I would like to
congratulate Mr. Joseph Deiss on his election to the
prestigious post of President of the General Assembly
at its sixty-fifth session and to wish him every success.
 Yesterday, the High-level Plenary Meeting of the
General Assembly finished its work. At the Meeting,
world leaders not only reaffirmed their strong
commitment to the implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) laid down in the
Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2), but also
announced specific new decisions on their practical
implementation.
 The leaders who demonstrated their renewed
political will availed themselves of a very important
and timely opportunity for accelerating the
enhancement of concerted efforts at ensuring
sustainable progress in the implementation of the
MDGs. Further advancement in this area depends on
concerted, coordinated and consistent actions by the
entire international community, with the United
Nations playing a central and coordinating role.
 We believe that this firm commitment must be
buttressed in every possible way by specific practical
measures that will contribute to the full and timely
achievement of all MDGs without exception. Against
the backdrop of the energy and financial and economic
crisis of recent years and the ever-growing impact of
climate change, our actions should be supported with
adequate financial resources. In this regard, the appeal
to double official development assistance, an important
component of financing for development, remains
urgent. Allocation of additional external funds for
development should not aggravate the burden of debt
of developing countries whose financial situation has
been exacerbated by the world economic crisis.
 Strengthening the global partnership is essential
if we are to provide an environment conducive to
sustainable economic growth and job creation. First
and foremost, it is necessary to revitalize global trade
and investment, which are the driving force behind
industrial growth. Such an approach is of vital
importance for landlocked countries, whose
participation in global trade is hampered by their
geographical location and existing barriers to
expanding trade relations, which, in turn, affect
industrial growth and the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals in these countries.

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Efforts should be focused on creating new international
transport systems and corridors as well as promoting
the efficient use of existing ones, as this will help to
end the marginalization of landlocked countries in
global trade.
 Tajikistan advocates the speedy completion of the
Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, which
will contribute to the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals. Our view is that the international
trade system must remain open, equitable, predictable,
non-discriminatory and based on agreed rules,
especially in a time of crisis.
 Our current stage of development is characterized
most notably by the fact that we have attained
maximum quantitative growth, which must now be
followed by new qualitative development. Such a
transformation requires an entirely new conceptual
approach to development which takes into account the
interests of both the present and future generations.
 Governed by the principles of sustainable
economic development, the Government of Tajikistan
has identified three strategic goals, namely, freeing the
country from communications isolation, ensuring
energy security, and ensuring food security.
 In order to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals, my country adopted and has been implementing
the National Development Strategy of the Republic of
Tajikistan for the period up to 2015 and the Poverty
Reduction Strategy. As the country’s major strategic
document, the National Development Strategy
identifies priorities and the principal lines of
Government policy aimed at achieving sustainable
economic growth, improving access of the population
to basic social services and reducing poverty.
 Despite enormous difficulties associated with the
global financial and economic crisis and natural
disasters, the aforementioned strategies have in the last
five years contributed to progress in the achievement
of the MDGs.
 To accelerate progress towards the
aforementioned strategic targets, the Government of
Tajikistan intends to address sustainable
macroeconomic growth issues, improve the system of
government management, develop real sectors of the
economy, and rehabilitate and diversify industries, as
well as to strengthen the country’s export capacity,
improve the investment climate, support trade renewal
activities, ensure social protection of the population,
develop the labour market and strengthen human
resources.
 We need to make the transition to sustainable
development in order to address such long-term issues
as climate change, preservation of biodiversity and
prevention of desertification. Finding solutions
requires comprehensive and concerted actions. Our
efforts to address global climate change need to
examined critically, especially in light of last year’s
United Nations Climate Change Conference in
Copenhagen.
 The lessons drawn from that meeting should
encourage us to take more resolute measures towards
mitigation of harmful gas emissions, adaptation to
reduce the adverse impact of climate change, and the
transfer of technologies that promote transition to a
low carbon economy. We are convinced that at the
forthcoming meeting in Cancún the parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change will be able to agree upon those and other
dimensions of a new global agreement that will
become an important milestone in the post-Kyoto
period.
 It is known that climate change affects freshwater
resources and increases the probability of floods,
mudflows, landslides, droughts and other water-related
natural disasters. Furthermore, climate change
aggravates an acute scarcity of freshwater in certain
regions of our planet. For example, in Tajikistan, which
is the source of about 60 per cent of the water
resources for the entire region, during the last 30 years
over a thousand glaciers disappeared, out of a total of
13,000. I will add that Tajikistan’s share of gas
emissions is very low. All the electricity in Tajikistan is
generated by hydropower stations.
 The depletion of groundwater in the world
remains a serious problem. According to the available
forecast, by 2025 more than one third of the Earth’s
population will experience water shortages, and by
2050 the planet will not be able to fully meet its water
needs.
 Tajikistan, as the initiator of the International
Year of Freshwater 2003 and the International Decade
for Action, “Water for Life”, 2005 to 2015, actively
promotes the water agenda in the United Nations. We
act not only as the initiator of discussions on water
issues in the international arena but also as the initiator

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in adapting specific measures on the sustainable use of
this vital resource. All these steps are aimed at an in-
depth study of water issues and the development of
relevant coordinated actions by the international
community.
 In that context, the high-level international
conference on the midterm comprehensive review of
the implementation of the International Decade for
Action, held in Dushanbe and organized in cooperation
with the United Nations and in compliance with the
General Assembly resolution 64/198, has made an
important contribution. The conference confirmed once
again that further strategies for water use, irrespective
of the level at which they are developed, should be
based on the principles of sustainable management of
freshwater resources. The universal introduction of
sustainable development is important for achieving
progress in all fields of economic growth and the
strengthening of human potential. Those and other
recommendations are highlighted in the Dushanbe
Declaration on Water (A/65/88, annex), the outcome
document of the conference.
 The efforts of Tajikistan in matters of water are
aimed at the sustainable and efficient use of the
country’s potential and at strengthening mutually
advantageous and equitable regional cooperation. We
believe that water cooperation should strengthen rather
than undermine interaction in other areas. It should
increasingly build confidence among all water users
and contribute to the introduction of integrated
management of water resources at the local, national
and regional levels.
 With that in mind, we proposed proclaiming the
year 2012 as the International Year of Water
Diplomacy. We are convinced that the adoption of a
relevant resolution by the General Assembly will
contribute to overcoming competing interests in the
management of freshwater resources through such
diplomatic means as early warning, preventive
diplomacy and confidence-building measures, mutually
advantageous and mutually acceptable regional
cooperation, and a dialogue on these issues.
 A worldwide move towards the development and
use of renewable energy, which considerably reduces
harmful gas emissions, is an important component of
efforts to address climate change. It is essential to
encourage and support in every possible way projects
aimed at increasing the proportion of renewable energy
used globally, the transfer of new and advanced
technologies and enhancing the efficiency of energy
supply and energy conservation.
 Tajikistan fully supports the initiative on ensuring
universal access to advanced energy services and
considers it a prerequisite for the successful
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
For this reason, Tajikistan has been developing its
energy potential in a consistent and planned manner on
the basis of the integrated development of renewable
energy sources. Alongside the construction of small
and medium-scale hydropower stations, we are
considering the implementation of large-scale projects
of regional significance and exploring the possibility of
using solar and wind energy.
 Effective regional cooperation plays a significant
role in establishing a global partnership for sustainable
development. The specific feature of our region is that
development of comprehensive cooperation depends in
many respects on the success of the process of
strengthening peace and overall stability in
Afghanistan.
 Counteracting terrorism is a long-term objective
because of the multifaceted nature of this phenomenon,
which is alien to humanity, and because of its deep
roots. It is essential to intensify the concerted struggle
for uprooting terrorism by applying the entire range of
political, economic, financial and humanitarian
measures. We consider it important to speed up the
agreement on and adoption of a comprehensive
convention on combating international terrorism.
 While combating terrorism, one should take into
account that terrorism cannot exist without financial
and logistical support. It is no secret that today illegal
drug trafficking has become one of the major sources
of financing for international terrorism. The urgency
and magnitude of problems related to drugs and illicit
drug trafficking are clear evidence of the global
menace that threatens international stability and
security at large.
 Currently, Tajikistan finds itself between the
major world producer of opium and heroin and the
countries that consume those drugs. Given that our
border with Afghanistan, with a very complex
mountain terrain, is almost 1,500 kilometres long, we
have to act as a buffer blocking the ever-increasing
flow of this “white death”.

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 We are absolutely confident that the success in
combating narcotics aggression, which yields
multimillion-dollar profits to the countries far from
Tajikistan, can be achieved only through consolidated
and collective efforts. We consider it necessary to get
Afghanistan involved in the processes of multifaceted
regional cooperation.
In that regard, I would like to underline the efforts by
the Quadripartite Group — comprising Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Russia and Tajikistan — which is gaining in
strength. Within that new format of multilateral
cooperation our efforts are aimed at counteracting the
terrorist and narcotics threats, which are difficult to
uproot unless the problems of poverty, unemployment
and other urgent social issues are dealt with. All those
efforts will help to strengthen specific global measures
to reinforce the peace process. We hope that objectives
and goals recently voiced at the Kabul Conference will
be put into practice.
 Intellectual and creative efforts over recent
decades have brought about new principles and norms
for sustainable development, set out in Agenda 21, the
Programme for the Further Implementation of
Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation. Those historic documents laid down a
sound foundation for transition from existing patterns
of production and consumption to a sustainable
pattern — the paradigm of today.
 The whole range of long-term objectives that we
confront today demands a clear and sound
reconsideration of the actions by the international
community in favour of sustainable development. We
are convinced that the United Nations should remain
the centre for coordination and harmonization of the
efforts in this area. At the same time the consolidating
role of the United Nations itself should be enhanced by
strengthening its capacity to respond to problems in an
efficient and appropriate way and to efficiently meet
numerous global challenges and the threats of the new
millennium. Tajikistan confirms its willingness and
commitment to contribute to this process as far as it
can.


It is indeed an
honour for me to congratulate you, Sir, on behalf of the
Government and people of Solomon Islands, as
President of the General Assembly at our sixty-fifth
session. Your term in office coincides with economic
turmoil, the impacts of climate change, growing social
and security concerns and threats of unilateralism that
are challenging multilateralism from all fronts. My
delegation is pleased with the manner in which you
have convened and concluded three high-level
meetings, on the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), biodiversity and the Mauritius Strategy. That
is a clear indication of why we are confident in you and
of your vast experience as you oversee this principal
body of the United Nations for the next 12 months.
 My delegation takes this opportunity to
acknowledge as well the leadership and contributions
of your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Ali
Abdussalam Treki. His support for multilateralism has
placed us on firm footing in preparing for this session.
 We see around us the growth of democracy,
corporate power and the emergence of new powers, all
offering new perspectives and opportunities. New
international cooperation is linking development,
finance, raw materials and markets. That development
calls for increased collaboration and a new framework
to facilitate the emergence of a new economic order.
Solomon Islands, under its new foreign policy, will
establish relationships with all six regions of the
United Nations.
 Solomon Islands believes in multilateralism and
acknowledges the importance and value of having a
closer working relationship between the United
Nations and Member States. My Government stands
ready and committed to work with the United Nations
in enhancing its presence in my capital. In that
connection, we renew our call to upgrade the United
Nations Sub-office in Honiara and appoint a resident
representative as its head.
 My delegation acknowledges United Nations
outreach to Solomon Islands this year by convening the

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United Nations national competitive recruitment exam
in December. We welcome that engagement, as it
provides an opportunity for successful citizens to fill
our national quota of international civil servants
serving our family of nations.
 Democracy is one of the core principles of the
United Nations Charter. People continue to be the
source of the legitimacy of this Organization and
remain the basis of authority of this Assembly.
 Solomon Islands registers its appreciation of the
Secretariat’s Department of Political Affairs and the
United Nations Development Programme for their role
in coordinating some 400 local and international
observers who monitored last month’s general election.
We are equally pleased to note the positive
pronouncement by the various local and international
monitors that Solomon Islands’ national election was
conducted in a free and fair manner. A number of
electoral reform recommendations were made, and my
Government will act on them with a view to improving
our national electoral system.
 The essence of progress and prosperity lies in
having a clear and firm leadership, an obedient
bureaucracy and a sense of vision. My Government is
committed to providing those, and we will work
tirelessly to offer our people a life of normality, dignity
and freedom.
 The challenge of nation-building is huge and
costly for any developing country. For that reason,
each country has to define for itself the type and form
of democracy it wants to adopt, for democracy cannot
be imposed. In that connection, Solomon Islands
continues to advocate genuine dialogue and
engagement with Fiji over confrontations and sanctions
and to support Fiji’s effort to determine its destiny.
 Solomon Islands joins the international
community in calling for the lifting of the 49-year-old
economic embargo against Cuba. Such an embargo
belongs to a different time and era. It is our hope that
the power of reaching out to our neighbours will break
down artificial ideological barriers.
 Solomon Islands will be undergoing the universal
periodic review during this session. My delegation
takes this opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of
Solomon Islands to the principles and purposes of the
United Nations Charter, including respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms for all. Solomon
Islands finds it regrettable to see those principles
sacrificed by some who continue to divide this
Assembly. Solomon Islands recognizes the Geneva-
based Human Rights Council and its role and
impartiality as the appropriate institution to deal with
issues of human rights.
 This year marks the seventh anniversary of my
country’s relationship with the Regional Assistance
Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). The current
partnership framework promotes greater coherence and
predictability in enhancing the quality of the
cooperation to meet the country’s development needs.
The relations between Solomon Islands and RAMSI
have brought political and financial stability. However,
the underlying causes of conflict remain unaddressed.
Issues of tolerance and respect for our diverse cultures
have placed much stress on our road to peace. My
Government remains committed to addressing those
issues.
 In June this year, the Foreign Minister of the
United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah
Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brought together Pacific small
island developing States and our Middle East brothers
to discuss cooperation, including the Arab Peace
Initiative in the Middle East. Solomon Islands supports
all peace initiatives, including proposals to normalize
relations between the entire Arab region and Israel. The
complexity of the Middle East conflict needs a regional
solution, and we strongly feel that parties to the
conflict will need to sow conditions for peace as we
work to have a two-State solution. We are heartened to
see negotiations proceeding. However, we would like
to see all stakeholders involved in the process.
 My delegation welcomes the outcome of this
summer’s Non-Proliferation Treaty Review
Conference. The existence of nuclear weapons
continues to pose a significant threat to humanity.
History has shown the deep horror and devastation of
nuclear weapons. Solomon Islands supports the total
elimination of all nuclear weapons as the only absolute
guarantee for a safe and secure world.
 The urgency of agreeing to a legally binding
agreement on climate change in Cancún, Mexico,
cannot be overemphasized. It is a common concern that
binds the world together. Our planet is already
absorbing more heat and getting warmer. The global
temperature has risen by 0.7°C in the past century.
Under current trends, science tells us that the

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temperature will further increase by 4 to 7°C by the
end of this century, threatening the survival of many
States, including Solomon Islands. It is critical that we
have a clear plan for stabilizing greenhouse gas
emissions. Solomon Islands supports the call of the
small island developing States to restrict the
temperature rise to below 1.5°C and to bring down
greenhouse gas concentration to well below 350 parts
per million.
 Noting that there is limited atmospheric carbon
space left, a carbon-budget approach is an option for a
just and fair way to prevent the global temperature
from reaching irreversible levels. It takes into
consideration the development needs and space
concerns of developing countries and our shared
responsibilities and rights in meeting the demands of
the health of our atmosphere.
 On the issue of United Nations system-wide
coherence, the General Assembly in July established a
new gender entity, UN Women. That body will further
strengthen United Nations capacity and effectiveness in
advancing the status of women worldwide. Solomon
Islands looks forward to cooperating with the new
entity.
 As regards Security Council reform, my
delegation is pleased to see informal intergovernmental
negotiations carried forward into this session.
Negotiations are now focused on a common text, which
we hope will be further streamlined in achieving our
goal of making that principal United Nations organ
more representative, efficient and responsive to the
emerging global threats of this century.
 The Pacific Ocean covers a third of the world’s
surface and accounts for a quarter of the world’s tuna
industry. In May this year, eight Pacific small island
developing States, including Solomon Islands, set up
the secretariat of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement
(PNA) in the Marshall Islands. The PNA countries
agreed to coordinate the management and conservation
of their tuna resources, so as to guarantee sustainability
and greater economic benefits from their resources.
The closing off of the high seas pockets within the
respective countries’ exclusive economic zones is to
prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and
to provide a safe haven for fish to breed.
 On the issue of the establishment of a regional
marine scientific centre, in accordance with the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, my
delegation is pleased to note that the matter is reflected
in the Secretary-General’s report. The Pacific
subregion values such a centre, which my Government
offers to host. We will pursue this regionally and
internationally, in the spirit of the Convention and the
Mauritius Strategy Initiative.
 This year Papua New Guinea, the Federated
States of Micronesia and Solomon Islands made a
presentation on our joint submission to the
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. We
hope to do the same with our remaining submissions at
an appropriate time.
 Solomon Islands is encouraged by the further
growth of positive developments and engagements
with regard to the Taiwan Strait. That must be
internationally recognized, commended and supported.
The moderate and pragmatic path adopted by both the
People’s Republic of China and Taiwan about the
Taiwan Strait contributes to international peace and
security.
 Solomon Islands continues to support Taiwan’s
meaningful participation within the United Nations
system. My delegation is heartened to note Taiwan’s
participation as an observer at the World Health
Assembly in both 2009 and 2010. That is a gesture of
the improved cross-Strait relations. Taiwan has
registered its interest in participating in two United
Nations treaty organizations this year: the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and the International Civil Aviation
Organization. My country supports such participation.
The two organizations deal with two global issues that
are of common concern to all the world. Climate
change and aviation issues need the participation of all
countries for aviation safety and the health of our
atmosphere. My delegation finds it regrettable that the
UNFCCC secretariat has adopted a narrow position on
a matter that requires the parties to the Convention and
to the Kyoto Protocol to decide on.
 The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are
internationally agreed development benchmarks. The
Solomon Islands scorecard remains mixed, uneven and
generally off track in terms of meeting our 2015 Goals.
The international programme for the Solomon Islands
for achieving the MDGs is defined in the Mauritius
Strategy and the Brussels Programme of Action. Both
frameworks outline the Solomon Islands’ special

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situation, one that requires special international
attention.
 The review of the Mauritius Strategy held last
week revealed that international commitments to the
Barbados Programme of Action remain wanting and
disappointing. The vulnerability of small island
developing States (SIDS) has worsened. To address this
partnership gap, Solomon Islands calls for a special
category for SIDS within the United Nations system.
There is also a need for a firmer link between the SIDS
Programme and the United Nations Development
Assistance Framework, to ensure that support is
received from within our Organization.
 This session will also see the convening of the
Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries, in May 2011. We are equally
pleased that the General Assembly launched a process
of national, regional and global reviews during the last
session. We look forward to working with all in
achieving a comprehensive, action-oriented and
meaningful outcome to the Conference. My delegation wishes to acknowledge our new
partners Luxembourg and Portugal, for their support,
respectively, for the Melanesian Spearhead Group and
Solomon Islands external students. We remain grateful
to all partners from the South and North, including
Cuba, Italy, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan and our
traditional partners the European Union, Australia,
New Zealand, Japan and my regional neighbours.
 In conclusion, I would like to assure the President
of the support and cooperation of the Solomon Islands
during his term in office.


The Central African Republic would like,
through me, to commend Mr. Joseph Deiss on his
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
its sixty-fifth session. We congratulate him and offer
him our support in fulfilling his great responsibility.
His predecessor, Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki of the
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, also deserves our heartfelt
commendation and gratitude for the outstanding
contribution he made during his term of office in
revitalizing the General Assembly. Lastly, on behalf of
His Excellency Army General François Bozizé,
President and Head of State of our country, allow me to
convey our sincere congratulations to Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon, who has been tireless in
carrying out his extremely important role to promote
the ideals of the Organization.
 The sixty-fifth session is taking place at a time
when the world faces many challenges. In addition to
the armed conflicts that affect almost every continent,
there are also the food, energy and financial crises,
which have made the lives of the most vulnerable
people increasingly precarious. There are also
challenges when it comes to respect for human rights,
the rule of law and good governance, which are the
foundations of lasting peace and security and a healthy
environment. Today, we are aware that systematic
violations of human rights and the glaring absence of
the rule of law are often the root causes of conflicts
and other social crises. States and non-State actors
confront each other. Warlords, terrorists and criminal
gangs dictate their own rules. Civilians, rather than
soldiers, become the first targets. Security policy can
no longer be confined to the traditional framework of
the State; it must be focused first and foremost on the
security of individuals.
 As the President rightly said in his opening
speech to this session of the General Assembly by way
of referring to the special theme for the sixty-fifth
session, “we must reinstate the United Nations and the
General Assembly at the centre of global governance.
The challenges we face today have acquired a global
dimension and require global solutions.” (A/65/PV.1)
 The Central African Republic continues to
believe that preventing and peacefully resolving
conflicts are the best way to maintain international
peace and security. Many other challenges also require
the attention of the international community. We
should provide responses tailored to those challenges
in order that together we can build a better world,
starting with the issue of climate change.
 Today more than ever before, the survival of the
planet is threatened by changes to the climate that have
a serious impact on living conditions in developing
countries — owing mainly to desertification, the silting

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up of rivers, ecosystem deterioration, shortened winters
and floods. Faced with that danger, it is not a matter of
raising questions about respective responsibilities; we
must rather, first and foremost, put in place suitable
emergency measures to confront the challenge.
 In that connection, the outcomes of the Bali
Conference are as relevant as ever and they should be
implemented. Although, unfortunately, the Copenhagen
summit was the scene of selfishness and inconsistency
on the part of States vis-à-vis international cooperation
and climate policy, we hope that the upcoming meeting
at Cancún, Mexico, will find appropriate answers to
those worrying issues.
 The HIV/AIDS and malaria pandemics are
another challenge to which we must give particular
attention, as they pose a serious threat to the survival
of humankind, in particular on the African continent.
With regard to HIV/AIDS, we must truly redouble our
efforts and determination to implement the 2001
Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the
outcomes of the high-level meetings on AIDS. Child
and maternal mortality rates in Africa, whose increase
is yet another cause for concern, should also enjoy the
same attention as the other issues. All of those
meetings have emphasized the gravity of the situation,
underscoring the importance of acting and the need to
mobilize resources accordingly to fight those health
threats.
 Achieving Millennium Development Goal 1 on
time — namely, reducing by half the number of people
who suffer from hunger by 2015 — compels us to put
in place a new approach and policy towards
international cooperation that is based on support for
agriculture, rather than on providing food assistance,
which should only be provided in exceptional
circumstances, and then in a timely manner.
 Developing agriculture in Africa so that it
provides for lasting food security also necessarily
entails controlling water, the availability of equipment,
access to raw materials for producers and proper
organization of the means of producing, storing,
transforming and marketing agricultural products. The
Central African Republic, a country endowed with
abundant natural resources, would easily be able to
take its place as an agricultural country, were it not for
the handicaps it faces owing to its landlocked status
and the scarcity of means at its disposal.
 Agriculture in my country is essentially a
subsistence affair that performs poorly despite the
country’s enormous potential. That includes 15 million
arable hectares, of which only 600,000 are cultivated
annually, as well as 16 million hectares of range land
for a herd of 2 million animals. We also have at our
disposal a vast network of rivers and streams, as well
as abundant rainfall amounting to 1,200 to 1,800
millimetres per year. Agriculture employs more than 75
per cent of working people in our country, contributing
about 53 per cent of our gross domestic product.
 In the Central African Republic, about 72 per cent
of the poor and hungry live in rural areas, where
agriculture plays a crucial role, feeding communities
but providing employment that offers only meagre
incomes. Nevertheless, in spite of the enormity of the
need and the growing food insecurity, assistance to
agriculture continues to decrease, having dropped
significantly in the past 20 years.
 The Central African Republic has maintained the
strengthening of human capital as one of its priorities
under the fourth pillar of its national poverty-reduction
strategy. Under that pillar, education, health and
employment are considered priority sectors, in line
with the Millennium Development Goals. Assessments
of the programmes that have been launched seem to
reveal shortcomings in the results. For instance, adult
literacy rates are poor, at 57 per cent, while the overall
primary school attendance rate is also low, at 55 per
cent.
 The Central African Republic is among the
countries of the world most affected by the HIV/AIDS
pandemic, even though we are continuing efforts to
bring its prevalence under control.
 Given those outcomes, it is clear that, if our
country is to pursue the implementation of the
priorities of our development plan, we need significant
support from our development partners.
 With regard to nuclear disarmament, the
proliferation crisis we are experiencing constitutes the
greatest threat to international peace and security
today. Nuclear disarmament and nuclear proliferation
in all their aspects should be at the centre of our
debate. We should resolve to prioritize the use of
nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes.
 Today more than ever before, the
interconnectedness of the crises faced by the

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international community underscores the need to inject
new impetus into efforts to achieve international peace
and security, including collective efforts at the
international level.
 With regard to reforming the United Nations
system, the Central African Republic shares the view
that the current system no longer reflects the ambitions
of the founders. Our country therefore once again calls
for full representation for Africa in the system’s
decision-making bodies, in particular the Security
Council. Whatever the outcome of the ongoing
negotiations on this matter, my delegation continues to
believe that any viable reform of the Security Council
must take into account Africa’s numerical and political
significance in the General Assembly, especially given
the two types of situations considered by the Council.
 The Central African Republic held elections in
2005, which were heralded by the international
community for having met all the necessary standards.
It should be pointed out that those held in 2010
experienced various difficulties that need to be
examined. Therefore, on the basis of a political
consensus, the National Assembly adopted a law based
on a constitutional court opinion. This constitutional
arrangement extends the term of office of our country’s
President, as well as those of members of the
Assembly, until the holding of elections, now set for
23 January 2011.
 In another area, the programme for the
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of
former combatants has made considerable progress in
the central and north-western parts of our country.
Nevertheless, the Central African Republic continues
to face security problems in the north-east of the
country, as a result of the consequences of the conflict
in Darfur, as well as in the south-east, owing to the
raging Ugandan rebellion by the Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA).
 This alarming situation has resulted in a growing
number of refugees and internally displaced persons
from various areas, who have fled to the cities from the
fighting. Having been pushed out of Uganda, LRA
rebels have regrouped in the south-east of our country,
where they carry out all sorts of violence and spread
terror among the people. It is important to point out
that the Central African Republic does not have any
borders with Uganda.
 The Central African Republic therefore welcomes
the decision by the United States Government with
regard to disarming the LRA. Nevertheless, we hope
that the United States Administration will focus in
particular on the case of the Central African Republic,
which is a post-conflict country that still needs United
States assistance, given the danger posed by the LRA
on the ground in our country and the disastrous social
consequences it has already had.
 The United Nations Mission in the Central
African Republic and Chad, whose mandate will expire
on 31 December 2010, requires particular attention.
The Central African Republic’s defence and security
forces will take over from international forces in order
to ensure the continuity of operations. However, they
are in desperate need of military equipment and
supplies. The Government of the Central African
Republic therefore appeals to the international
community for assistance in strengthening the
operational capacities of our armed forces.
 I cannot conclude without once again thanking all
those whose commitment, courage and determination
continue to be of assistance in helping my country to
emerge from crisis to lasting peace and development.


I warmly
congratulate Mr. Deiss on his well-deserved election as
President of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth
session. I believe his wise and experienced leadership
will bring great success to the Assembly’s proceedings.
I also congratulate Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki for his
laudable contribution as Assembly President in its
sixty-fourth session. I also thank Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon for his tireless service to the United
Nations and to world peace.
 Bangladesh is a secular, progressive nation
fulfilling the promise of democracy, good governance,
human rights and the rule of law that were made by my
father — the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest Bengali of all
times — from this podium 36 years ago (see
A/PV.2243). That has also been in consonance with the
objectives of the United Nations, which remains the
last abode where the hopes and aspirations of the
hapless people of the world can be fulfilled.
 Bangladesh has also been supporting United
Nations efforts to establish democracy, human rights,
peace and security, as well as taking effective steps to
combat terrorism and external threats worldwide. I,
too, am committed to ensuring this continuity.
 Bangladesh has established an international
crimes tribunal to try persons responsible for war
crimes and crimes against humanity, including
genocide, arson and rape, committed during our war of
liberation in 1971 and immediately thereafter. That
action is in accord with the rule of law as reflected in
the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
which we have ratified and which is aimed at bringing
perpetrators of war crimes, genocide and crimes
against humanity to justice. I believe that only justice
can heal the unforgivable, deadly wrongs of the past.
 Here, I sadly recall the evil act of terror on
15 August 1975 that took the life of my father and the
Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, and 18 members of my family, including my
mother, sisters-in-law and my three brothers, one of
whom was only 10 years old. Even I have been a target
of a series of assassination attempts ever since my
return home from exile in 1981.
 The most horrendous period was when our
secular democratic party, the Awami League, was in
opposition, from 2001 to 2006. At that time thousands
of our party workers, supporters and followers of the
religious minority who voted for our secular party were
mercilessly killed in systematic terrorist acts of the
BNP/Jamaat-e-Islami alliance Government. The most
audacious act was the dastardly open grenade attack on
21 August 2004 directed against me at a public rally
being held to protest those terrorist attacks and killings.
By the time a dozen grenades had taken their toll,
24 innocent people, including our party’s Secretary for
Women’s Affairs, Mrs. Ivy Rahman — the wife of our
current President — lay dead, and over 500 people
were seriously injured.
 There have also been attempts on members of my
family, but never have we bowed before the forces of
terror. As victims of repeated terrorist attacks, my
family and I know this menace well. Clearly, our
rejection of terrorism is total, as is our determination to
eliminate it in all its forms. I want to unequivocally
state that terrorism will not be allowed on the soil of
Bangladesh, and that is precisely why we are a party to
all terrorism-related United Nations conventions and
accord them our full support.
 Our firm policy against terrorism and our love for
peace led me to negotiate the 1997 Chittagong Hill
Tracts Peace Accord, thus ending decades of internal
conflict, and a peaceful resolution of the violent
uprising of our paramilitary border forces in 2009. In
the international sphere, our commitment to peace,
which is essential for development, is reflected in our
unflinching support for United Nations peacekeeping
missions. Since 1988 Bangladesh has sent 97,000
troops to 24 countries as part of 32 such missions. In
that period we have lost the precious lives of 92 valiant
soldiers.
 Our present troop contribution has made
Bangladesh number one among countries contributing
troops to United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Sadly, despite that involvement, our presence in the
Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)

15 10-55109

remains negligible, as is our voice in planning
strategies of peacekeeping missions. In all fairness, we
should have proportionate representation in DPKO.
 Bangladesh has been adversely affected by global
warming, food insecurity, population displacement and
diminished biodiversity, among other problems, and is
faced with serious threats caused by climate change
and global warming. Although our share of carbon gas
emissions is negligible, we are their worst victim. The
increasing frequency and ferocity of floods, cyclones,
droughts and other natural disasters caused by that
phenomenon continue to create havoc through the lives
lost and the resources destroyed.
 Consequently, attaining the Millennium Development
Goals is becoming a more difficult challenge. Climate
migrants are already overcrowding our cities, putting
great stress on our limited infrastructure facilities and
causing social disorder. The situation could become
catastrophic with a one-metre rise in the sea level due
to global warming. That would inundate one quarter of
Bangladesh, impacting 11 per cent of our population
and leading to mass migration.
 To meet those challenges, we have adopted a
134-point adaptation and mitigation action plan. Those
points include dredging major rivers to restrict
flooding, recovering cultivable lands for settling
displaced people and increasing capacity to produce
more grain foods. Other plans include afforesting
20 per cent of the land area by 2015, creating a huge
carbon sink; protecting biodiversity; strengthening
coasts and river banks with green belts; modernizing
disaster management with community participation;
developing crop varieties attuned to climate change;
changing agricultural practices; using clean coal
technology; and adopting nuclear power and renewable
energy. Meanwhile, over 14,000 shelters for cyclone
victims have been strategically located to cope with
cyclonic disasters.
 Implementing the action plan requires enormous
funds. An immediate measure has been the
establishment of a Climate Change Trust Fund with our
own resources, and a Climate Change Resilience Fund
with assistance from development partners. At the
international level, at the fifteenth Climate Change
Conference of Parties — COP 15 — last year, we
worked hard for a legally binding agreement and for an
international climate fund to assist countries most
vulnerable to climate change. The compromise was the
Copenhagen Accord, which has so far failed to deliver
its promises.
 Therefore, I urge the world leaders at the
sixteenth Conference — COP 16 — this year to
conclude, in their wisdom, a positive agreement based
on the Bali Plan of Action, with agreed cuts in
greenhouse gas emissions and real contributions to the
international climate fund. I also urge them to adopt, at
COP 16, measures to ameliorate the adverse impacts of
climate change on the most vulnerable countries, like
Bangladesh, small island developing States like the
Maldives, and landlocked countries like Bhutan and
Nepal, among other least developed countries (LDCs).
 The world is yet to recover from the world
economic crisis, and LDCs as well as developed
countries are suffering from reduced exports. Those
crises are due to inequity and injustice resulting from
an unfair international structure, which remains mostly
unchanged. The Bretton Woods institutions must now
accommodate a greater presence of developing
countries, especially least developed countries. While
the Bretton Woods institutions can deal with long-term
development assistance, Bangladesh proposes the
establishment of a special fund under United Nations
auspices to deal exclusively with Special Drawing
Rights and grants. We also propose that all
stakeholders respect country-led ownership of all
development projects, as enshrined in the Accra
Agenda for Action.
 The least developed countries surely welcome the
development assistance they receive from developed
countries. They would, however, benefit more through
receiving liberal trade concessions such as duty and
quota-free market access, trade capacity-building, et
cetera. Least developed countries also seek a speedy
end to the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round of
the World Trade Organization trade negotiations and
fulfilment of the commitments by the countries of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development to provide 0.7 per cent of gross national
income to official development assistance, of which
0.2 per cent will be directed at least developed
countries, as affirmed in the Brussels Programme of
Action.
 The least developed countries have also been
affected by unemployment at home and by obstacles to
migration for jobs abroad. Since remittances form a
significant part of their gross domestic product,

10-55109 16

economic recovery measures should assure
employment opportunities and all rights of migrant
workers, especially those from least developed
countries.
 However, amid the travails of the past years,
Bangladesh has fared reasonably well in maintaining
an annual GDP growth rate of 6 per cent. That was
possible due to our pragmatic policies on food
production, agriculture, rural development, inflation
control and keeping food and essentials prices within
reach of the poor. During our previous Government,
from 1996 to 2001, our policies on food security made
Bangladesh self-sufficient in food, which led to our
winning the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations Ceres Award. This time around, with
the implementation of the national food policy, aimed
at stable prices of fuel, fertilizer, seeds and other farm
inputs, our Government has succeeded again in
ensuring sustained food supply to all.
 Our Government’s aim is also to use information
and communications technology (ICT) to accelerate
our socio-economic development. Therefore, we are
implementing ICT Act 2009 and ICT Policy 2009 to
build the requisite infrastructure and extend ICT to
every nook and corner of Bangladesh. Already,
educational institutions, local government institutions
and rural communities are being connected to Internet
services. The process includes an e-centre for rural
communities, connecting 8,500 post offices; a high-
tech park; a network of e governance; and efforts to
strengthen the telecommunication network and satellite
communication.
 Our e-services are now focused on improving
agricultural information delivery, market access,
education, health care, early warning systems for
disasters, law and order, and social safety net
payments. Also being implemented is an aggressive
e-leadership programme among members of
Parliament, top policymakers, field administrators and
local administrators. We had already transformed
100 Union Parishads to host e-centres in 2009, and we
are now expediting the process to cover all 4,500
Union Parishads by the end of this year. In short, our
Government is determined to achieve a digital
Bangladesh and transform it into a middle-income
country by 2021, the golden jubilee year of our
nation’s independence.
 Simultaneously, our Government’s aim is to
attain 100 per cent primary school enrolment by 2011
and 100 per cent literacy rate by 2014. Our highest
budget allocation goes to education. Tuition and books
are now free for students up to grade 12. Computer and
Internet facilities are being provided free of charge to
schools in order to familiarize students with their use.
To encourage school attendance, we have started
providing lunch to students and cash incentives to
parents.
 Though Bangladesh has achieved the Millennium
Development Goal target of gender equality at the
secondary level, our plan is to provide free tuition to
girls up to the undergraduate level. This is because we
firmly believe that women’s equal involvement is vital
for a nation’s development. Gender equity and human
development are our top priority concerns.
 Our Government has revived the national
women’s development policy, adopted during our last
tenure of office, that is, 1996 to 2001. At present,
besides the Prime Minister, the leader of the
opposition, the deputy leader and a whip, there are five
other women Cabinet ministers and 45 members of
Parliament in reserved seats. Moreover, 19 women
members of Parliament have been directly elected.
Women also occupy 30 per cent of reserved seats in all
local governments. They are encouraged to participate
in politics and administration, and are recruited in all
professions, including the armed services. They are
also serving in United Nations peacekeeping
operations.
 We have made arrangements to provide pensions
to distressed and widowed women, as well as
residential accommodation for both men and women in
old peoples’ homes. Our social safety nets also include
programmes for minorities, the marginalized, the
disabled and the mentally challenged; ashrayan, or
homes for the homeless; the “one home, one farm”
policy to alleviate poverty; and cash and food transfer
programmes.
 A new policy provides for the employment of one
member from every poor family. Another new initiative
is the national services policy for providing youth and
women with employment and skills development.
Moreover, research opportunities have led to new
discoveries, particularly with respect to climate-
change-resilient crops. A recent success is genome
sequencing of the jute fibre, ensuring improved quality

17 10-55109

of jute products, a biodegradable option to hazardous
synthetic products.
 Health is another area receiving special attention,
with the implementation of the national health policy
adopted during our previous term of office. This policy
provides for the establishment of one community clinic
for every 6,000 people. Our plan is to locate 18,000
such clinics in the first phase, to extend basic health
services into people’s homes. For safe motherhood, a
national strategy for maternal health has been adopted,
with a programme to reduce the infant mortality rate to
15 from the current 54 per 1,000 live births.
 Our target is to complete 100 per cent
immunization by the end of our present tenure of
Government. Since my Government assumed office,
the maternal mortality rate has been reduced from 2.9
to 2.6 and infant mortality to such a significant extent
that our successes have been recognized with an award
by the United Nations.
 Indeed, despite the recent world food, energy,
economic and climate change crises, Bangladesh, with
the support of United Nations agencies and bilateral
and multilateral partners, has made satisfactory
progress. In fact, our achievement with respect to
MDG 1, on poverty alleviation, MDG 2, on universal
primary education, and MDG 3, on gender equality and
women’s empowerment, are encouraging and on track.
Our Government, through its sincere efforts, intends to
raise 12 million people out of poverty, which would
halve the number of people now living in that sad state
by the MDG deadline of 2015.
 Our unflinching commitment to peace finds
expression in our annual flagship Assembly resolution
on the culture of peace (see resolution 64/80). Recent
years have shown an extraordinary record of
sponsorships because of the reference to the
International Mother Language Day. Ever since the
Day was adopted by UNESCO in recognition of the
language martyrs who gave their lives in 1952 for
Bangla, their mother tongue, it has been celebrated
throughout the world with growing fervour every year.
Since Bangla is spoken by nearly 300 million people
worldwide and has a rich heritage in literature, history
and other fields, our Parliament adopted a resolution
requesting the United Nations to declare Bangla as one
of its official languages. I fervently appeal to Member
States for acceptance of our very legitimate request.
 Every passing day, the peoples of the world are
being drawn closer together, as one village, with
quickly developing technologies and new challenges
such as climate change, terrorism and economic
interdependence. Indeed, our destiny is now one, as are
our burdens and responsibilities. It is now obvious that
only by mobilizing and optimizing our synergies will it
be possible for us to create a world of shared peace and
prosperity. We have no alternative but to discard our
self-centred, short-sighted interests and work in unison
for a world that our children, and theirs, will inherit, so
that they will remember us with fondness and in
gratitude.
 May Bangladesh live forever. Long live the
United Nations.


China is a member of the big family of the United
Nations, and China’s development and changes have
attracted worldwide attention. I wish to take this
opportunity to share with the Assembly my
observations on how one should get to know the real
China.
 Since the founding of the People’s Republic, and
especially since the start of reform and opening up
more than 30 years ago, profound changes have taken
place in China, a big, ancient country in the East. Its
economic and overall national strength has
substantially increased. The lives of its people have
markedly improved. Its social and cultural programmes
have made considerable progress, and its exchanges
and cooperation with the outside world have continued
to expand. In sum, my country has made an historic
leap from mere subsistence to moderate prosperity.

10-54827 42

 We in China are proud of our achievements,
which were made through strenuous efforts. At the
same time, we are clear-headed about our place and
role in today’s world.
 China’s gross domestic product is the third largest
in the world, but in per capita terms it is only one tenth
of that of developed countries. China has enjoyed more
than 30 years of rapid growth, but its further
development faces energy, resources and
environmental constraints. It is a leading producer of
many important products, but it remains at the lower
end of the global industrial chain. China is a big
trading nation, but its exports are low in technology
content and value added. In many cases, we have to
rely on imports to meet the demand for core
technologies.
 China’s coastal areas and some of the large and
medium-sized cities are thriving after modernizing, but
many places in the central and western regions and the
vast rural areas are still rather backward. Moreover, we
have 150 million people living below the poverty line
set by the United Nations.
 The life of the Chinese people has improved
significantly, but we do not yet have a full-fledged
social security system. Moreover, we are confronted
with high employment pressure. Our people are more
and more actively engaged in the country’s social and
political development, and citizens’ basic rights and
interests are better protected, yet our democracy and
legal system still have room for improvement and such
social ills as inequity and corruption still exist.
 China has come a long way in modernization. It
is fairly advanced in some areas of development but
remains backward in others. And it faces
unprecedented challenges brought by problems both
old and new.
 Taken as a whole, China is still in the primary
stage of socialism and remains a developing country.
Those are our basic national conditions. That is the real
China.
 China has set the strategic goal of achieving
modernization by the middle of this century. As they
look to the coming decades, the Chinese people will
continue to advance along the path of reform, opening
up and peaceful development. That path has changed
China’s destiny and has benefited people throughout
the country. We must stay on that path and make
further improvements. There is no reason whatsoever
for us to deviate from it.
 China will continue to focus on developing the
economy. Development is our top priority, as it
constitutes the basis for addressing all issues. We will
rely mainly on our own efforts in pursuing
development.
 As China’s industrialization and urbanization
progress, hundreds of millions of farmers will move to
towns and cities, which will create more domestic
demand than ever, open up broad market and
development space and serve as a powerful engine for
sustaining the growth of the Chinese economy as well
as the world economy at large. We will work hard to
transform the economic development pattern,
restructure the economy and set out on a path of
balanced and sustainable development.
 China will continue to deepen institutional
reform. We will make consistent efforts to improve the
socialist market economy. We will unswervingly
strengthen and develop the public sector side of the
economy and also unswervingly encourage, support
and guide the development of the non-public sector.
We will pay greater attention to ensuring and
improving people’s well-being. We will further reform
the income distribution system and improve the social
security system, including old-age support, medical
care and unemployment benefit programmes. We will
endeavour to narrow the gap between urban and rural
areas, between different regions and between the rich
and the poor. We want to ensure that each and every
citizen shares the benefit of China’s reform, opening up
and development.
 While deepening economic restructuring, we will
also push forward with political restructuring.
Otherwise, we cannot achieve the ultimate goal of
economic reform and we will lose what we have gained
from our modernization drive. We respect and protect
human rights, uphold social equity and justice and
strive to achieve free and all-around development for
our people. That is the important hallmark of a
democratic country under the rule of law and a basic
guarantee for any country’s lasting peace and stability.
 China will be even more open to the world.
Mutually beneficial cooperation for win-win progress
is a long-term strategy that we will stick to in opening
up to the world. We will follow established
international rules in expanding business ties with

43 10-54827

other countries. We will continue to improve the
environment for foreign investors, optimize the
structure of foreign capital utilization and explore new
ways for overseas investment and cooperation.
 We are committed to promoting the establishment
of a fair, equitable, inclusive and well-managed new
international financial order and an open and free
international trading regime. We are against
protectionism in all its manifestations. In the course of
modernization, we will not only continue to bring in
and utilize advanced achievements from the rest of the
world in the economic, scientific and technological
fields, but also boldly draw upon the achievements of
human civilization in the fields of social management
and cultural development.
 China will continue to develop education, science
and technology. How can China narrow the
development gap with the advanced countries and
enhance the sustainability of its strong growth? I
believe two things are of fundamental importance: first
is education, and second is science and technology.
China has formulated medium- and long-term
development programmes on education and on science
and technology. Going forward, we will focus our
efforts on implementing those two programmes and
building China into a country strong in human
resources and innovation by 2020.
 China will continue to carry forward its fine
culture. The development of a country and rejuvenation
of a nation require not only great economic strength,
but, more importantly, great cultural strength. The
moral values and wisdom drawn from the 5,000-year-
old Chinese civilization do not belong to China alone
but also to the world. We will vigorously develop
cultural programmes and accelerate the development of
a moral and ethical code that is commensurate with our
socialist modernization drive and consistent with the
traditional virtues of our nation.
 We respect the diversity of civilizations and will
increase dialogue and exchanges with other
civilizations to forge a common cultural bond for
humanity. The Chinese nation, which has created an
economic miracle, will create a new cultural splendor
as well.
 The world of the twenty-first century is far from
tranquil, but gone are the days when problems were
ultimately settled by war. Peace and development
remain the defining features of our time.
 China will stay firmly committed to peaceful
development. One may ask what the essence of
peaceful development is. It is to foster a peaceful
international environment for our development and, at
the same time, contribute to world peace through our
development. That is something inherent in the concept
of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
 In the course of development, China will continue
to take upon itself the duty of promoting the common
progress and prosperity of mankind. We will seek and
expand converging interests with other countries.
China’s development will not harm anyone or pose a
threat to anyone. There have been Powers who sought
hegemony once they grew strong. China will never
follow in their footsteps.
 China values friendship and also adheres to its
principles. It firmly upholds its core interests. When it
comes to sovereignty, national unity and territorial
integrity, China will not yield or compromise.
 China will continue to firmly support the leading
role of the United Nations in international affairs. We
will, as always, abide by the United Nations Charter
and fulfil in good faith our obligations under
international conventions. We will intensify
cooperation with fellow developing countries and
support their having a greater say in international
affairs. We will remain forever a good partner of and
brother to developing countries.
 China’s stability and development is conducive to
a more peaceful international environment, a more
democratic international order, a more prosperous
global economy and a more harmonious and civilized
world. China’s development is an opportunity for the
world, and the world stands to gain from a China that
is better off. History will continue to prove that.
 A China that develops peacefully, a China that is
full of vigour and vitality and a China that is willing
and ready to fulfil its responsibilities will always move
forward together with the world. Let us join hands to
work for a world of enduring peace and prosperity.


I would like to commend the election of His
Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session and to
welcome his excellent proposal for the main subject of
the general debate, “Reaffirming the central role of the
United Nations in global governance”. This is also part
of Ecuador’s policy of strengthening multilateralism.
To that end, we have continuously encouraged regional
integration as the logical response to an ancestral
heritage that never kept or defended borders between
friendly countries.
 The wish for a united South America came to
fruition with the establishment of the Union of South
American Nations (UNASUR) as an area for genuine
integration aimed, inter alia, at eliminating inequality
and strengthening democracy. On 26 November,
Ecuador will hand over the pro tempore presidency,
which it has held since August of 2009, to our sister
country of Guyana. In the same vein, Ecuador has
fostered South-South cooperation as a mechanism for
development, encouraging cooperation among the
legitimate representatives of States parties. We believe
that countries must be heard and their requirements and
realities addressed, and that cooperation should be a
reality over the medium term.
 I should stress that one of the most important
endeavours developed within this space was the
solidarity extended to the sister country of Haiti and its
legitimate Government for its reconstruction, to attain
the development it yearns for and to strengthen its
institutions as it deserves.
 I wish to place special emphasis on the
importance we accord to the issue of climate change.
Ecuador is one of world’s 19 megadiverse countries. Its
Amazon forest boasts the Yasuní Park, declared by
UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve in 1989.
Scientists agree on the unique value of this park, for its
extraordinary biodiversity and state of conservation
and for the cultural heritage it holds. The park
concentrates Amazonia’s highest densities of
amphibian, mammal, bird and plant species. Yasuní is
also a Pleistocene reserve. There, species were not

10-55122 2

affected by glaciation, which preserved a process of
differentiated evolution of new species. Moreover, the
Yasuní National Park is the home of two indigenous
peoples that have opted to live in voluntary isolation
with respect to Western culture: the Tagaeri and the
Taromenane. Both belong to the Huaorani culture,
possessing age-old wisdom and cultural heritage.
 The wealth of the park also extends underground.
In Yasuní there are oil resources from which Ecuador
could obtain 846 million barrels of heavy crude. Three
years ago, the President of Ecuador, the economist
Rafael Correa, launched the Yasuní-ITT Initiative
before this forum (see A/62/PV.7), which proposed
keeping that oil underground, unexploited. If we fulfil
this aspiration, we will prevent the emission of
407 million tons of carbon, the main cause of climate
change, and we will leave intact the planet’s richest
world biosphere reserve. To do this, we need to raise
global awareness and gain the relevant international
contribution, equivalent to at least half of the total
revenue of $3.6 billion that the State of Ecuador would
earn if it were to exploit the oil reserves.
 Ecuador is a country that is making major efforts
to achieve development. But, as an act of generosity,
the people of Ecuador have decided not to receive
50 per cent of the income that this oil would generate,
so long as the international community makes the same
effort.
 The Yasuní Initiative, as President Correa himself
has said, is not just symbolic. It is the most important
initiative for our country and for the entire planet. It
would protect one of the areas richest in biodiversity —
perhaps the richest in the world — and there is no
doubt that it would contribute to mitigating climate
change. The world will be able to assess the way of life
of Amazon peoples, in particular that of the most
vulnerable among them: the indigenous peoples in
voluntary isolation.
 We have already created a capital fund
administered by the United Nations Development
Programme with the participation of the Ecuadorian
State, our civil society, and representatives of our
fellow contributing countries.
 I call upon our brother countries throughout the
world, especially the industrialized countries, to
support the Yasuní Initiative and, acknowledging the
responsibility we all share for climate change, to seek
original solutions to a problem that threatens the very
survival of the human species. Ancestral Amerindian
wisdom teaches us that the Earth was not inherited
from our parents; rather, this magical creation is lent to
us by our children.
 Ecuador has reached its targets related to the
Millennium Development Goals, and it continues to
promote them, including by setting an example for the
international community. However, I wish to state very
firmly that the Millennium Development Goals left out
a very significant segment of the population and that,
soon, they will reveal deficiencies in the social policies
of countries. I am speaking here of the excluded among
the excluded, the forgotten among the forgotten. I am
referring to people with disabilities.
 Let us be clear: disability is not incapacity, but
rather diversity. As there is geographical, cultural or
bioclimatic diversity, there are also diverse capacities,
and that is where talent, heart, dedication, perseverance
and willingness lie. Ecuador has undertaken a
bio-psychosocial, clinical and genetic study of all
persons with disabilities in the country. We never in
our wildest dreams imagined what we would find in
that study: human beings left in holes in the ground, in
cages, with silence as their only company and death as
their only hope, human beings ashamed and shaming
others.
 That situation no longer exists in Ecuador.
Although much remains to be done, we have already
accomplished much. As of now, we can locate via
satellite every person with disabilities in Ecuador who
needs help and provide them with the technical
assistance they need, accessible and dignified housing,
medical care, rehabilitation and integration in the
workforce and the education system. In addition, we
have created a subsidy, equivalent to a minimal living
wage, to acknowledge the work and the dedication of
those who care for persons with severe physical or
mental disabilities.
 The expertise of the sister Republic of Cuba
played a significant role in the execution of this
detailed study. Cuba is perhaps the country that shows
the greatest solidarity in Latin America because, when
the time to help comes, they do not take into account
the fact that they still suffer under the most infamous,
illegal and illegitimate blockade in human memory,
and which Ecuador condemns with all the energy of a
grateful people.

3 10-55122

 I must highlight the inescapable urgency of
addressing the subject of human migration. Allow me
to make an appeal to all countries, especially
developed ones, to sign the International Convention
on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers
and Members of Their Families, which was opened for
signature 20 years ago: 20 years ago. What, I ask
myself, are we not one single race? Have we not
similar problems?
 I also ask myself: do we not share the same
evolution? Do we not have the same hopes for the
future? Let us share the realization of the dream of
universal citizenship. Let human beings travel
wherever they want, whenever they want, as they do
when they are at home and among family, and as
should be the case around the world.
 I want to reiterate the Ecuadorian position
condemning all forms of colonialism and occupation of
territories by foreign forces. We reaffirm that dialogue
must always be the mechanism of choice for the
settlement of conflicts.
 We believe in the sovereign right of all countries
to development and to the peaceful use of nuclear
energy. We want a world without nuclear weapons. We
therefore recommend preaching by example. I will
repeat that: we want a world without nuclear weapons,
but our approach is to preach by example, so that that
which we demand from others also becomes first and
foremost a requirement for ourselves. I call for a
definitive decision. Let us dismantle nuclear arsenals,
so that just as we criminalize the manufacturing and
marketing of illegal drugs, we would also criminalize
the manufacturing and marketing of weapons of mass
destruction — and if only that could be done for all
weapons.
 There can be no world governance without peace.
Nature is the best teacher of peace. I was born in the
Ecuadorian Amazon basin. We call Earth our Pacha
Mama. She and we are the same. The travelling poet
Walt Whitman said, referring to all human beings, to
all other beings on Earth and to the Earth itself, “every
atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (Song of
Myself). We are made of the same atoms, which we
share. We come from dust, we whirl around for some
time and then we return to dust, to our Pacha Mama, to
Mother Nature. But she has been abused and
disrespected. Even so, in her agony, she is still
generous. Rabindranath Tagore said that the Earth has
been insulted and reviled, but in return offers her
flowers and her fruits.
 I call on Member States, our brother countries, to
share this revolutionary vision, to find peace and to
make it everlasting, to change the history of the
invaded, the polluted, the humiliated and the forgotten
of the Earth.
 Let us create an army of warriors that carry no
weapons on their shoulders or ammunition in their
packs, but whose weapons are ecology, medicine, the
defence of human rights and human solidarity, an army
that fights the only disability that truly exists, which is
the human disability. The only disability that exists is
that of the heart. The enemy is inequality, which,
although fierce, will be defeated. We will succeed, of
course. Of course we will succeed.


From this universal podium I convey a warm
greeting to the Assembly and the whole of humanity. I
especially commend my fellow Costa Rican citizens
for their free and sovereign decision, which has given
me the great honour to represent them before you all.
 I begin my remarks with renewed support for the
United Nations, for its contributions to human rights,
peace, security, comprehensive sustainable development,
tolerance, solidarity and respect for diversity and for
international law. It is without doubt an organization of
States, but more, it is an organization of peoples, who
from their differences embrace and take shelter in the
humanistic and universal values that support the United
Nations.
 At this moment, around the world those values
and their implied commitments are flourishing, but
they are also suffering.
 We can congratulate ourselves on the children
who are receiving a good education and on the parents
who see them grow up without fear that they will be
consumed by war. We are inspired by young people,
workers and peasants with opportunities for a worthy
life, and by the women who benefit from full equality.
In that context, we welcome the appointment of
Ms. Michelle Bachelet as Under-Secretary-General for
Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
 However, at the same time we also are concerned
about those women who as heads of households can
barely feed their children. We are worried about the
adults who grow old in poverty and loneliness and
about children whose lives lack affection and
stimulation. The catastrophic effects of climate change
demand our immediate and determined attention. And
it offends us that even today, there are women awaiting
execution by stoning, populations stifled by brutal
genocide, and nuclear weapons that are being
stockpiled while granaries are being depleted.
 When we refer to the United Nations and global
governance, we must remember that such governance
starts with good national government. But at the same
time, the success of our domestic administrations
depends upon an international system that is fair,
efficient, open and responsible and that is capable of
dealing with the great challenges of our time.
 As President, I am subject to the constant
scrutiny of my people, from whom I came and to
whom I am accountable. I am aware that the best
sermon comes from example. Thus my Government
strives to represent the values, promote the
development and increase the integral welfare of all
Costa Ricans. We are promoting economic growth, the
opening of trade, solidarity, environmental
responsibility and political transparency in the
framework of civil liberties. That course of action is
rooted in our history. It is why we introduced free
compulsory primary education in 1870, abolished the
death penalty in 1877, disbanded the army in 1949,
preserved 25 per cent of our land in the 1960s and
created universal access to health in the mid-1970s.
 My Government stands on that legacy in order to
act in the present and to construct the future. We strive
for attention to and early stimulation of our children
and for care of adults and the elderly. We fight
inequality, strive to improve education and health, and
foster economic development increasingly based on
clean energy, a sustainable economy and creative
intelligence. I mention all these things as humble
national experience, not as a pretentious global lesson.
 History, geography and circumstances frequently
shape us — but only up to a point, because individual
and collective will, responsibility, and constructive
leadership can break down the obstacles and trace
better paths. Thus we must pull back the curtains of
prejudice that dim reality, exchange the echoes of the
past for the sounds of the future, and bury
recrimination of others as an excuse to avoid our
duties.
 Beyond the national sphere, good governance
means that there are responsibilities incumbent on all
world leaders with regard to the peoples of the United
Nations. The starting point must be respect for
international law and multilateral organizations. For an
unarmed and peaceful country such as Costa Rica,
those are the main instruments for our security, the
indispensable requirement for living in peace and
fostering development.
 Last Tuesday we celebrated, with profound
personal and national conviction, the International Day
of Peace, in whose creation our country played a key
role. It is significant that, through the initiative of

10-54827 20

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, its theme was “Youth
for Peace and Development”. That triad — youth as
incentive, peace as a framework, and development as a
goal — is critical to building a better world. But that
triad would be truncated without freedom as
opportunity, human dignity as an inescapable
commitment and tolerance as a habit of coexistence.
 For the countries and leaders committed to those
fundamental values, the main question is how to
advance them in today’s world. I propose to empower
even further the concepts, organisms and instruments
for the promotion and protection of human rights. It is
in our interest to participate constructively as members
in the activities of the Human Rights Council. Here
also lies our adherence to the main covenants and
protocols on the subject, our insistence on the
responsibility to protect civilians and our commitment
to human security.
 Costa Rica, besides hosting the conference that
approved the American Convention on Human Rights
in 1969, was the first country to ratify it. Today it is
home to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. I
am convinced that respect for human rights depends to
a great extent upon international justice. Its most recent
and innovative manifestation, thanks to the Treaty of
Rome, is the International Criminal Court, for which
we reaffirm our support after a decade of contributions.
To use the weapons of the law actively is another
unavoidable responsibility of global governance.
 In the area of peace and security, Costa Rica
adheres to the five points on arms control advocated by
the Secretary-General. In particular, we insist on the
necessity for starting negotiations for an arms transfer
treaty, while at the same time progressing with the
model convention for the prohibition of nuclear
weapons and completing ratification of the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The
accumulation and transfer of weapons, especially
nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons, is not
only a threat to humanity’s peace and survival; it is
also an assault on development. Every soldier who
enlists, every missile that is activated, every isotope
enriched for military purposes means fewer schools
and hospitals, fewer food programmes, fewer roads,
fewer wireless networks, fewer seeds for farmers and
fewer good judges to administer justice.
 But peace must go beyond action; it should
become embedded in the minds and imaginations of
human beings. To educate for peace is to vaccinate
against war. Thirty years ago, our country launched,
and the United Nations supported, a pioneer and
visionary institution for this area: the University for
Peace. Today its contribution reaches every continent
of the world, and our commitment to it increases day
by day. For this reason we proudly celebrate its
anniversary.
 It is a paradox that while many countries waste
resources on weapons, the international community has
been incapable of dealing effectively with the scourges
of drug trafficking, organized crime, terrorism, arms
trafficking, and the perverted exploitation and
trafficking of human beings. My country and Central
America suffer increasingly from the aggressions of
the drug cartels. We risk being virtually taken over by
their gangs, with consequences that will go beyond our
borders and become a clear threat to international
security.
 My Government has made its citizens’ security
one of its chief goals. Our people demand it, and we
will never fail them. We are fighting crime with energy
and determination, as well as with full respect for
human rights, intelligent policies and the supremacy of
law.
 But the great battle against transnational crime
demands much more from us all. Today drug-related
activity is endangering the improvements in
development achieved in Central American countries.
From being merely a transit zone, due to our
geographic location between the great drug producers
to the south and the great consumers to the north, our
countries have, to different degrees, been becoming
producers, traffickers and consumers of drugs.
 Today we are free of none of the manifestations
of the drug trade, which has extended its tentacles into
many areas of our social life. Young people in their
schools and neighbourhoods see their future menaced
by the easy offer of drugs, our health-care systems are
almost overwhelmed by the problem of addiction, the
integrity of our institutions is menaced by corruption
and coercion, and violence is reaching levels never
seen before.
 The battle against the drug trade can be won only
with coordination, global cooperation and a major
revision of the strategies pursued so far, many of them
incomplete or failed. From this rostrum I call on the
countries with the highest rates of drug consumption to

21 10-54827

take more effective action against this enormous
problem, and to cooperate with the countries suffering
from a problem we did not create. I also call urgently
for global solidarity in this task, and for multilateral
organizations to increase their activity by developing
an agenda with more comprehensive strategies, with a
better balance of resources and responsibilities, and
with more focused goals. If new and good efforts are
not vigorously initiated, we will soon regret our
inaction.
 If Costa Rica, a middle-income country, has
achieved human development rates comparable to
those of high-income countries, it is because, among
other things, our social investment has replaced
military spending. That is why we insist that
international aid should not ignore the ethical
dimension of development. We support preferential
allocation of such aid to countries in the most
precarious situations. But countries like mine that,
thanks to good investments and astute political
decisions, have improved our conditions of life, should
benefit from innovative technical cooperation schemes,
productive financing and public-private alliances.
Above all, we must successfully complete the Doha
Round of international trade negotiations, an essential
engine for economic growth.
 We must also establish peace with the
environment and development. Organizing the
economy in a sustainable manner in order to produce
material and social well-being is a task we cannot
avoid. Today we have high hopes for the next
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held
in Cancun. We hope that all countries, but in particular
the big polluters and generators of carbon emissions,
will shoulder their responsibility towards humanity. In
Costa Rica, we have shouldered ours by setting the
goal of becoming one of the first carbon-neutral
countries in the world. We are also advancing in the
application and development of clean energies and the
protection of our watersheds and biodiversity.
 Let us not forget, however, that sustainability,
above all, must be human; hence the importance of the
Millennium Development Goals. Attaining them in five
years’ time is an unavoidable goal for this
Organization.
 The challenges of global governance are many,
and they are overwhelming, but the possibilities to
confront them exist. Their promotion is part of our
responsibility as leaders. This also requires that the
United Nations improve its own governance. If it does
not respond to new realities and if its Member States
do not help with the task, the Organization runs the risk
of sinking into irrelevance. The adaptation of the
United Nations to the challenges of global governance
demands greater effectiveness, efficiency and
transparency in its administration, its decision-making
processes and its field operations.
 In this universal Organization, we must also
preach through example. That is why Costa Rica has
strived to collaborate in an active and constructive way
in the reform process. And, like many other countries,
we still need the help of the world. The world needs
the help of all countries. That is the only way to
advance the causes of our peoples. Costa Rica
modestly offers its contribution, its effort and its voice.


I
wish to begin by congratulating you, Sir, on your
election as President of the General Assembly. The
Assembly is the central body of the United Nations
architecture. Here, all Member States are truly
represented and each has a vote, irrespective of its size,
population or economic power. Here is where the
central decisions that determine the functioning of the
other bodies are made. Here, we are all permanent
members, embodying the principle of the sovereign
equality of all States.
 Here in the General Assembly, Portugal is guided
by the objective of doing its best to strengthen the
United Nations. There are no true alternatives to the
Organization. Its unique role in managing international
relations is more evident than ever, and it is our duty to
further enhance this role in order to attain a progressive
and solid strengthening of the United Nations. I repeat,
there are no alternative mechanisms to the United
Nations. For this reason, all Member States should
work to reinvigorate the Organization.
 Portugal is guided by the principles of national
independence, respect for human rights, equality
among States, peaceful solutions to conflicts and
international cooperation as the main elements that
drive development and the progress of humankind.
These principles are all inscribed in the Portuguese
Constitution.
 These are also the purposes and principles of the
United Nations Charter. Allow me to underline some of
them, which today are more important than ever:
maintaining international peace and security, the
development and progress of all peoples, friendly
relations among all nations based on sovereign
equality, international cooperation in solving
economic, cultural and humanitarian crises and the
promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
 The maintenance of international peace and
security, is surely one of the noblest of our objectives.
The Charter defines the way we, the United Nations,
should act together to prevent or remove threats to
peace and how to respond to acts of aggression or other
violations of our universal principles.
 Portugal has been an active contributor to United
Nations peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations in
Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Our efforts have
always been global and generous. Tens of thousands of
Portuguese have participated in peace operations. We
are now present in places as diverse as Afghanistan,
South Lebanon, Timor-Leste, the Western Balkans,
Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
 We participate in United Nations peacekeeping
operations and other missions according to our means
and, quite frequently, above and beyond what our size,
would require. Nevertheless, we continue doing it with
the firm conviction that collective security calls for
collective efforts. Moreover, the United Nations can
continue to count on the Portuguese contribution to this
collective endeavour.
 Looking at the present challenges to international
peace and security, allow me to refer to the situation in
the Middle East, a conflict involving many negative
influences in the relations between several peoples and
cultures. The coming year will be critical to the peace
process. The choice is clear: peace or a return to
instability.
 We welcome the return to direct negotiations
aimed at reaching a two-State solution. We all have to

25 10-55103

join efforts for the creation of an independent,
democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State
living side by side, in mutual peace and security, with
the State of Israel.
 I would also like to mention Afghanistan where
the international community has assumed a firm
commitment to support reconstruction and
development. The results of the Kabul Conference will
have to be complemented at the upcoming NATO
summit in Lisbon, with a view to ensuring a
sustainable transition process, mainly led by the
Afghans themselves.
 International peace and security require effective
multilateral action among United Nations bodies.
Effective multilateralism needs to be based on working
structures with which every Member State feels
comfortable. The United Nations is indispensable. It
alone is capable of confronting global threats, it alone
has the capacity to respond to acute natural disasters,
as we have seen in several recent situations, like the
Haitian earthquake or the Pakistan floods, and it alone
can effectively shelter and feed millions of refugees
worldwide, thanks to the outstanding work of the
Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, led by
António Guterres, one of the most distinguished
Portuguese political leaders.
 It is especially urgent to reform the United
Nations and to adapt it to today’s international realities.
Any reform must be based on the objectives that
inspired its creation. Its pivotal place at the centre of
the international architecture has to be preserved, for
the United Nations is the only forum where no one
feels excluded, the only body where all States,
including small and medium-sized countries, have their
own voice and their own say in solving global
problems.
 The establishment of the Peacebuilding
Commission — an idea put forward by Portugal — was
a significant step in the reform process. But we also
have to look at the Security Council with a view to its
enlargement. I sincerely believe that we can all succeed
in reshaping the Council and making it more
representative, more efficient and more transparent.
  Mr. Ould Hadrami (Mauritania), Vice-President,
took the Chair.

 In our view, it is illogical that countries like
Brazil or India, which have an irreplaceable role in
today’s international economic and political life, are
still not permanent members of the Security Council.
 Africa, as well, has to be considered in this
enlargement of the permanent membership. It is of the
utmost importance that Africa be fairly treated, given
the remarkable political and economic progress we all
have witnessed on that vast continent — continent with
which Portugal feels a permanent affinity. It is only
natural that we have been so closely linked to the
strengthening of relations between Africa and the
Europe Union (EU), having hosted the summit in
Lisbon where the Joint Africa-EU Strategy was
designed. We are now looking forward to the third
Africa-EU summit.
 The implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) is urgent. Let me
congratulate the Secretary-General and the members of
the General Assembly on the results achieved at the
recent High-level Meeting. We are firmly committed to
applying the agreed political vision to mobilize efforts
to meet the targets over the next five years.
 International stability cannot be achieved and
maintained without economic and social prosperity
worldwide. The present economic and financial
situation shows that we all benefit from common
solutions to global problems. In this context, I call for
a reinforced participation of developing countries and
regional groupings and communities in ongoing
debates, including the reform of the international
financial organizations and their interaction with the
United Nations system.
 Another field where interdependence urges us to
act jointly is climate change. It is a matter of survival.
We shall do our part to ensure that the Cancún summit
is a step in the right direction. Portugal has consistently
worked to reduce its carbon footprint by investing
solidly in renewable energy. I am proud to be able to
announce that we have already met the target that my
country announced here last year. Portugal is already
producing 45 per cent of its electricity from local
renewable sources, and by 2020 it intends to reach
66 per cent. It now holds the fifth place in Europe —
and in the world — in terms of use of renewable
energy. It has the largest wind park in Europe — and
the second largest in the world — and it holds the
record for the highest amount of wind energy

10-55103 26

generated. It has the largest photovoltaic park in the
world and is a leader in the area of electric vehicles.
Portugal is now considered one of the 10 most
promising countries for energy investment.
 Portugal has been sharing this experience and this
knowledge with a number of developing countries, and
we continue to intensify this cooperation through
concrete partnerships and technology transfer and
knowledge, supporting efforts towards adaptation and
mitigation, in accordance with the commitments made
in Copenhagen. Some of our partners are least
developed countries and small island developing
States. They are among those that pollute the least but
suffer the most from climate change. It is urgent that
the international community take the necessary
measures to reduce their vulnerability.
 This year marks the beginning of the United
Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against
Desertification. Portugal recognizes the right to water,
as well as the right to education, adequate housing and
health. Ensuring that every human being has access to
drinking water and adequate sanitation is also a good
way of accelerating the implementation of the
Millennium Development Goals.
 My country, an independent State for almost
1,000 years, commemorates this year the centennial of
the Portuguese Republic. We are today a democracy
with solid credentials in terms of human rights and
their promotion worldwide. We firmly believe in the
rule of law and have learned through our own
experience that peace and prosperity are attainable only
when they are truly and freely shared by all States.
 Portugal is also a country that is accustomed to
listening to its partners. We are members of the
European Union, the Atlantic Alliance, and the
Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries,
currently presided over by Angola, which I
congratulate. Portuguese is the fifth most widely
spoken language in the world and is present on all
continents. Portugal also participates in the Alliance of
Civilizations, a forum that is at the forefront of the
much-needed intercultural dialogue among regions,
which is ably led by Jorge Sampaio, former President
of my country.
 Portugal’s action at the United Nations is rooted
in our capacity for open dialogue with every Member
State and in our ability to build bridges and forge
consensus. We always seek to defend our values
through dialogue, not by imposing our views. Our
attitude is not driven by any temporary need to please
some constituencies. We aspire to be judged by our
actions. This is our motivation for seeking active
participation in all United Nations bodies for which the
composition is rotational.
 This universal vision of dialogue and openness to
the world characterizes our current candidature for a
non-permanent seat on the Security Council.
 We belong to the United Nations because we
strongly believe in its values, objectives and
universality; because we maintain that mutual respect
should be the cornerstone of international action; and
because we think that the strengthening of the United
Nations and its activities is surely one of the most
noble and idealistic objectives of all those who, like
the Heads of State and Government participating here,
strive each and every day to achieve a better world.