Mr. President, I wish you all success for your tenure in
office.
 Guaranteeing international peace and security as
well as the sustainable development of our peoples is
our shared responsibility. The way we carry it out will
determine our common destiny. The centrality of the
United Nations has never been so clear. The United
Nations will be what we, as sovereign and equal
Member States, want it to be.
 We live in a time of historic acceleration, a time
of great opportunities but also of challenges on a
global scale. Global challenges imply a collective
responsibility. The United Nations is the forum that
best embodies that collective responsibility. That is
also why I strongly support the statement made by the
President of the French Republic, current President of
the Council of the European Union.
 In a globalized and interdependent world, only
strong multilateral institutions can promote the
fundamental values of peace, democracy, human rights
and sustainable development. Portugal is committed to
supporting effective multilateralism based on a
cohesive and efficient United Nations.
 Our words cannot be empty rhetoric. Therefore
we must be consistent and put into practice the values
and principles we defend. Our actions must be based
on very clear assumptions. First, we must make every
effort to ensure that the United Nations has the means
necessary to fulfil its mission, and we must contribute
to the achievement of the mandates with which we
entrust it.
 Secondly, we must ensure broader representation
in the United Nations bodies and make their actions
more transparent. Is it reasonable to continue having a
Security Council without reforming its working
methods, when countries such as Brazil and India have
no permanent seat and when Africa is not permanently
represented? We surely do not think so and are open to
the possibility of broader solutions.

11 08-51749

 Thirdly, we must guarantee the fulfilment of the
declarations on human rights approved by all of us.
The Organization must bear in mind that the ultimate
beneficiaries of its actions are not States as such, but
the citizens and peoples that compose them.
 Portugal has been committed to this common
effort — first, by participating in peacekeeping
operations. I would like to commend the many
thousands of Portuguese who have participated in over
20 missions led by the United Nations and those who
currently are taking part in missions in Afghanistan,
the Central African Republic, Chad, Kosovo, Lebanon
and Timor-Leste.
 This year we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of
United Nations peacekeeping operations, and I would
like to pay tribute to all of the Blue Helmets. In
particular I pay tribute to the memory of all of those,
including Portuguese nationals, who have made the
ultimate sacrifice for the ideals of the United Nations
Charter.
 Africa must remain a priority. That belief led us,
together with our African partners, to hold the Cairo
and Lisbon summits between the European Union (EU)
and Africa, which began to further the dialogue
between the two continents. The shared principles, the
commitments undertaken and the EU-Africa Joint
Strategy illustrate a renewed partnership based on
cooperation in areas such as peace and security,
development, good governance and human rights, trade
and regional integration. Peace, sustainable
development, access to education and health care and
the integration of African economies in the
international markets are essential objectives in
building a more just, peaceful and balanced
international order. Accordingly, we must support the
efforts of the African nations to achieve those
objectives.
 In that context, I would like to congratulate the
Angolan people for the civic-minded manner in which
they conducted their recent electoral process. The
legislative elections had a profound bearing on the
consolidation of democracy in Angola, with important
regional political repercussions.
 I also welcome the political agreement in
Zimbabwe, which we hope will mark a new period of
national reconciliation as well as political and
economic development.
 I wish also to congratulate Guinea-Bissau on the
anniversary of its independence. Guinea-Bissau is one
of the States Members of the Community of
Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), from which it
has received strong political support. The CPLP has
undertaken increasing responsibilities as an operational
partner of the regional organizations to which its
member States belong, such as the European Union and
the African Union, and of global organizations such as
the United Nations.
 The recent Lisbon summit of the CPLP, at which
Portugal took over the presidency of the Community,
confirmed its members’ determination to promote
peace, democracy, human rights and development. It
also led to the definition of a common strategy of
international assertiveness based on our shared asset:
the Portuguese language — the fifth most spoken
language in the world, connecting nations and peoples
in five continents. This assertiveness should lead to the
increased use of Portuguese as an official or working
language of international organizations.
 Recently, Portugal also assumed the presidency
of the Community of Democracies. Very soon, we will
be presiding over the Ibero-American Summit — a
genuine reference point for political cooperation based
on shared cultures and values. We are honoured by
those mandates, which we intend to exercise with
determination and confidence.
 Portugal believes that the natural vocation of the
Alliance of Civilizations to bring together peoples,
cultures and religions will be instrumental in
establishing a world where dialogue prevails over
conflict and where tolerance, respect for cultural
diversity and individual identity, and mutual
understanding overcome built-up tensions. We
therefore resolutely support the Implementation Plan of
the High Representative of the Secretary-General.
 Seven years have passed since New York suffered
one of the most infamous acts the world has witnessed
in our time. Although much has been done since then,
terrorism continues to be a threat. The implementation
of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy is
fundamental to success in combating that common
enemy. In that regard, it is crucial to respect human
rights and fundamental freedoms, the promotion of
which contributes to preventing terrorism.
 Hunger and extreme poverty are other, more
insidious but equally destructive common enemies.

08-51749 12

Much has also been said in that connection, and some
measures have been taken. However, much more is
required. We reiterate our unwavering support for the
Millennium Development Goals. Portugal, which is
contributing to the limit of its capabilities, is directing
most of its development aid to Africa, where the levels
of poverty are most striking.
 We are pleased to note the establishment of the
High-level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis.
Combating hunger and poverty requires a strengthened
global partnership in which the United Nations and the
Bretton Woods institutions have a central role to play.
 Ensuring sustainable development requires that
we confront the challenges posed by climate change
together. Failure to act now will result in an
irreversible legacy for future generations, as shown by
the last progress report of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change. In that common effort, we must
support those who are most vulnerable to the effects of
climate change, such as small island developing States
and least developed countries.
 Oceans, seas, islands and coastal areas, which are
vital for human life and economic prosperity, deserve
our utmost attention. It is therefore important that we
join efforts to ensure that negotiations are completed
by December next year on a global and transparent
agreement on a post-2012 climate regime.
 Economic development is not an end in itself; it
is a means towards the progress of humankind and the
affirmation of human rights. Portugal has been the
driving force behind the draft optional protocol to the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, which the Assembly will be called
upon to adopt. It is our opinion that the draft protocol
represents a landmark in the promotion of democracy
that will enable us to properly celebrate the sixtieth
anniversary of the adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Let us always bear in
mind that the dignity of human beings is not
negotiable.
 I would now like to refer to the humanitarian
situation of refugees. Portugal acknowledges the
remarkable work carried out by the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees. We must continue
our collective efforts. In that regard, my country has
responded to the need by tripling its refugee quota.
 We are the United Nations. Its destiny is in our
hands. The success of the Organization is closely
linked to its capacity for regeneration and increased
democratization, representation and effectiveness. I
therefore wish to commend the consensus in the
General Assembly as regards the Security Council
reform process, which should enable intergovernmental
negotiations to begin shortly. Portugal is honoured to
be directly associated with that outcome.
 In 2000, Portugal submitted its candidacy for a
non-permanent seat in the Security Council for the
biennium 2011-2012. Our candidacy must be
considered in the light of the principles and values of
the United Nations that we have long defended and
which are enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution. We
stand for service to peace and stability, sustainable
development and human rights. We also believe in the
central role of the Organization in pursuing those
goals. We stand for equal representation for those
States that constitute the majority in this house because
we believe that that is the best way to guarantee a
sense of justice, which is essential if decisions are to be
accepted by all.


It is a privilege and an
honour to address this distinguished audience on behalf
of Bulgaria, particularly as my country is celebrating
the centennial anniversary of the proclamation of its
independence. Throughout those 100 years, Bulgaria
asserted and safeguarded its independence, often
through active participation in international
organizations, including the United Nations. Having
recently become a member of the European Union
(EU), my country is now even more committed to the
universal and regulatory role of the United Nations in
today’s globalized world. We align ourselves with the
statement made by President Sarkozy of the French
Republic on behalf of the EU (5th meeting).
 Permit me to congratulate you, Sir, on your
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
its sixty-third session. We wish you every success in
the months ahead and pledge our full support for your
endeavours. Our deep gratitude goes to His Excellency
Mr. Srgjan Kerim for his able guidance of the
Assembly at its previous session.
 Given the growing urgency of food security, the
topic that we are discussing today is of crucial
importance. We fully support the United Nations-led
efforts, reflected in the Rome Declaration, to ensure a
timely response to a problem that may have grave
consequences for the livelihoods of millions of people.
 Food security is a cross-cutting issue that should
be considered against the background of other
interrelated global challenges, such as climate change
and energy security. These also demand an immediate
response based on the common but differentiated
responsibilities and capabilities of various countries.
The United Nations should continue to provide a
unique forum for the elaboration of the effective
multilateral approach needed.
 Next spring, Bulgaria intends to host a summit
entitled “Gas for Europe: New Transregional
Partnerships and Projects”. It is important to bring
together heads of State and Government from all
interested countries in South-Eastern Europe, the Black
Sea/Caspian Sea region, Central Asia, the EU and the
United States in order to encourage political dialogue
at the highest level and to enhance transregional
cooperation with a view to achieving a balance among
energy and other strategic interests.
 Effective multilateralism requires an intensive
partnership between the United Nations and regional
organizations. On the basis of the European Union-United
Nations Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Crisis
Management, the EU and the United Nations have
engaged in partnerships that have already delivered
results in many areas related to peacemaking and
peacebuilding. A good and pragmatic relationship
between the United Nations and NATO in the Western
Balkans, Afghanistan and Africa is also of crucial
importance.
 Various forms of regional, subregional and
transborder cooperation may serve as building blocks
for a comprehensive collective security system. Peace
and stability are well rooted when local communities
and immediate neighbours live in harmony. That
philosophy guided the recent Bulgarian chairmanship
of the South-East European Cooperation Process.
Regional cooperation in South-East Europe has
recently gained momentum. South-East Europe is in

27 08-52272

the process of changing from an area recovering from
war to a thriving and dynamic region. Over the past 12
months, a whole new architecture of interaction has
come into being, connecting the countries of the region
to the rest of Europe and the international community.
In line with the concept of regional ownership, the
pivotal role has now been assumed by the new
Regional Cooperation Council.
 Democracy, security and cooperation still have a
way to go in the Black Sea region. More coherent
efforts are needed for an ultimate settlement of the
protracted conflicts there. Frozen conflicts should not
be neglected, because they tend to reignite tension time
and again. The recent armed hostilities in South
Ossetia and in other parts of Georgia have provided
ample evidence to that effect. Bulgaria gave its full
support to the peacemaking mission of the French EU
presidency and remains actively involved in the
preparation of the EU Monitoring Mission. We are
convinced that the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Georgia should be upheld and that the military
contingents should be withdrawn to their positions
prior to the conflict in order to allow effective
monitoring by the EU and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) of the
implementation of the six-point plan.
 Bulgaria contributes fully to the Eastern
Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy,
which should address the needs and priorities of all
partners in the region. We see opportunities for
launching projects in important sectors such as
transport, trade, energy, the environment and border
security. The EU’s Black Sea Synergy initiative is a
pragmatic way to intertwine various regional
initiatives, thus multiplying their effect.
 As prevention and development are inextricably
linked, the Bulgarian Government and the country
office of the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) in Bulgaria are currently exploring the
potential for a Bulgaria/UNDP regional hub for the
Western Balkans and the Black Sea area to share
accumulated know-how, training and research.
 We condemn terrorism unequivocally and reject
terrorist ideology in all its forms and manifestations.
The first review of the United Nations Global Counter-
Terrorism Strategy held recently proved that the United
Nations should continue to play a central role in
mobilizing the international community to counter
terrorism and all related phenomena, such as
radicalization and extremism.
 In countering terrorism, it is essential to conduct
that struggle within the requirements of international
law and to overcome prejudices and stereotype
perceptions in a world of great diversity. Bulgaria’s
long history of tolerance has been based on the
common understanding that cultural diversity is a great
asset in our society. It is in that spirit that Bulgaria
actively participates in the United Nations Alliance of
Civilizations and supports other like-minded
initiatives.
 This year, we mark the sixtieth anniversary of
United Nations peacekeeping operations. As we pay
tribute to the six decades of promoting peace and
protecting the vulnerable, we should also realize that
there is still much to be done. The United Nations is
facing a serious challenge due to the complex and
multidimensional character of a growing number of
peace operations and missions.
 Bulgaria continues to make its contribution to the
international peacekeeping efforts in the western
Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa. Our task today
is not only to keep the peace; we must also make
certain that peace is irreversible and sustainable. The
Peacebuilding Commission, an early achievement of
the reform process, has now become functional and has
achieved some practical results in Burundi and Sierra
Leone.
 Global celebrations of the sixtieth anniversary of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year
have reaffirmed the critical importance of universal
adherence to international human rights standards, the
realization of which should make the world better for
us all, free of poverty, intolerance and discrimination.
Despite the progress achieved, we should never relent
in our efforts. The Human Rights Council, with its
institution-building process successfully accomplished,
should engage in constructive, all-inclusive work
aimed at promoting and guaranteeing all human rights
for all.
 Stable peace and security can be achieved only
through development. Therefore, there is an urgent
need to accelerate the implementation of the
internationally agreed development goals, including
the Millennium Development Goals. We are convinced
that the responsibility for the timely achievement of

08-52272 28

those Goals lies with both developed and developing
countries.
 Solidarity with those in need, and in particular
with the developing countries, is an important and
irrevocable principle of Bulgarian foreign policy. We
are taking our first steps in building a new donor
capacity and shall strive to achieve the targeted levels
of official development assistance as part of the
European Union development cooperation policy.
 In order to perform its role in the world
efficiently, the United Nations must follow persistently
the course of reforms initiated at the 2005 World
Summit. We welcome the progress achieved during the
sixty-second session of the General Assembly towards
improving the working modalities of the main United
Nations bodies. Bulgaria expects that the remaining
tasks on the United Nations reform agenda will be
pursued vigorously and without delay during the
current session.
 In that regard, we welcome the efforts of the
Secretary-General and his determination expressed in
his opening statement. It is in our common interest to
ensure that this sixty-third session of the General
Assembly achieve tangible results. That is what the
peoples of our countries, the people of the world, are
expecting of us.


It is humbling to
stand before this great Assembly today. Events of
recent weeks have proved beyond doubt that we are
now in a new global age. Living through the first
financial crisis and the first resources crisis of
globalization, we are a world not simply in transition,
but facing transformation, with change more far-
reaching than anything we have seen in our lifetimes.
The challenges, the opportunities for us and the risks
that we now face come together at the global
crossroads of the United Nations, providing the focus
for debate and decision here in this General Assembly
Hall.
 A predecessor of mine said that if one built the
present only in the image of the past, one would miss
out entirely on the challenges of the future. It is to
those challenges of the future that I want to address my
remarks today.
 In the next two decades, our world economy will
double in size. That means double the opportunities
and potential for more businesses, more jobs and more
prosperity. Extraordinary promise and opportunity
await, but there are also wholly new insecurities and
pressures — global problems that will require global
solutions.
 The twin shocks of a global credit crunch and
soaring commodity prices lead straight to the front
doors of every family in every country, with higher oil,
gas and food prices, and higher costs for credit. But
because it is a global financial crisis and a global
shortage of food and resources, it will not be resolved
simply by individual nations acting in isolation,
although there is much that they can do themselves. It
will be solved in the end by us acting together.
 I want to talk about how we can work together to
tackle financial instability and the intense pressure now
on our finite world resources. The immediate priority is
to help people everywhere cope with these difficult
times and to do so fairly. That is why, in Britain, we
have acted to help those hit hardest, assisting people
with the costs of gas and electricity, supporting
homeowners and the housing market and helping
people acquire the skills to do the new jobs of the
twenty-first century.
 But if we have learned anything in the past few
years about the world in which we are now living, it is
that the world we share is more interconnected than
ever before and that the solutions have to be similarly
coordinated.
 First, we must do all that it takes to stabilize the
still turbulent financial markets and, in the months
ahead, we must work together to rebuild the world
financial system around clear principles. In the short
term, each country is taking action to deal with the
fallout of the credit crunch, and the United States of
America deserves support from the rest of the world as
it seeks to agree on in detail what all parties agree on
in principle.
 In Britain, we have taken decisive action to
promote stability in our banking system, protecting
depositors and introducing a temporary ban on short-
selling. We have already injected billions into the
market, making in excess of £100 billion available, and
announced only last week that our special liquidity
scheme will be extended until the end of January next
year.
 Confidence in the future is also needed to build
confidence today, and that confidence will be built by
showing that what are global problems can be
addressed by globally coordinated solutions. I believe
there are five key principles behind that all nations
should unite around as we examine the future of our
financial system.
 The first principle is that of transparency. People
must know what they are buying and selling, and they
must know what they are dealing with and not fear
what might be hidden on each other’s books. We must
look at the rapid introduction of improved
internationally acceptable accounting standards and
disclosure.
 Secondly, there must be sound banking practice
and more effective regulation that looks not just at
solvency but at liquidity, at managing and pricing risks
for bad times and for good times, together.
 Thirdly, there must be responsibility. No member
of senior management should be able to say he or she
did not understand the risks they were running and
walk away from his or her obligations.
 Fourthly, there must be integrity. Most people
agree that companies should align reward with stability
and long-term gain because what matters is hard work,

19 08-52272

effort and enterprise. We should align the advice of
credit-rating agencies with the interests of the
investors.
 Fifthly, just as banks are global and the flows of
capital are global, so oversight can no longer just be
national but must also include global supervision. That
is why we want to work to support immediately the
establishment of international colleges for each of the
largest global financial institutions — 30 of them by
the end of the year.
 The international institutions built in the wake of
the Second World War have not kept pace with the
changing global economy. We need national regulators
to be cooperative, rules and principles to be consistent,
and international movements of capital to be
transparent.
 The current era has been one of global prosperity.
It has also been an era of global turbulence, and while
there has been irresponsibility, we must now say
clearly that the age of irresponsibility must be ended.
We must now build that new global financial order,
founding it on transparency, not opacity; rewarding
success, not excess; and responsibility, not impunity.
That order must be global, not national.
 Global action cannot be limited to financial
stability. We must also address another problem of
globalization — the global scramble for resources. We
need global action to deal with high commodity prices
and a rising global population demanding more energy.
Only by taking tough decisions on energy security and
climate change and by bringing together a new global
partnership of oil producers and oil consumers can we
bring stability to global energy markets and secure
sustainable energy supplies for the long term.
 We are committed to tackling the global
challenge of climate change. Oil will of course
continue to meet a large part of our global energy
needs for some decades to come, but over the past year
we have seen the price of oil rise to as high as $146 per
barrel before falling again to $90 in the past month —
a fall of nearly 40 per cent. Such high and volatile
prices have a harmful impact on the global economy,
and all countries surely have a shared interest in
avoiding such dramatic swings in the price of scarce
resources.
 We must now therefore consider whether the
current international architecture can bring the more
transparent and stable energy markets this global
economy clearly needs. We must bring producers and
consumers together, build common understanding and
address the issues through meaningful and sustained
dialogue. At the end of this year, I will be hosting a
global energy summit in London, building on the
momentum generated in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to agree
on key areas for further action. It is only by acting
together that we can make the most of the world’s
scarce resources and harness the power of our greater
interdependence for our common good.
 Some say that in a time of difficulty we should
look inwards and cut aid; that we have an excuse for
walking by on the other side; and that, by our inaction,
we tolerate famine — but in today’s world, there is no
other side.
 Africa is not part of the problem, but an
indisputable part of the solution. It is only by helping
Africa to become a net exporter of food rather than a
net importer that we can hope to achieve a long-term
end to soaring food prices. Only by restarting and
seeing the trade talks through can we help our
economies benefit from the annual boost of
$150 billion that would be achieved by removing the
protectionist trade barriers and trade-distorting
subsidies that currently cost developing countries the
most — $15 billion a year in their agricultural incomes
alone.
 As Governments and as nations, we must respond
with courage and vision to the new insecurities that
face people, because while the global changes
happening all around us are complex, the instincts they
summon up in people are not. We must resist those
instincts that are protectionist. Now is not the time to
pull up the drawbridge, to seek solace in isolation or to
revert to an outdated and futile protectionism. It is only
by maintaining our open, flexible and dynamic
economies that we can best secure people’s jobs,
homes and standards of living in a global age.
 Our global institutions have always had a
sweeping ambition, set up not against a single enemy
but against poverty, conflict, injustice and intolerance,
and set up in the belief that, for peace to last,
prosperity must be shared. Now we must build on the
idealism of the era that created those institutions and
change and evolve those institutions to meet the
challenges of the global age. This United Nations is
where the world turns to confront some of its greatest

08-52272 20

challenges. It is where international law is made, where
the most acute political problems are addressed, and
where the hopes of the world for a better future
ultimately rest.
 For the past 40 years, it has been this United
Nations that has been the key forum where the
international community has sought peace in the
Middle East, and it is the United Nations that must help
the next Government of Israel build on the foundations
laid by Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas to
agree to a two-State solution that guarantees the
security of Israel and gives the Palestinians a viable
State.
 In Cyprus, where the United Nations has been
present for 30 years and more, we have a real chance of
a settlement, thanks to new leadership, which has our
support.
 In Afghanistan, the International Security
Assistance Force is training Afghans to take back their
country after two generations of almost constant
conflict. When the Afghan Government can deny its
land to Al-Qaida and its associates, the international
community will have done its job, but the task is hard
and long. Progress is encouraging, but must be
continued and stepped up.
 In the Sudan, United Nations peacekeepers help
keep the fragile North-South peace agreement in place,
but Darfur remains for all of us a disaster. It is the
responsibility of the Government of the Sudan to create
the conditions in Darfur that will allow the conflict to
end and a new deal for the people of Darfur to be put in
place. Justice has to be part of any sustainable peace.
 Difficulty has never daunted the United Nations.
Where we are rebuffed, we are resolute, so we must
also send a powerful signal of our support for
democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe. We must
stand firm against oppression in Burma. We must, as
we did yesterday, reaffirm the practical measures that
underpin our determination to defeat poverty. Now
would be the worst time to turn our back on the
Millennium Development Goals.
 We have reached a unique point in the world’s
history. For the first time in human history, we have the
opportunity to come together around a global covenant,
to reframe the international architecture to make it fit
for the challenges facing us in the twenty-first century,
and to build the first truly global society and global
citizenship. Our history is not our destiny, it is what we
choose to make it.
 Let us resolve today to end any irresponsibility,
to protect the global public interest by cleaning up the
world’s financial system and to reaffirm our
commitment to meeting our global responsibilities on
trade, poverty, energy and climate change, and let us
act upon that as people, as Governments, as nations
united. Let history record that ours was a truly global
response to the first truly global crisis.


Let me start by
expressing my respect and gratitude to the President of
the General Assembly at its previous session,
Mr. Srgjan Kerim, whose active involvement and
initiatives have contributed to a broader Assembly
agenda and facilitated its work. I wish to extend my
congratulations to his successor, Mr. Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann. I congratulate you, Sir, on your
appointment and wish you fruitful work.
 The past year has seen many new challenges and
problems with which the international community has
to deal. In our attempts to respond to these problems
and to search for the best solutions we have recognized
yet again that different crises cannot be successfully
overcome without referring to such universal values as
democracy, freedom and solidarity.
 One of the biggest global challenges at present is
the food crisis and its consequences. The decision to
make that issue the central theme of this year’s General
Assembly session testifies to the special role of the
United Nations as a forum for debate focused on major
global challenges. Poland appreciates the initiative to
juxtapose the debate on the food crisis with discussions
about the need to democratize the United Nations, as it
is only a democratic and effective United Nations that
can face up to the global challenges of eliminating
hunger and poverty and ensuring the sustainable
development of the poorest nations. That is why we
remain certain that the United Nations reform process
should continue.
 One of the fundamentals of the democratic
governance of the United Nations is the rule “one
State, one vote”. Each State should be given the
opportunity to decide in which direction the United
Nations will head, and the General Assembly remains
the most important forum for such democratic debate.
In this context, it is especially important to streamline
the decision-making mechanism.
 We are in favour of accelerating the pace of work
on Security Council reform. The number of
non-permanent members of the Council should be
increased so as to truly reflect today’s world. Let us
remember that some of the rules in that regard were
laid down in a world that was fundamentally different
from today’s.
 “Everyone has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of himself and
of his family, including food, clothing, housing and
medical care and necessary social services”: that
principle is enshrined in article 25 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, whose sixtieth
anniversary we celebrate this year. As an international
community, we bear responsibility for their fulfilment.
 Fighting against hunger and poverty is among the
eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It has
been almost eight years since the international
community set them. Despite numerous declarations
and commitments we are still short of achieving the
Goals. It will be impossible to overcome the current
crisis or carry out our development policies unless —

31 08-51839

and I stress this — every country shoulders its
individual responsibility, takes concrete steps and
assesses the progress made so far. We should make
joint efforts to promote a global development
programme with the MDGs as its basis.
 It was in that vein that Poland joined British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown in endorsing the call to
action on the MDGs. We hope that that statement,
which reflects a broad understanding among countries,
business representatives, non-governmental organizations
and faith groups will contribute to the full attainment of
the Millennium Development Goals. We believe that
the high-level meeting on the Millennium
Development Goals taking place on 25 September will
result in concrete commitments that will be
implemented in a timely manner: timeliness is of
special importance.
 As we analyse the causes of the food crisis and
try to find effective prescriptions for combating
poverty and hunger, we take note of the immense
negative impact of climate change on these
phenomena. Although the consequences of climate
change will be felt globally, it is the poorest who will
bear the brunt and who will be hurt the most severely.
It goes without saying that, without solidarity,
responsibility and enhanced mutual cooperation,
developing countries will not be able to fulfil their
commitments regarding reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions and will fail to successfully adapt to climate
change. This calls for a certain change of philosophy in
our approach, and for much greater effort on the part of
the North in favour of the South. What I am saying
now is mere short hand: the rich should become much
more committed to helping the poor. The United
Nations is, if not the sole organization, then definitely
the principal organization that can implement these
objectives.
 Poland wants to be an active partner in the
international community’s activities to that end. With
this in mind, we will be hosting in Poznan in December
this year the fourteenth session of the Conference of
the Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the fourth Meeting
of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. One of the key
challenges facing this year’s Conference is to work out
solutions and mechanisms that will support and bring
about true systemic change in developing countries. It
is especially vital to ensure the funding of investments
that will help to modernize the economies of those
countries and help them reduce carbon dioxide
emissions and adapt to climate change. I reiterate that
there is no possibility of implementing these objectives
without a major change in thinking, especially by the
countries that now have the most resources. We hope
that this year’s Poznan Conference will lay strong
foundations for reaching a new agreement in
Copenhagen in December next year.
 As holder of the presidency of the fourteenth
session of the Conference of Parties, Poland will strive
to bring the positions of major countries as close as
possible so as to ensure maximum progress during the
Poznan Conference. We anticipate cooperation and
support from our international partners and friends. We
greatly appreciate the Secretary-General’s deep
commitment to the implementation of these objectives.
 Introducing new, more climate-friendly
technologies should be coupled with enhanced energy
security and diversification of energy sources. As we
do not yet have mechanisms to guarantee solidarity on
the energy crisis among all States members of the
European Union — I refer to the European Union but
this is also applicable to all other States of the world —
the issue of energy security becomes our priority.
 Poland is following developments in Georgia
with concern. We believe that engaging in dialogue and
acting in a spirit of solidarity and consistency in
implementing energy policy should become a priority
for all European States, especially European Union
States. It is only in that way that Europe can be assured
of energy security, especially at a time of the complete
unpredictability of actions of the current main
suppliers of energy to Europe.
 Poland’s concern arises from the abuse by some
States, especially one very powerful State, of energy as
a tool to achieve political goals in relations with
neighbours and with all the other nations that benefit
from the supply of energy by that State.
 Thus it is of fundamental importance to diversify
the sources of supply, to introduce transparent rules
regulating the energy trade and to extend transport
infrastructure, especially by developing alternative
routes and energy sources for the European Union,
mainly from the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and the
Middle East. This could significantly accelerate the
development of the States of those areas and enhance
their potential as part of global solidarity.

08-51839 32

 I have referred to Georgia in the context of
energy security. But the situation in that country is far
more serious. Several weeks ago we witnessed an
illegal military aggression and the division of the
country. That was an aggression against an independent
State. Fundamental principles of international law, such
as the inviolability of borders and respect for territorial
integrity, were breached.
 Without respect for those principles, the world
will be a hotbed of not one but hundreds of conflicts.
We cannot allow the relativization of international law.
We cannot accept that international law is applicable to
the weak but not binding on the strong. If we do,
international law will have no positive impact,
especially as concerns the principle of territorial
integrity. We must not allow the undermining of a
principle on the basis of which the United Nations was
established 63 years ago in the aftermath of the Second
World War as a consequence of the bankruptcy of the
League of Nations. That founding principle of the
United Nations is the principle of law and of
opposition to the unlawful use of force.
 Not all members come from countries
neighbouring Georgia or from countries in or near
Europe, but the problem of Georgia is a problem for us
all, for every country that is grappling with issues
relating to territorial integrity or to stronger neighbours
abusing their advantages. The international order
should be based on strict compliance with the United
Nations Charter by all subjects of international law —
first and foremost, by all States. It should be based on
common responsibility for the fate of countries
incapable of ensuring their own security alone.
 Those were the motives that guided my response
to the Georgian conflict and the actions of the
Presidents of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.
The complete implementation of the peace plan, which
should also cover the issue of the territorial integrity of
Georgia, is a prerequisite for the further discussions
about the Caucasus to be held in Geneva in October
and a prerequisite for the future of relations between
the European Union — of which Poland is the twenty-
sixth member — and Russia. Those relations can be
correct and mutual only if both sides respect
international law in their relations both with each other
and with third parties.
 One expression of Poland’s involvement in
international security is its participation in a counter-
terrorism coalition in many volatile regions of the
world. Today, more than 3,500 Polish troops and police
officers are taking part in global peacekeeping and
stabilization forces — from Africa to the Balkans,
through the Middle East and Asia.
 Iraq was one such place. Through the five years
of its presence in Iraq, Poland has made efforts to help
its Iraqi friends and allies to ensure strengthened
external and internal security. Its mission, the main
stage of which comes to an end this year, has clearly
been a success. Iraq today is definitely safer and more
stable than a few years ago, despite the doubts
expressed in some circles.
 What remains a challenge, however, is the
situation in Afghanistan. We deeply believe that the
mission in Afghanistan, in which Poland is also taking
an active part, is bound to end in success, not only a
military success in the fight against terrorism but also
the success of the Afghan nation in improving its day-
to-day existence. Military action must also be
accompanied by measures to stabilize the Afghan
economy, improve the internal security situation and
enable Afghanistan to grow more quickly. I should like
to believe that this mission will end successfully.
 The continuing lack of stability in the Middle
East is a source of concern for almost — the “almost”
is regrettable — every country in the world, including
Poland. The lengthy process of building an
independent Palestinian State should be completed as
soon as possible, for the sake of Palestinians and
Israelis alike, both nations being Poland’s friends. We
wish the Palestinian people every success in their
struggle for an independent State. To Israel, with which
we have important historic ties, because many of its
citizens come from Poland, we wish successes and
peace, a peace much needed by Israel.
 I note with pleasure that our hopes are being
raised by the situation in Lebanon. Poland believes that
the elections and the new President will bring the
stability and peace for which the Lebanese people have
been waiting for 35 years — and even before that the
situation was often difficult. We wish the new
Lebanese authorities and the nation of Lebanon every
success. We will be involved in this part of the world in
a spirit of international solidarity and because of our
historic ties with the region.
 The issues I have mentioned cannot be resolved
by a single State or a single group of States. Today we

33 08-51839

see clearly that we need joint action by all countries:
rich and poor, from both the east and the west.
However, in today’s world, where the division into east
and west is no longer as important as it was in the past,
what we need above all is solidarity between north and
south; we must give help to those in need.
 We need to promote democracy, of course
adapting it to the cultural conditions and traditions of a
given State, because, regardless of its flaws, there has
never in our history been a system more friendly to
mankind. We should act jointly and in a spirit of
solidarity through effectively operating international
structures such as the United Nations and its agencies,
which have global reach and an unchallenged position.
The Secretary-General rightly says that there should be
deeper coordination between the work of the agencies,
irrespective of the great successes which the bodies
affiliated to the United Nations have scored over recent
decades.
 What is most important, however, is to ensure
universal respect for international law, human rights
and fundamental freedoms.
 I hope that when we meet next year during the
sixty-fourth session the world will be slightly safer and
a little closer to the principles that I have had the
honour to refer to in this address.


The developing
world is at a tipping point. In the Philippines, we feel
the pain of high prices of food, fuel and rice. Our
people pursue the universal dream of a better life for
themselves and their children: better education, better
health care, higher wages, a dignified retirement. We
are proving the value of a new paradigm for
self-reliance through the use of, first, a targeted
strategy with a set of precise prescriptions to ease our
price challenges; secondly, food self-sufficiency and
more energy independence; and thirdly, long-term
reforms. This is a positive example that we wish to
share with the rest of the world.
 Our gains over the past seven years were hard-
earned. We made tough and sometimes painful
decisions to reset our economy: tax increases, banking
reforms, a crackdown on smugglers and tough fiscal
discipline, to name a few. Thankfully, these reforms
have given us some running room to weather the first
wave of global price shocks that reverberated across
the world earlier this year.

15 08-51570

 It has not been easy, but Filipinos are tough and
resilient. We have pulled together. We have been able
to draw on additional revenues to provide targeted
investments in food and fuel to keep our poor afloat
until a better day. But we are also realistic and know
that we cannot do it alone. We need a strong United
Nations as never before. We need rigorous
international cooperation as never before.
 Economic uncertainty has moved like a tsunami
around the globe, wiping away gains, erasing progress,
not just here on Manhattan island, but also in the many
islands of the Philippines. Just when we thought the
worst had passed, the light at the end of the tunnel
became an oncoming train hurtling forward with new
shocks to the global financial system. The setbacks
from these global shocks of the past year — and of the
past weeks — are real and profound. It will take time
and perseverance to put the pieces back together.
 To address these global challenges, we must go
on building bridges among allies around the globe in
order to bring the rice to where it is needed to feed the
people, to make investments to create jobs, and to keep
the peace and maintain stability in the world.
 It is therefore timely that the Secretary-General,
Ban Ki-moon, has organized this year’s agenda around
the impact of the global economy on the poor. He
deserves our highest praise for his quick and decisive
action on the global food crisis. His Comprehensive
Framework for Action, involving the United Nations,
donor countries, civil society and the private sector,
seeks to achieve food security through the right
combination of policies, technologies and investments.
This is a model of the United Nations in action.
 Since the volatile global economic situation
became apparent many months ago, in the Philippines
we have increased and stabilized the supply of rice and
delivered targeted subsidies to the poor. We have
reached out to neighbours such as Viet Nam and others
in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and
elsewhere to ensure a stable supply and affordable
prices. We have clamped down on price gouging and
invested additional billions in planting and agricultural
modernization.
 We have increased our energy independence by
17 per cent through greater use of geothermal energy,
biofuels and other renewable sources, and we expect to
attain 60 per cent energy independence in two years.
Biofuels have been cited as being a positive factor for
clean energy. At the same time, they have also been
cited as a negative factor that contributes to high food
prices. We are pursuing a policy of using non-food
biofuel sources planted on land unusable for food
production purposes. We see this approach as a way for
countries to seek a sustainable balance between food
and energy needs.
 For food self-sufficiency, our food baskets are
North Luzon in our largest island and the southern
island of Mindanao. Mindanao has fields of the highest
productivity, yet also the majority of our poorest
provinces. It is a sad irony that our food basket has
some of the highest incidences of hunger in our nation.
 The prime reason is the endless Mindanao
conflict. Our archipelago of 7,000 islands has had its
share of religious strife, ethnic tension and violence.
For years, we have worked to achieve peace in
Mindanao. Much progress was made until violent
elements within the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) decided to take the law into their own hands.
We will restart the dialogue when the area is secure,
when our people are safe and when responsible
elements in the MILF regain control.
 There is no alternative to peace. I stand before the
Assembly today to declare loud and clear that we are
committed to the process of peace in Mindanao. We
gratefully acknowledge here today the central role of
so many friends and allies, including the United
Nations; Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Libya,
Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and others in the Organization
of the Islamic Conference; Australia, New Zealand, the
United States and other bilateral partners supplying
official development assistance; and the European
Union and Sweden. All have played a big role in
advancing peace and development in Mindanao.
 We will refocus the peace talks from an approach
that is centred on dialogue with rebels to one of
authentic dialogue with the communities. The context
of our engagement with all armed groups will
subscribe to the United Nations-recognized principle of
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. We
maintain high hopes in interfaith dialogue as a means
of building bridges rather than barriers between
communities of different cultures and ethnicity. In
furtherance of this effort, the Philippines will host the
first-ever Special Ministerial Meeting of the
Non-Aligned Movement on Interfaith Dialogue and
Cooperation for Peace and Development in May next

08-51570 16

year. We will also cooperate with the Alliance of
Civilizations.
 We are also pleased that the Secretary-General
will join us in Manila during the second Global Forum
on Migration and Development. Our overseas Filipino
workers are true global pioneers. There is no ship
abroad that does not have a Filipino crew or a nation
that does not have highly skilled Filipino workers. The
movement of people from one country to another will
surely increase as globalization continues to erase
borders. This fact should be recognized as having
implications for the growth and development of both
sending and receiving countries.
 In many troubled places of our world, the United
Nations is the last great hope for peace and security.
For this reason, the Philippines contributes one of the
largest police contingents to United Nations
peacekeeping operations.
 Mr. President, your leadership is more vital than
ever. The Philippines will fully support you as you lead
our General Assembly for the coming year.
 In conclusion, there are hundreds of millions of
good people across this globe who are struggling as
never before. We must hear their cry for help. It is
within the collective power of the leaders at this United
Nations General Assembly to fulfil the universal dream
of better education, better health, food on the table and
a dignified life.


I wish
at the outset to congratulate Mr. Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann on his election to the presidency of the
General Assembly at its sixty-third session. I also pay
well-deserved tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Srgjan
A/63/PV.13

08-53122 24

Kerim, and thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for
the dignified, far-sighted and able manner in which he
has carried out his heavy responsibilities since his
election.
 The central theme of this session and the subjects
chosen for two high-level events are a perfect
reflection of the international community’s current
concerns. In recent months, the world has experienced
crises that have revealed our collective vulnerability
and our inability to confront those crises. As always,
since the world order is based on that imbalance, the
developing countries in particular pay the highest price
by being powerless to meet the challenges that threaten
their political stability and social cohesion.
 The President returned to the Chair.
 In that regard, the consequences of climate
change and the food crisis caused by the scarcity and
soaring prices of certain basic commodities have
plunged millions of people into extreme poverty.
International financial and economic institutions,
whose mission it is to anticipate crises and alert the
international community to their potential risk, must
play their proper role by undertaking the needed
reforms without requiring developing countries, in
particular African countries, to abide by commitments
incompatible with their development goals.
 We must effectively and resolutely combat
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We stress
once again the importance and urgency of adopting a
comprehensive counter-terrorism convention, while
avoiding any provisions or stipulations that would
prejudice the legitimate struggle of people to reclaim
their freedom or of discrediting any particular religious
community.
 It is indispensable to continue the work of
reforming the Organization so that it can become an
instrument to promote freedom, democracy, justice,
peace, security, development and progress. Such
reform will be fruitful and promising only if it includes
reform of the Security Council through the equitable
expansion of its membership, the democratization of its
decision-making processes and the improvement of its
working methods.
 Algeria’s actions in the geographical and political
spheres to which it belongs are based on the principles
of good-neighbourliness, cooperation and solidarity. In
the Arab Maghreb, Algeria is working to ease the
difficulties we are experiencing, which have hindered
the re-launching of the Arab Maghreb Union, in the
conviction that the destiny of our peoples and the
requirements of our times demand the advent of a
united and prosperous Maghreb. We are, however, keen
to ensure that efforts in that regard do not meet with
new disappointments, and we therefore think that that
re-launching must be undertaken on a sound, solid and
lasting basis that takes into account the enlightened
self-interest of all the peoples of the region.
 Inspired by its faith in that ideal of the Maghreb,
Algeria has sincerely supported and will continue to
support efforts to find a just, lasting and internationally
legitimate solution to the conflict in Western Sahara
that will allow the Saharawi people to exercise freely
and transparently their inalienable right to self-
determination. That is why Algeria believes it vital that
the momentum created by the Manhasset process be
preserved and encouraged. We cannot overstress the
responsibility of all the parties. We have made an
urgent appeal to the Secretary-General to participate in
actions to remove obstacles to the negotiating process
and to bring about conditions that will permit the
holding of the fifth round of the process as soon as
possible, as required by the relevant resolutions of the
Security Council. Algeria, for its part, will continue to
assume fully the role dictated by its status as a
neighbourly country and an observer of the process.
 On the Middle East, Algeria is pleased to note the
positive developments in Lebanon and encourages all
parties to persevere on the path of unity and national
reconciliation. It is obvious that the Middle East will
know no peace without a settlement of the Palestinian
question, which is at the core of the Israeli-Arab
conflict. There is no need for me to remind the
Assembly that the advent of a just, comprehensive and
lasting peace in the Middle East will inevitably require
restoring to the Palestinian people their national and
historic rights, including their right to an independent
State, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, the return
of refugees and the restoration of all the other Arab
territories occupied by Israel. On that basis, we appeal
to the international community to fully shoulder its
responsibilities towards the Palestinian people, to
support their just cause politically and to step up its
humanitarian assistance in order to ease their suffering.
 The African continent has been experiencing
profound and promising changes. Undeniably, it is in
the field of peace that the continent’s achievements
 A/63/PV.13

25 08-53122

have been the most remarkable. Thus, the African
Union and other regional organizations have become
respected and necessary partners, particularly in
preventing and settling African crises. Algeria
welcomes these positive trends. We regret, however,
that the support and commitment of Africa’s partners
remain below the agreed objectives, both with respect
to restoring peace and to economic and social
development programmes.
 We believe it is of the greatest importance to
refrain from any action likely to thwart current peace
efforts or to undermine the unity, territorial integrity
and sovereignty of the Sudan. We must therefore
mobilize the international community to promote the
political process, which remains the only way to ensure
that the Sudanese people can benefit from the
restoration of peace and national reconciliation. In that
regard, we reiterate our support for the efforts and
proposals of the League of Arab States, the African
Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and
the Non-Aligned Movement, calling on the Security
Council to freeze the decision of the Chief Prosecutor
of the International Criminal Court and to promote and
consolidate the dynamics of peace and national
reconciliation.
 Similarly, with regard to the situation in
Zimbabwe, Algeria can only welcome the approach
adopted by the African Union and the Southern African
Development Community to enable the people of
Zimbabwe to overcome their current difficulties.
 We are solidly behind Africa’s efforts to settle the
Somali crisis by means of unreserved support for the
political process and the dispatch of a peace mission to
help the transitional authorities to restore peace and
security in the country.
 There is no way to overcome the dangers to peace
and harmony in the world other than concerted efforts
and consultations on the basis of a renewed equitable
and effective multilateral system that places the
non-discriminatory fulfilment of human needs and the
preservation of human dignity at the heart of its
concerns. From that standpoint, the fight against all the
ills that afflict large swathes of humankind — whether
extreme poverty, endemic disease, environmental
problems or clandestine immigration — can be won
only if we all, and in particular the developed
countries, join our efforts. The two high-level meetings
during this session, and others to be held over the next
few months will undeniably test our capacity to
respond collectively and solidly to the challenges of
our time.


My
delegation welcomes your inspired election, Sir, to the
presidency of the General Assembly at this session,
which is being held at a particularly important moment
in the life of our Organization, given the numerous
challenges that we have to face. The robust messages
that you yourself have issued here clearly indicate that
you are fully aware of the magnitude of what is at
stake. As is so well suggested by the Secretary-General
in his report on the activities of the Organization
(A/63/1), more than ever before the world’s problems
require concerted and coordinated actions.
 We commend the Secretary-General on the
resolute action that he has undertaken since the
beginning of his mandate. We highly appreciate his
dynamism, his realism and the increasing interest that
he brings to matters of peace, security and sustainable
development.
 His Excellency Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso,
President of the Republic of the Congo, who was
unable personally to attend this general debate, has
instructed me to share with the members of the
Assembly a few thoughts on developments in our
world.
 The challenges that we have to tackle
immediately are numerous. They are related to peace,
security, and threats to people’s lives and to nations,
heightened by the food, energy and financial crises, as
well as natural disasters and climate change.
 By placing emphasis on the notion of solidarity,
which we fully support, you have certainly illustrated,
Mr. President, the risk we run of losing our identity, an
option that can only offer partial, even uncertain,
solutions to the challenges that confront us. Here, we
reaffirm that the United Nations offers us the ideal
framework to work together in search of lasting
solutions. That is the meaning underlying our ongoing
attachment to multilateralism.
 Recent events in different parts of the world,
particularly in Europe, remind us that peace and
security rest on a fragile foundation, even where such
matters seem to have been solved definitively. Africa,
still at the heart of the concerns of the international
community and top of the agenda of the Security
Council because of the conflicts that continue to
jeopardize progress and to hinder implementation of
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), will not
solve its problems with declarations of good intentions.
 The high-level meeting on Africa’s needs that
was held on 22 September revealed that it is time to
move from promises to sustainable action. That is why
we welcome the adoption of the declaration that
marked that important event. Similarly, we salute the
high-level meeting for the MDGs that concluded here
on 25 September.
 As we all know, the stabilization of the situation
in countries in conflict and the building of peace in
others would not have been possible without the
sustained efforts of the United Nations and other
bilateral and multilateral partners. The African Union
and subregional African organizations continue to act
resolutely and often with limited resources to meet
those challenges. Thanks to all such efforts, the Central
African Republic, to cite the example of our
neighbouring country, is working to restore peace and
security through dialogue among the Government, the
opposition and rebel movements.
 Still with respect to our subregion of Central
Africa, we call on the international community to step
up its efforts to help stabilize the situation in the
eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly
by supporting the Government of that country in its
fight against rebel movements and other negative
forces. In that context, the entry into force in June of
the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the
Great Lakes Region will usher in a new climate of
confidence in that nerve centre of our continent. My
Government is committed to fully playing its role in
that process, which will greatly contribute to
stabilizing to the situation.
 With regard to the crisis between Chad and the
Sudan, we encourage those two countries to pursue
every effort to normalize their relations and consolidate
peace in the region. In that regard, we welcome the
resumption of diplomatic relations between the two
countries — an initiative that must be consolidated
through the establishment of military monitoring units
along the common border. Those units need to be
adequately equipped, in implementation of the Dakar
Agreement signed in March 2008.
 As African Union co-mediator with Libya in that
crisis, Congo will spare no effort in helping to bring
those two brotherly countries to respect the
engagements undertaken and to act always in good
faith in order to establish a definitive peace between
and around them.

27 08-53135

 Solving the conflict in Darfur would contribute
largely to that end. That is why we make an urgent
appeal for the effective deployment of the troops of the
African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in
Darfur (UNAMID), which should be supplied with all
necessary equipment to become operational and
efficient.
 For its part, my country recently completed the
preparatory phase for a police unit composed of 140
personnel that is now at the disposal of UNAMID.
However, the international community should also
work tirelessly to implement of the Abuja Agreement
on Darfur. Non-signatories who are violating that
Agreement must be strongly pressured to return to the
negotiating table. In that context, we believe that it is
counterproductive to carry out the indictment against
the Head of State of the Sudan.
 With respect to Africa yet again, we welcome the
settlement of the crisis in Kenya and the process of
reconciliation in Zimbabwe, and call on African
political actors in power and in opposition to respect
the verdict of the ballot box.
 In its desire to participate in the collective effort
in the area of peace and security, my country reaffirms
its full commitment to the fight against terrorism, the
proliferation of small arms and light weapons, drug
trafficking and human trafficking. Congo remains fully
committed to strict compliance with the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in all its facets.
 Congo calls on the international community to
consider as a matter of urgency the resolution of the
Middle East conflict on the basis of commitments
already undertaken, particularly the road map of the
Quartet and the Arab peace initiative.
 Our commitment to multilateralism leads us to
believe that there is a pressing need to pursue the work
of United Nations reform, and particularly that of the
Security Council. In keeping with the African position
on that issue, my country welcomes the decision to
launch, before 31 January 2009, intergovernmental
negotiations that should finally enable that matter to
genuinely move forward.
 It is right that our present agenda includes the
matter of the effects of climate change on the
environment, which is one of the major challenges of
our times. My country is particularly sensitive to that
issue since it has within its borders a part of the
enormous Congo basin, the world’s second ecological
lung after Amazonia. The countries bordering the basin
have a great responsibility to humanity in the
management and sustainable exploitation of these
ecosystems, which they are shouldering in a
determined and encouraging manner.
 While endorsing the conclusions of last year’s
Bali Conference, which laid the groundwork for the
post-Kyoto period, the States of the Congo basin
believe that global policies on the preservation of
forest equilibriums should establish compensation
mechanisms. Those would include the creation of
substitute economies to benefit the populations in the
areas involved.
 In expressing those concerns, I take the
opportunity to announce that Congo will host in
Brazzaville, from 27 to 30 October 2008, the sixth
World Forum on Sustainable Development, devoted to
assessing the progress achieved in the implementation
of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation, particularly concerning strategic,
credible and pertinent partnerships towards achieving
the Millennium Development Goals.
 On the economic and social front, we welcome
the focus at this session on sustainable development
and implementation of the Millennium Development
Goals. The analyses carried out here last week indicate
that African States have made significant progress,
with a rate of growth of approximately 6 per cent per
annum, and that, as emphasized in the Secretary-
General’s report, Africa is resolutely on the right path
and should continue to pursue those commendable
efforts, particularly since it varies between countries
and regions.
 Nevertheless, such efforts and the promising
outcomes they may yield require genuine, continuous
and tangible international support. That is why our
partners must keep their promises.
 The current Chair of the African Union, President
Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania, brilliantly
described to the Assembly the situation in our
continent and indicated the way forward. We fully
endorse the presentation he made here and on other
occasions. We welcome the different partnerships that
Africa has established with its traditional friends and
with new ones. Here once again, the commitments need
to be brought to fruition.

08-53135 28

 Our continent is resolutely committed to the
battle for progress, which has several facets. That is
why we attach great importance to matters of
democracy, good governance and respect for human
rights in the framework of the African Peer Review
Mechanism, a pillar of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development. Several African countries have
agreed to submit to periodic evaluations that represent
a sort of right to positive interference in the affairs of
other member States in matters that normally fall under
national jurisdiction. Congo has voluntarily subscribed
to the process, illustrating Africa’s devotion to the fight
against bad governance, corruption, human rights
violations and impunity.
 It is therefore inconceivable that certain foreign
judges should confer upon themselves the right to drag
African leaders to their national courts in the name of
the principle of universal jurisdiction — a rule that
seems to be applied exclusively to Africa since, as we
have already seen, the same principle was soon
dropped when it targeted leaders of powerful States. It
is regrettable that international jurisdiction, while
remaining respectable, seems to be following a path of
judiciary spite against African leaders.
 In that regard, Africa has become an
experimentation ground for dangerous and even hateful
practices. The sad memories of such other negative
experiences as slavery, the slave trade and colonization
are enough for us. President Kikwete was right to raise
this issue here, in application of a decision taken
during the summit of the African Union held in Sharma
el-Sheikh in Egypt.
 The Republic of the Congo had a particularly
rough patch in the 1990s and managed, thanks to the
political will of the Government, all political actors
and the civil society, to achieve national reconciliation.
That climate of peace made possible the organization
of legislative elections in 2007 and municipal and local
elections in 2008 in an atmosphere of calm and
serenity, despite irregularities identified during the
voting process. Nevertheless, the transparency and
credibility of the process were not disputed by the
international observers.
 With the irregularities corrected, it is in the same
climate of calm and serenity that we are organizing the
2009 presidential election, in accordance with our
Constitution. The climate of restored peace has led to
an increasingly reassuring economic situation that is
supported by improved budgetary planning and better
debt management within the framework of the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative and the
rigorous measures that today have enabled Congo to
focus more ambitiously on its development and on the
progressive achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals. Within that framework and in a
participatory manner, with the assistance of the United
Nations Development Programme, we drafted a
poverty reduction strategy paper that was approved by
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
 By way of illustration, the principle measures
taken towards the attainment of the Millennium
Development Goals in the sensitive areas of education
and health care focus on from free access to education
and textbooks, the establishment of a drug purchase
centre, the distribution of treated mosquito nets to the
population, and free access to HIV/AIDS testing,
checkups and anti-retroviral medication.
 Such efforts, however encouraging they may be,
can bear fruit in the long run only with the support of
external partners and in a favourable international
context as regards such thorny issues as debt, trade,
official development assistance, financing for
development and, above all, international peace and
security.
 Members may now easily understand why a
modest member of the international community such as
Congo is so deeply invested in the existence and the
work of our collective home, the United Nations.


I wish first to extend
sincere congratulations to Mr. D’Escoto Brockmann on
his election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-third session and to express my appreciation for
the work done by his predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim. I
would also like to thank the Secretary-General for his
report (A/63/1) on the work of the Organization, and I
welcome his comprehensive approach to threats and his
focus on recently emerged challenges.
 It is an honour for me to address the General
Assembly for the first time as President of the Republic
of Cyprus. Maintaining the effectiveness of multilateral
diplomacy and strengthening the relevance of the
United Nations has been one of the cornerstones of the
foreign policy of the Republic of Cyprus since it won
its independence in 1960.
 The United Nations is important to the
international community and particularly important to
Cyprus. It is an essential institution for our global
survival and for the further development of humankind
in a balanced and fair way in increasingly difficult
conditions. Our peoples look to the United Nations as
the best forum for addressing such global problems as
poverty, climate change, rising energy and food prices,
diseases, natural disasters, human rights abuses and
many other pressing global problems. Either we do
things together in a collective, coordinated way or the
problems will persist and become even less
manageable.
 This week, two important issues are being given
particular attention — the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals and the special needs
of Africa. I applaud the focus being given to both,
highlighting the imperative need for collective action
by the international community. However, we must
match our words with deeds.
 Cyprus emerged from colonialism as an
impoverished independent State in 1960. Despite the
fact that Cyprus has suffered greatly, we have managed
to improve our economy. Today, Cyprus is firmly
committed to the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals and maintains an emphasis on
Africa in its overseas development assistance projects.
Our approach is to focus on a small number of
countries, concentrating our efforts on infrastructural
development in the health and education sectors.
Cyprus is gradually intensifying its efforts by
increasing the level of assistance to additional
countries.
 Small States have higher stakes in multilateral
diplomacy and in a fair and functional system of
collective security, based on the principles of sovereign
equality and respect for territorial integrity.
 There is no clearer example of that than Cyprus
itself. From the earliest days of its independence,
Cyprus was forced to appeal to the world community
for support in defending and preserving its
independence, its sovereignty and its territorial
integrity. It became a victim of foreign interference,
which sowed the seeds of domestic problems for the
new State. Those difficulties were exploited in the
service of strategic interests alien to our independence
and our territorial integrity. The culmination was the
military coup instigated by the military junta of Athens
and the Turkish military invasion of July and August
1974.
 However, Cyprus survived. The will of the
international community for Cyprus to survive is found
in the plethora of Security Council and General
Assembly resolutions — most of them, regrettably, not
implemented. However, the moral support and resolute

08-51839 12

stance provided Cyprus with a sword and shield that
have ensured that it has remained and will continue to
remain an undivided independent country with a single
sovereignty, single citizenship and single international
personality.
 In addition, the resolutions of the United Nations
on Cyprus contain two other important elements. They
provide for a process of negotiations in the form of a
good offices mission of the Secretary-General and,
very importantly, they define the legal and political
framework on which the discussions for the federal
architecture of the Cypriot State will be built. Both of
those elements are crucial. I firmly believe that our
success in the new effort that is now beginning will
depend upon respecting those essential conditions.
 The President returned to the Chair.
 With regard to the process of the Secretary-
General’s good offices mission, it entails negotiations
with the Cypriots themselves in which they are the
principal players. They are the owners of the process.
The Cypriots themselves must build the State they
envision for their society. The role of the Secretary-
General and of the international community is to assist
and to support. We are grateful for that. Good offices
are not arbitration; they are not mediation. Recent
experience has shown that any attempt to impose —
and even to import — non-Cypriot-inspired and
improvised models will meet with rejection by the
Cypriot people.
 The relevant Security Council resolutions are also
important for the new effort because they provide the
legal political framework within which the effort must
take place. That framework prescribes a bizonal and
bicommunal federation with a single international
personality, single indivisible sovereignty and single
citizenship. The federal institutions will embody the
principle of political equality as defined by the relevant
Security Council resolutions, in terms not of numerical
equality but of effective participation by the Greek
Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in all organs
of the federal State.
 It is important to remind ourselves that a bizonal
and bicommunal federation has been the only mutually
agreed basis since 1977. It was reaffirmed as recently
as a few weeks ago. It represents a compromise, and
indeed the only possible compromise, on which a
political arrangement can be built. The relevant
resolutions of the Security Council and the
Constitution of Cyprus exclude partition, secession or
union with any other country.
 The kind of solution we agree to must take into
account not only our history and international legality,
but also the kind of society we are and the kind of
society we want to bequeath to our children. In that
society, all Cypriot children must be born free and
equal. Human rights and the fair satisfaction of human
needs must take precedence over strategic
considerations dictated by political expedience.
 A new intensive effort started on 3 September
with the aim of overcoming the impasses of the past
and achieving progress that will lead to the
reunification of Cyprus under mutually agreed terms
and the withdrawal of foreign troops after 34 years of
division and foreign occupation. If that effort is to
succeed, there is a need for political will on the part of
Cypriots, as well as the positive engagement of other
important players, which for historical reasons have
been part of the problem and need to become part of
the solution.
 For my part, I want to assure the General
Assembly from this rostrum that my political will to do
what is necessary to solve the problem is firm and
deep-rooted. My origins are in the Progressive Party of
Working People of Cyprus and in the popular
movement of the island, which prides itself on a long
history of struggles, and indeed sacrifices, in defence
of friendship, cooperation and peaceful coexistence
between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. On the
other hand, I am one of those Cypriots who was deeply
and directly affected by the foreign military invasion of
1974, because I myself and my family are internally
displaced persons — refugees in our own country. The
role of Cypriots is to agree on what they want. We
must try to achieve that with the leader of the Turkish
Cypriot community, Mehmet Ali Talat. I believe that
we can achieve it.
 But that is not enough to achieve a solution.
Turkey should contribute to the process in a positive
way. Turkey still maintains over 40,000 troops and tens
of thousands of settlers in Cyprus and can, without a
doubt, determine the outcome of the issues under
discussion. We believe that the solution should benefit
everybody and will benefit everybody. It would allow
Cypriots — Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots
alike — to live together and work together in an
independent, prosperous country within the family of

13 08-51839

the European Union, without the presence of foreign
armies and illegal colonists and under conditions of
security and respect for their identity and their rights.
 Our world faces many problems, which are
becoming increasingly complex. It is our conviction
that those problems can be solved and that new threats
can be prevented only through effective multilateral
collective action. Peace must prevail — a true peace
based on respect for international law and not the right
of might. A response to the problem of international
terrorism will be effective only if our world becomes
less unjust. If hunger and poverty are not tackled, if
regional disputes are not resolved on the basis of
international legitimacy, and if global wealth is not
distributed more fairly, peace cannot grow strong roots.
 The United Nations is an achievement of our
fathers and a necessary tool for ensuring a more stable,
fair and prosperous world. Ultimately, the United
Nations is only as successful as we, the Member States,
allow it to be. I wish our community of nations a
successful sixty-third session of the General Assembly.