First, may I congratulate Mr. Han Seung-soo on his
election to preside over the fifty-sixth session of the
General Assembly. I assure him that he has the
Hungarian delegation’s full support in the effective
fulfilment of his tasks and high responsibility. At the
same time, I wish to thank Mr. Harri Holkeri for the
much appreciated work that he carried out in his
capacity as President of the preceding session of the
General Assembly.
Sixty-three days have elapsed since 11
September. More than 80 nations are in mourning
today, mourning the absurd deaths of their compatriots,
men and women from all over the world and
representing different and various traditions, cultures,
beliefs and ethnic origins. Approximately 6,000 people
perished as a result of heinous terrorist attacks in New
York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, and we
remember the victims in our prayers and extend our
deep sympathy and compassion to their families and
friends.
These attacks were committed against the entire
civilized world and against fundamental human values.
The Security Council and the General Assembly very
quickly took firm and clear measures in order to defend
the universal interests of the international community.
To this end, an effective global coalition was created in
which Hungary, side by side with many other countries,
is proudly participating. Those who perpetrated and
supported these terrorist attacks are trying to depict
their acts, as well as the reaction of legitimate self-
defence to those acts, as a war of religion. Clearly it is
nothing of the sort. There can be no justification for
these acts, nor for any other terrorist activities
anywhere else. In fact, international terrorism pursues
political objectives and is trying to undermine our
multi-ethnic and multi-concessional world, to
exacerbate regional conflict, to pit various cultures one
against another and to impose on us by force its own
order of hatred and fanaticism. The nature of the
challenge with which we are confronted is eminently
strategic: first, because it calls into question the raison
d’être and endangers the very existence of our
civilization; secondly, because the terrorist network,
which is organizing against us, has managed to develop
global capacities; and, lastly, because in the war that is
declared against us, terrorism abides by no legal order
and follows no rules.
We can welcome the fact that, on the basis of a
convergence of interests, cooperation among States has
acquired, in the two months following the terrible
event, a dimension that is very promising and entirely
new. But major combat against international terrorism
will certainly not be short. Of course the military
action launched against the Taliban regime and the
terrorist Al Qaeda organization represent an important
element, but not the only one, within the framework of
international action. Within this struggle, the tasks that
we have to carry out are complex and multifaceted. We
have to do our utmost in the political, diplomatic,
educational, legal, and also financial, humanitarian,
economic and social areas to make sure that we, in the
final analysis, emerge victorious from this struggle. We
must recognize that in this struggle we have to
redouble our efforts to promote the rule of law, to
reject extremism, intolerance, discrimination and
nationalistic tendencies and to intensify the global
work that has to be accomplished in order to eradicate
poverty and ensure sustainable development. The fight
against terrorism is part and parcel of the general
18

framework of this global endeavour within which we
are trying to build a better world.
The terrorist attacks against the United States will
probably be remembered as a turning point in our
history, and also an opening to a new era. What is
certain is that from now on humanity will not be able
to continue in the same way as before. Governments
have to shoulder major responsibility vis-à-vis this
challenge, which now touches directly upon our
everyday existence. The international community
managed to find the most appropriate response by
bringing together a coalition unprecedented in inter-
State relations, the historic importance of which will
certainly go far beyond our own era. Hungary stands
ready, within the limit of its capacity, to take an active
part in that coalition.
In the present situation, the United Nations is
called upon to play a role of primary importance, to
strengthen the effectiveness of international action.
Through the development of 12 anti-terrorist
conventions, the United Nations has already
contributed very significantly towards the development
of a common framework of international law in the
fight against terrorism. Through the adoption of other
conventions, which are now being prepared, the legal
framework will become even more comprehensive and
general. However, in order to do that, we must make
new efforts and, given the importance of what is at
stake, and the fact that we have common goals, the
groups of countries concerned should display a greater
degree of flexibility. The United Nations should be able
fully to play its role of enhancing the practical
implementation of international anti-terrorist
cooperation.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks, a series of
specific measures were implemented by my country’s
Government. At the international level we have
strengthened our cooperation, both political and legal,
in the anti-terrorist area with our allies at NATO and
our partners within the European Union (EU). We
decided also to implement Security Council resolution
1373 (2001), and we will forward to the Committee
that was established under the terms of that resolution a
detailed report on the national measures undertaken by
Hungary to fight terrorism. I should like to recall at
this stage that Hungary is a party to most of the
international, multilateral conventions against
terrorism.
As regards the two most recently passed United
Nations conventions in this area, let me state that my
country has just deposited today with the Secretary-
General the instrument of ratification for the
International Convention for the Suppression of
Terrorist Bombings. I should like to announce that
Hungary will sign the International Convention for the
Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism in the
upcoming weeks. We are determined to become a party
to that Convention as quickly as possible, so as to
complement the Hungarian participation in
international conventions that are universal in nature
and deal with the fight against terrorism. Furthermore,
my Government recently submitted to Parliament a
draft law to strengthen national regulations in the areas
of money-laundering and fighting terrorism.
Hungary attaches very special importance to the
success of the international humanitarian action in
Afghanistan. Through the two Hungarian humanitarian
organizations, which traditionally have played a role in
the region, my Government has started to forward
humanitarian assistance to the refugees and the Afghan
population. Such assistance consists of foodstuffs and
blankets for about 15,000 people.
My Government is very deeply concerned at the
danger represented by the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and their means of delivery. Our
commitment in favour of multilateral control over such
weapons remains unchanged and we participate in
international efforts aimed at limiting and eliminating
weapons of mass destruction. The tragic events of 11
September and the recent anthrax-related incidents
make us realize the possible dramatic consequences of
the absence of a reaction by the community of nations
to the challenge presented by weapons of mass
destruction, including biological weapons. We think
that the strengthening of the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Development, Production and
Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin
Weapons and on Their Destruction will enable the
international community to act even more effectively
against the intent to use biological agents for military
objectives. The ad hoc group asked to work out
measures for implementation managed to make notable
progress in the almost seven years of its history, and is
very near agreement. We regret that it could not
finalize its work before the date of the Fifth Review
Conference of the Convention. It is important that the
Conference should leave aside the divergence of views
19

with regard to the approach to the modalities of the
long-term strengthening of the Convention, and that
instead it should underscore the commitment
undertaken by Member States to promote the integrity
of the system of the prohibition of biological weapons.
In its capacity as Chair of the Fifth Review
Conference, Hungary would like to do its utmost in
order to justify the hopes expressed by Member States
and public opinion that specific results will emerge
from the Conference. We would like actively to
contribute to making sure that efforts aimed at
strengthening the system of prohibition of biological
weapons will also continue without interruption after
the Conference.
The Statute of the International Criminal Court is
a political and legal document of capital importance. It
translates into fact the historic aspiration we have had
that those who commit the crimes of genocide, war
crimes and crimes against humanity will not be allowed
in future to act with impunity. Therefore, we warmly
welcome the ratification of the Rome Statute by a
rapidly growing number of countries, to date
numbering more than 40. Within this context I wish to
announce here that the Hungarian Parliament, by a
resolution that was adopted almost unanimously,
ratified the Statute on 6 November. The deposition of
the instrument of ratification will take place in the
course of this month of November.
Hungary is working actively so as to ensure that
the Court, this very important institution of our era, can
start working in the near future. We should also make
efforts to ensure that it will be universally accepted as
soon as possible because only in that way will it be
able to be successful in its work and effective in the
area of maintaining peace and international security
and effectively protecting international humanitarian
law and human rights.
Our world has changed and we all have to change
with it. Unfortunately, when I say that I am not saying
that earlier challenges have disappeared but rather that,
in addition to the difficulties we already have, we are
facing a new crisis that compels us to think
strategically and at the same time be very resolute in
our action. The work that we have to carry out is
therefore wider and broader and the only choice we
have is to act on the basis of our human values in the
interests of our civilization and future security. The
United Nations is part and parcel of that endeavour.
The Millennium Declaration speaks of it with great
eloquence and the events of 11 September only
strengthen the message contained therein by
underscoring the crucial nature of the times we live in,
a crossroads between two centuries and two millennia.
We are asked to provide answers to the global
questions that haunt us and that have been continuously
plaguing this world. The success or failure of our
efforts to provide such answers will, without any
doubt, affect the quality of life of the whole of the
twenty-first century. It is in this spirit that my
delegation wishes to provide its contribution to the
success of the deliberations, held under the very special
circumstances of the present session of the General
Assembly.


This session of the
General Assembly is being held at a very difficult time
for all of us. I congratulate you, Sir, on your unanimous
election to the position of President of the fifty-sixth
session of the General Assembly and I sincerely wish
you all success in guiding the work of the session and
would like to assure you of our full support.
Under the current circumstances, enhancement of
the United Nations effectiveness becomes increasingly
important, and in this regard, I would like to express
our special gratitude to Mr. Harri Holkeri, whose
activity as President of the fifty-fifth session of the
General Assembly was an example of the commitment
to the revitalization process of the Organization.
We regard the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the
United Nations and Mr. Kofi Annan as evidence of the
international community’s recognition of the special
role played by the Organization and of the great service
of its Secretary-General. Congratulating our Secretary-
General, I would like to stress that we place special
hope in him and to reiterate our support for his
activities aimed at achieving those very objectives for
the sake of which the United Nations was created.
The Millennium Summit identified challenges in
the context of global development that can be
addressed only through coordinated efforts by the
entire international community within the United
Nations system.
One year ago, nobody could have foreseen the
tragedy that would befall all of us, a tragedy that has
shown the depth of the abyss before which the world
finds itself today. The dramatic events that struck the
United States make it imperative for us to take a new
look at the aspects of global development in the
twenty-first century.
Threats and risks in the context of globalization
acquire new scale and character, and the international
community must change its approaches accordingly.
Today, an attack against one of us is considered as an
attack against all of us. Will this approach become
universal?
Azerbaijan suffered from a series of horrific
terrorist attacks that were part and parcel of the conflict
imposed on Azerbaijan by neighbouring Armenia.
Unfortunately, our warnings about the terrorist threat,
as well as our appeals to the international community
to join efforts in the fight against this evil, made from
this very podium, went unheeded.
26

Terrorism is closely linked to aggressive
separatism and other forms of extremism, as well as to
organized crime, drug and arms trafficking and other
illegal activities that literally flourish in conflict zones
and that provide terrorist and separatist groups with
financial resources. Terrorism and separatism get large-
scale outside support from States and private structures
alike. Response to these threats must not be selective.
They can be eliminated only through adequate and
comprehensive countermeasures undertaken on the
basis of the principles and norms of international law
against all those who use terror to achieve their goals,
leaving them no hope of escaping unpunished. Nothing
can justify terrorism. There should be no room for
double standards, palliatives or narrow national
interests.
We all have witnessed many manifestations of
terrorism that have taken place in different regions of
the world, under different slogans and covers. This fact
by itself clearly shows that the phenomenon of
terrorism is not associated with any particular religion.
Hence, the fight against terrorism should not be a fight
against a religion. We must take effective measures to
reverse a dangerous trend of imprudent instigation to
hostility between Islam and Christianity.
The legal, political, military and other actions
taken today by the international coalition are not the
only prerequisites for a successful fight against
terrorism. It is necessary to redouble the efforts aimed
at assisting and enabling the least developed countries
in the process of their social and economic
development to use the opportunities provided by
globalization.
Unfortunately, in many regions of the world we
still see violent conflicts that claim tens of thousands
of lives and undermine the sovereignty, territorial
integrity and security of States. One such example is
the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Masking
its claims to the Azerbaijani territory under the banner
of the struggle for the self-determination of the
Armenian population of the Nagorny-Karabakh region
of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia
has occupied this Azerbaijani territory, as well as seven
adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, and has conducted
ethnic cleansing on the occupied territory, which has
resulted in the expulsion of 1 million Azerbaijanis from
their homes.
My country has been waiting for eight years for
the Security Council to take practical steps to
implement the following four resolutions concerning
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: 822 (1993), 853
(1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993). The Council
adopted these resolutions back in 1993 in order to take
enforcement measures against the aggressor, in
accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter.
Until now, mediation activities of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by the
United States, France and Russia, and which will be 10
years old next year, have not produced any results, so
the tenth anniversary may turn out to be a sad one.
Armenia continues to violate the principles and
norms of international law enshrined in the United
Nations Charter and the OSCE Helsinki Final Act, and
it ignores the provisions of the relevant Security
Council resolutions and OSCE decisions. Rejecting this
international legal basis for the settlement of the
conflict, Armenia negotiates from the position of
power and on the basis of fait accompli, trying to
consolidate the results of its armed aggression and to
annex a part of Azerbaijan territory.
Armenia states that there is a conflict between
certain principles of international law, but there is not a
conflict between those principles. The right of self-
determination cannot be regarded as a right to forcible
separation of a part of a State’s territory and must not
justify the violation of the principle of territorial
integrity of States, in our case, that of the Republic of
Azerbaijan. Indeed, the real conflict is between
Armenia and international law, which prevents
Armenia from realizing its claims to the territory of
neighbouring States.
The international community should not choose
the easiest course of action and should not recognize
the right of the powerful. Instead, it must act in
accordance with the established principles and norms
of international law and the decisions of international
organizations.
It is unacceptable to blame both sides for the
deadlock in the negotiations, ignoring the differences
between the compromises and concessions demanded
of Azerbaijan, on the one hand, and those demanded of
Armenia, on the other. The aggressor and the victim
cannot be held equally responsible.
27

The Republic of Azerbaijan stands ready for a
resolution of the conflict based on the principles of
sovereignty, territorial integrity and the granting of
self-governance to all the people of the Nagorny-
Karabakh region within the Azerbaijani State. The
Republic of Azerbaijan is prepared to provide safety
and security for this region’s population.
Azerbaijan is interested in a just and peaceful
resolution of the conflict more than anybody else, and
we will continue to undertake all the necessary steps to
achieve tangible results. But our efforts alone are not
enough. Expeditious settlement of the conflict should
become one of the main priorities for the international
community. There is no room for stop-gap measures
and “wait-and-see” positions. The situation demands
fundamental approaches and actions on everyone’s
part. We expect a very significant contribution from the
co-Chairmen of the Minsk Conference at the highest
level.
Azerbaijan, which for eight years has been
hosting 1 million refugees and internally displaced
persons, continues to face an acute humanitarian
problem that will only be resolved completely by
creating the conditions necessary for them to return to
their homes as soon as possible. Crises in the
neighbouring regions have created another problem for
my country, which now has to deal with a significant
number of refugees from other countries. Taking all
these difficulties into consideration, we deem it
necessary for the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Baku to
continue its functions. Currently, Azerbaijan needs
even greater UNHCR assistance, as well as assistance
from other United Nations humanitarian agencies and
donor countries. I would like to take this opportunity to
express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of
the aforementioned who have given their support and
assistance.
We believe that in order to enhance the
effectiveness and efficiency of United Nations
activities in the area of the prevention of armed
conflict, it is necessary to better monitor the
implementation of Security Council decisions. To this
end, we propose, for general consideration, that the
Security Council adopt the practice of submitting to the
General Assembly periodic reports on the
implementation of the Council’s decisions.
We deem it necessary to strengthen the capability
of United Nations rapid deployment forces. The faster
the international community can react to the outbreak
or resumption of a conflict, the easier peace and justice
will be restored.
Globalization should enable us to promote
sustainable development and the integrity and stability
of public administration systems, eliminate
discrimination in economic activity and ensure
prosperity for all peoples. Azerbaijan is contributing to
moving this process forward. We are sparing no effort
to restore the Great Silk Route, to create a Europe-
Caucasus-Asia transport corridor and to develop
deposits of hydrocarbons in the Caspian Sea basin and
transport them to world markets. These projects are of
paramount importance in terms of the free and
sustainable development of States in several regions of
the world. Furthermore, they will give impetus to
transregional cooperation and will serve as a factor that
determines global development.
The free exploitation of natural resources and
their transportation to world markets is the inalienable
right of a sovereign State. Azerbaijan calls upon all the
Caspian Sea States to refrain from the use or threat of
force in the Caspian Sea basin. The Caspian Sea must
be a sea of peace and cooperation. Azerbaijan supports
early agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea
on the basis of principles and norms of international
law and established practice in the use of the Caspian
Sea.
As a member of the group of landlocked
countries, Azerbaijan needs assistance from the
international community to develop its transport
infrastructure in order to integrate it effectively into the
global economy.
In its efforts to implement the concepts
underlying transregional cooperation, Azerbaijan is
taking a multi-track approach and working within the
framework of a number of structures. One of them is
GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan
and Moldova), an organization consisting of five newly
independent States whose names form the acronym and
whose economies are in transition. The States members
of GUUAM, which celebrate the tenth anniversary of
their independence this year, have confronted
numerous challenges and threats during the difficult
period of the formation and development of their
statehood. Such threats have manifested themselves
28

most clearly during the periods of armed conflict which
broke out in three of those five member States.
GUUAM stands for the speedy, peaceful settlement of
conflict based on the norms and principles of
international law enshrined in the United Nations
Charter, the Helsinki Final Act of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other
relevant documents and decisions of the United
Nations and OSCE.
Currently, the GUUAM member States, located in
Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, are trying to
achieve greater integration into the world economy
and, to this end, are actively cooperating in creating
multidirectional transport corridors and in ensuring
their safety and security.
Within the framework of humanitarian
cooperation, we regard as very promising a GUUAM
initiative aimed at creating a Europe-Caucasus-Asia
cultural corridor, which would promote cooperation in
such areas as culture, science and education. Joint
projects in the area of tourism will also have a
significant role to play.
The United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) has actively assisted Azerbaijan in addressing
the development issues it faces. At the same time, the
Government of Azerbaijan is deeply concerned by the
continuing decrease in the core resources of UNDP.
Developing countries and economies in transition need
a strong UNDP that is able to provide effective
assistance in the most complex spheres of
development. The Government of Azerbaijan calls
upon donor countries to increase the financial base of
official development assistance, both multilaterally and
unilaterally. In distributing official development
assistance special attention should be paid to the needs
of African countries, the least developed countries, the
small island States and the landlocked States.
Azerbaijan places a great deal of hope in the
International Conference on Financing for
Development and the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, to be held in 2002. As a member of the
Commission on Sustainable Development, Azerbaijan
intends to make a constructive contribution to ensure
the success of these important events and to promote
the sustainable development of weak economies.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that we all
bear a tremendous responsibility. Today as never
before, we must act wisely and use our power and
resources not to escalate hatred and violence, but to
promote peace and justice, stability and the
development of our fragile planet.


Allow me to
congratulate the President, Mr. Han Seung-soo, on his
election and also to express my deep appreciation to
his predecessor, Mr. Holkeri, for his excellent work
during the past year.
The nations that constitute this Organization are
today attempting to draft a comprehensive convention
against terrorism, a difficult but absolutely necessary
task. We may not yet agree on how to define terrorism,
however the world, with a near unanimous voice,
condemned the 11 September events. The world
showed solidarity with the American people, the
United States Government, and President Bush. That
highlights a simple truth and a profound consensus, a
consensus that this was an act against humanity, a
consensus that this was a crime against the values we
hold dear as human beings and as societies, and a
consensus that justice must be done.
From the ruins of this tragedy there rises a
newborn moral strength, a clarion call to change this
world, a call to create a moral order, a world
community of values where a genuine sense of justice
can prevail. It is in our hands today — in fact it is our
responsibility to rise to this occasion, take a bold step
beyond our traditional rivalries and consolidate a new
spirit of cooperation. Let us make this a common fight
for humanity. To do so we need not abandon our
national interests. We do, however, need to place them
in a wider context, a world order based on common
practices, shared principles and global values. We must
go beyond rhetoric. That also means that our
responsibilities must reach beyond our borders.
Whether it be a child who is suffering from AIDS in
Africa, an Afghan refugee facing starvation, or a
human being discriminated against because of race, sex
or religion — these are today our shared
responsibilities. Whether it be our threatened
environment, the need for sustainable development, the
need for equal educational opportunities, access to the
Internet, or the inclusion of the poor in the fruits of
development — these are today our shared
responsibilities. Nuclear weapons proliferation,
weapons of mass destruction and the protection of
children in conflict situations — these also are today
our shared responsibilities. No events could have made
it clearer than did those we witnessed with horror on 11
September. We live in one world and no problem is
only our neighbour’s problem, it is also our problem.
That underlines the need for a universal response
to the challenges that the citizens of this global village
face. It underlines the need for standards concerning
principles and practices that guarantee justice — from
the Middle East to Cyprus, to Afghanistan and to
Kosovo. The need for these principles underlines the
pivotal role of the United Nations. I should like to
express our warm support, respect and gratitude for the
tireless efforts of Kofi Annan. Heartfelt congratulations
to him and to the Organization he represents, the
United Nations, on the award of this year’s Nobel
Peace Prize. It is a well-deserved accolade, an accolade
that carries with it a heightened sense of responsibility
to provide global governance in this globalized
world — a world of global problems and global
opportunities. Greece very much agrees with the words
of Louis Michel, speaking in his capacity as President
of the European Union, in support of the International
Criminal Court and the continued reform of the United
Nations.
Today in our search for justice on a global scale,
our challenge is to seek moral clarity. We must be able
to unite around what is right. The words “freedom”,
“democracy”, “human and minority rights”, “equality”,
“peaceful resolution of conflict”, “solidarity”,
“inclusion”, “open society”, “multiculturalism”,
“tolerance” and “biodiversity” must all become the
core of our common values. Yet there are different
interpretations and different practices in our world
concerning these concepts. In our search for a common
moral code we must not allow a clash of cultures. We
must seek a dialogue of cultures, and from this
dialogue of nations, cultures and religions, a common
moral code and order can and will emerge. The Charter
of the United Nations embodies these values. Our
5

challenge today is collectively to give practical
meaning to them. I should like to mention an important
step in recognizing and respecting the dignity and
diversity of our cultures in the world. Greece has tabled
a resolution on the return of cultural property.
Greece has always stood at a crossroads of
cultures. Our best moments have been when we used
that richness to learn. Today we are doing so again.
Greece is a member of the European Union and of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, yet its roots in the
East enrich us in equal measure. We are proud to be
European and Balkan and Mediterranean. We once
were a nation of emigrants and our diaspora has linked
us to all corners of the earth. Today we are a country
that welcomes immigrants. They make up more than 10
per cent of our population.
Ours is an open, multicultural society in the truest
sense of the word. We see and we understand the world
through many eyes. We understand that there are
different truths and different histories. Yet we approach
our traditions not as a wall that isolates us from each
other, but as depositories of knowledge and sources of
understanding and communication between cultures.
We believe that our histories cannot enslave us, they
must become our way of learning for the future.
This commitment to dialogue is also a
commitment to reach specific, practical results that will
enhance our region’s ability and the world
community’s capacity to establish well-respected
values and principles in dealing with world problems
such as terrorism. But in our fight against terrorism we
must uphold these principles, as they differentiate us
from those who use violence as their means. We must
also heed what the Secretary-General in his address
stressed. The problems we all shared prior to 11
September have not disappeared. However, I am
encouraged to report that we have made significant
strides in our own region of South-Eastern Europe. We
did so by committing ourselves to serve these values:
human and minority rights, democratic institutions,
good-neighbourly relations and the inviolability of
borders. We remain committed to the principle that
should differences and disagreements emerge, we will
seek to resolve them peacefully with respect to
international law. We have managed to establish the
framework of common values, one that will help us to
cooperate to solve our problems. Emerging from a state
of despair, the Balkans today represents a ray of hope
for all regions in conflict.
Of course there is much to do. Let me list the
priorities. We must turn provisional peace into
permanent peace. We can do so by resolving
outstanding bilateral issues. We must turn new-found
democracies into permanent and active democracies.
We can do so by building civic capacity and strong
transparent institutions that will guarantee the rule of
law. We must contain and eradicate organized crime, a
poison that runs through new-found democracies and is
often linked to terrorist networks. We must turn
opportunistic capital investment into entrepreneurial
initiatives and permanent business propositions that
provide youth with the prospect of a better and more
secure future. We must turn segregated communities
into multicultural societies, and we can do so by
investing in education. Greece has committed
resources, and of course its political will, to the above.
We cannot stop now. As a world community we must
continue and we must strengthen our investment in
people and in financial resources until our work is
complete.
Two years ago I stood before you here with my
Turkish colleague Ismail Cem, expressing the hope for
a new beginning in our relations, relations which
history seems to have frozen into constant rivalry and
conflict. Today I need not express only hope; I can
report that we have made significant progress. I have
just come from a meeting with my Turkish counterpart
where we signed a series of new agreements. Our
meetings have become frequent and regular. We work
together. We learn together. We help each other out in
times of difficulty and crisis. We have discovered the
importance of being good neighbours. We have started
to develop a common architecture of trust. The
products of our efforts are significant. We are
constantly adding confidence-building measures to
assure peace in the Aegean.
We have made a commitment to jointly become
parties to the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of
the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-
personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, and we
have taken steps to cooperate against natural disasters.
We are cooperating in the fight against crime, drug
trafficking, illegal migration and terrorism. We are
cooperating in tourism. Our trade has doubled. Energy
and agriculture have emerged as new fields of further
cooperation. Our two societies have taken the initiative
to commence and develop common economic, cultural,
educational and athletic activities.
6

These achievements stand as a reminder of the
response of our people after the earthquakes, when they
sent us a message saying:
“We have more in common than what separates
us; we are all equally vulnerable to pain and
suffering; equally capable of sympathy and
compassion; equally responsible for the life we
offer to the generations that are to follow.”
Again this year Greece and Turkey will jointly submit
a draft resolution on emergency disaster relief. Our
neighbour’s path towards the European Union, a path
we wholeheartedly support, has set a new framework
within which many of our remaining differences can be
resolved. Step by step we are building a solid
foundation.
Of course our work in the region is far from
complete. The architecture of trust we are building in
South-Eastern Europe is significantly hindered by the
situation in Cyprus, for the question of Cyprus remains
unresolved. The island remains divided in a shameful
condition. Cyprus is a tragic example of where our
shared sense of justice, our code of values, has gone
astray. Yet here is a new opportunity. Both the Greek
Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities could
benefit from the island’s membership in the European
Union. It is a win-win situation. I sincerely believe that
every Greek aspires to a solution on Cyprus that will
satisfy both communities, a solution imposed by no one
party and accepted by all. I believe that that is what
every citizen in neighbouring Turkey aspires to as well.
Our constant reference to United Nations
resolutions that clearly call for the creation of a
bizonal, bicommunal federation cannot be interpreted
as a desire for outside imposition — both communities
have suffered terribly from outside intervention. On the
contrary, this call expresses our deep belief in justice
for Cyprus, a sense of justice for both communities.
That is what the United Nations framework can
guarantee.
I therefore appeal to the Turkish leadership to use
that framework for a just solution. Let us not expand
the wall that divides the two communities in Cyprus to
divide Turkey from Europe. Let us instead break down
this last Berlin Wall in Europe and help to create a
common future for the citizens of a free Cyprus. To all
of us in the region, a region seeking to eliminate
division, the prospect of the island’s entrance into the
united European family should be a source of euphoria,
not fear.
If we do share a common moral order, a common
understanding of what is right and wrong, then the
Middle East peace process had come close to
articulating the principles we share. For the good of the
people in the region and its stability, that process must
continue until a Palestinian State lives peacefully next
to a secure Israel. That peace process must begin anew,
without preconditions, based on secure initial steps
through the implementation of the Mitchell report
recommendations. Greece, as both a member of the
European Union and a neighbour to the Middle East,
will commit its efforts in this crucial situation towards
the support of peace, rapprochement and reconciliation.
We also hope that the hardships of the people of
Iraq will cease and that the country will be fully
integrated into the world community under a leadership
that cooperates with the international community and
complies with United Nations resolutions. That is also
our stand with regard to Afghanistan. We look forward
to the day that its Government represents its people and
leads them closer to the world community. Here,
Greece has already committed substantial resources
towards alleviating the humanitarian problem of the
Afghanis.
At times when it is easy to succumb to fear we
must have the strength to build confidence within and
among our societies. We must be able to celebrate
humanity in this global village, to go beyond our
differences and conflicts. One such occasion is the
Olympic Games. They are an ancient tradition that
grew out of the need for peace in the ancient world of
Hellenism. Today the five rings of the Olympic Games,
which represent five continents, are the most
recognized symbol on this planet, surpassing any
commercial logo. Let us use this global celebration to
further strengthen our community of common values.
Let us again pledge our commitment to the Olympic
Truce which the Secretary-General has so strongly
supported and the Millennium Summit has called for.
Ismail Cem and I have only recently signed a
declaration to this effect. Many ministers of the
Balkans, Europe and the Mediterranean have followed.
I invite all to become co-signatories.
We see that Truce as a moment in time powerful
enough to change the world. During the ceasefire in
Bosnia the Olympic Truce helped the Red Cross to
7

vaccinate hundreds of children. The two Koreas
parading under the same flag at the Sydney Games was
a powerful moment, witnessed by millions around the
world. We see truce as a time to reflect. We see truce as
a moment of silence. We see truce as a time to
question, to examine what we believe. We see truce as
a time to heal our wounds. We can use this pause from
violence to celebrate and to rejoice, and we can use it
to mourn and to remember. In Salt Lake City we can
use it to honour all those unjustly lost. If our global
quest for peace is a journey of 1,000 miles, then truce
is but the small first step. But imagine how glorious the
rest of our journey can be if we celebrate humanity, if
we give peace a chance and commit ourselves to that
first step.


Let me first join
previous speakers in expressing our heartfelt
sympathies to the host country and to the bereaved
families for the loss of their loved ones in yesterday’s
disaster.
Ever since 11 September, the fight against
terrorism in all its forms has rightfully been at the top
of the agenda of the United Nations and of other
international organizations. On behalf of the
Government of Liechtenstein, I wish to pledge our full
support for international cooperation to combat
terrorism. A quick understanding has emerged that
multilateralism and international cooperation are the
only ways to successfully tackle the challenges we are
facing. Once again, the world has looked to the United
Nations for leadership in our common fight, and once
again the United Nations has delivered. We wish to pay
tribute to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He has
navigated this Organization in a most clever, capable
and visionary manner through turbulent times and
assiduously enhanced its standing in the international
arena. Right before the beginning of his second term as
Secretary-General the United Nations is a stronger and
more credible organization than ever. I wish to
congratulate the Secretary-General, and indeed the
entire Organization he heads, on being awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize. No one could be better placed to be
a voice of international legitimacy and to provide
leadership during the times ahead — and this is a
moment when leadership is most needed.
20

Both the General Assembly and the Security
Council have reacted with resolve and determination to
the attacks of 11 September. The Council took a bold
step in adopting its ground-breaking resolution 1373
(2001). We are indeed facing a new type of crisis and
the Security Council has designed a new type of
response. The delegation of Liechtenstein looks
forward to working closely with the Counter-Terrorism
Committee to fully implement the provisions of that
resolution. Given the novelty of the task, we appreciate
the difficulties and enormous workload the Committee
is facing. We also express our support for the
transparent manner and the spirit of cooperation and
dialogue which the Committee has displayed thus far in
carrying out its work. Benchmarking and best practices
are of the utmost importance in this context. High
standards of enforcement have to be developed and to
be applied uniformly to all actors, be they
Governments, banks, intermediaries, fiduciaries or
attorneys. We are committed to implementing
resolution 1373 (2001) as a whole, but will place
particular emphasis on its central aspects relating to the
financing of terrorism. We have all the necessary
instruments in place to make our contribution to
suppress and prevent the financing of terrorism.
Consequently, I signed on behalf of Liechtenstein the
Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism on 2 October this year. Our common effort
can only be successful if it is focused on our true goal
of stopping financial flows to terrorists and their
organizations. We must not, however, venture into
other areas of international financing under the guise of
fighting terrorism. In this context I wish to state very
clearly that bank secrecy as practised in Liechtenstein
never has provided and never will provide protection to
terrorists or their financial transactions.
If the fight against terrorism is to be a genuinely
common effort, it must include all of us. The General
Assembly, as the only all-inclusive organ of the United
Nations, must therefore play a significant role in our
efforts. We trust that the General Assembly will assert
its rightful place as the law-making body of the United
Nations by adopting a comprehensive convention
against terrorism to fill the gaps in the existing
framework of international law dealing with specific
aspects of terrorism.
The fight against terrorism is multifaceted and the
role of the United Nations must also cover a wide
range of topics, including what is often referred to as
the root causes of terrorism. Indeed, isolating the
extremists, exposing the perversity of their agenda, and
thus preventing more misguided and disenfranchised
people from joining a cause of insanity, is the only way
our fight will be successful in the long term. Poverty,
social exclusion and marginalization, and the lack of
basic education are key areas we must address. These
are, of course, by no means new topics on the agenda
of the United Nations, but we need to do more and we
need to do better. Informed and educated policy
changes are not concessions to the evil of terrorism.
Such thinking would lead to paralysis and inaction. It
is of crucial importance that the spirit of international
cooperation, rather than being selective and short-lived,
should prevail in our work on these essential issues.
The United Nations is further challenged on the
complex relationship between terrorism and human
rights. The promotion and protection of human rights
must not fall victim to the fight against terrorism.
Human rights are not a luxury that we can afford
during good times and dispense with in times of crisis.
Rather, they are the foundation upon which all our
activities must be based. Curtailing the existing human
rights standards in the name of the fight against
terrorism would mean giving up our most fundamental
values — the very values that those who commit
terrorist attacks are out to destroy. This we must not
allow to happen. The World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance was concluded on 8 September. I
had the honour to attend that event in my capacity as
Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe, which served as the regional preparatory
body for the Conference. After a most difficult and
complex process, the Conference was brought to a
successful end with probably the best achievable
outcome — the resolution of issues of both the past and
the present, and a global anti-discrimination agenda
within which we all can work.
The difficulties of the Durban Conference are
reflected in the still ongoing debate on remaining
technical, but important, details. The necessary
political will should be mustered as soon as possible so
that the message from Durban can reach people
worldwide. The events of 11 September have given
additional significance to this message, since racism
and intolerance can be both cause and consequence of
terrorism. One of our most difficult new challenges in
our fight against racism is to prevent discrimination
21

against people because of their affiliation with certain
ethnic groups.
There are those who interpret the events of 11
September as a fulfilment of a predicted clash of
civilizations. They are wrong. Those who committed
the attacks do not represent a civilization or religion;
they believe only in terror, violence and destruction.
They are just criminals. Their acts were not an attack
on a civilization; they were an attack on, and a crime
against, humanity. But, of course, nothing would serve
their intentions better than a clash of civilizations. The
United Nations is therefore challenged to prevent such
a clash. The International Year of Dialogue among
Civilizations serves as a useful reminder of what the
United Nations has always stood for.
Terrorism cannot be fought only with military
measures and international judicial cooperation. Only
by going beyond these obvious measures can we be
successful in the long term. We must change the
collective conscience and awareness of all societies
and teach our children the futility and the dangers of
resorting to violence as a means of dealing with
conflicts. Terrorists utilize the most extreme forms of
violence. Therefore, they must be effectively excluded
from society. They must be outlawed. It must be
unacceptable for terrorists to establish themselves as
political players by resorting to violence and by
indiscriminately attacking civilians.
This unified stance against terrorism must, in
turn, be accompanied by our willingness to engage in a
peaceful dialogue with those who advocate legitimate
political causes, difficult as that may seem. Only by
ensuring that communities and entities are not
oppressed, and that they are given room to voice their
concerns, can we eventually eradicate terrorism. In this
context it is important that the international community
develop mechanisms that allow for such a dialogue to
take place, based on an agreed framework and existing
standards of international law. We must not accept
terrorism as a fact of life, but believe in our collective
ability to eradicate it. That goal may seem distant or
even unrealistic, but so did the goal of eradicating
slavery in the nineteenth century and fascism in the
twentieth century. It is now up to all of us to free
ourselves from terrorism, the scourge of the twenty-
first century.


Although the global
economic situation has improved considerably, it is
still fragile. Much of the relief has come from the
massive liquidity that has been pumped into the global
financial system by national Governments. That bought
us time to restructure our economies and correct the
underlying imbalances that led to the crisis in the first
place.
 Whether the restructuring is happening fast
enough is, however, still an open question. The
economist Joseph Schumpeter viewed economic
downturns as the system renewing itself, a process he
described as creative destruction. In theory, that sounds
good. In practice, it is difficult for political leaders to
stand idly by when companies go bust and jobs are
lost. Everyone likes the creative part. Destruction,
however, can mean losing an election, which
politicians invariably try to avoid.
 The repricing of production factors such as real
estate and labour is politically sensitive in any country,
and Governments get blamed for it. Adjusting relative
factor costs through the exchange rate is usually easier
to achieve, although currency devaluation can create

17 10-55264

other problems such as inflation. The argument over
fair exchange rates in the world today reflects
competing domestic pressures to ease the pain of
restructuring in different countries. Thus the United
States wants China to revalue the yuan renminbi, while
China protests that it is being blamed for the economic
weaknesses of other countries.
 Of course, if the whole world were to use the
same currency, the only way countries would be able to
adjust would be through improved productivity and
repricing. Exchange rate adjustments can facilitate
structural adjustment, provided that the deeper
economic problems are also tackled. With the world
becoming multipolar, global macroeconomic
coordination has become more complicated.
Recognizing the inability of the Group of Seven or the
Group of Eight to achieve such coordination, the
Group of 20 (G-20) was formed two years ago when
the global economy stared into an abyss after the
collapse of Lehman Brothers. Without the G-20 acting
in concert, the economic crisis could well have led to a
global depression. The G-20 — the members of which
collectively account for some 85 per cent of total
global gross domestic product — is therefore a vital
grouping in the community of nations.
 Going forward, the G-20 has to go beyond the
reform of international financial institutions and better
coordination of fiscal, monetary and exchange rate
policies. Without fundamental restructuring of the real
economy, we may experience a double dip. Without
fundamental restructuring, increased liquidity in the
global system will end up creating new asset bubbles,
some of which we already see forming in Asia. For this
restructuring to take place, the international trading
system must be kept open. Only then can markets make
adjustments and prices find their right levels. In
fighting protectionism in all its forms, the leadership of
the G-20 is critical. If, for lack of political will, the
G-20 is unable to avert the crisis of a second dip, crisis
will in the end force it to act, and by then it will be at
much greater human cost to all of us.
 For precisely that reason, we must not allow
interest in the Doha Development Agenda to flag.
When the Doha Round was launched in November
2001, a key consideration was development. For many
of us who were in Doha during the negotiations, the
Millennium Development Goals were uppermost in our
minds. I remember Tanzanian trade minister Iddi
Simba insisting, on behalf of the African, Caribbean
and Pacific countries, that the word “development” be
explicitly incorporated into the name of the new round.
 It has been 10 years since the Millennium
Development Goals were launched. While some
countries have done well, many others have not. The
G-20 countries must take into account, in their
deliberations, the interest of all countries, not only of
their own. The G-20, which together accounts for
80 per cent of international trade, has to play a
leadership role in breaking the current impasse in the
Doha negotiations. In particular, we must ensure that
the needs of developing countries, especially the needs
of the least developed countries (LDCs), are met.
Freeing up agricultural trade, for example, will make a
huge difference to their welfare.
 With those concerns in mind, a loose grouping of
countries calling itself the Global Governance Group,
or 3G, was established more than a year ago. Its
objectives were spelled out in a document circulated to
the Members of the United Nations on 1 March. The
basic stance of the Group is to support the work of the
G-20 and hold it accountable to the general
membership of the United Nations. Permanent
Representatives within the 3G Group meet regularly in
New York, including before and after G-20 meetings,
to present views and make suggestions, which are
circulated to everyone at the United Nations.
Depending on the subjects discussed, we invite
individual members of the G-20 to join us at our
meetings. For example, in preparation for the coming
G-20 Summit in Seoul, the 3G Group had several
meetings with senior Korean officials, including their
G-20 “Sherpa”, to convey some of our views and
concerns.
 A major concern of the countries of the Group is
development. In this regard, we have prepared inputs
to be submitted to the G-20 working group on
development. It is good that both Korea as the current
Chair of the G-20 and France as the incoming Chair are
pushing development on the agenda.
 Let us be clear at the outset that development is
not principally about aid. Whether a people is able to
lift itself from the depths of poverty depends more on
internal than external factors. Good governance is, of
course, paramount. Investing in the inherent potential
of citizens and creating a favourable environment for
that potential to be realized are central to good
governance. We would like to commend President

10-55264 18

Deiss on his decision to make “Reaffirming the central
role of the United Nations in global governance” the
theme of this General Assembly. It is most timely.
 A critical element in good governance is
education. With education, individuals are able to
acquire the information and knowledge they need to
add value to the world. Aid that helps a people to build
up its internal strength is valuable. Aid that creates
dependency is harmful. With education, a citizenry is
more able to insist on democratic safeguards against
the abuse of power and corruption. Taking full
advantage of globalization and information technology,
we can now spread education into remote corners of
the world.
 One of the most important developments in the
world today is the widespread availability of cheap
mobile phones, often with built-in cameras. Mobile
phones have altered traditional power relationships
everywhere where they are available. No longer can
individuals be kept ignorant and exploited for long,
because they have alternatives. As smart phones fall in
price — which they are bound to do — social
networking infrastructures like Facebook, which
already has half a billion users in the world, will
radically change the world we live in. Without being
planned for or financed by any national Government,
Facebook is arguably the most important social
infrastructure in the world today. It is an astonishing
phenomenon. Yet, it is only one wave of many more
waves to come.
 Whether we like it or not, the revolution in
technology — not only information technology but also
in genetics, material science and other fields — will
cause the creative destruction that many politicians
dread. Communities and Governments that work with
technological change will surge ahead, while those
fighting change will be left behind. In this new age,
those who are wedded to dogma and ideology become
stuck in the past. Therefore, when we talk about
development, the key is education.
 We must make sure that basic conditions are met,
that children are fed and healthy and that no group is
discriminated against on the basis of ethnicity, religion
or gender. The knowledge needed for development is
already available in the world, and delivery systems
can be readily put into place.
 Unfortunately, there are many obstacles impeding
the flow of knowledge. Protectionism is a major
obstacle. It slows the spread of education and
knowledge. Throughout history, every time a new trade
route is established, knowledge flows along it, enabling
the relatively backward to catch up. Our inability to
move the Doha Development Agenda forward is
particularly injurious to LDCs.
 An important way to help communities acquire
more knowledge and use information better is to foster
the growth of liveable cities. To develop, countries
have to urbanize, and in the coming decades large parts
of the world will be urbanized on every continent.
China during Mao Zedong’s time was 20 per cent
urban. Today, it is almost half urban. In 20 years’ time
it will reach the same level of urbanization as Taiwan
or countries like Korea and Japan, which are over 90
per cent urban.
 Urbanization as an organic process of
development can be healthy or unhealthy. Cities can be
energy-efficient, knowledge-intensive centres of
production, education and sustainable living, or they
can be hellholes festering with poor education,
unemployment, inequality, crime and pollution.
Because of the specific challenges that we had to
overcome in our own development, Singapore has been
promoting the sharing of urban developmental
experiences as a practical way to help countries
develop in areas such as public administration,
low-cost housing, water management, transportation
planning and better logistics. Developing countries that
are urbanizing rapidly — and they have to do so in
order to develop — should not have to repeat the
mistakes of those who have gone before them.
 All of us have a vested interest in the growth of
liveable cities in the third world. For example, carbon
emissions cannot be reduced without healthy
urbanization. We hope that fostering liveable cities will
become a major objective of the G-20 countries. The
best form of aid we can provide is knowledge and
training. Two years ago, Singapore signed an
agreement with the World Bank to establish an urban
hub for the dissemination of knowledge about liveable
cities.
 A basic requirement for healthy urban
development is good water management, which has
become a major challenge in various parts of the
world. We should do much more to learn from one
another’s experiences, especially in the face of growing
weather volatility. Last Friday, Slovenia convened a

19 10-55264

Green Group meeting involving a small group of
countries to discuss the subject of water management,
which we hope will be given more attention in the
future.
 Despite the concerns about the global economy,
never before have the prospects of bringing
development into every continent been so promising.
This is not to say that outcomes will be equalized.
Human beings as individuals and in groups are
competitive by nature, and we must expect that some
will do better than others at any point in time. Indeed,
by learning from the successes and mistakes of front-
runners, human communities often leapfrog over one
another, and this is a historical process. Competition,
however, should be conducted in a civilized way and
within an overall global framework and value system
that recognizes our global humanity and destiny.


I would
like to begin by extending my warmest congratulations
to you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency at the
sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly. I have
every confidence that under your distinguished
leadership this session will indeed yield fruitful results.
May I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to
Secretary-General Ban Ki moon. We deeply appreciate
his wholehearted commitment and selfless dedication
to the noble and lofty goals of this august
Organization.
 Since their launch in 2000, we have made
headway towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). Yet progress varies
greatly across regions and countries and is uneven in
terms of targets. Among other things, maternal and
child health warrants our special attention as the most
off-track goal in most regions. Indeed, improving
maternal and child health is the best investment we can
make to carry momentum over to all other closely
related goals. In view of the importance it attaches to
this goal, the Republic of Korea has joined the Group
of 8 Muskoka Initiative for Maternal, Newborn and
Child Health. Furthermore, Korea fully supports the
Secretary-General’s pursuit of the Global Strategy for
Women’s and Children’s Health, and it welcomes the
enthusiasm of all stakeholders for this important
initiative, as was demonstrated at this week’s meeting.
 With only five years remaining until 2015, the
prospects for meeting the MDGs are not altogether
encouraging. It is high time for the international
community to renew its resolve and galvanize global
efforts to achieve these vast and meaningful goals. I
earnestly hope that, when we gather again in 2013 to
review progress, we will find that implementation of
the commitments at the High-level Meeting held earlier
this week exceeds our most optimistic expectations.
 We must bear in mind that the success of the
MDGs hinges on honouring development commitments
and redoubling efforts to strengthen global partnership.
In full recognition of this, the Republic of Korea has
embarked on a midterm plan to triple its official
development assistance (ODA) budget over the next
five years to 0.25 per cent of gross national income,
despite tight financial constraints.
 As a new Member of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development Assistance
Committee, Korea is seeking to improve the quality of
its development assistance by undertaking far-reaching
reforms in its ODA system. Last year, basic laws on
ODA were enacted as the first step forward. Korea will
also align its development policy to reflect the actual
needs of the recipient countries and encourage their
taking ownership. With its unique experience of fast
economic and social development, Korea will do its
utmost to play a bridging role between the donor and
recipient countries.
 Next year, Korea will host the Fourth High-Level
Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan. The Korean

31 10-55109

Government will make every possible effort to ensure
that this forum serves to map out a new direction for
international development cooperation that can address
evolving global needs.
 It is indeed our common belief that development
cooperation is an investment for all. A sustainable and
balanced world economy requires us to narrow down
the persistent development gap. This is the shared goal
of the Group of 20 (G-20) and the United Nations. The
G-20 leaders have agreed to place development as a
crucial new item on the agenda for the upcoming G-20
summit in Seoul this November. The G-20
development agenda will concentrate on building
capacity to promote economic growth in the
developing world. In this way, the Group of 20 is
expected to complement the ongoing development
agenda, including the MDGs.
 Global financial safety nets will be another new
agenda item at the Seoul summit. Robust and reliable
global financial safety nets are vital, especially for
developing countries, which are most vulnerable to
volatile global capital flows. The Seoul summit will
focus on faithful implementation of the previous
agreements, which will help to bring back the stability
of the global market at an early date. Leaders will
continue to coordinate their policies for a strong,
sustainable and balanced growth of the world economy.
Reforms of international financial institutions and
financial regulations will also be central to the
discussion at the G-20 summit.
 As the G-20 President this year, Korea is
committed to ensuring a successful outcome for the
summit, one that will contribute to overcoming the
current crisis and to working out the post-crisis
management of the world economy.
 In discussing economic growth, particular
emphasis must be placed on green growth. Indeed, this
lies at the heart of sustainable development. In an
effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Korea has set
a voluntary reduction target of 30 per cent against the
business-as-usual levels by 2020. Together, we will
gradually shift the growth paradigm from an energy-
intensive to a green growth economy.
 As part of the efforts to promote the green growth
strategy in the international community, we launched
the Global Green Growth Institute last June. We hope
that this institute will become an integral part of the
global endeavour to move towards sustainable
development as Korea strives to share green growth
vision and assistance with developing countries.
 On the peace and security front, peacekeeping
operations have become the most visible and defining
feature of the United Nations. The increasing demand
and growing complexity of peacekeeping operations
call for continuous improvement in the operation of the
missions.
 Strategic goals should be set more clearly. The
troops should be deployed more swiftly. Operations
should be conducted in a more professional and
disciplined way. To this end, all stakeholders, including
troop-contributing countries and financial contributors,
should focus on close coordination and cooperation.
 The Republic of Korea has been a committed
contributor to United Nations peacekeeping efforts.
Korea dispatched 240 contingent troops this year alone
to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti to
help rebuild the country shaken by a tragic earthquake.
Currently, some 650 Korean soldiers are serving in
11 peacekeeping missions, including the United
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. We believe that our
newly enacted law on participation in peacekeeping
operations will further enhance our response capacity
in United Nations peacekeeping and peacebuilding
operations.
 One of the most urgent security challenges today
is the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
their means of delivery. It is imperative to further
strengthen international disarmament and
non-proliferation regimes built around the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
 In this regard, Korea welcomes the adoption of
the Final Document at the 2010 NPT Review
Conference in May. We trust that this hard-won
achievement will lay the groundwork for future
progress in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
 The nexus between weapons of mass destruction
and terrorism also poses a grave risk to global security.
With this shared understanding, the leaders at the
Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington, D.C.,
last April recognized the potentially catastrophic
consequences of nuclear terrorism and committed to
strengthening nuclear security. It was agreed that
concrete steps for securing nuclear materials should be
taken to prevent them from falling into the hands of
terrorists. We look forward to follow-up discussions on

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nuclear security at the second Nuclear Security
Summit, which is to be held in Korea in 2012.
 In August, President Lee Myung-bak of the
Republic of Korea proposed a new vision of the
peaceful reunification of Korea, which will serve to
stabilize inter-Korean relations and ultimately bring
about a reunified Korea. To make this vision reality, we
will work earnestly to build three communities: a peace
community to ensure security and peace on the Korean
peninsula; an economic community to develop North
Korea’s economy and eventually achieve inter-Korean
economic integration; and a community of the Korean
nation which will ensure the dignity, freedom and
human rights of all individuals.
 However, this vision for peaceful reunification is
not without obstacles. Sixty years after the outbreak of
the Korean War in 1950, there still remain threats to
peace on the Korean peninsula. A case in point is the
sinking of the Republic of Korea’s naval vessel, the
Cheonan, by a North Korean torpedo attack on
26 March this year. The international community sent a
firm and unified message to North Korea by adopting
the Security Council presidential statement of 9 July.
North Korea must take responsibility for its
unprovoked attack and refrain from any further
provocations.
 The biggest obstacle in our path towards a peace
community is the resolution of the North Korean
nuclear issue. Unless North Korea forgoes its nuclear
weapons programme, no sustainable peace can be
achieved on the Korean peninsula and beyond.
 Through the adoption of Security Council
resolutions 1718 (2006) and 1874 (2009), the
international community urged North Korea to abandon
all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes
in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. In
order to secure the lifting of sanctions and the ending
of isolation, North Korea should make the strategic
decision to live up to its commitments to
denuclearization. A nuclear-free North Korea would
also open the way to saving its people from the current
miserable human rights and humanitarian situation.
 Last year, on this very occasion, President Lee
proposed the “grand bargain” initiative: a single
comprehensive agreement that encompasses all steps
for North Korea’s denuclearization and the five parties’
corresponding measures. Together with the
international community, we will work tirelessly to
persuade North Korea to make the right choice — a
choice that will ensure a better future for both its
country and its people. Once North Korea demonstrates
genuine change in its behaviour and attitude, my
Government is prepared to engage in meaningful
dialogue and cooperation with North Korea.
 We are witnessing many global challenges that
are testing the international community. These
challenges cannot be addressed by one country alone or
even by a group of countries. They summon us as
global citizens to fulfil a common purpose. They call
on the United Nations to assume the mantle of global
leadership. In order to effectively address the
increasingly diverse and interconnected challenges, the
United Nations should heighten its reform efforts
aimed at broadening its operational response capacity.
 The launch of UN Women is a clear testimony to
the world community’s efforts towards this end. Korea
commends that historic move to step up progress in
meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide. UN
Women will greatly contribute to enhancing system-
wide coherence, bringing together resources and
mandates for greater impact. We also welcome the
recent appointment of Michelle Bachelet at its helm.
 Furthermore, the upcoming review of the Human
Rights Council represents an excellent opportunity to
muster our collective efforts to make the Council more
effective and efficient at fulfilling the promises we
made at its establishment. The Republic of Korea looks
forward to working closely with the international
community in this joint effort.
 No reform of the United Nations can be complete
without Security Council reform. It is crucial that the
Council be more representative, effective and
accountable. To this end, the Republic of Korea will
continue to play a constructive role in finding the
widest possible agreement on the major issues relating
to Council reform.
 The challenges facing the United Nations are
formidable. We may succeed in some endeavours and
not in others, but we should not forget that the United
Nations is the best source of hope for many who are
suffering from armed conflicts, extreme poverty and
human rights abuses across the globe. The Republic of
Korea remains fully committed to playing its due part
in the efforts of the United Nations to translate those
hopes into reality.


I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on your
brilliant election to the presidency of the sixty-fifth
session of the General Assembly. That election is a sign
of the unanimous recognition of your personal
commitment to promote the role of this Organization
and to defend its ideals. It is also the crowning moment
in a talented diplomatic career that you have led with
skill and tact. It is therefore to you as a skilled
diplomat that I would like to pay warm homage.
 It is also my pleasure to express to your
predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki,
my delegation’s appreciation for the quality of the
work he undertook and the results achieved under his
presidency. Finally, allow me to pay tribute to the
Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his personal
commitment and tireless efforts to support peace and
development throughout the world. Furthermore, I
wish to convey my deep gratitude to him as well as the
gratitude of His Excellency Mr. Laurent Gbagbo,
President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, as well as
that of the people and Government of Côte d’Ivoire for
his commitment to reach a settlement of the crisis in
Côte d’Ivoire.
 By proposing the theme of reaffirming the United
Nations central role in global governance for this
session, Mr. President, you celebrate the primacy of
multilateralism over unilateralism as a method for
managing global affairs in the best possible manner.
Moreover, you are transforming our Organization into
the forum of choice for dealing with issues of global
concern. That vision is, without any doubt, in line with
that of developing countries in general and my country,
Côte d’Ivoire, in particular and can only take shape if
the United Nations retains its credibility by adapting to
an international context that has considerably changed
since its founding in 1945. This requires urgent and
thorough reform, because we believe that our
Organization has resisted the widespread changes in
the world that it was established to serve.
 Because the United Nations is at the crossroads
of all of the world’s problems, it is here that we can
fully assess what has happened since it was founded.
This is the appropriate place to assess the progress
achieved as well as the failings. It is also here that we
can envisage solutions to problems that now confront
the world. Those issues include poverty, which is the
source of all evils, and which remains an open wound
on humanity, which continues to make progress to the
point where it is already considering human
settlements on the moon. But unfortunately, at the same
time, humanity is forgetting that more than a billion
men and women across the planet Earth suffer from
hunger. Women’s lives are lost as they give life.
Millions of children die before reaching the age of 5,
and access to drinking water is limited in Africa. The
AIDS epidemic and the malaria epidemic kill more
people than all the wars combined. If the world is
powerless, the United Nations must be adapted to
provide proper responses to those imbalances, because
there are not two worlds, there is just one world, which
is our common heritage. Managing that world must be
done in a joint manner, and it must be shared equitably.
The United Nations must demonstrate the example and
show the path forward.
 In that regard, my country’s position has
remained unchanged. For Côte d’Ivoire, that long-
sought reform must aim for balance in the main bodies
of the United Nations, including in particular a larger
Security Council and improvement in its working
methods. That is why my delegation places much hope
in the successful outcome of the intergovernmental
negotiations that were launched by the General
Assembly on reform of the Organization in general and
the Security Council in particular.
 This session of the Assembly is taking place at a
moment when the global economy is beginning a
fragile recovery, following the most serious economic
crisis the world has faced since the Great Depression of
the 1930s. That crisis has shown, and indeed has
exacerbated, the vulnerability of integrated world
economies, ruined development efforts and threatened
collective security. Many countries, mainly developing
countries, are continuing to suffer the effects of the

9 10-55396

crisis through a drop in the purchasing power of their
people, the growing shortage of official development
assistance, falling foreign direct investment and growth
in unemployment.
 If, as the experts tell us, the global economy has
begun to recover this year, it nevertheless continues to
be fragile, with a growth rate of a mere 2.2 per cent. In
such a situation, we must seek, in solidarity and by
combining our efforts, the most appropriate solutions
to consolidate that tendency to growth. Meeting that
fundamental requirement will allow us to establish
throughout the world societies that are safer, more
equitable, more inclusive and more stable.
 My delegation therefore calls on the
industrialized countries to make a reality of their
commitments with regard to developing countries,
especially in terms of official development assistance,
if the developing countries are to reach the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
 Côte d’Ivoire also hopes to see the diligent
implementation of the conclusions of the United
Nations Conference on the World Financial and
Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development,
which was held here from 24 to 26 June 2009,
particularly those calling for reform and strengthening
of the financial and economic system and of the
international financial architecture in order to adapt
them to current difficulties.  It also desires that
that reform should not only allow developing countries
in general and those of Africa in particular to have
more adequate representation in international financial
institutions, but should also promote economic and
financial policies that are better adapted to their needs.
 Along those lines, I would like to pay tribute to
the summit of the Group of Eight (G-8) held in June
2010 in Muskoka, Canada, which reaffirmed, inter alia,
the commitments of the G-8 with regard to official
development assistance and the guarantee of aid
effectiveness. It called for the effective mobilization of
all public and private resources for the achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals. It also
emphasized the urgent need for collective action to
achieve the MDGs, particularly improvement in
maternal health and reduction of infant mortality.
 On that specific point, my delegation would like
to welcome the creation within the United Nations
system of UN Women, a special body responsible for
gender issues and the advancement of women. That
new body and the establishment of a trust fund to
support initiatives for women is a real cause for hope
for developing countries, particularly those in Africa,
in their struggle against poverty, discrimination and
social inequalities.  In that connection, I wish to
warmly congratulate Ms. Michelle Bachelet on her
appointment to head UN Women and assure her of the
full cooperation of the authorities of Côte d’Ivoire in
fulfilling her mandate.
 Food insecurity, which now affects more than
1 billion people, mainly in developing countries, is a
major and immediate obstacle to development and a
threat to world peace and security.
 In the face of that situation, for which the entire
international community is responsible, we need to
find innovative, effective and lasting solutions in terms
of financing for agriculture. My delegation welcomes
the efforts being made by the World Bank, regional
development banks and the specialized funds and
agencies of the United Nations for financing the
agricultural sector. Similarly, it welcomes the launching
in 2009 of the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, which
allowed the G-8 to mobilize $22 billion to finance
agriculture in developing countries over a period of
three years.
 The delegation of Côte d’Ivoire welcomes,
finally, the reform under way of the Committee on
World Food Security and the launching of the Global
Agriculture and Food Security Programme.
 Similarly, I would like to recall the proposals
made by President Laurent Gbagbo, at the meeting of
the Group of 77 and China that was held in June 2008
at Yamoussoukro, to set up a mutual support
mechanism for providing food products to importing
countries by producing countries while aiming to
create in the United Nations a stabilization fund for
food products.
 Climate change is rightly seen as a global
problem and today represents a serious threat to
humankind’s equilibrium. It therefore requires clear
and committed responses at the international level.
Thus it is important that we rapidly find solutions that
can ensure that future generations will have a world
that is better balanced and guarantees a better future
for humankind.
 In that regard, the delegation of Côte d’Ivoire
welcomes the significant progress of the United

10-55396 10

Nations Conference on Climate Change, held from 7 to
18 December 2009 in Copenhagen. Although the
principle of a legally binding accord to succeed the
Kyoto Protocol after 2012 was not reached, the hopes
promoted by that meeting largely justified its being
held. Moreover, the significant progress achieved
confirms us in that opinion.
 Among the advances made we would mention,
inter alia, the consensus on the goals for stabilizing the
temperature rise at 2°C, the creation of a mechanism to
mobilize financial resources for the absorption of
greenhouse gas emissions by forests, and the
commitment of developed countries to provide
$30 billion for the period 2010 to 2012, and $100
billion as of 2020 for measures to adapt to climate
change in developing countries.
 The diligent implementation of those measures
should allow vulnerable States such as my own to
establish plans to combat climate change, which is
becoming increasingly evident throughout the world in
an upsurge in natural disasters related to drought,
flooding and coastal erosion. The effects of all of those
events on the health of populations and on the
availability of land and potable water compromise the
economic and social development of many States that
have already been weakened by poverty and
pandemics. The United Nations, in line with its
Charter, has the duty to carry out the negotiations that
were begun in Copenhagen and must work resolutely to
that end.
 Respect for human rights is a concern for my
country, which has endorsed the set of international
instruments in that regard. Though it was affected by
the socio-political crisis, the human rights situation in
my country is today on a path to normalization, thanks
especially to the valuable help of national and
international non-governmental organizations involved
in that area. The international community could see
that on 3 December 2009 in Geneva, when the Working
Group on the universal periodic review took up Côte
d’Ivoire. That review led to the adoption on 18 March
2010 of a final report that earned my country the
support and encouragement of the States members of
the Human Rights Council for our stated will to pursue
efforts to improve human rights.
 The persistence of numerous armed conflicts
around the world continues to threaten international
peace and security. Once again, the role of the United
Nations is vital to resolving those conflicts, which are
hindering the harmonious development of the world.
That is particularly true in Africa, a region that, shaken
by hotbeds of tension, cannot ensure its peaceful
economic and social development, despite its enormous
potential.
 In that regard, allow me to stress how happy we
are that the peace so much hoped for is now a reality in
Côte d’Ivoire, following the implementation of the
Ouagadougou Political Agreement, which will permit
the organization of free, transparent and open elections.
The first round of presidential elections has been set
for 31 October 2010. Besides setting that date, the
signing on 9 September 2010 of a presidential decree
finalizing the ballot list allows for the distribution of
national identity and voting cards to the 5,725,720
Ivorians who are on the list that has been validated by
the Independent Electoral Commission and the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
 Those signs of progress in the peace process and
the proven determination of political players and the
Ivorian people to move towards free, open and
transparent elections allow us to envisage, with
optimism, the holding of the presidential election on
the appointed date and thus of Côte d’Ivoire emerging
from its crisis.
 On that hopeful note, I would like to conclude by
recalling that the various crises of security, food,
energy and finances, compounded by the threat of
climate change, demonstrate the extent to which in the
existence, balance and future development of humanity
are now threatened more than ever. In that context the
United Nations has a crucial role to play in
strengthening indispensable international solidarity and
in seeking effective, collective and appropriate
solutions to those crises and challenges.
 However, to be fully engaged with its time and to
remain true to the objectives of its founding 65 years
ago, the United Nations must adapt to the realities of
the contemporary world if it wants to remain the
guarantor of international peace and security and of the
world’s socio-economic development. To that end, we
must strengthen the foundations of this Organization
and — as the theme of this session invites us to do —
reaffirm its central role in global governance. Côte
d’Ivoire therefore calls for international solidarity so
that our common Organization may find the necessary

11 10-55396

solutions to offer to coming generations the hope of a
fruitful and peaceful future.


On behalf of the people and Government of Honduras,
I wish to recognize Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki for his
leadership during the previous session. I also
congratulate President Joseph Deiss on his election to
the Assembly presidency and the Secretary-General,
Ban Ki-moon, on his wise leadership of our
Organization.
 In this same house of the peoples of the United
Nations, at the world summit on the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), our President, Porfirio
Lobo Sosa, highlighted the faith that our country has in
this Organization and in its Charter for achieving a
world that is more peaceful, prosperous and fair (see
A/65/PV.3). As a founding Member of the United
Nations and a peace-loving country, we reaffirm our
obligations. As we have been working, ceaselessly and
together with many other Member States, since the
birth of the Organization, we will continue to work to
fully realize the ideals enshrined in the San Francisco
Charter.
 Honduras — which is geographically small but
great of spirit and generous in its democratic and
peaceful vocation — has involved itself in the world,
basing itself on the principles of equal rights, self-
determination for peoples and non-interference in
internal affairs.
 The imperative of promoting economic and social
progress for all nations moves us to acknowledge that
the MDGs have been a first step in the right direction.
We agree with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the
Millennium Goals are not easy, but they are achievable.
However, the struggle against poverty requires
additional efforts that recognize the fact that we have a
collective responsibility to protect and share what the
President of Honduras has called global common
goods, including solidarity.
 Another global good should be the prudent
management of our economies. The financial crises
have proven that that responsibility does not fall just to
the developing countries. It is so important that,
according to the World Bank, the recent crises in food,
fuel and finances have sunk an additional 64 million
human beings into poverty. Such crises can make our
efforts to fight poverty more difficult or even
impossible.
 The opening of trade and of financial systems is
another global good. Access to international markets is
as important as official development assistance itself,
although it does not replace it. We must add efforts to
enable foreign direct investment in our developing
nations; access to technology, in particular technology
having to do with medications; the reduction of
greenhouse gases; and the non-proliferation of nuclear
weapons.
 The challenge of achieving the Millennium
Development Goals before 2015 in a manner as
responsible as possible lies with our Government.
Given the results already achieved and what remains to
be done, President Lobo Sosa has launched an appeal
to start talks as soon as possible on a new global
agreement that will guide our actions and goals after
2015.
 We firmly believe that poverty is not only the
shortage of material goods, but also the lack of
opportunities. That is why we are committed to respect
for human dignity, the common good, support and
human solidarity. Those four principles are not just a
moral imperative; in the case of Honduras, they are a
national imperative.
 In that regard, with broad consultation with civil
society, the political parties and other independent
sectors, we adopted a country vision and national plan
that sets out four focal points for achieving our
national goals, inspired by the Millennium
Development Goals: a Honduras without poverty,
educated and healthy, with robust social welfare
systems; a Honduras that is developing in democracy,
with security and without violence, with absolute
respect for human rights; a productive Honduras that
generates opportunities and decent jobs, that
sustainably exploits its resources and that reduces
environmental vulnerability; and a modern,
transparent, responsible, efficient and competitive
State, with fully independent branches of government.
 The cohesion of our society, unity, reconciliation,
governance, coexistence and peace all depend on
achieving that. That is why we are engaged in building

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an inclusive society, since no country is so poor that it
cannot show solidarity with those that are even poorer.
 Our first commitment is to helping people in
extreme poverty through the “Bono 10,000”
programme. Bono 10,000 is a credit programme that
will greatly strengthen family economics and,
furthermore, is conditional on steps to improve the
access of the most vulnerable Hondurans to education,
health care and nutrition through the broad
dissemination of the School Snack scheme and other
food security programmes.
 We are strengthening the decentralization
processes and improving citizen participation in the
making, implementation, monitoring and assessment of
public policies. We are also addressing social
inequality by creating economic opportunities at the
local level.
 Productive programmes, such as the United States
Millennium Challenge Corporation in Honduras, have
had a huge impact on the recipients, resulting in a very
significant increase in the income of the farmers
participating in the programme. With the same aim of
generating greater income for families, we have
launched a programme to finance microbusinesses and
small enterprises, thanks to the cooperation
programmes of the European Union, Japan and Taiwan,
as well as all those countries that are extending the
hand of solidarity to our people.
 In all those programmes, women are a particular
target of our Government’s efforts because we know
that, along with the fight against poverty, we must
combat gender inequality.
 While we work at the local and community
levels, we are also promoting private investment. The
purpose is to create decent jobs for more than 200,000
young people who join the labour market annually. The
Government of Honduras bases the successful
implementation of its social agenda on a social market
economy.
 With those premises in mind, our Government
has drawn up a national programme to promote
investment for the period 2010 to 2014 in six main
sectors: industries generating more and better jobs,
agro-food and forestry production, clean generation of
energy, tourism development, infrastructure to support
manufacturing, and water and sanitation. We will
develop those programmes within the new framework
of the law on public-private partnerships, the law on
rural and marginal urban employment, a new law on
clean energy and the law on promoting and protecting
investments.
 With such efforts, a new era is opening in
Honduras with the creation of conditions so that
private business can boost sustained economic growth
with social responsibility and the country is guided
towards prosperity and stability.
 Honduras is ready to better address the challenges
of reducing its vulnerability to natural disasters and
climate change. The law on land management makes it
possible to utilize and protect the land properly, with
responsible management of the natural resources. At
the same time, we have launched a national risk
management system.
 Efforts to improve the social situation and to
boost economic growth must be based on a legal and
institutional foundation. There is a strong link between
individual freedom and political stability with
economic growth and social justice. Higher rates of
economic growth that are sustainable over time also
help to create the social conditions for governance,
confidence and smaller political threats.
 For 30 years, we Hondurans have strived to
develop our democratic institutions. The international
community has supported us throughout that process.
At the end of the third decade of our democracy, we
had an institutional system that had ceased to be the
monopoly of the executive branch and that shared
power more evenly among the judicial, legislative and
executive organs.
 Despite that progress, we underwent a political
crisis, from which we emerged when the Honduran
people turned out in huge numbers on 29 November
2009 to vote in the election with the greatest turnout
and transparency in our electoral history. We
Hondurans exercised our popular sovereignty and our
right to self-determination. We sent an unequivocal
message: we love democracy and our institutions, and
we prefer dialogue to conflict. That is our message,
which has been understood and respected by the great
majority of the nations represented here. We wish it to
be acknowledged by all Governments in the world.
 In that spirit, President Porfirio Lobo Sosa
endorsed a broad amnesty for political crimes and
formed a Government of national unity, with the

59 10-54965

participation of all the country’s political parties.
Furthermore, the President decreed the creation of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission — a totally
independent body that will ensure that the critical
events of 2009 will never happen again. The work of
the Commission is already under way, and its report is
expected during the first quarter of next year. Its
conclusions will be broadly disseminated and its
recommendations will be implemented.
 We are convinced that national reconciliation and
unity are based on respect for all sectors of society
irrespective of political or ideological position.
Tolerance is and must be the foundation of democracy.
  We are also convinced that the human rights
and fundamental freedoms of citizens must be
respected without restriction. The President of the
Honduras has proposed to the National Congress the
creation a Secretary of State for Justice to promote and
take charge of designing, implementing, supervising
and evaluating all public policies and ensuring that
they are based squarely on human rights principles.
 Inspired by our respect for human dignity, our
Government condemns all forms of racial
discrimination and enthusiastically welcomes the
forthcoming launch of the International Year for People
of African Descent. To implement our commitment
against racial discrimination, Honduras is creating an
entity for the development of indigenous peoples and
Afro-Honduran people and a policy of racial equality.
 In the context of those commitments any person
deprived of liberty must be treated with the respect
inherent in his human dignity. To that end, the
President approved an executive decree aimed at
reducing overcrowding in the penal institutions
through renovation of their infrastructure and
equipment.
 Along that same line, the Government of
Honduras has energetically condemned and continues
to condemn human rights violations, especially
violation of the right to life. We are firmly committed
to the fight against impunity and will continue to make
every possible effort to bring to justice those who
violate that essential right of the human person.
 We are thankful for the cooperation we have
received so far in overcoming difficulties in
guaranteeing security for our citizens. President Lobo
Sosa has also asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to
have the United Nations consider support for setting up
a commission to fight impunity, in order to support
national institutions and strengthen their capacities as
they carry out their tasks in investigating and
prosecuting crime. At the same time, we reiterate our
Government’s invitation to the agencies that make up
the United Nations human rights system to follow up
on the situation in Honduras.
 I wish to convey the ongoing appreciation of
Hondurans to the United Nations system and its
Secretary-General for all the cooperation and
assistance given our country. We thank all of those who
have firmly supported Honduras, because that has
benefited our people directly.
 I want to highlight the solidarity and friendship
that exist among the brothers of the Central American
region. Within the Central American Integration
System we will continue to go forward until our
common homeland becomes one great nation, beyond
the limits of the historic Central America.
 Our Government is aware of the difficulties and
challenges of the moment in history in which we are
living, and we are taking decisions based on that
awareness. Today I can state with conviction that we
are moving along the path to prosperity, because I
believe in the determination of the people of Honduras,
their ability to deal with adversity, their hard work,
their strength of heart and their sprit and hope. We
have an unbreakable will; we have the human capital.
 The time has come to reaffirm our commitment
and to act in favour of the poorest members of society.
The time has come to act in solidarity and with
determination so that all human beings may be
protected from discrimination and need. It is time to
create a world with tolerance, with harmony and with
freedom and security for all. The time to globalize
social justice with freedom and democracy is now.