First of all, let me take this opportunity to congratulate
Mr. Jan Eliasson on his election to the high position of
President of the General Assembly and to wish him
every success in guiding the work of the session. I
would also like to thank his predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping,
for his able leadership as the President of the General
Assembly at its fifty-ninth session.
It is obvious that the years-long process of
reorganizing the entire system of international
relations, in particular reform of the United Nations,
has been unreasonably delayed. The 2005 summit was
an important stage in exploring mutually acceptable
formulas and in adopting goals whose implementation
will lead us to the achievement of development and
security.
Some of the decisions taken at the summit were
medium-term and others long-term in nature. But, in
our view, our primary task is to ensure their full
implementation and not to allow inertia to impede this,
as has been the case in the process of implementing the
Millennium Development Goals.
Strengthening the capacity of the United Nations
to achieve its goals in the three areas of development,
security and human rights requires appropriate and
active adaptation of the entire United Nations system.
In this connection we consider it important to make the
following comments. First, regardless of how
important it is to reform and modernize the United
Nations, there is, at present, no alternative to the
Organization.
Secondly, further delay in reform of the most
important bodies of the Organization will negatively
impact its role in the modern world. There is a real
danger that if the United Nations fails to take action, its
coordinating role will gradually pass to other
international structures, which lack the degree of broad
representation that the United Nations enjoys.
Thirdly, the reform of three main bodies of the
United Nations — the General Assembly, the Security
Council and the Economic and Social Council —
should provide balance in their work. In that regard, we
consider it to be in our common interest that Security
Council reform not be prolonged. It should be carried
26

out during the main part of the sixtieth session, before
the year is out.
Fourthly, regional approaches should be given
priority in dealing with development, security and
human rights issues. The effectiveness of the principle
of moving from regional to global approaches has
already been proved on many occasions.
At present, Uzbekistan is implementing its
national goals for economic development. It is carrying
out economic reforms and taking measures to
strengthen regional economic cooperation. However,
any national efforts need to be supported by
international economic structures. It is important that
genuine conditions for an equal and fair international
economic order be established. International donors
must provide their full support for regional
cooperation, and interested developing countries, in
turn, need to make that kind of cooperation an integral
part of their national strategy.
We believe it important for the concerned
regional commissions of the United Nations — the
Economic Commission for Europe and the Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific — to
strengthen their work to assist economic development
in Central Asia, with a view to the greater and broader
involvement of the countries of the region in
international economic relations and investment
cooperation. We are of the view that the international
community, including the United Nations, should pay
serious attention to the question of creating a Central
Asian common market capable of ensuring the rational
and effective use of the rich potential and resources of
the region.
Uzbekistan supports all efforts to ensure
sustainable development. Member States should pool
their efforts to tackle problems of environmental
degradation, shortages of water resources and drinking
water and the deterioration of environmental
conditions in cities and industrial zones. The global
environmental agenda also calls for the pressing issues
of desertification, biodiversity and climate change to
be addressed.
Acts of terrorism carried out in many regions of
the world, including Central Asia, have once again
reminded us of the need for a critical assessment of the
practice of international cooperation, including within
the United Nations, to counter that plague of the
twenty-first century, which threatens rich and poor
States alike. It is unacceptable to further delay taking
measures against those international centres of
terrorism and extremism that — under the guise of
espousing universal human values — in fact develop
and disseminate ideologies of fanaticism. In that
connection, we welcome the Security Council’s most
recent counter-terrorism resolution — resolution 1624
(2005) of 14 September 2005 — on the suppression of
incitement to terrorist acts. At the same time, we
believe it is crucial not to allow double standards in the
implementation of that instrument. Those
considerations should also be concerns in the process
of drafting a universal convention on international
terrorism.
A powerful accomplice of international terrorism
is drug trafficking. Unfortunately, no actual progress
has been seen in reducing drug production in
Afghanistan. On that issue, we need to move urgently
from words to action. In that connection, we are
counting on the international community’s firm support
for Uzbekistan’s initiative to establish a Central Asian
regional information and coordination centre to counter
transboundary crimes related to drug trafficking.
The President returned to the Chair.
Together with the pressing problems of
development and security there is the issue of human
rights. That issue is central to forging a new path in
international relations, and to United Nations reform,
in particular. In his report, “In larger freedom”
(A/59/2005), the Secretary-General notes that
international treaties adopted over the past six decades
form an impressive normative basis for ensuring full
international acknowledgement and respect for human
rights and freedoms. There is no doubt that protection
of human rights needs to be one of the core tasks for
the United Nations.
Uzbekistan is a party to all the major
international human rights instruments and it is
steadily moving towards democracy and the formation
of a civil society. One important step in that direction
was the decision to abolish the death penalty in the
country, as proposed by Uzbekistan’s President Islam
Karimov.
We are convinced that reform of the United
Nations human rights system needs to be carried out
step by step, consistently, and taking into account the
concerns of all interested parties. Along with political
rights, it is necessary to strengthen other human rights,
27

including socio-economic and environmental rights.
We reiterate our position that it is unacceptable to
politicize the issue of human rights or to be selective in
reviewing human rights situations, even more so when
United Nations bodies or mechanisms are involved.
The establishment of a stable and long-lasting
peace in Afghanistan is of strategic value for
Uzbekistan. In that context, we welcome the
parliamentary elections that were held in Afghanistan
on 18 September. That event has become another
important step towards restoring statehood to
Afghanistan. Uzbekistan supports the efforts aimed at
the prompt stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan.
Considering Afghanistan to be a part of the Central
Asian region, we encourage its active participation in
regional integration processes. Uzbekistan is providing
broad support to the Afghan people, as well as to
relevant mechanisms of the United Nations and other
international organizations, to aid the reconstruction
process in that country.
Five years after the Millennium Summit, Member
States have adopted an historic decision to launch
reform and renovate the mechanisms of the United
Nations. We have a unique opportunity to carry out
more far-reaching reforms to adapt the Organization to
new realities. The aim of those reforms is to ensure the
well-being and prosperity of all our peoples. Today the
time has come to make decisions and take action. Any
protraction of the process could seriously paralyse the
system of international relations, allow current threats
and challenges to become irreversible, and lead to a
situation in which the international community is
unable to take timely and appropriate measures.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the
readiness of Uzbekistan to cooperate actively with
other States in creating more effective and just United
Nations.


One week
ago, the world summit sent a message of hope for
peace, development and human rights for all, and took
a number of steps towards institutional reform at the
United Nations. The summit meeting has achieved
much. It has also left a lot undone and has not met our
expectations in several areas. We agree with the
General Assembly President’s assessment that only the
work we do over the next few months will allow us a
final assessment of the value of the outcome document.
The summit certainly did not achieve the
comprehensive breakthrough we had hoped for. We
therefore look forward to working under the
President’s guidance on the follow-up and
implementation and welcome the fact that he has
started this process immediately. Institutional change
must be the focus of our attention over the next few
months, both through the creation of new bodies and
the adaptation of existing ones. We will give particular
attention to the Human Rights Council, the Security
Council, the General Assembly and the Secretariat.
We shared the general relief at the last-minute
agreement on the outcome document, since a lack of
such agreement would have been disastrous. We had
created expectations that were much higher than what
we could have possibly achieved, at a time when the
United Nations seemed more in need of reform than
ever before. The reputation and the worldwide image
of the United Nations is clearly not what it used to
be — the oil-for-food scandal, cases of sexual
exploitation by United Nations peacekeepers, inaction
in the face of mass crimes and humanitarian crises
have overshadowed the many success stories that this
Organization has to tell.
15

It is important to move on from the oil-for-food
scandal. Moving on, however, must not mean that we
ignore, yet again, the fact that the massive abuse and
mismanagement revealed in the Volcker reports are but
one expression of what is a systemic problem. Too
much went wrong in the oil-for-food programme, and
everybody involved failed in their responsibilities in
one way or another, including the Security Council. No
bureaucracy can be changed overnight, as we all know
from our national experience; but it is clear that only a
more accountable Secretariat, one that works without
undue pressure from us, the Member States, can restore
the confidence of the peoples it is meant to serve.
Accountability must also be a key principle for
the intergovernmental bodies and thus guide us in our
work on the relevant reforms. We are concerned at the
increasingly skewed institutional balance within the
Organization. The Security Council has clearly taken
on a role that goes far beyond the central place it was
given under the Charter. Indeed, its activities are
increasingly venturing into the domains reserved for
the General Assembly, in particular.
This entails a twofold risk. On the one hand,
many countries increasingly feel a lack of ownership of
the Organization, although collective ownership based
on the principle of sovereign equality is one of the
cornerstones of the Organization. On the other hand,
the Security Council is at risk of being paralysed by the
sheer amount of issues on its agenda. The answer to
this challenge is clear: we need a stronger General
Assembly that asserts its central role and carries out its
functions effectively. In parallel, the Security Council
must become more transparent and accountable in
order to truly carry out its functions on behalf of the
entire membership.
The lack of a solution to the complex issue of
Security Council reform is a disappointment to many.
Enlargement and a more representative Council are
clear necessities, and we will do our part to achieve an
early solution, with the strongest possible political
support. In addition, and not less importantly, we must
also improve the working methods of the Security
Council, as stated in the World Summit Outcome
(resolution 60/1). Transparency, accountability and
stronger involvement of States that are not members of
the Council are of decisive importance to enable it to
truly act on behalf of the membership, as mandated by
the Charter. We will work hard for early and concrete
results, since effective changes in the daily workings of
the Council would benefit the entire membership.
We routinely repeat our annual call for a stronger
General Assembly. Small steps are taken every year,
and all of them are important. It appears to us,
however, that the most essential efforts to revitalize the
General Assembly do not come from measures
contained in General Assembly resolutions. Rather,
Member States must ensure that the Assembly is seized
with truly relevant topics that are treated efficiently
and effectively. We may deplore the migration of topics
to the Security Council that we think should be dealt
with instead by the General Assembly. This trend,
however, will continue unabated unless the Assembly
proves to be a central decision-making body that takes
its responsibilities seriously. The Assembly is what we,
as Member States, want it to be. A genuine and
sustained effort is, therefore, required from all of us.
We continue to fully support the early
establishment of a Human Rights Council to replace
the Commission on Human Rights. Like others, we
were disappointed at the meagre substance on this
topic that found its way into the outcome document.
The Organization needs a standing body that
effectively promotes human rights worldwide, swiftly
responds to gross and systematic violations of human
rights and reflects the importance of human rights for
this Organization. Close cooperation with a
strengthened Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights will be essential. The Council must not
duplicate the work carried out by other bodies, in
particular the General Assembly. It must, therefore, not
be a remake of the Commission on Human Rights with
a new label. We look forward to working with the
presidency towards an early solution that would add
concrete value for the protection and promotion of
human rights.
Mr. Loizaga (Paraguay), Vice-President, took the
Chair.
We consider the recognition of the “responsibility
to protect” as one of the most positive elements in the
outcome document. The main obligation for its
implementation naturally falls to the Security Council.
The Council has to ensure that disgraceful inaction,
such as in the case of the genocide in Rwanda, cannot
ever occur again. When the lives of innocent civilians
are at stake, such a responsibility must not be
compromised by political considerations. Collective
16

action to prevent and respond to genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes must, therefore, not
be made impossible by a veto or threat of veto by one
of the permanent members of the Council. We hope
that the Council will stand up to the challenge raised
by the summit. The membership as a whole clearly has
a shared obligation in this respect.
Our achievement in the Summit Outcome on the
“responsibility to protect” stands in stark contrast to
our silence on the importance of fighting impunity for
the worst crimes of international concern. More
progress has been made in this area in the past few
years than in almost any other area of international
relations. Transitional justice is now an inevitable
element of any serious effort to help societies in post-
conflict situations. There is now a close and well-
established relationship between the International
Criminal Court and the United Nations, in particular
after the Security Council decision to mandate the
Court to investigate the crimes in Darfur. We trust that
efforts to fight impunity will remain a high priority for
the Organization, recognizing the central role of the
International Criminal Court in that respect.
While it may be premature to pronounce a final
judgement on the value of the outcome document, one
thing can be said with certainty: that document is a
reflection of what is agreeable five years after the
Millennium Summit. It is remarkable how uneven
progress has been in several areas. Major advances,
such as the decision to fill an institutional void by
creating a Peacebuilding Commission, are
accompanied by major failures, such as the absence of
any agreement in the area of disarmament and non-
proliferation. We have no choice but to build on the
positive elements of the Summit Outcome and to find
early solutions to institutional questions, in particular.
Progress in those areas should help us to intensify our
work and eventually to find agreement on unresolved
questions in vital areas such as disarmament and non-
proliferation. In this way, we can make the summit a
turning point in the history of the United Nations.
Two years ago, the Secretary-General said that
we had reached a fork in the road; that observation was
repeated many times during the process leading up to
the summit. So where are we today? Looking back at
what we have achieved, it seems that we have taken the
advice of Yogi Berra, one of the great legends of the
City of New York, who said: “When you come to a
fork in the road, take it!”


Taking
the floor for the first time before this Assembly, it is
my genuine pleasure warmly to congratulate you, Sir,
on your election to the presidency of the General
Assembly at its sixtieth session. Your election was a
personal honour to you and a recognition of the
diplomatic skills that we all acknowledge. It also
enhances the prestigious image of your country. Please
rest assured of the support of the Union of the
Comoros as you complete your exalted mission.
Your predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping, deserves our full
admiration and congratulations on the effectiveness and
devotion with which he led the work of the fifty-ninth
session.
I also wish to reiterate our confidence in
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and above all to express
our gratitude for his tireless commitment to establishing
a more just, peaceful and prosperous world.
Our world faces challenges and threats that
jeopardize our security and prosperity. And yet, we
have also seen unprecedented technological and
scientific development. That disparity highlights the
stark reversal of our human values and of the basic
principles of promoting peace, respect for human
dignity and international solidarity.
Is there any need to list the modern scourges that
have engulfed every region of the world: extremism,
terrorism, ethnic cleansing and others? In addition to
that stark assessment of the state of the world — a
result of the failure of the human conscience — we
have also been struck by natural disasters, including
floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
tidal waves and, sadly, many others.
To cite just the most recent example, Hurricane
Katrina, which devastated Louisiana, is a striking
illustration of that phenomenon. Through me, the
Government of the Union of the Comoros offers its
deep sympathy to the United States of America
authorities and the entire American people.
Like the victims of natural disasters, the victims
of violence and human injustice have no recourse other
than this Organization, entrusted with the most noble
mission of defending and preserving their dignity. But
the Organization will need a new impetus to spur
international action worthy of the expectations of our
peoples.
We must therefore redefine our vision of world
security. We must keep the human being at the heart of
our considerations and take every parameter of human
security into account. Indeed, there can be no lasting
peace while poverty, disease, despair, war and
oppression persist. In a word, there can be no peace if
we are insecure about our daily lives and the future.
There is an ineluctable link between peace and the
development to which we all aspire. We must therefore
set ourselves a code of good behaviour and create a life
in which the law reigns supreme.
We must reinvigorate and re-energize the United
Nations in order effectively to prepare it to face the
problems of the modern world. At the same time, the
composition of its bodies should be as representative as
possible so as to enshrine and embody its universality
and safeguard the sovereign equality of States,
especially the smallest among them. As the supreme
global institution, the United Nations should also
operate on the basis of rules and norms recognized and
approved by all, which will strengthen its credibility.
Only thus will we will truly be able to solve the
problems of terrorism, addressing them at their roots,
and express our sympathy for and solidarity with those
who have devoted their entire lives to fighting
exclusion and injustice.
At this very moment, I have a deeply considered
thought for all those who have fought for noble causes
throughout the world. The brotherly people of
Palestine offers a perfect illustration thereof. Indeed,
the aspirations of the Palestinian people are those of a
nation reclaiming its dignity and security. In the
interests of all the peoples of the Middle East, the
peace process must continue, because building and
maintaining peace is essential to our world. It is critical
that a Palestinian State be established and allowed to
live in peace, security and stability with the State of
Israel and its other neighbours.
19

My country welcomes Israel’s withdrawal from
the Gaza Strip, a decisive step in the quest for a timely,
just and equitable solution to that long drawn-out
problem. We are convinced that this gesture augurs
well for the region and peoples concerned.
As for Iraq, adequate conditions must be
established to promote genuine progress towards
peace, which will guarantee the stability necessary to
the country’s socio-economic development.
The situation in Asia also deserves the focused
attention of the international community. The stalemate
in the issue of the Chinese province of Taiwan, to cite
just one instance, is not conducive to the promotion of
stability in that part of the world. That is why, in its
concern for the ongoing prevalence of law in
international relations, and in order to guarantee
respect for the national unity of countries, the Union of
the Comoros urges the General Assembly to heed the
legitimate claims of the Government of the People’s
Republic of China over the Chinese province of
Taiwan.
With regard to Africa, we welcome the imminent
settlement of certain crises, including in the Republic
of the Sudan, where current developments are opening
the prospects for effective national reconciliation. The
Government of the Union of the Comoros encourages
the Sudanese parties to persevere along that path.
As to other crises that remain unresolved, we
urge the international community to play a lead role in
finding solutions. Indeed, stability remains a
paramount condition for the success of Africa’s
economic development efforts through the New
Partnership for Africa’s Development and other
regional and international initiatives seeking the same
goal. Likewise, those efforts will remain inconclusive
so long as HIV/AIDS, malaria, drepanocytosis and
other diseases continue to rage in our countries. Other
threats include drought, famine, locust infestations,
extreme poverty and the debt burden stifling the
economies of our countries. We therefore commend the
initiative of convening a summit to assess the
Millennium Development Goals, which should allow
for the adoption of new arrangements for the
achievement of the Goals by 2015.
Environmental problems affect all States and are
a source of genuine concern to us all. Unbridled
pollution, the destruction of the ozone layer,
deforestation, rising sea levels — in a word, the
ceaseless deterioration of the environment — require
us all to heighten our awareness of those global threats.
And yet, while such problems may affect any
number of States, we should recall that some — the
small island developing States in particular — have
specific characteristics that must be taken into
consideration and addressed with greater attention. The
Union of the Comoros itself recently suffered a
volcanic eruption that severely damaged our
environment. Such continuous threats to our countries
call for the timely establishment of mechanisms to
prevent and manage natural disasters.
We welcome regional initiatives, including those
undertaken by the Indian Ocean Commission, to better
manage such situations and we urge the international
community also to provide us with its invaluable
assistance. I take this opportunity to thank the
Government of France, the United Nations
Development Programme, and all other friendly
countries and specialized agencies of the United
Nations that have greatly helped us to grapple with and
manage that disaster.
I spoke earlier of the inequalities prevalent in our
world. They are manifest at many levels, to be sure, but
the socio-economic aspect is the most glaring. Long
marginalized in world decision-making, our countries
of the South continue to suffer the consequences of our
economic fragility. The rules of the game in world
trade exclude us de facto from the playing field.
Moreover, the paucity of new information and
communications technologies in the South is a striking
reminder of the vast abyss in that field between our
countries and those of the North.
Debt continues to burden many countries of the
South, despite the fact that, thanks to a sudden surge of
generosity and, above all, responsibility on the part of
the wealthy countries, some saw their situation
revisited and improved by the cancellation of their
debt. That only highlights the urgency of the need to
assess the economic and financial situation of the
countries of the South in order for them to be
genuinely integrated into the dynamic of globalization.
If the disparities in and slow pace of the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in
general are to be redressed, a world partnership is
needed. In that context, special attention must be paid
to the least privileged social strata, including by
20

providing access to financial services through the
promotion of microfinancing and microcredit.
Furthermore, we must address and objectively
analyse the issue of debt. We must prioritize the
cancellation of the public debt of the heavily indebted
poor countries, the least developed countries, and the
low- and medium-income developing countries.
Finally, international action should promote a fair,
regulated, open and non-discriminatory trading system,
notably by facilitating the developing countries’
accession to the World Trade Organization.
The United Nations is an irreplaceable forum. As
the crucible of our warning cries and our hopes for a
better world, it remains the perfect framework for
discussing the world situation and for opening a
window on the situation in each of our countries.
With respect to the Union of the Comoros, I am
pleased to announce from this rostrum that we have
completed our establishment of new institutions, which
are now operational. We thank everyone for their
important contributions to that end. We now have the
two-fold duty to consolidate the valuable achievements
of national reconciliation and to promote our country’s
socio-economic development.
With our development partners, we are therefore
striving to reinvigorate our cooperation and redirect it
towards the well-being of our people. In the same vein,
the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
is a priority of the Government of the Union of the
Comoros.
Furthermore, my country completed a staff-
monitored programme of the International Monetary
Fund in January 2005 and is working to streamline its
public finances with a view to concluding a Facility for
Poverty Reduction and Growth programme with the
Bretton Woods institutions so as to mobilize the
financial resources necessary to implementing its
development priorities.
In that respect, the Comoros authorities are also
attempting to implement a recommendation from the
international community to convene a donors
conference on our behalf. I therefore have the pleasure
of informing the Assembly that such a meeting, critical
to my country’s economic and social future, will be
held on 8 December in the Republic of Mauritius under
the auspices of the African Union. On behalf of my
country, I call on the international community to help
us to ensure the gathering’s success.
I also take this pleasant opportunity warmly to
thank the Republic of Mauritius for its generous offer
to host that important conference. In particular, we thank
Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam for
his readiness to co-preside the conference.
In the same vein, on behalf of the Government of
the Union of the Comoros, I pay a well-deserved
tribute to the Republic of South Africa for its ongoing
support for the Comoros and for having successfully
coordinated the efforts of the African Union and of
regional countries to achieve national reconciliation in
my country. The people of the Comoros sincerely and
happily welcome the tireless interest of Mr. Thabo
Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa, in
the future of our country and his willingness to co-
preside the donors conference.
I cannot conclude without raising here the issue
of the Comorian island of Mayotte. Following a series
of consultations held between French and Comorian
authorities in their common concern to find a solution
that will preserve the friendship and cooperation
between the two countries, safeguard the interests of
both States and satisfy the aspirations of the entire
population of the archipelago, a new process has been
launched. It will promote direct dialogue between the
two parties with a view to finding a solution that
protects everyone’s interests in accordance with the
law.
The Comorian Government has invested a great
deal of hope in the new dynamic. It believes that it can
trust the French Republic to strive for a joint and
honourable resolution of the situation. I therefore take
this opportunity to reaffirm my sincere thanks to all the
friends of the Comoros, who have never failed in their
support, their encouragement and their solidarity with
my country in the quest for a solution to the issue in
line with the law. I also wish to assure them, on behalf
of the Government of the Union of the Comoros, that
they will always be kept up-to-date on developments in
the issue and, whenever necessary, involved in the
process.
Working for peace means fighting all that fuels
extremism and every source of frustration. Working for
peace also means investing all necessary resources in
development, without which humankind has no dignity.
The health of our world depends on our Organization.
21

Let us strive for its renewal, for more peace, for
happiness and for greater human dignity. Let us strive
for equal opportunity for all.


It is a distinct honour for
me today to address the sixtieth General Assembly of
the United Nations. At the outset, please allow me on
behalf of the Government and people of the Republic
of Suriname to extend sincere felicitations to the
President on his election to preside over this important
session. I would like to pledge my delegation’s full
support and cooperation in the tasks that lie ahead of us
in this session.
My delegation would also like to express its
gratitude to His Excellency Mr. Jean Ping, President of
the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly of the
United Nations, for his unwavering efforts in steering
the work of the fifty-ninth session. We wish him well
in his future endeavours.
We continue to render our support to Secretary-
General Kofi Annan, especially for his leadership in
the process of restructuring the United Nations.
We are gathered here, in the wake of the High-
level Plenary Meeting, in which world leaders adopted
some measures to advance the cause of development,
human rights and security and the much-needed reform
of this world Organization. The task before us is not an
easy one. We need to redouble our efforts in
implementing the ambitious goals we have set to create
a safer and more prosperous world for ourselves and
generations to come.
Although the world community made some
modest progress towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals, we have to acknowledge that we
are far from reaching the global commitments made by
world leaders at the dawn of the new millennium to
advance economic and social development for the
world’s poor.
The Government of Suriname remains committed
to achieving the Millennium Development Goals
because we strongly believe that sustainable
development is crucial for the achievement of
international peace and security.
28

While we acknowledge our primary responsibility
in the development process, we would like to bring to
mind the commitments made in Monterrey of
establishing a global partnership to advance the
development agenda. A substantial increase in financial
resources, to be provided on a more predictable basis
and free of conditionalities, is needed for this matter.
We commend the various initiatives that have
been launched so far, and we would like to call on our
developed partners to continue rendering their support
to the efforts of developing countries.
Trade can play an important role in promoting
economic growth and development, and in that regard
we reiterate our position for a trading system that is
universal, rule-based, non-discriminatory, open and
equitable. We furthermore expect that the upcoming
multilateral round of trade negotiations will fully take
into account the needs of developing countries.
We would like to note the laudable initiatives of
several developed countries for facilitating market
access for the least developed countries. However, for
many middle-income countries, like Suriname, who are
called upon to diversify their economies, measures
have yet to be taken to facilitate their market access for
goods and services into the markets of the developed
countries.
Sixty years ago, in the aftermath of the Second
World War, world leaders vowed to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war and thus came
together and established the United Nations. Faced
with both old and new challenges to international
peace and security, the international community should
more than ever be determined to live up to that crucial
promise.
The spread of infectious diseases such as
HIV/AIDS, the indiscriminate effect of the forces of
nature thereby causing widespread despair and
destruction, the uncontrolled proliferation of small
arms and light weapons, just to name a few, are
testimony of the transnational nature of contemporary
challenges the world is facing today.
We therefore need an effective system of
international cooperation to collectively deal with both
old and new threats to international peace and security.
It is imperative to redress the major setbacks in
nuclear disarmament and arms control. We will have
failed future generations if we cannot even reach
agreement on the general principles governing those
important issues.
We cannot but agree with the Secretary-General
when he once stated, “There is nothing small or light
about the consequences of the uncontrolled spread and
misuse of small arms and light weapons” (A/58/138,
p. 4). In Suriname, as is the case for many countries in
the Caribbean region, this phenomenon is associated
with drug trafficking and other cross-border criminal
activity. In this regard we would like to pledge our
support to the ongoing efforts in the United Nations to
address this critical issue that threatens the economic
and social fabric of our society.
My Government strongly condemns all acts of
terrorism committed by whomever, wherever and for
whatever purposes. With the growing interdependence
in the world, terrorism constitutes a grave danger for
rich, poor, large and small countries alike. We would
however like to bring to mind that the fight against
terrorism should, at all times, take place in accordance
with international law and with respect for human
rights, tolerance and the peaceful coexistence of
people.
The fight against terrorism must address its root
causes. Suriname, being a multi-ethnic, multireligious
and multicultural society, believes that increased
tolerance and dialogue could make a positive
contribution to the goal of increased security.
We therefore continue to support the dialogue
among civilizations and remain convinced that a
culture of peace can be significantly enhanced through
this dialogue in order to promote mutual
understanding, respect and tolerance among regions,
cultures and peoples.
Respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms remains of great importance to the
Government of Suriname. The creation of a Human
Rights Council, as was agreed to in the outcome
document, should not only result in a renaming of the
Commission on Human Rights; we have the daunting
task ahead of us of restoring credibility to the human
rights machinery by addressing the shortfalls of the
Commission on Human Rights and ensuring that the
Human Rights Council becomes a more effective and
objective organ.
The United Nations should resolve to come to the
rescue of people confronted with genocide, ethnic
29

cleansing and crimes against humanity. We must
continue to discuss the framework to be associated
with this difficult task. But more importantly, the
United Nations, through its Charter provisions, should
find ways and means geared towards preventing these
atrocities from reoccurring.
The international community has some time ago
expressed the need for a more effective and efficient
Organization that would be better able to address the
many challenges our world is facing today and make it
more responsive to the aspirations of the world’s
people. Suriname continues to believe in the values of
the United Nations as the supreme multilateral
institution and supports the efforts of strengthening the
Organization through reform.
More than ever, good intentions must give rise to
concrete achievements. We must translate
commitments into action. We owe it to the many
people living in extreme poverty who do not have
access to safe drinking water and do not have proper
health care.
Achieving such a global society requires the
involvement, determination and commitment of all
actors — State and non-State — as well as coordinated
and comprehensive actions by all such actors in the
global fight against poverty and injustice.
Our shared objectives require more than a
reaffirmation of the importance of the Millennium
Development Goals and the availability of financial
resources. It requires understanding between developed
and developing countries. It requires political will,
which is a condition sine qua non in our efforts to
achieve our global commitments.
I am convinced that the recently concluded high-
level gathering of world leaders generated the renewed
political commitment to further the cause of global
partnership between the developing and developed
countries to promote development and continue the
fight against poverty and hunger.
In conclusion, let me remark that we have to act
now. We cannot build a world of peace and security
without economic and social development and without
respect for human rights.


I would
like to extend the sincerest condolences of the people
and Government of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay to
the victims of Hurricane Katrina, as well as to all the
citizens of the world, men and women, old and young,
who are victims of natural disasters, of the fury of
nature, which is showing us that it will no longer be
abused by mankind.
I come from Uruguay, a small South American
country, whose main wealth is its vocation for peace,
its drive for freedom and the democratic commitment
that its people have been forging for generations.
I convey the greetings of the people and
Government of Uruguay to this forum, which is the
broadest, most representative and most important
forum in the world today. It is a greeting that is
demanding, committed and hopeful.
The greeting is demanding because we are living
at a very particular time in the history of mankind. In
fact, at very few moments in history have we seen
circumstances so rich in paradoxes and so poor in
paradigms as the present one. Never before has
mankind had at its disposal such scientific and
technological progress and such a significant cultural
heritage to guarantee a life in dignity. However, never
before has mankind suffered so much inequality,
intolerance and uncertainty.
We know that we have reached this point, but we
are uncertain about where we are heading. We cannot
be passive witnesses to the situation; no one can wash
his hands of his own problems nor of problems that
seem remote. We cannot resign ourselves to a future
that is an unchanging extension of the present. There is
no reason whatsoever to give up the hope of a utopia,
without which darkness could be our fate.
Our greeting is committed because we all bear the
responsibility, which we cannot abdicate, of being the
masters of our own lives and the architects of our own
futures. This task is a road on which neither privileges
nor condemnations are allowed; we are all travelling
on an equal footing. Nor does this road permit
shortcuts. History is neither a gallery of national heroes
nor a calendar of outstanding events: history is made
by people day by day.
In this context, we upon whom our peoples have
conferred the task of governing have a very demanding
responsibility ahead of us. And that is because
governing means managing with efficiency and
transparency: it means articulating in a democratic
fashion this rich and complex network that is society.
But to govern means also to envisage the future and to
call upon people to build that future among all and for
all.
Our greeting is hopeful as well. Although we do
not overlook the risks, the difficulties and the limits
within the national, regional and global contexts, we
believe in human beings, we believe in society. We
believe in democracy as a means to govern but also as
a human impulse and as a state of society.
Although I said this during our statement at the
High-level Plenary Meeting which took place in this
same Hall a few hours ago, I wish to reiterate before
the Assembly that the Eastern Republic of Uruguay
reaffirms the principles that have characterized its
foreign policy.
First is the firm commitment to peace,
sovereignty, democracy and solidarity. When I speak
about peace, democracy, solidarity and freedom I
would like to recall that six days ago marked the thirty-
second anniversary of the occasion when a man gave
his life defending peace, democracy and freedom. I
would like thus to pay tribute to Salvador Allende.
The second principle is the firm rejection of any
kind of terrorism, violence and discrimination. The
third is the inalienable right of every State to safe and
stable borders and to be completely free to exercise its
sovereignty and self-determination, and fourth is
respect for international law as the best guarantee of
the sovereignty of peoples and their peaceful
coexistence.
28

The fifth principle is non-alignment and non-
intervention in affairs that come under the domestic
jurisdiction of States. Sixthly, we reaffirm
multilateralism as a means to strengthen international
law, enhancing the role of the United Nations. Seventh,
we acknowledge the indivisibility of all human rights,
be they political, social, economic, civil or cultural,
including those of a collective nature such as the right
to development and to a safe environment.
In conformity with these principles, Uruguay first
of all deems it necessary to move forward with the
reforms that will allow the United Nations to fully
fulfil its commitments. Because such reforms are of a
complex nature, they should be undertaken with a
sense of history and with political will, and without
hegemonic intentions.
Secondly, Uruguay renews its commitment to the
Millennium Goals, which in our country means the
design and implementation of a system of integrated
and global social policies that address the poverty and
destitution suffered by almost one million Uruguayans
and that, at the same time, are part of a strategy of
change and development.
Thirdly, Uruguay reiterates its will to continue
participating in United Nations peacekeeping
operations and will contribute its efforts to improving
the security and the conditions of service of those
missions.
We also express our support for the Secretary-
Generalís initiative to create a Peace Commission, to
which, we believe, Uruguay could contribute,
continuing its support for peacekeeping missions and
the expertise acquired in rebuilding devastated
countries.
There is no peace in intolerance and terrorism, no
freedom in poverty, and no democracy in inequality. It
is crucial to reject every expression of violence, but
before rejecting it, it must be avoided by attacking its
roots.
This is quite simply because every human being,
simply by being human, has the right to live in dignity.
Societies where there is a contrast between an opulent
few and a neglected majority are not prosperous.
Societies where to be born is a problem, to be young is
suspect, to get an education and a job is a privilege and
to grow old is a curse have no future. This is the way
we see it in Uruguay. We have learned this from those
generations that preceded us in building a country that,
though it has its own unique features, is not atypical of
nor alien to the Latin American context.
While it is true that the first half of the last
century was a favourable period for Uruguay, it is also
true that - due to a combination of external
circumstances and domestic structural weaknesses -
the last fifty years were a period of economic
deterioration, impoverishment and even an institutional
breakdown in 1973.
We Uruguayans regained democracy in 1985, and
the current Government, which took office exactly 200
days ago, is working hard to heal the wounds
dictatorship caused through human rights violations.
We are not hostages to the past, but Uruguayan society
needs to know the truth about what happened to ensure
that never again will it happen - never again.
Nevertheless, with the commitments that we have
assumed to Uruguayan society - whose will is our
mandate ó the Government of which I am head is
promoting changes: changes which are necessary,
possible, responsible and gradual, changes with
political and social support, changes that do not
overlook reality but do not give up on the dream of a
Uruguay with human development, with productive
economic growth and with a safe environment, a
Uruguay fully integrated into its own region and into
the international arena. We are not starting from
scratch, but we have a lot to do to achieve this utopia,
the dream of which motivates us as a nation.
In conclusion, this is exactly what I wished to
convey to members on behalf of the Government and
the people of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay: far
away, in the forgotten southern part of South America,
there is a country that does not resign itself to
difficulties, that is building its own destiny and that,
faithful to its tradition, wishes to join in building a
better world, working alongside all our dear brethren,
the citizens of the world.


Allow
me, Sir, to express the congratulations of the
Government of Panama on your election to preside
over this historic session of the General Assembly.
I would like to congratulate warmly the
Secretary-General for the dedicated manner in which
he has undertaken the difficult task of reforming the
United Nations so as to ensure that it will be able to
address the challenges of the twenty-first century.
I wish to express my special thanks in particular
to the outgoing President of the General Assembly,
Mr. Jean Ping, for his efforts in leading the
consultations and reflections in order to attain
agreement and, in particular, for placing his trust in the
delegation of Panama in order to facilitate this process.
The United Nations was conceived on a
fundamental premise, that of the legal equality of
States, which at the time was more of an aspiration
than a reality. However, much progress has been made
on the path towards building a world where the power
of reason, justice and dialogue settle disputes between
nations and not military or economic power.
My country can confirm that the United Nations
and the international community have created effective
instruments and institutions to ensure that equality
prevails over the deep divide between the
industrialized countries and the developing countries.
Panama has gained full control of its territory and
recovered the Canal thanks to its visionary leaders, but
also to a large extent due to the implementation of the
principles of international law that the United Nations
has staunchly defended and through the support of the
international community.
Panama can never remain indifferent to the
destiny of the Organization. As one of the signatories
of the Charter and beneficiary of its institutions,
Panama understands the need to adapt the Organization
to the reality of our time. The formulas used for
bringing this adaptation about must focus on increased
participation of States in the Organization’s decisions
and must aim at the full legal equality of all States, an
aspiration that has yet to become a reality, but which,
nevertheless, remains the mainstay of the United
Nations.
We cannot afford to delay in bringing about a
radical change in the rules that currently govern
economic relations among States, because, while in the
United Nations we are slowly progressing towards
equality and agreement, the world is rushing towards
an abyss of inequality and disagreement.
Despite the efforts undertaken by a number of the
least developed countries to adapt their institutions to
models that were supposed to help reduce inequalities,
practice has shown that there is no one-size-fits-all
solution that can be applied across the board to all
countries. Indeed, the application of rigid solutions has
contributed rather to a further widening of the gap
between countries.
Amid such uncertainty concerning our public
development policies, unforeseeable events — natural
disasters, epidemics and, currently, the rising price of
oil, an indispensable driver of production and
15

growth — have completely altered the balance of
foreign and domestic affairs. Moreover, it is unclear
whether the negative impact those events have had on
our economies will vanish automatically once the
phenomena that have created them disappear. Indeed, it
appears that we are caught in a vicious and hopeless
circle: the differences that have led us to accept urgent
changes have, in turn, created more difference and
greater resentment in the least developed countries,
with more failed States and therefore greater insecurity
in the global village.
The price of oil for non-producing countries has
further deepened that divide, as it takes away from the
resources necessary for their development. To give an
example, over the past three years the cost of net
imports of oil for Panama has shown a 250 per cent
increase. That is the situation for the majority of the
countries in our region, as well as for those in other
continents, with very few exceptions. Countries like
ours that are net importers of oil have to produce more
in order to export more and thereby to be able to
import the same number of barrels of oil.
Rising oil prices are due to the sharp increase in
demand by the major consumers, which have not
adopted effective policies to reduce their dependency
on hydrocarbons.
Even more serious is the fact that fuel prices have
risen so dramatically and have wreaked such havoc in a
number of countries they threaten to create political
instability and provoke economic crises.
It is only with the technical and financial
cooperation of developed countries — in particular in
the field of energy — that we can achieve the transfer
of technologies that can help us to produce cleaner and
cheaper energy. As a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol,
Panama has submitted projects with clearly identified
requests for financing that deserve to be supported by
multilateral funding institutions and by those countries
that cause the greatest pollution.
Energy dependency is compounded by the
difficulties that countries face in importing technology
and holding on to their human resources, in particular
the most qualified among them. Workers that have
migrated to richer countries send home financial
remittances that can temporarily supplement the
income generated by our national economies but that,
in the long term, prevent us from exploiting our most
important asset — our most highly qualified human
resources. Those workers contribute to the innovative
growth that our nations require. The result is the
accumulation of innovative capital and productive
labour in the most developed countries, with a
corresponding impoverishment of countries most in
need of those resources, generating yet greater
divergence and more inequalities. In other words, the
exodus of human capital, while providing a source of
currency in the short term hampers our countries’ long-
term development.
Our countries must be able to compete even in
the absence of a level playing field. We must as a
priority put an end to tariff barriers to trade, which
prevent developing countries from putting their
products on the markets of rich countries and from
having access to better technology, not only productive
but also information technology.
As a result of the widening gap with regard to
access to technology, our countries have fallen behind
in their efforts to advance and to ensure the well-being
of their people. Moreover, it has served to perpetuate
the differences in living conditions between developed
countries and those that are still struggling to emerge
from underdevelopment.
The situation is similar with regard to the
obstacles that impede access to basic medicines to
improve public health in areas as sensitive as AIDS
and malaria. Those obstacles take the form of patents
that grant quasi-monopolistic powers to the
pharmaceutical companies that produce those
medicines.
In addition, the already devastating differences
that exist between States are even greater than the
statistics currently show, using simplistic and rigid
criteria such as per capita income, which does not
accurately reflect reality. Forty per cent of the
Panamanian population lives below the poverty line,
but we are nevertheless statistically designated as a
medium- to high-income country and therefore our
access to external aid is very limited. Figures provide
only a lifeless snapshot of a country. Behind that, or
perhaps in spite of that, there is a human reality: that of
men, women and children who suffer from hunger and
constraints. Those people are not even aware of the
existence of the United Nations, but they are fully
entitled to the benefits of modernity. Instead, their way
of life is being relentlessly handed down from one
generation to the next.
16

The international community has demonstrated
great resolve in the fight against terrorism and
insecurity and it is prepared to make even further
sacrifices, if necessary. However, it is time to
recognize that hunger and poverty also undermine the
internal security of our countries and endanger
democracy. It appears that the world only responds to
headlines, but every day poor countries suffer from
misfortunes and constraints that do not produce
headlines for the tragic reason that the international
community seems indifferent in some cases or has
quite simply resigned itself to them.
There is no point in asking a developing country
to rectify so many deficiencies within a reasonable
time frame if it cannot even have access to funds on
more favourable and predictable terms than those
currently being offered by the international capital
market.
Improving the quality of life of our citizens — a
goal that the United Nations has set itself — depends
on the increasing use of physical and financial capital,
as well as the national labour force, in activities that
generate growth and promote innovation. The material
well-being of our societies will be achieved when more
people work and each of those workers is more
productive.
Our countries are not begging for favours. What
we are demanding is a more level playing field. The
markets of industrialized countries are blocked by
protectionist tariffs and by non-tariff barriers, which
impede access to them by the rest of the world. The
most developed countries pursue agricultural policies
that seriously exacerbate poverty in developing
countries. For one thing, their domestic production
receives billions of dollars in subsidies. The surplus
thus created is then dumped on world markets at prices
that significantly reduce the income of the traditional
exporting countries.
Therefore Panama welcomes the commitment of
the United States of America, announced last week
from this very rostrum by its President, to eliminate all
subsidies that — as he himself recognized — have
created poverty in many countries. If all those
countries that subsidize their products to the detriment
of free trade were to adopt here a similar commitment
and to implement it swiftly, then the United Nations
would have solid grounds to celebrate its sixtieth
anniversary as an historic and highly significant
occasion.
For its part, Panama reiterates today that the
canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans will
remain open and secure, demonstrating the high degree
of efficiency to which the international community is
accustomed. We have analysed the needs of
international trade and, aware of Panama’s role in the
era of globalization, we shall take a definitive decision
on the canal’s extension through a national referendum.
Our countries should not be condemned to
stagger from one crisis to the next. By emphasizing the
need to combat the alarming levels of poverty and
abject poverty, humankind’s collective conscience will
emerge in favour of development and progress. This
Organization was created at the end of the cruelest war
of all times in order to protect humankind from the
horrors of a similar conflict and to ensure that peace
and harmony would prevail throughout the world.
Panama welcomes the progress that has been
made towards that goal and rejects any attempt to delay
the application of peaceful solutions to regions that
continue to suffer a high level of political tension that
seriously endangers peace. That is our vision of the
inequalities of a society founded on the principles of
the twentieth century, and an expression of cautious
optimism about the opportunities to blaze a new trail
for the benefit of our people, who want to leave their
fears behind and to attain the dreams that all are
entitled to simply by virtue of being alive.


I have the honour
to inform the members of the General Assembly of the
successful conclusion of the parliamentary and
provincial elections that took place in my country two
days ago. As stated by President Karzai, “the holding
of these elections was a major success for the people of
Afghanistan and a major defeat for those attempting to
derail the political process”. In defiance of the threats
posed by the enemies of peace and stability in
Afghanistan, Al-Qaida and the Taliban, millions of
men and women enthusiastically travelled to polling
stations to cast their votes. With the conclusion of
these elections, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
has now completed the final phase of the Bonn
Agreement, sponsored by the United Nations in
December 2001.
The determination and political will expressed by
the people of Afghanistan have made possible the
gradual, yet arduous, transition towards stability and
democracy in Afghanistan. During the course of the
transition, Afghanistan successfully convened two loya
jirgas, adopted a new Constitution enshrining the
principles of democracy, held its first-ever presidential
elections and, most recently, concluded its
parliamentary and provincial elections.
In this context, allow me to express on behalf of
the people and the Government of Afghanistan our
most sincere gratitude and appreciation to the United
Nations, the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force, coalition forces, Provincial
Reconstruction Teams, international observers and
other international partners for the assistance rendered
towards achieving this objective.
Allow me to highlight briefly some of the other
achievements that have taken place during the past four
years. The Government of Afghanistan continues to
make significant progress with regard to the reform of
the security sector and the formation of the national
army and police in order to further extend and
consolidate peace and authority throughout the country.
The disarmament and demobilization of 60,000 former
combatants has been completed. In that regard, the
Government of Afghanistan reaffirms its commitment
to complete the reintegration of ex-combatants as the
final phase of a successful disarmament, demobilization
and reintegration process.
Significant progress has been made in the
promotion and protection of human rights and
fundamental freedoms. Our new Constitution
guarantees equal rights for men and women, freedom
of expression, freedom of press and political pluralism.
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
has been institutionalized as an independent body in
accordance with our Constitution. The Commission
continues to fulfil its mandate.
We have also witnessed the enrolment of more
than 5 million children, both boys and girls, in school.
Repatriation of millions of refugees from neighbouring
countries has also taken place during the past four
years. The significant increase in the role of women in
the social, political and economic life of the country is
also worth mentioning.
The cultivation of opium poppy and the
production of narcotic drugs in Afghanistan remains a
prime concern of my Government. The establishment
of a counter-narcotics ministry, the creation of a
special tribunal to prosecute those associated with the
cultivation, production and trafficking of illegal drugs
and the formation of the Committee on Counter-
Narcotics, chaired by President Karzai, are only some
of the initiatives taken by the Afghan Government
aimed at combating and eliminating the scourge of
narcotic drugs.
I am pleased to refer to the recent report of the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which
rightly reflected a 21 per cent decrease in the
cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan during the
current year. However, in order to build on this
achievement, we must offer alternative livelihoods to
rural communities. A successful strategy in combating
illicit drugs requires additional measures aside from
25

asking farmers to plant substitute crops. We have to
provide them with agricultural assistance, invest in
irrigation, build roads and provide electric power and
assistance in generating non-farm employment in rural
areas.
Many of the achievements realized in
Afghanistan since the signing of the Bonn Agreement
would not have been possible without the vigorous
support of the international community. I take this
opportunity to extend our deep gratitude to all
international partners and lead nations which offered
generous support throughout the process. In this
context, we emphasize the importance of the sustained
engagement and support of the international
community over the coming years for the rehabilitation
and reconstruction of Afghanistan, as well as for the
consolidation of peace and security.
Despite the achievements to which I referred
earlier, the people of Afghanistan continue to face
many challenges in their daily lives. Extreme poverty,
a high rate of infant and maternal mortality and a lack
of resources necessary to ensure basic social services
continue to exist.
The outcome document adopted on 16 September
2005 (resolution 60/1) has laid the foundation for a
more effective and efficient United Nations better able
to address issues relating to development, peace and
security, human rights, reform of the United Nations
and achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals.
The Government of Afghanistan welcomes the
proposal adopted in the outcome document with regard
to the establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission.
As a country emerging from years of conflict,
Afghanistan fully understands the need for a
coordinated, coherent and integrated approach to post-
conflict peacebuilding. My Government also supports
the decision that the Commission should begin its work
by no later than 31 December 2005.
As a result of ongoing efforts by Afghanistan and
the international community to combat international
terrorism, my country no longer serves as a base for
Al-Qaida and the Taliban. However, the people of
Afghanistan continue to suffer from the scourge of
international terrorism. Terrorism remains one of the
main challenges to peace, stability and sustainable
development in Afghanistan. The continued infiltration
of Al-Qaida and Taliban extremists in the south and
parts of the east of the country remains a factor
contributing to insecurity in my country.
We therefore reiterate the importance of a sincere
commitment by all the countries of the region to
combating that scourge. The Government of
Afghanistan once again vehemently condemns
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. In that
context, we support every effort aimed at the
successful conclusion of a comprehensive convention
on international terrorism by the end of the sixtieth
session of the General Assembly.
The Secretary-General clearly highlighted the
interrelationship between development and security in
his report “In larger freedom” (A/59/2005), which, in
paragraph 2 of the annex, states, “There will be no
development without security and no security without
development”. The case of Afghanistan could not be
more relevant in that respect.
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in
Afghanistan is not just a desirable humanitarian
objective, but a necessity for the security of the
country, the region and the world. Attaining the Goals
will require a substantial amount of international aid,
provided in a coordinated and sustained manner.
My Government is in the process of preparing
Afghanistan’s national development strategy, which
will be presented at the donor conference on
Afghanistan scheduled to take place early next year.
The national development strategy encompasses a clear
approach to achieving our national development goals
and addresses vital areas such as capacity-building,
fiscal sustainability, building infrastructure and
prioritizing projects. The Afghanistan national
development strategy will also present Afghanistan’s
overarching strategy for promoting growth and
reducing poverty, and will serve as the country’s
overall strategy for attracting international assistance.
The national development strategy will be
prepared in a consultative process with all
stakeholders, including donors, civil society, the
private sector and provincial councils. Through a post-
Bonn compact, Afghanistan will subscribe to a new set
of timetables and benchmarks for providing security,
building democratic institutions, protecting human
rights and reducing extreme poverty in accordance
with our MDG targets, reforming the administration,
eliminating corruption, ending the production of and
26

traffic in narcotic drugs and developing cooperation
with our neighbours.
As a landlocked country, Afghanistan will not be
able to achieve its intended economic goals without the
support and mutual cooperation of its neighbours. The
Government of Afghanistan emphasizes the importance
of regional economic cooperation for the benefit of all
countries in the region. Trade plays a major role in
promoting economic growth, employment and
development for all. The volume of trade between
Afghanistan and its neighbours has been growing
steadily. Just last year, the estimated value of trade
between Afghanistan and its neighbours amounted to
$1.5 billion.
I would like in conclusion to express
Afghanistan’s full commitment to the implementation
of the outcome document. We are of the conviction that
the adoption of that historic document will further
enhance the central role of the United Nations in
addressing the threats and challenges facing humanity
at the dawn of the twenty-first century.


Allow me to congratulate the President, on his election
to his high post and to express our confidence in his
successful and professional implementation of the
mandate entrusted to him. Allow me to also express
our gratitude to Mr. Jean Ping for his untiring activity
in guiding the fifty-ninth session of the General
Assembly.
Last week the High-level Plenary Meeting
concluded its work, which resulted in the adoption of
an outcome document, reflecting the Meeting’s
commitment to attaining the Millennium Development
Goals.
The United Nations is an irreplaceable structure
of multilateral inter-State interaction. Therefore, the
question on how it will respond to the hopes and
aspirations of every Member will determine its
viability. We agree with the Secretary-General that the
Organization “remains fully engaged in conflict
resolution, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance,
defence of human rights and development around the
world”. (A/60/PV.2)
We support the proposals contained in the
outcome document on strengthening the United
Nations in areas of development, ensuring collective
security, counteracting terrorism, ensuring the dignity
of the individual and reforming the Organization.
We are in favour of strengthening the role of the
United Nations, and urge more transparency in its work
and an improvement of its structure. The activities of
its bodies should be conducted on the basis of a wide
consensus among Member States. We welcome the
efforts of the Secretary-General aimed at preventing
conflicts and strengthening preventive activity in that
area.
We support the efforts against terrorism by the
Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee. Its
role is invaluable in coordinating and exchanging
information and analysing trends.
The present session is devoted to an appraisal of
the progress made by States in achieving the
Millennium Development Goals. Therefore, allow me
to share with you information on how Turkmenistan is
implementing the Goals.
Reforms are being implemented in Turkmenistan
in the economic and social sphere, in accordance with
the national programme of social and economic
development for the period until 2020. The reforms
have assisted in establishing a powerful industrial
potential, creating a market model for administration
and the private sector of economy, and ensuring
dignified living conditions for the people.
Turkmenistan possesses huge energy resources,
gas and oil industries being the main sources of
development of the national economy. The energy
potential of Turkmenistan is currently estimated at
more than 45 billion tons of oil equivalent, or a fifth of
all world reserves of natural gas and oil.
Thanks to the national programmes developed in
the early years of independence, the reforms have
introduced a new type of industry. Turkmenistan, by its
own national resources, has invested $30 billion in the
national economy and has built over 1,050 industrial
plants and factories possessing highly sophisticated
equipment.
We have been successfully developing new
branches of industry, namely, the oil and gas, energy,
textile and food sectors. In the textile industry, we have
established new specialized companies and large
integrated textile plants, organizing large-scale
production of various cotton fibre products, 60 per cent
of which is exported. The textile industry represents
28 per cent of the overall volume of production of our
manufacturing industry.
The agrarian sector of the economy has
undergone complete reconstruction. Since the middle
of 1995, all collective and State farms have been
abolished. Reform has been directed at transferring
land to private ownership and long-term lease and
expanding the areas of privately-held lots. The
Government has undertaken measures to stimulate
private agricultural production. Half of the cost of
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technical services is borne by the State. The population
has been exempted from payment of taxes on land,
houses, construction and the maintenance of cattle and
poultry. All these and other measures have
strengthened agriculture and have stimulated a growth
in production.
This year Turkmenistan harvested a record 3.1
million tons of wheat. At the current stage of
development, consumer demand in our country is met
mainly by domestic production, practically ensuring
food independence for the country.
Turkmenistan attaches great importance to the
creation and expansion of its railway infrastructure,
which meets the highest modern standards. Today, the
railway system of Turkmenistan covers more than
2,000 kilometres. In recent years two new railways
were constructed and a third is under way, which has
increased the size of the system by nearly 500
kilometres.
The country has become a vital part of the
common international transport system. The Trans-
Asiatic Railway has created a steel variant of the
ancient Silk Road, and this connects Turkmenistan
with the countries of Europe and the Asian continent
and promotes social and economic development.
Turkmenistan attaches great importance to social
protection. Ensuring dignified living standards,
security, rights and freedoms of citizens and
strengthening the legal basis of society is our internal
policy. During the entire transition period, the
President and Government worked to provide social
support to the population. Since 1993 they have given
to their citizens gas, electricity, water, salt, health
services and education free of charge.
There is a large-scale housing construction
programme. Citizens are guaranteed ownership of
comfortable well-designed homes on financially
attractive terms, with loans extending over a 15-year
period and the future homeowner’s employer paying
50 per cent of the costs. Thanks to free education and
good access, the country has a high level of education
and literacy. Turkmenistan has achieved success in
other areas, in particular the protection of the rights of
children and the defence of their interests. This is a
clear confirmation of our tireless fulfilment of our
obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
Working with the United Nations Children’s
Fund, in 2000 we successfully implemented a programme
for the protection of mothers and children, the
comprehensive development of children and the
promotion and well-being of the youth.
The country has achieved wide immunization
coverage, which has led to a significant reduction in
infectious diseases among children. A lot of work is
being carried out in the areas of maternal and child
health, education and social protection. In Turkmenistan,
we are the fourth country in the world to be recognized
by the United Nations as a State that has introduced
universal iodization of salt in accordance with accepted
international standards. In this connection it has been
noted that our country consistently carries out its
obligations, not only with regard to iodine deficiency
but also with regard to the micronutrients that are
needed for the development of a growing child’s body.
For many centuries, our country has been a
crossroads of routes between East and West and South
and North and has been a key link in the Great Silk
Road, which served as a road of peace and dialogue for
cultures for almost one and a half thousand years. This
led to the creation of a special spiritual atmosphere in
our Turkmen land, and it is not accidental therefore
that the national mentality of the Turkmens was
generated in its essence as internationally oriented,
seeing the individual as the supreme value, and rooted
in openness, tolerance, respect for the culture of other
peoples and natural peacefulness.
The political system of the State recognizes the
important role played by civil society. Public
associations and professional and artistic unions play
an active role in determining the economic, social and
cultural policies of the State.
Turkmenistan has historically respected religious
freedom for its citizens and strictly respects generally
recognized international norms and principles in the
area of freedom of worship. As a result, more than 100
religious organizations are registered in Turkmenistan.
The State guarantees the freedom of religion and
belief, the equality of faiths before the law and the
right of everyone independently to determine his or her
relationship to religion.
Turkmenistan recognizes the primacy of
universally recognized norms of international law and
has joined or ratified the fundamental international
instruments in the area of human rights. An important
34

measure in this area has been Turkmenistan’s
declaration of its status of a permanently neutral State,
and this has been approved by the General Assembly.
Turkmenistan has assumed its international obligations
in that connection and has fulfilled them over the past
10 years. These obligations are incorporated in the
constitutional laws on the neutrality of Turkmenistan
and on its international obligations in the field of
human rights.
In 1999 we abolished the death penalty.
Turkmenistan has adopted specific political, economic
and social measures for the protection of the rights of
refugees, who arrived in our country between 1991 and
1997. During this period, about 20,000 refugees from
Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Armenia and other countries
arrived to Turkmenistan. Under the decree of the
President of Turkmenistan, more than 16,000 of them
received citizenship or residence permits.
We welcome efforts of the Secretary-General of
the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, aimed at
strengthening the United Nations. We are grateful to
the United Nations, its Secretariat, its specialized
agencies such as the United Nations Development
Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the
United Nations Population Fund, the World Health
Organization and others, who have coordinated and
provided invaluable assistance to the development of
our State.
Turkmenistan along with many other States has
high hopes in the United Nations and calls for its
strengthening and the broadening of its role in the
world.


Just a few days
ago, in this same Hall, the follow-up High-level
Meeting was held on the Millennium, bringing together
an unprecedented number of high political leaders from
all over the world. After a process of discussion and
negotiation, both lengthy and thorough, we adopted
what should serve as our road map for the period to
come. The final document should not only inspire but
also give specific direction to, the actions of the
international community in the United Nations.
While not all our expectations or ambitions were
realized in that document and considerable gaps cry
out to be filled — I am thinking particularly of the
crucial areas of disarmament and non-proliferation —
we must, nevertheless, welcome the fact that around
the central pillars of the United Nations, namely,
development, peace and human rights, broad agreement
has crystallized and a new international agenda has in
fact emerged.
It is particularly appropriate and propitious that
the current regular session of the General Assembly
has opened immediately following on the important
High-level Meeting. While we may feel that the
foundation was laid during that important event, what
14

we have to do now is to complete what has been
undertaken, consolidate the sections of walls that have
been erected and build those parts that have only been
sketched out — and here I am thinking particularly of
the Human Rights Council — and provide our project
with a sound roof.
Renewal of multilateralism in the context of the
special conditions at the beginning of this century and
the reform of the United Nations must be conducted
with determination, driven by a real sense of urgency
in the light of the significance of the task that awaits us
and the crucial matters at stake for billions of men and
women.
Knowing as I do, Sir, your personal commitment,
your dynamism and your numerous qualities, I am
convinced that you will direct the work of the sixtieth
regular session of the General Assembly in such a way
so as to ensure that we can, all together, carry out the
urgent mandate entrusted to us by the High-level
Meeting and, more particularly, by our peoples, who
have placed their hopes on a revamped and
strengthened United Nations system. It is in this spirit
that my country is prepared to subscribe with
conviction to the accountability pact proposed by our
Secretary-General, whom I would, once again, like to
congratulate for what he has been doing at the head of
our Organization.
I would note with satisfaction your intention, Sir,
to present a detailed and operational workplan in order
to organize our work as effectively as possible so that
we can complete the tasks awaiting us according to a
fixed timetable. We have to provide concrete evidence
that our Assembly will not go back to business as usual
once the spotlights have been switched off.
For all those — and I am one of them — who
believe that our Assembly, a veritable parliament of the
nations of the world, has a paramount role to play in
the emergence of a strong political consensus at the
world level, the quick adoption of specific operational
decisions should deal a sound rebuff to all those
Cassandras, all those cynics and all those who uphold
the status quo that opposes change.
In his opening statement at the sixtieth regular
session of the General Assembly, our Secretary-
General clearly defined the mission that awaits us in
the coming months. Among the subjects that claim our
attention, I would focus on the following: human
rights, in order to strengthen the impact of this
essential dimension in all the activities of the United
Nations, particularly through the immediate creation of
a Human Rights Council on the basis of the positive
groundwork laid in the preparatory work of the High-
level Meeting; the establishment of the Peacebuilding
Commission, an innovative body; the reform of the
main bodies of our Organization, including the urgent
need to enlarge the Security Council in both categories
of membership in order to make the Council more
representative of the realities at the beginning of the
twenty-first century and to make it more transparent
and more effective; giving concrete form to the idea of
“the responsibility to protect”, whose confirmation in
the final document is one of the main breakthroughs of
the recent High-level Meeting; and finally, the reform
of the administrative and financial management of the
United Nations in order to consolidate the effectiveness
and integrity of the Organization.
Let me also devote a few minutes to the question
of development. Development remains the main
political and moral issue of our time. It must be noted
that progress towards the Millennium Development
Goals has been uneven and some backward movement
must be acknowledged, particularly in sub-Saharan
Africa. The recently published Human Development
Report notes that
“In the midst of an increasingly prosperous
global economy, 10.7 million children every year
do not live to see their fifth birthday, and more
than 1 billion people survive in abject poverty on
less than $1 per day. The HIV/AIDS pandemic
has inflicted the single greatest reversal in human
development. In 2003, the pandemic claimed 3
million lives and left another five million people
infected.” (Human Development Report 2005, p. 1)
In view of these alarming facts, setting up and
creating a genuine partnership for development, based
on the groundwork of the Monterrey Conference and
on the basis of shared responsibility borne by both the
donor countries and the recipient countries, remains a
matter of priority. The countries of the South must take
their own development in hand by defining detailed
national strategies that are effective and directed
towards good governance and combating corruption.
The countries of the North must fulfil their
commitments in matters of trade, debt reduction and
enhancing the quality of aid and good practices.
Particular emphasis should be laid on increasing
15

financial flows for development. In this connection,
when Luxembourg occupied the presidency of the
European Union during the first half of this year, the
member States of the European Union took the historic
decision to commit themselves on a precise timetable
to make a considerable increase of their official
development aid (ODA) in order to achieve the target
of 0.7 per cent of their gross national products by 2015
at the latest. Four of the five countries, including my
own, that have achieved or gone beyond 0.7 per
cent — a target reconfirmed by the High-level
Meeting — are member States of the European Union.
The Government of Luxembourg has confirmed its
intention to increase its ODA contribution in the years
to come to one per cent of its gross national income.
Unfortunately, too often the fruits of development
are erased by natural or man-made disasters. In the
Sudan, in the Great Lakes region and elsewhere, this
truth is demonstrated daily. There can be no
development without security. There can be no security
without development.
That is why I particularly welcome the agreement
reached during the summit on the establishment of a
Peacebuilding Commission. That should make it
possible for us to contemplate the tremendous
problems of transition confronting the countries
emerging from conflict from an overall viewpoint,
bringing together the dimensions of crisis management,
humanitarian aid, reconstruction of State structures and
local and legal structures and providing essential
public goods and services, while at the same time re-
launching the process of economic and social
development.
On the basis of the mandate given by the summit,
Luxembourg actively supports the reform of the
Central Emergency Revolving Fund, which should take
shape in coming months so that this renovated Fund
can become fully operational by the beginning of 2006.
My country has already announced, just a few days ago
here in New York, that it would be making a
contribution of $4 million to the capital of this Fund,
and other States have also confirmed large
contributions.
If development is, according to the well-known
formula, the new name of peace, we cannot fail,
nevertheless, to note that numerous international
conflicts and intra-State conflicts and hotbeds of
tension continue to dot the face of the world.
Peace and stability in the Middle East continue to
be at the forefront of our concerns.
The current President of the Council of the
European Union, my friend Jack Straw, recalled two
days ago from this rostrum the spirit in which the
negotiations on the nuclear issue were conducted with
Iran in recent months. Cooperation and respect for
international norms and treaties, rather than
discrimination or a desire to create dependency, were
what motivated us in this case. In the Paris Agreement
Iran subscribed to a total suspension of all activities
connected with enrichment and all reprocessing
activities. It is that commitment that made it possible
to develop political and economic cooperation with the
European Union. It is that commitment — which, I
hardly need to recall, has been ratified by the
International Atomic Energy Agency — that I today
call upon Iran to respect.
In this context, I should also like to welcome the
agreement that was reached just today with the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to abandon all
nuclear programmes and to rejoin the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This is excellent news.
On 22 June 2005, more than 80 countries and
organizations met in Brussels at the International
Conference on Iraq, sponsored jointly by the European
Union and the United States, with the presence of our
Secretary-General, and expressed their support for the
Iraqi Transitional Government and its political,
economic and security priorities. That important
Conference made it possible, in particular, for the
States members of the European Union to reaffirm
their unanimous and united support for a secure, stable,
unified, prosperous, democratic Iraq, respectful of
human rights, which will benefit fully from the
exercise of its sovereignty, cooperate constructively
with its neighbours and with the international
community, and end violence in that country. And it is
our Organization that, more than ever, must be a
driving force, play a leading role, in that context.
The Near East has only rarely been the scene of
positive developments. This is why I should like
particularly and expressly to welcome the political
courage of the leaders of the two sides regarding the
successful withdrawal from Gaza and certain parts of
the north of the West Bank. Now we should take
advantage of that positive dynamic to launch a genuine
peace prospect based on the road map, which continues
16

to be the essential framework in this matter. The
conditions to promote the emergence of a climate of
peace were recalled by the European Council on 16 and
17 June 2005. In particular, the fact that the Palestinian
Authority is taking control of Gaza now provides it
with an opportunity to demonstrate its institutional and
administrative maturity, particularly as regards
maintaining law and order and combating terrorism.
The cessation of all acts of violence by the parties is
also an essential requirement.
Regarding the crucial question of Israeli
colonization activities in the occupied territories, the
European Council noted that “the policy of
colonization is an obstacle to peace and threatens
making virtually impossible any solution based on the
coexistence of two States”. In the same context, the
European Council expressed concern at the
continuation of the building of the separation barrier in
the occupied Palestinian territory, including East
Jerusalem and its surrounding areas, which contradicts
the pertinent provisions of international law. At the
same time, of course, the Council recognized the right
of Israel to protect its citizens against attacks.
Let us assume that the next meeting of the
Quartet, which will be held in New York tomorrow,
will find political formulas that will make it possible to
continue the positive dynamic of disengagement from
Gaza and will clear the way for a just and lasting peace
in this divided part of our world.
As very often happens, patches of clouds and
glimmers of hope are mingled when we analyse the
international situation, but one thing remains constant,
and that is the central role of the United Nations in the
search for international peace and security. Sixty years
after the signing of the San Francisco Charter, we have
all met together here to confirm our contract of
confidence with this Organization, the United Nations,
which is our common heritage — a United Nations
renovated and reformed, synchronized with the threats
and challenges of our times and able to respond to the
expectations of the peoples of the world. As a
signatory to the Charter in 1945, Luxembourg, as far as
it is concerned, is ready to renew this pledge of
confidence with enthusiasm, confidence and
determination.