy?
All those who cannot live in peace in modern society
are victims, as are those who cannot live in society
without using drugs. Society itself is a victim, as it is
unable to organize its efforts and manage its resources
in a rational manner so as to create new opportunities.

Honduras produces and consumes practically no
drugs. We are a transit country. Unfortunately, we
provide only the battlefield and the dead. We provide
the resources to combat drugs’ transit through our
territory, and those are resources that we are prevented
from investing in meeting our development problems
and challenges. I repeat: we are not responsible for the
war.

I think it is time to do what we have to do: respect
human rights; follow what experts and our common
sense are telling us; attack the problem at its root,
once and for all; and do it together and throughout the
affected region. We must create a multinational force
capable of dealing successfully with a phenomenon
that is transnational in terms of its organization, its
market, its projections and its financing. This morning,
President Obama called for such unity in fighting radical
fundamentalists. I would ask: What is the difference
between the effects of terrorist acts perpetrated by
radical fundamentalists and the effects of the terrorist
acts perpetrated by those who traffic in drugs? What is
the difference?

Today the international community is discussing
what happens in other regions of the world when
children, young people and families are displaced by
war, violence and radical extremists. Those are all
situations that we as a nation also condemn. Of course
we do. However, little is being said and about the
thousands of families living in the northern triangle
of Central America. I do not want to believe that this
issue will simply be forgotten. As human beings, we
cannot allow that to happen. I would once again ask
the Assembly: What is the difference between those
displaced by violence in other regions and those
displaced by the violence committed by drug traffickers
and transnational criminals? What is the difference?

One difference is that those displaced — those
thousands of families and individual children — come
knocking on the doors of the United States of America.
As a region, we cannot continue to ignore this human
drama, which affects thousands of Central Americans,
especially unaccompanied migrant minors who, on
their way to the United States, have been the victims of
violence, transnational crime, rape, human trafficking
and the organ trade. Many have died or disappeared
in the desert. We cannot forget that. Those children
deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. They
are innocent victims. We are talking about innocent
children just like our children and grandchildren. They
are vulnerable human beings.

I would like to inform the Assembly that yesterday,
the Secretary-General kindly agreed to have me, along
with the ministers of Guatemala and El Salvador,
present to him the Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in
the Northern Triangle, which maps out an initiative to
support and create opportunities so that our countrymen
are able to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity
with everyone in our region — and I repeat, everyone,
because this cause is our common responsibility.

An important part of the solution to the child
migration problem is to create job opportunities for
their parents there, in Central America, and to improve
security for young people there, in Central America.
Both issues are closely linked to the trade policies
of the United States. We are not asking for financial
assistance or charity. What we are asking for is just and
equitable trade treatment, as is already given to other
countries in the world. What we want is to jobs, to create
those opportunities. Honduras supports efforts to unite
the world in peace and prosperity through just trade
and better access to major world markets. Within that
vision, and in the context of the current negotiations,
we demand that Honduras and Central America receive
the same commercial treatment as Asian countries do,
in order to enable us to compete.

To be frank, the United States giving preferential
tariffs and rules of origin to other countries and leaving
Honduras and Central America out of that would lead
to thousands of jobs being lost in our region and would
lead more children to illegally cross the border. I say to
President Obama, Congress, the North American people
and the people of the world: Honduras is committed to
solving the child migration issue and to fighting drug
trafficking. Many of them know this, clearly, given our
determination. But if there is not a reasonable degree of
coherence in our countries’ trade policies, as partners,
what is the real message to our people in Central
America? What should Honduran children and their
parents expect, in Central America?

Given the many problems we face as Hondurans,
we have learned to see every crisis as an opportunity,
and my Government follows the Christian principles of
solidarity and the common good. We are promoting a
very ambitious programme called A Better Life, through
which we are making small changes and solving big
problems. I am pleased to note that, now, some of those
with the biggest fortunes are also promoting solidarity.
I invite us all to ask: How much money is enough for a
human being to feel fulfilled?

(spoke in English)
How much money is good enough?

(spoke in Spanish)
A few days ago we read about the humanitarian
action being undertaken by one of the world’s richest
men, Mr. Bill Gates, who, through his foundation, is
seeking A Better Life in terms of health for thousands of
poor families by promoting scientific research into new
designs for basic sanitation systems. I think Mr. Bill
Gates found the answer to the question.

(spoke in English)
How much money is good enough?

(spoke in Spanish)
As we are working on the same issue, I take this
opportunity, with the Assembly’s permission, to invite
Mr. Bill Gates, a citizen of the world, to my country to
work on this common endeavour.

It is very encouraging that some of the wealthiest
people in the world are not seeking the secret of eternal
youth, or trying to send expeditions to other planets
while our brothers are dying on this one. On the
contrary, they are aware of the problems of their poorer
brethren. This is going on in many countries, including
Honduras, where many good businesspeople have
signed on to work with our A Better Life programme
and are demonstrating social responsibility by creating
jobs. And that is what this is all about — solidarity
and social responsibility, but not romantic social
responsibility. In that regard, I would like to quote Pope
Francis, a citizen of the world, whose words I hope will
ring in our ears.

“I have never seen a moving van following a funeral
procession, but there is a treasure we can take with
us, a treasure that no one can take away — not
those things we have kept for ourselves, but what
we have given to others”.
We should think about that and consider those
words. Honduras is a country where 43 per cent of the
population lives on less than a dollar a day, which is not
enough to pay for a person’s basic nutritional needs.
That is why we are making a major effort to respond to
these people’s needs through the Better Life programme,
thus enabling them to live with dignity. The Better
Life programme is designed to respond to the needs of
835,000 families, who are getting help in improving
their homes, including providing access to drinking
water and basic sanitation, decent roofs overhead and
floors underfoot, family gardens and monetary support
to ensure that children attend school, have improved
health care and change their living conditions so as to
achieve a better life.

Our housing improvements include the use of
clean stoves, reducing wood consumption and smoke,
which is harmful to women and children’s health and
which, according to the World Health Organization,
kills 500,000 women around the world every year. In
Central America alone, about 35,000 people die from
the wood smoke emitted from dirty cooking stoves
every year. With every eco or clean stove installed, we
make a contribution to the rest of humankind by saving
15 medium-sized trees every year, thus helping to
protect the environment. In that regard, I would like to
highlight the work of former United States Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton for her Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves initiative, whose goal is to put clean stoves
in 100 million households by 2020. On this subject we
share Mrs. Clinton’s vision and are working hard to
achieve it.

When presidents come to the General Assembly of
the United Nations, they often prepare speeches they
deem most appropriate and specific to the lofty heights
of this great forum, but beyond the words themselves,
the message I want to convey is that the most important
thing is for all of us to be accepted as citizens of the
world, with the same duty to fight and defend our
territory, our families and our planet, with the same
right to aspire to a better life, and that what is vital is
the support of those who have the most to those who
have the least. If my message today can reach and move
a few to act, I think it will have been worth coming. I
would like to remind the Assembly that if we are part of
the largest forum in the world, it is because we consider
ourselves to be citizens of the world, human beings
with the same dignity, and therefore all of us, everyone
of us, equal. Honduras is making progress; Honduras is
changing; Honduras sends its greetings to all.