Allow
me to begin by warmly congratulating His Excellency
Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann upon his election to
the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-

17 08-52265

third session. His election honours his long-lasting
personal commitment to the preservation of peace and
security and, particularly, his constant efforts to
encourage reconciliation in Central America. I also
wish to thank Mr. Srgjan Kerim for his excellent
service as President of the General Assembly at its
previous session.
 I would also like to thank the Secretary-General,
Ban Ki-moon, for his generous and ongoing efforts to
help reform our Organization, in particular those
aiming to improve its working methods and its
interaction with its Member States.
 Twenty years ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall
marked the end of a cold war era that had been
characterized by ideological divisions, arms races and
a weak multilateral system with inefficient
mechanisms. With the end of that era came great hope
and aspirations from the world’s peoples, leading some
to believe in the beginning of a new world order — a
world order that would not only be more fair and
equitable, but also distinguished by a culture of
forgiveness among its nations. That new order was also
meant to spread the values of democracy and human
rights, giving priority to development and the better
and more efficient utilization of technological
advancements. At the same time, some people
predicted that that new world order would restore
prestige to the United Nations, allowing it to achieve
more consensus on international issues.
 Rather than fulfilling the expectations of a better
world after the cold war, today’s reality has seen an
increase in regional and internal conflicts, especially
on the African continent. This situation is exacerbated
by a race for energy resources and a frenzied
exploitation of precious minerals.
 At the economic and trade levels, the launch of
the World Trade Organization in 1994 in Marrakesh led
to a substantial acceleration of world trade exchanges,
but it did not create a fair trade system that would
respond to the expectations of developing countries.
 Indeed, in spite of the efforts deployed in
numerous United Nations conferences, official
development assistance (ODA) has significantly
decreased over recent years. In fact, the assistance
provided by donor countries does not meet the
expectations of developing countries despite the
former’s commitment to increase their global annual
assistance to developing countries to $50 billion by
2010.
 Therefore, notwithstanding the progress achieved
over previous years, Morocco, in addition to other
countries, expresses its concern regarding the delay in
the launching of development processes in many
African countries. That delay is partly due to the
complexity of the current international situation
particularly marked by economic and financial crises,
which have had an impact on food security and the
energy needs of these countries. Those circumstances
undermine years of ongoing efforts towards the
development of African countries. In order to improve
that situation, the Kingdom of Morocco urges the
United Nations and relevant financial institutions to
undertake all the arrangements necessary to stabilize
the food market, to maintain social stability in
developing countries and to open the market to
agricultural products, taking into consideration the
circumstances of the least developed countries.
 The weak role of the United Nations in
maintaining peace and security throughout the world
during the cold war period was followed by a new
phase, during which the multilateral system was
characterized by the convening of several meetings and
conferences focused on various global issues, as well
as by the deployment of numerous peacekeeping
operations, especially in Africa. As a troop-
contributing country, Morocco has spared no efforts to
increase its involvement in United Nations
peacekeeping forces. The Kingdom is also actively
promoting the enhancement of South-South
cooperation by giving priority to African countries.
 To parallel the changes taking place in the
international arena, United Nations Member States
launched major reforms centred on improving the
Organization’s actions, reinforcing its role and
enhancing its mechanisms. Nevertheless, some
weaknesses remain in coordination among the various
United Nations bodies and between the Organization
itself and regional organizations. That is particularly
evident in the efforts to contain and prevent regional
conflicts with potential spillover effects.
 At this point, it is important to strengthen
multilateralism in order to meet new challenges and to
put in place a new order based on justice and equality.
The pursuit of such an approach is not merely an
option but is necessary, given the serious challenges

08-52265 18

facing international peace and security and sustainable
economic and social development.
 The Middle East peace process, initiated at the
Madrid Conference in 1991, was unfortunately
unsuccessful in ending the conflict, which continues to
see heavy daily casualties and causes millions of
Palestinians to live in inhumane and tragic conditions.
In this context Morocco closely follows the latest
developments regarding the situation in the Middle
East and encourages all initiatives aiming to bring
peace to that region, with respect to international
legality and to the agreements previously reached,
namely the Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative.
 This last initiative undoubtedly represents a
realistic solution, reflecting the true commitment of
Arab countries to reach a just, comprehensive and
lasting solution that would allow the Palestinian people
to establish an independent State with Al-Quds as its
capital and force Israel to withdraw from all occupied
Arab land, a solution that would enable the people and
the countries of the Middle East to live in peace,
stability and security.
 The Kingdom of Morocco equally expresses the
necessity to respect the particular situation of
Jerusalem by avoiding degrading and humiliating
practices and curtailing any attempts to undermine the
specificities of the Holy City in regard to culture,
religion and civilization. In this regard, His Majesty
King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al-Quds
Committee, spares no effort in encouraging world
leaders to help put an end to the projects taking place
around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in other parts of
Jerusalem.
 As far as Iraq is concerned, we closely follow
progress on the ground and encourage dialogue and
national reconciliation between the different ethnic,
political and cultural factions in order to end the cycle
of violence, to reach peace and stability, to preserve the
territorial integrity of that brotherly country and to
allow it to rebuild its economy.
 Morocco also launched a regional initiative in
June 2006 by convening an international ministerial
conference on migration, development, environment
and climate change. Morocco considers the celebration
of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights the right occasion to appoint a United
Nations special rapporteur on human rights issues. It
would aim to appropriately equip the United Nations to
play a leading role in ensuring that all citizens’ rights
are protected and that the laws and political and
economic mechanisms regarding respect for human
rights are harmonized in order to promote those rights.
 The United Nations is based on the principles of
cooperation and neighbourly relations, with regional
integration and cooperation representing the best
means to ensure stability, economic development and
an improved collective future. Since its independence,
the Kingdom of Morocco has placed the project of an
Arab Maghreb Union at the top of its priorities and
considered it a strategic option. Morocco is firmly
committed to making the Arab Maghreb Union the
herald of an era of peace and the fulfilment of the
common destiny of the populations of this region.
 The Kingdom of Morocco is strongly convinced
about and deeply committed to overcoming all
obstacles and to moving forward with regional
integration into the Arab Maghreb Union. The
Moroccan autonomy initiative regarding the Western
Sahara, which was described by the Security Council
as serious and credible, is the result of in-depth
national consultations and widespread international
consultations. As a result, the Security Council
successfully and unanimously adopted three
resolutions — 1754 (2007), 1783 (2007) and 1813
(2008) — that call upon parties to enter into true
negotiations, taking into consideration the latest
developments and particularly the Moroccan initiative,
which launched a new dynamic in favour of a lasting
solution to this conflict.
 Morocco remains strongly committed to
continuing those negotiations with sincerity and
goodwill in order to find a final solution to that
regional conflict, one that would respect the national
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of
Morocco and give the benefits of autonomy to the
Sahara and its population. It would be a lasting,
comprehensive and realistic solution to that regional
conflict.
 A strong, open, integrated and stable Arab
Maghreb can play a key role in maintaining regional
peace and security. Along the shores of the
Mediterranean, it can also contribute to enhancing
African integration and play an active role as an
efficient and credible partner to achieve the noble goals
for which the United Nations was created.


I am honoured to be here
today on behalf of the Government of Canada to once
again reaffirm my country’s commitment to a strong
and effective United Nations.
(spoke in French)
 For Canada, the United Nations remains
indispensable for addressing the many global
challenges that confront us today, be it the search for
peace and security, the promotion of human rights,
democracy and international development, combating
terrorism or the protection of the environment.
(spoke in English)
 Those challenges require collective and
cooperative strategies. They cannot be tackled by any
one country acting alone. That is why we must
redouble our efforts to make the United Nations more
effective and efficient so that it can deliver real results.
 Today, I would like to speak to the Assembly
about Canada’s priority global engagements, and how
they are helping to achieve the fundamental objectives
of this Organization.
 From the very founding of the United Nations,
Canada has contributed ideas, action and resources to
help to fulfil its mandate. We helped to develop the
concept of peacekeeping. We helped it to meet the
changing nature of security, when more robust action
was required to end conflict, to protect civilians caught
in the crossfire or to build peace in its aftermath. We
have served in successive peacekeeping and
peacemaking operations and today we are serving on
the Peacebuilding Commission.
 Today, Canada is contributing to peace and
security and making sacrifices in places as diverse as
Afghanistan, Haiti and the Sudan. Each of those
Canadian engagements flows from a United Nations
mandate.
 Canada’s largest and most important overseas
engagement is in Afghanistan, where we have more
than 2,500 Canadians on the ground in support of the
Security Council-mandated International Security
Assistance Force. Canada continues to call for safe and
unhindered humanitarian access to all those in need in
Afghanistan. We condemn in the strongest possible
terms the attack of 14 September against members of a
United Nations convoy in Kandahar province who
were carrying out a polio vaccination campaign for
Afghan children.
 Sadly, the Government of Afghanistan and the
international community are all too familiar with such
brutal and cowardly tactics. We will not be swayed
from our efforts to improve the lives of ordinary
Afghans. To that end, at the International Conference
in Support of Afghanistan in Paris, Canada announced
that it would make an additional contribution of $600
million for Afghanistan, bringing its overall total to
$1.9 billion over the period from 2001 to 2011.
 Continued leadership by the United Nations is
essential in Afghanistan. Canada stands behind the
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. We
call on Member States to work with the United Nations
to enhance the capacity of the Mission and to give it
the tools required to do its job. We remain ever mindful

17 08-53141

of the challenges that Afghanistan continues to
confront — security, access to basic services and
impending food shortages. Collectively, we — the
States assembled here — must deliver on the promises
made to the Afghan people.
(spoke in French)
 Canada also remains committed to the promotion
of security, governance and development in Haiti,
efforts that are important for building a more
democratic, prosperous and secure hemisphere. We
consider the partnership with the United Nations in
Haiti to be an integral part of those efforts. That is why
we are providing the United Nations Stabilization
Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) with civilian police
officers, military staff officers and corrections experts.
 Canada takes a comprehensive approach to
reconstruction and development in Haiti. We are the
second largest bilateral donor in Haiti, with a
$555 million commitment over five years through 2011
in support of the country’s long-term reconstruction
and development. MINUSTAH is in Haiti at the
request of the Haitian Government, the most important
partner of all in a commitment we share with Member
States within the hemisphere and beyond. Sustained
efforts, political stability and lasting progress on
reforms will combine to build a better future for all
Haitians.
 Canada has also been a long-standing partner of
the United Nations efforts in Africa. When the
Secretary-General took office, he said that one of his
top priorities would be the Sudan’s Darfur region. The
United Nations presence in the Sudan is based on the
very principles underlying the United Nations Charter.
The engagement of the international community in the
Sudan remains vital.
(spoke in English)
 With contributions of over $477 million since
2006, Canada remains deeply committed to building
sustainable peace in the Sudan and alleviating the
suffering of those affected by the conflict. Canada’s
support for peacekeeping operations in Sudan includes
the deployment of personnel, a loan of armoured
vehicles and a large voluntary financial contribution.
Canada underscores the importance of full
implementation of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement, and calls on Sudanese authorities and the
rebel movements to end the violence in Darfur,
facilitate the deployment of the African Union-United
Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID),
cooperate with the International Criminal Court and
respect human rights.
 We are acutely aware that UNAMID is a difficult
and often dangerous mission. In that regard, allow me
to express the sincere condolences of the Canadian
Government for the deaths resulting from the
helicopter crash in the Sudan earlier today — a tragedy
that underscores the very real threats United Nations
personnel continue to confront in the field.
 The current crisis in Georgia also calls for a
unified international response. Canada supports the
democratic and legitimate Government of Georgia and
Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Canada
calls on Russia to fulfil its international obligations,
reconsider its actions and cooperate fully with the
international community to resolve the crisis in
Georgia in a peaceful manner.
 Canada has consistently sought to make the
United Nations instruments for promoting peace and
security more effective. At the centre of those is, of
course, the Security Council. Canada has long
supported proposals for greater accountability and
transparency of the Security Council to enable it better
to shoulder the global peace and security
responsibilities entrusted to it by the 192 Member
States. Canada is committed to working with all
Member States to promote a more unified and effective
Security Council that can move past stalemate and take
decisive action against threats to security wherever
they may arise.
 We therefore welcome the recent decision of the
General Assembly to launch negotiations on Security
Council reform at this session. It is important that we
make progress in those negotiations. For our part,
Canada stands ready to support reform that ensures that
new realities are reflected in the Council while
preserving accountability through the discipline of
regular elections for Security Council membership.
 Canada is proud to be the seventh largest
contributor to the regular budget of the United Nations.
We are also a member of a wide range of United
Nations specialized agencies and a major contributor to
United Nations funds and programmes.
Humanitarianism and compassion are hallmarks of the
Canadian identity. The United Nations is a key partner
for the delivery of Canadian humanitarian action, with

08-53141 18

Canadian commitments this year totalling over
$315 million. Our humanitarian assistance is aimed at
helping the world’s most vulnerable people, including
children, refugees and victims of conflict and natural
disasters, and supports key United Nations programmes
in those areas.
 Canada is on track to meet its international
assistance commitments, and we are ensuring that our
aid is focused, effective and accountable. Canada will
deliver on its promise to double international
assistance to $5 billion by 2010-2011.
 Canada is also serious about its commitment,
undertaken in the Group of Eight, to double aid to
Africa, and I am pleased to say that we are on target to
meet that goal in 2009. Canada is also committed to
working in partnership with other stakeholders to
accelerate development efforts to help achieve the
Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
 In response to the global food crisis, Canada
provided an extra $50 million for food aid, bringing
our total contribution this year to $230 million — one
of the largest in the world. Canada was also pleased to
answer an emergency request from the World Food
Programme (WFP) earlier this month to provide
security for its food aid shipments to Somalia. A
Canadian Navy frigate, HMCS Ville de Québec, is
currently escorting WFP ships carrying life-saving
supplies to Somalia. Canada recently extended the
frigate’s WFP escort mission until 23 October 2008.
 Canada is taking further concrete measures to
enhance the effectiveness of our aid. We recently
untied 100 per cent of our food aid to make sure it can
be provided in the most efficient and effective way
possible to the people who need it most. Canada is also
fully untying all of its development assistance
programmes by 2012-2013, in fulfilment of our
commitment to ensuring greater effectiveness of our
international assistance.
 The challenges of environmental protection and
sustainable development are rightly at the top of the
global agenda. The most pressing challenge is that of
climate change, and the United Nations must play a
central role. Canada is committed to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
and the need to reach consensus on a post-Bali
framework.
 The response to all global challenges begins at
home. However, the sum of national actions must drive
a collective effort at the international level. One of the
most important components of the Bali Road Map is
that it recognizes that no country can effectively
address climate change on its own and that all
countries in a position to act must do so. As such,
Canada is fully aware of the importance of having all
major global emitters take on meaningful and binding
emissions reduction commitments in any future
international agreement.
 Canada is also acutely aware of the risks faced by
countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate
change, particularly small island States and the least
developed countries. Canada is pleased to be a sponsor
of a draft resolution on climate change and security put
forward by the Pacific Island States. Canada has also
supported global efforts to promote climate change
adaptation and has contributed both expertise and
finances to various United Nations and other
international initiatives.
 Sixty years ago, this body adopted the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Canada is proud to
recall the contribution of Canadian John Peters
Humphrey in penning the initial draft of that landmark
instrument. Sixty years on, we have not yet met that
“common standard of achievement for all peoples and
all nations” (resolution 217 (III)). We have much work
left to do.
 As a member of the Human Rights Council,
Canada is working hard to make that new institution
live up to the reform objectives that led to its creation
two years ago. We have seen some progress and some
setbacks in ensuring that the Council’s agenda and
focus are balanced and objective.
 We must continually challenge ourselves to
improve our own records. The creation this year of the
Universal Periodic Review, which Canada strongly
supported as an innovative improvement to the United
Nations human rights machinery, is an important tool
to help States identify and address their continuing
challenges.
 As a community, we must stand up for the rule of
law and for those whose rights are violated or
undermined by the very institutions that should ensure
their protection. That is why Canada will continue to
take strong stands against Governments that commit
systemic abuses against their populations. As

19 08-53141

Governments, we must remain committed to working
together to hold each other to account on our human
rights records and to support countries that are making
sincere efforts to advance the human rights of their
people. We must continue to strive for fundamental
freedoms and human rights in order to fulfil the ideals
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
(spoke in French)
 Canada supports an effective, soundly managed
and results-driven United Nations. That is why it
supports broad reform. In that regard, we call for
extensive reform in terms of management, especially in
the areas of oversight, accountability and human
resource management. Those reforms are needed to
bring the management of the United Nations in step
with the best practices of the twenty-first century and
to equip it with the tools needed to deliver on the
important mandates that we as Member States ask of it.
(spoke in English)
 The values and ideals on which the United
Nations was founded — the promotion of peace and
security, of human rights and of greater prosperity for
all through development cooperation — are also
Canada’s and we stand ready to work within the United
Nations to address new challenges, such as climate
change and combating terrorism. I wish to repeat
Canada’s willingness to work in partnership with all
United Nations Member States towards the common
purposes for which this Organization was created.


I am honoured and
privileged to be able to speak in this great Assembly on
behalf of the people of the Republic of the Marshall
Islands.
 I sincerely congratulate Mr. D’Escoto Brockmann
on his election. We have every confidence in his
wisdom and able leadership to guide us through our
deliberations. I extend my sincere appreciation to the
Secretary-General for his leadership and commitment
to the work of the United Nations.
 As this body enters its sixty-third year, I am
moved to express my profound appreciation to those
visionaries who foresaw the importance of the United
Nations and took it upon themselves to establish the
necessary structures for the governance of our
collective affairs. It is not that the creation of this body
has led to the cessation of war; it has not. Rather, it is
that we now have an international forum in which
nations can talk over and deliberate issues of mutual
concern. One could well imagine what the alternative
to talking might be in certain circumstances.

08-51845 12

 Like its sister island States in the Pacific region,
the Marshall Islands is struggling with the
implementation of its Millennium Development Goals.
Our effort has been made difficult by unforeseen global
forces capable of draining every ounce of our
resources. The Marshall Islands is a small economy
and inter-island distances are vast, making
transportation excessively expensive. Formulating
development strategies that address the new conditions
has not been easy.
 An excellent example in this case may be found
in the current energy crisis arising from the escalation
in the cost of fossil fuel. Its adverse impact has been
immediate and severe. The transportation of essential
goods and the movement of people to and from far-
flung islands have been sharply curtailed. The
distribution of essential services and food products has
been acutely impaired, crippling our ability to sustain
normal public services and posing a particular threat to
food security and medical services. The rising cost of
fossil fuels occurring in rapid succession has left the
Marshall Islands with no choice but to declare a state
of economic emergency.
 I am sure, and the International Monetary Fund
has observed, that at the height of the crisis, when the
cost of a barrel of oil was over $140, numerous other
countries were also at the tipping point.
 As a small island developing State and a member
of the Pacific Islands Forum, we are now exploring the
concept of bulk purchasing of petroleum, as endorsed
by Pacific Forum leaders in Niue last month. Given our
painful experience, we request that the international
community give special consideration to the creation of
a comprehensive financial facility that can help small
island States to cope in times of crisis. In addition,
such a facility should also help small island States
transition from fossil fuel-based energy to affordable
and renewable energy sources.
 Our small island States in the Pacific region are
among the lowest greenhouse gas emitters in the world,
yet we bear the full brunt of climate change and its
frightful consequences. The Marshall Islands supports
international initiatives aimed at stemming the tide of
climate change. In that context, we endorse the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
the European Union-Pacific declaration; Japan’s Cool
Earth 50 Programme — which provides funding for
adaptation and mitigation — and the Niue Declaration
on Climate Change.
 In further pursuit of greater guarantees of our
territorial integrity, the Pacific island countries intend
to introduce at this sixty-third session of the General
Assembly a draft resolution calling for climate change
to be addressed by the Security Council as nothing less
than a security concern of the utmost serious nature.
 The litmus test of the international community’s
commitment to those agreements should be reflected in
its ability to provide sustainable financing for
immediate and concrete adaptation programmes on the
ground in small island States. It is one thing to produce
agreements or resolutions; it is another to give them
real meaning in concrete terms. Our commitments must
show themselves in deeds, not in words alone.
 On the scale that we have experienced over the
past few months, the effect of rising fuel costs could
bring everything to a standstill. Nevertheless, some
in-country adjustments could be made, however painful
and agonizing those might be. Insofar as climate
change is concerned, however, we have no option. We
can alter neither the size nor the height of our islands.
They are our natural givens and we are stuck with
them. Our own very survival is at stake. If sea levels
rise by two metres, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Kiribati and the
Marshall Islands will be completely submerged under
sea.
 Thus, clearly the only alteration or adjustment
that is possible is in the mindset and the moral,
economic and political behaviour of the heaviest
emitters of greenhouse gas. In summary, nothing is
more glaring now than the fact that not only are those
issues interrelated, but that their cross-cutting global
character clearly demands an effective and immediate
global response.
 If wars have been waged to protect the rights of
people to live in freedom and to safeguard their
security, why will they not be waged to protect our
right to survive the onslaught of climate change? Is the
former more morally imperative than the latter? I urge
the United Nations to elevate this threat — this
nightmare — as justification for total war against
climate change.
 Recent positive developments, evidenced by the
easing of tension and the improvement of relations
between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan

13 08-51845

have begun a new era of good will and hope for
improved economic possibilities and political stability.
In the context of those emerging dynamics now
maturing between China and Taiwan, we see evidence
of a mutual desire for dialogue and engagement in a
process that can forge better relations and
understanding. It is a development worthy of our
respect, and it presents an excellent opportunity for the
international community to encourage and strengthen
that process.
 In light of that, the Marshall Islands firmly
believes that the time is now ripe for the 23 million
people of Taiwan to be accorded full participation in
the specialized agencies of the United Nations. This is
a starting benchmark that is consistent with the
principle of true universality.
 As we continue to build a United Nations that
better represents our global diversity, the Marshall
Islands believes that membership in the Security
Council should not be guarded as something that is
overly sacred and untouchable. To do so would be to
fail to keep in tandem with the principle of change.
Council membership should instead be enlarged to
reflect reality.
 Japan’s fitting aspirations to seek a permanent
seat on the Security Council deserve favourable
consideration. Japan is a world economic and industrial
power, and its leadership and contribution to the
United Nations is admirable and self-evident. We are
confident that, as a permanent member of the Security
Council, Japan will bring much that is good to the
Council and to the United Nations as a whole.
 Earlier this month, the United Sates marked the
seventh anniversary of the tragic loss of lives resulting
from barbaric acts carried out against the American
people on 11 September 2001. That event threatened
our collective security, prompting a response against
acts of terrorism.
 It is a matter of personal gratification for me to
say that, over the past few decades, the special
relationship between the Marshalls and the United
States has continued to deepen with encouraging
outcomes. I am proud to say that, in Afghanistan and
Iraq, Marshallese young men and women have been
participating actively in coalition forces as part of the
United States armed services personnel, demonstrating
our commitment to shared democratic ideals.
 I take this opportunity to express our deep
gratitude to the United States for its continuing
constructive role in our partnership under the Compact
of Free Association, as well as for its leadership in
advancing the cause of freedom around the world.
 While the ideal of peace envisioned by the
framers of the Charter of the United Nations 63 years
ago is yet to be fully achieved, this should not be a
cause for despair. People of goodwill everywhere have
expressed their yearning for world peace. Today, we
see vast increases in movements and organizations
devoted to humanitarian work, empowerment of
women and mobilization of youth. We see young and
older nations engaged in matters of mutual concern.
The United Nations has demonstrated our collective
capacity for united action in a wide range of social and
economic initiatives. It has affirmed our collective will
to build a better future.
 I believe the time has come for the United
Nations to convoke an international convention where
the fundamental principles and tenets of permanent
world peace can be deliberated. Such a bold step will
draw our attention more sharply to our true nature, to
existing constructive forces and to the need for
unifying social structures that can foster the
establishment of a truly new world order, a global
society animated by principles of social justice.
 Today nothing is more urgent, more imperative
and more important for this great institution than the
establishment of a world peace that is permanent and
that rests firmly on the bedrock of justice. And as we
jointly undertake to gradually build that edifice of
lasting international peace, let us draw our strength and
take comfort in these words from the Gospel of
Matthew: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall
be called the children of God”.


Let me
begin by extending my congratulations to you, Sir, on
your election to the important function of President of
the General Assembly. You will steer the deliberations
of this key body of the United Nations through a

08-53129 32

difficult period of growing challenges to our common
security and prosperity. Let me assure you of our full
support in your endeavours. I also thank your
predecessor, Mr. Kerim.
 My country is in full preparation for an enormous
task that has no precedent in our history. In January
2009, the Czech Republic will assume the
responsibility of the presidency of the European Union.
We will do our utmost to uphold our shared
commitment to world peace and prosperity within that
organization.
 The European Union stands at the forefront of the
efforts to strengthen the United Nations capacity to
deliver effective international responses to global
challenges. The Czech Republic is committed to
playing its part and to further enhancing the European
Union’s contribution by searching for common
responses. The motto of the upcoming Czech
presidency, “Europe without barriers”, reflects our
desire to promote the removal of barriers not only
within the European Union, but also between the Union
and third countries. In our opinion, it is very much in
line with the efforts to enhance cooperation and to
strengthen the principle of effective multilateralism.
 The agreements reached at the 2005 World
Summit sparked some substantive reforms, but the
process has reached a point at which it has become
necessary to give it a new impulse for further progress.
An important part of that progress is Security Council
reform. A more representative and transparent Security
Council will act with a greater international legitimacy
and authority. The Czech Republic therefore welcomes
the recent decision to launch the intergovernmental
negotiations. However, the authority of the Security
Council is being undermined by its inability to address
some acute international issues. I call on the Council to
reassert its authority in the maintenance of
international peace and security and to shoulder its
obligations.
 The authority of the United Nations is being
tested, and so are our political and moral
responsibilities. By signing onto the Charter of the
United Nations, all of our countries have committed
themselves to living in peace and harmony and to
respecting the principles of peaceful resolution of
disputes and of refraining from the threat and use of
force, except in self-defence. Today, as security is
being challenged in too many parts of the world, those
basic principles, and the system of international law in
general, need to be upheld as ever.
 And yet, we have recently witnessed systematic
provocations and, finally, a military aggression on the
part of a powerful country, a permanent member of the
Security Council, against its small neighbour with the
aim of carving that neighbour up. That action was
designed to create two tiny entities, totally dependent
in their administrative, economic and military
structures. Colonial Powers used to act in that way, and
I would like to stress that alleged interests, privileged
as they may be considered, cannot justify the violation
of our highest common principles, enshrined in the
Charter of the United Nation. Therefore, I fully
subscribe to the words pronounced by Sergey Lavrov
here earlier today:
 “We cannot tolerate any attempts to resolve
conflict situations by violating international
agreements or by the unlawful use of force. If we
allow that to occur once, then we run the risk of
unleashing it in the future” ().
 However, how can one think of redesigning new
Euro-Atlantic security structures without renewing the
trust that has vanished over the past few months?
 After the Czech Republic sent substantial
humanitarian aid, it initiated an international support
conference for Georgia, to be held next month in
Brussels. We call upon the international community to
help alleviate the suffering of the tens of thousands of
people displaced by the conflict, as well as to help the
country with post-conflict reconstruction. We insist
that all internally displaced persons return home. The
immediate task is to ensure that all military forces are
withdrawn to pre-war positions. There is urgent need
for the deployment of an international and impartial
mission in Georgia to oversee the military withdrawals
and ceasefire implementation. Let me stress once
again, however, that a peaceful and lasting solution to
the conflict must be based on full respect for the
principle of Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and
territorial integrity.
 We need to step up efforts to combat international
terrorism. The stakes remain high. With our deep
condolences to the peoples of India and Pakistan, we
strongly condemn the recent terrorist attacks in New
Delhi and Islamabad. We must not be shaken, but must
stand up to that scourge united, stronger and more
determined. I was deeply moved by the condolences

33 08-53129

expressed by my Pakistani counterpart. It is touching to
hear that from someone whose country has suffered
immensely from terrorism.
 Promoting and maintaining international security
requires concerted action. While there is a need for
strengthened United Nations peacekeeping capacity,
other organizations can effectively complement the
work of the United Nations in areas where they have a
comparative advantage.
 We have all felt the pains of stabilizing a war-torn
country like Afghanistan. Despite the persisting lack of
security, the international community continues to
support development even in remote areas. By
establishing and running the provincial reconstruction
team in Logar province, my country has undertaken a
long-term commitment to contribute to the security and
development of Afghanistan. Let me express our full
support for the Special Representative of the Secretary-
General for Afghanistan, Ambassador Kai Eide, and
invite the United Nations to take a more active
approach and enhance its involvement and assistance
to Afghanistan. The Afghans need our support to turn
President Karzai’s words, “we must do what it takes to
win the battle of Afghanistan’s economic development”
(), into reality. A concerted effort between the
Government of Afghanistan, the United Nations and
other key international players, including Pakistan, is a
prerequisite to achieving that goal.
 The cooperation of the United Nations, the
European Union and NATO needs to continue to the
benefit of the Balkan region as a whole. Looking into
the future, let me assure Members that both democratic
and prosperous Serbia and Kosovo do have a place in
the European family and that the Czech Republic is
ready to lend them a helping hand. We in the Czech
Republic have always had long-standing and
traditionally close and friendly relations with Serbia
and are keen to develop them further.
 The recent arrest and transfer of Radovan
Karadzic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia was a promising sign of
cooperation of the new Serbian Government with the
international community. I call on the Security Council
to provide sufficient time to the Tribunal for the
completion of its work.
 The Czech Republic considers international
criminal justice to be one of the pillars that uphold the
basic values of the United Nations. The ad hoc
tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as
well as the Security Council decision of 2005 to refer
the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal
Court, must be supported in order to end impunity for
the most serious crimes. Let me recall the Secretary-
General’s commitment at the opening of this general
debate: “We have the means to combat impunity and
must therefore do so” (, p. 3).
 We need to undertake some bold steps in the area
of weapons of mass destruction and non-proliferation.
We should reduce the risk of those weapons being
misused or falling into the hands of terrorists. The
immediate task is to ensure a successful outcome of the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
review process and the entry into force of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
 In that context, I would like to express our
concern over the Iranian and North Korean nuclear
programmes. We fully recognize the indispensable
right of every country to exploit nuclear power for
civilian purposes, but we should act when it could be
diverted towards military purposes, in breach of
international commitments.
 My country was among those that has vigorously
called for a new universal norm to prevent risks
stemming from the use of cluster munitions. The Czech
Republic will be among the first to sign the new
Convention on Cluster Munitions this December. I am
convinced that the more countries that join the
Convention, the more profound and positive the effect
it will have on the lives of countless individuals and
communities.
 Security goes hand in hand with development and
human rights. In the sixtieth year of the existence of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there is
still a long way to go from the merely formal
commitments of Governments to achieving a
universally shared respect for the rights and liberties of
every human being.
 In recent years, the United Nations human rights
institutions have undergone long-awaited reform.
However, our goals have been only partially achieved.
Let me express my deep regret that the Human Rights
Council has been unable to tackle several serious
human rights situations in a timely and proper manner.
Although the Council is putting meritorious effort into
the newly established Universal Periodic Review
mechanism, the political imbalance of its agenda and

08-53129 34

the attempts to weaken the role of special procedures
and non-governmental organizations further diminish
the expectations of reform. Moreover, flouting the
appeals of the international community, as was done by
the Myanmar regime, has to be denounced.
 The Czech Republic supports the principle of
responsibility to protect formulated at the 2005 World
Summit. The international community has the
responsibility to protect peoples worldwide in cases
where their Governments are unable or unwilling to do
so. Just over the past few years, we have seen some
quite tragic examples desperately requiring our
attention. I therefore welcome the Secretary-General’s
efforts to advance that issue. A valuable contribution
can also be made through the non-governmental
initiatives of leaders such as Václav Havel, Kjell
Magne Bondevik and Elie Wiesel. Earlier this week, I
had the honour to host an event in New York aimed at
presenting their thoughts and recommendations on the
tragic human rights and humanitarian situation in
North Korea.
 This week, I took part in high-level meetings on
Africa’s development needs and on the Millennium
Development Goals. We have already witnessed early
successes and setbacks, and we realize that some goals
are more difficult to achieve than others. Now, at the
halfway point to the target date, we are well aware of
how much needs to be done in the remaining seven
years. Our commitment to development, and notably to
Africa, must not wane.
 At the end of this year, the Follow-up
International Conference on Financing for
Development will present an opportunity to review the
implementation of the Monterrey Consensus of 2002.
The conclusion of the ongoing talks on the Doha
Development Agenda within the World Trade
Organization should also bring the tangible benefits of
further trade liberalization for developing countries. To
make that happen, the European Union has already
shown the necessary flexibility. Other key actors have
to follow suit if the talks are to get back on track and
be concluded soon. In that context, let me recall once
again the Czech presidency’s motto, “Europe without
barriers”.
 Let me assure the Assembly that the Czech
Republic fully supports the European Union (EU)
commitments to intensify EU development assistance.
The Czech presidency of the Union will be yet another
incentive for us to step up our development assistance.
 Soaring food and commodity prices, as well as
the negative impact of climate change, hamper
international development. All those issues require
strong political will. The new legal framework to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2012 is one
of the most important issues. The Czech Republic is
fully aware of the need to make significant progress
towards the adoption of a new post-Kyoto agreement.
The Czech presidency of the European Union will play
an active role in that process, which will culminate in
Copenhagen next year, where a new agreement should
be adopted.
 I have outlined just a few points that are awaiting
our action. In many areas, time is running out. I would
like to encourage all Members of this universal
Organization to cooperate in our common efforts to
make this world secure and prosperous. The Czech
Republic is committed to doing its part.


It is with pleasure that I offer Mr. Miguel
d’Escoto Brockmann my warmest congratulations on
his election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-third session. We have every confidence in his
exceptional skill and future success in consolidating
the gains achieved and in enhancing international
peace and security in a world system characterized by
prosperity, stability and progress. I would also like to pay
tribute to the valuable efforts made by his predecessor,
Mr. Srgjan Kerim, to strengthen the principles of dialogue
and consultation as a means to reach effective solutions
to international issues and disputes. I would further
like to express our thanks and gratitude to Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon for his continual efforts on
important issues relevant to reforming the Organization
and to enhancing international peace and security.
 The current session of the Assembly is convening
at a time when our country, Mauritania, has undergone
a change of head of State. I would like to seize this
opportunity to explain the reasons for that change.
 In August 2005, after two decades of political
tyranny, bribery and increasing corruption, the armed
forces and security forces intervened to put an end to
the grave abuses that threatened the structure and very
existence of the Mauritanian State. That move by the
Military Council for Justice and Democracy led to a
transitional democratic phase, which successfully
concluded in April 2007. Mauritanians and
international observers alive attested to the fairness and
transparency of that phase. The Mauritanian
experiment in democracy became an example worthy
of emulation. The satisfaction of various national and
international observers and the support of civil society
added to the success of the experiment. A series of
elections were held, with the support of international
partners, leading to the ratification by popular
referendum of the Constitution in June 2006.

08-53141 42

 A Parliament with two chambers was elected in
November of the same year; a new president of the
Republic was elected in March 2007; and a new law
for the organization of the press was enacted in
October 2006, establishing a higher authority for the
press, radio and television. With respect to good
governance, a new general inspectorate of the State
was established; transparency initiative was
implemented in the field of extracting industries;
public officials were compelled to disclose their
financial affairs and property; and public transactions
are now undertaken in a transparent manner. Lastly,
women were accorded a quota of 20 per cent of all
candidatures in our Islamic republic. As a result,
18 women were elected to the current Parliament.
 Those splendid achievements, in addition to the
atmosphere of harmony and accord enjoyed by the
people of Mauritania, are the result of the work of the
military establishment, which pledged to complete the
process within the announced time frame and indeed
kept its promise. Once the former President assumed
office, anything was possible in the new Mauritania,
with all its new institutional gains, in terms of
consolidating and deepening the achievements of the
transitional period of 2005 to 2007. Regrettably, from
the outset the former President demonstrated his
weakness and inability to lead the country and confront
the many challenges it faced.
 Conditions in the country continued to seriously
deteriorate over the following 15 months in the
political, security, economic and social fields. The
deteriorating situation posed a real threat to the
country’s peace, security and stability. Indeed, it
threatened the very existence and foundations of the
State.
 Thus our country has, over the past three months,
undergone an institutional crisis that led to an
interruption in the work of parliamentary institutions
and paralysed the affairs of the State, the stability of
which was threatened by the intransigence of the
executive authority, which prevented Parliament from
exercising its constitutional powers.
 In order to secure the loyalty of some
parliamentarians from the majority party who were
unhappy with the difficult situation and concerned
about the future of the country, the former President
resorted to certain illegal measures that would be
unacceptable in any democratic system. He used public
funds to buy the allegiance of some parliamentarians.
In addition, he made some irregular appointments and
arbitrarily fired some high-ranking public officials in
order to stem the people’s desire for change. Moreover,
he continuously threatened to dissolve Parliament in
order to prevent the formation of a parliamentary
committee to investigate the sources of financing of a
private business created by his family.
 The President returned to the Chair.
 In the field of security and as a result of his laxity
and refusal to heed the advice of the security services,
a number of terrorist acts took place for the first time
in the country’s history, following the release of a
number of terrorists who had been in custody until he
took office.
 Economically and socially, the situation was
simply disastrous. While the people suffered in
poverty, hunger and disease, the former President —
who, in the aftermath of floods that hit the country, had
visited only one city inside Mauritania, the city of
Tintane — made 25 visits abroad, costing Mauritanian
taxpayers huge amounts of money, without achieving
any tangible results in the field of cooperation between
Mauritania and its development partners.
 The former President continuously and
intentionally obstructed the work of democratic
institutions and thus paralysed the State. Faced with the
failure of his manoeuvres, he resorted to firing high-
ranking officials in the leadership of the army and the
security services at the same time. That almost led to a
confrontation between high-ranking officers and
created a situation that could have brought the country
to the brink of civil war.
 In view of the political impasse, the armed forces
and security forces, conscious of the serious dangers to
the country, intervened to correct the abuses and to
strengthen national unity and other gains made in the
country, as well as its prospects for development and
progress. That change enjoys the support of two thirds
of the members of Parliament, approximately 90 per cent of
mayors and two thirds of recognized political parties, in
addition to civil society organizations, including
cultural and professional societies. Support has also
been come from unprecedented popular marches.
 The High Council of State declared its
commitment to protecting democracy and enhancing
democratic processes in Mauritania; guaranteeing the

43 08-53141

continued regular functioning of State institutions;
allowing officially recognized political parties to carry
out their activities; guaranteeing freedom of the press
and the media; respecting the obligations, agreements
and international treaties concluded in the name of the
Mauritanian State; and organizing free and transparent
elections at the earliest possible date.
 Aware of the importance of and need for
integration among countries and peoples of the world,
Mauritania reaffirms its adherence to the Arab
Maghreb Union as a strategic choice of the people of
the region, the League of Arab States, the African
Union and the purposes and principles of the United
Nations.
 In the same spirit, we reiterate our support for
efforts to reform the United Nations and, in particular,
the Security Council. We believe that the African
continent should be given permanent representation on
the Security Council; Africa has been the only
continent without permanent representation in the
Council since the creation of this Organization. We
also call for giving the Arab Group representation in
the Security Council in view of the fact that it
represents more than 11 per cent of the peoples of the
world. We support granting permanent seats in the
Security Council to Japan and Germany, since both
countries play a vital role in the maintenance of
international peace and security.
 Allow me to pay special tribute to the great
efforts made at the sixty-second session of the General
Assembly in the field of development, especially with
respect to the steep rise in food prices and all other
goods, the financing of development projects and the
problem of greenhouse gases and their effect on the
planet.
 The sixty-third session of the General Assembly
falls at a very difficult time, when the world is
confronting sharp increases in food prices, that
negatively affect the economies of developing
countries and could even undermine the economic
structure of those countries if no urgent measures are
taken to address the problem. The food crisis facing the
world requires concerted international efforts and
strategies to overcome its negative effects.
 Today, we are halfway to the deadline for
achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
However, many developing countries are still far from
achieving those Goals. That is why we call on rich
countries to keep their promises to finance
development in the developing world.
 The Arab-Israeli conflict is a source of tension
and a threat to international peace and security in a
vital and sensitive region of the world. That is why my
country supports the efforts to settle the conflict in a
manner that guarantees the Palestinian people the
restoration of their rights and the establishment of their
own State, with Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in
peace and security with the State of Israel.
 As regards the question of the Sudan, we totally
and categorically reject the most recent developments,
in particular the request of the Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant
for the President of the Sudan. We believe that such a
move would jeopardize peace efforts in that brotherly
country and increase tensions in that sensitive region of
the world.
 My country follows the question of the Western
Sahara with interest. While we welcome the latest steps
taken to return to the negotiating table, we also renew
our support for the efforts of the Secretary-General to
reach a final settlement acceptable to both parties.
 The dissemination of the culture of peace and the
spirit and values of tolerance among peoples and
civilizations, the restoration of rights and the
realization of justice among peoples are, in our view,
the best way to maintain peace and security in the
world. The fact that certain questions that have gone
unresolved for so long, the widening gap between the
poor and the rich, the unfair structure of the global
economy and the absence of any attempt to spread
justice, equality and fairness have all contributed to the
creation of conflicts and to the phenomena of
extremism and terrorism.
 We in Mauritania condemn and reject terrorism in
all its forms. We are equally committed to adhering to
our tolerant Islamic values, which reject violence and
extremism and call for tolerance and brotherhood. We
believe that the international family should seriously
consider the causes of the phenomenon of terrorism
and ways to confront and eradicate it fully from the
world.
 We affirm the importance accorded by developing
countries to development as we look forward with hope
to the results of the Doha Follow-up International
Conference on Financing for Development scheduled

08-53141 44

from 29 November to 2 December 2008. We also
would like to express our concern at the deadlock of
the Doha Round of trade negotiations and call on
industrialized countries to show more flexibility and
stronger political will in that respect.
 Development has economic, social and
environmental dimensions. Any shortcomings in any
one of those dimensions negatively affects the others.
That is why we highlight the need to address the
phenomenon of climate change. My country is one of
the 10 countries that would be the most vulnerable to
the effects of greenhouse gas emissions if they should
cause a rise in sea levels. We call on industrial
countries to limit the emissions that lead to greenhouse
effects.
 The commitments undertaken by the international
community at the time of the establishment of this
Organization will not be implemented unless all
countries and peoples of the world are able to benefit
from global resources and unless development efforts
in the developing countries are supported with a view
to creating conditions conducive to decent living in
freedom and equality. Only then will we have honoured
the commitments we have always affirmed.


In a few weeks’ time, it will be 60 years
since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. And here we find ourselves at the
midpoint in the application of our strategies for the
attainment of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).
 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
bears witness to the determination to leave us a better
world than the one known by our fathers’ generation —
a generation that suffered, struggled, defeated
totalitarianism and condensed its aspirations for
freedom and prosperity in that text. The Millennium
Development Goals reflect the will, no less
determined, of our generation to confront extreme
poverty once and for all, so that we may leave to our

08-51851 24

children a world without millions of human beings
suffering from hunger and poverty on a daily basis.
 Together, the observance of human rights and the
attainment of the Millennium Development Goals are
perhaps the most noble aspirations ever envisioned by
humanity, and the most devoted to the dignity of
individuals.
 Just by that fact alone, we can say that, despite all
of the suffering deliberately caused by human beings
over the last decades, during that time we have learned
and we have made progress. We can feel satisfied that
we have identified and broadened the horizons of
human beings on our planet. We can feel satisfied by
that, but by no means should we be complacent.
 There is no room for complacency because if we
look at the horizon for the MDGs, as we have for
human rights, the conclusion would be the same: the
results are still far from fulfilling our aspirations,
precisely because those aspirations retain all of their
value, and even grow in value, with the passage of
time.
 Ten years ago, at the commemoration of the
fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, President Nelson
Mandela recalled that poverty is an offence against the
Declaration and is the result not of any force of nature,
but rather of the action or non-action by human beings,
in particular those in leadership positions in politics,
the economy and other areas of human activity.
 Aware of that responsibility, eight years ago
Member States undertook the unique effort, in historic
terms, to alleviate poverty for millions of people
worldwide. I wish to make my opinion clear that we
have not progressed as we should have or as we
planned. However, the needs are the same or even
greater than they were when we agreed the Millennium
Development Goals eight years ago.
 Mr. Tanin (Afghanistan), Vice-President, took the
Chair.
 If we are to attain the Millennium Development
Goals by 2015, we cannot just sit back. We cannot
blame our failure to meet our obligations on the
economic situation. We cannot use any circumstance as
an excuse to avoid honouring our commitments. It is a
question not only of adhering to irreplaceable ethical
standards, but of making responsible efforts towards
stability and international equality.
 We must also work urgently to establish a new
world financial order that would prevent the recurrence
of situations like that we are currently experiencing. It
is also urgent that we continue to fight with
determination against the hunger and poverty that
cause millions of people to suffer unacceptably and
continue to be a source of conflict and migratory
pressures that are difficult to control.
 I am speaking on behalf of a country — Spain —
that is making great efforts of solidarity in its
cooperation policies. Over the past four years, Spain
has been the State with the highest increase in its
official development assistance; our goal is to reach
0.7 per cent of our gross national income by 2012.
Spanish society offers that commitment in response to
the current food crisis.
 My country believes that the best way to reaffirm
the full value of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and to keep 2015 firmly in view is to strengthen
the historical connotation of each. That connotation is
nothing less than the exaltation of human dignity as
both an impregnable wall against arbitrariness and
despotism and as a curb against extreme poverty.
 A few weeks ago, on behalf of the Government of
Spain, I made a proposal that I would like to reiterate
today. The year 2015 should be designated as the year
of a universal moratorium on the death penalty. That
would be a first step towards its abolition. I call upon
representatives of countries that still include capital
punishment in their legal system to support the
measure and to participate in a process of reflection on
the meaning of that punishment inflicted by States. It
might seen utopian to aspire to achieve the full
enjoyment and universal recognition of human rights
and the eradication of extreme poverty in the course of
a single generation, but those goals are not utopian and
never will be. Utopias are often simply premature
truths. We must not delay or dismiss them with
resignation or blind selfishness. Moreover, it is only by
setting off down that road that we can work towards
the just, secure and cooperative international order that
we all wish to see.
 The effects of the international financial crisis
that began one year ago are spreading throughout most
developed and less developed economies, and could
affect the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals. There is a risk that the poorest countries will
end up suffering even more because of improper

25 08-51851

practices in the richer countries. The financial crisis
has conclusively demonstrated the need to reconsider
economic environments that are immune to regulation
and governmental supervision. We already know what
speculation in the crucible of deregulation can lead to.
Today, it is more important than ever to stress the role
of institutions and Government in rationalizing the
markets and their instrumentality in serving the real
needs of families, the well-being of individuals and
their education, health care and social cohesion.
 At the national level, the State protects markets
from their own excesses. The global market lacks
similar institutions to develop control and supervision
functions. We need to revise the rules and institutions
of the world economy. We need a common vision for
the establishment of a new international financial legal
system. We have to learn from our mistakes, and do so
quickly and in a spirit of cooperation.
 My Government would like to contribute actively
to forging that new international financial order. We
will promote and support an agreement that contains
definite commitments to supervision, transparency and
early warning by national institutions; ensures the
flexible capacity of those institutions to provide
liquidity and countercyclical reserves of capital to the
markets in moments of need; and strengthens the role
of international financial bodies.
 Prosperity for our peoples is possible only if there
is international peace and security. Peace and security
will be possible only through effective multilateralism
based on respect for and the safeguarding of
international law. For my country, there is no other way
to imagine international order. Four years ago in this
very same Hall, I proposed an alliance of civilizations
with the objective of building bridges between
different cultures and breaking down the walls of
misunderstanding. Today, I am satisfied to note that the
initiative promoted by Spain and Turkey has been fully
endorsed by the United Nations, and enjoys the support
of a Group of Friends made up of 90 States and
international organizations.
 The world can hope for peace only when dialogue
and understanding of basic values that respect diversity
are elevated above intolerance and fundamentalism.
 Spain will continue to assert this conviction in all
forums where our contribution is or can be relevant —
including, first and foremost, at the United Nations. We
will do so not only because it is the best way to stress
the key desires of Spanish society, but also because we
want to shoulder our responsibility for bringing about
the just, secure, caring international order in which we
believe.
 The capacity for human progress cannot be
questioned. The thirst for discovery and innovation, the
desire to go beyond ourselves, opens the door for
meeting human needs every day in all areas. It is a
question of placing this immense creative force in the
service of those values on which human dignity is
based, eliminating arbitrariness, injustice and all forms
of discrimination, starting with those that women have
so unfairly endured throughout history. We cannot
stop; we cannot give up.
 In the United Nations, with a rational attitude,
with the hope engendered by our common values, we
can launch an era of world prosperity and unity. For
that, we need coordination, not unilateral action.
Development must be sustainable and not uncontrolled.
We need permanent political dialogue. We should not
give in to old temptations or new cold wars. We have
to eradicate extreme poverty and denounce the
selfishness of the richest. We need the United Nations.
We need all men and women to know that their dignity
is dependent on the dignity of their peers.
 Above all, hundreds of millions of people in
Africa, Latin America and Asia need us: that must be
the basic purpose of our endeavours. Spain is
committed to those endeavours and will fulfil its
historic duty to eradicate extreme poverty around the
world. This generation can do it; this generation must
do it.


First of all, I should like to congratulate Mr. Jaime de Pinies on behalf of my delegation for his election to the presidency of the fortieth session of the General Assembly. We wish him every success in carrying out his important duties.
I wish to extend to the people and Government of Mexico the deep sympathy of the Government and people of Albania and to express our feelings of solidarity and sympathy for the losses caused by the earthquakes which have struck that country.
This year, the General Assembly is meeting at a significant time for the United Nations - that of the fortieth anniversary of the Organization's founding. Even in the heat of battle during the Second World War, when the forces of the anti-fascist coalition of peoples were fighting to overcome the Nazi fascist hordes, the foundations of the United Nations were being laid.
The peoples of the world who paid with their blood for the war prepared by the imperialist Powers aspired to build a better and more just world on the ruins left by the war. They hoped that the United Nations would also play an important role in this endeavor.
From the very first lines of its constitutive act, the United Nations proclaimed as its fundamental purpose! the preservation of international peace and security, the liberation of mankind from the horrors of war and the development of friendly relations among nations on the basis of mutual respect.
But at this anniversary session of the United Nations, which also offers an opportunity to reflect on the Organization's role and functioning, the delegation of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania is compelled to point out that the period since the Organization's foundation, as well as the existing situation, have shown that the United Nations has not justified the people's expectations, in accordance with the obligations stipulated by the Charter.
This is because the imperialist Powers have tried to manipulate and use the United Nations as an instrument to justify their policy of war and aggression. Countless resolutions on very important problems pertaining to the safeguarding of peace and international security have been adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council but have remained mere dead letters in the United Nations archives. The right of veto has been flagrantly abused and has therefore today become synonymous with arbitrary action and injustice. Indeed, during these four decades, the United Nations flag has been used to cover up acts of imperialist intervention and aggression, as in Korea, the Congo and the Middle East, to name only a few examples.
By both their policy and actions, the super-Powers have trampled underfoot the principles of liberty and justice sanctioned in the Charter. They have fabricated and put into effect various theories, such as those of interdependence and limited sovereignty, which in reality mean dependence and subjugation.
They have responded to legitimate demands for disarmament with a frenzied arms race accompanied by such fraudulent slogans as arms control and the preservation of the balance of power. It is common knowledge that the United Nations was created as a universal organization of sovereign and peace-loving countries and peoples, which the Albanian people - who were among the first active participants of the anti-fascist front - warmly welcomed, immediately applying for membership - a lawful right that was denied them for 10 years as a result of the discriminatory policy of the imperialist Powers and, in the first instance, of the United States.
Throughout these 30 years as a United Nations Member, Albania has not failed to make its modest contribution to the cause of freedom for the peoples, peace and international security. We have consistently upheld the view that within and without the United Nations, in international relations, all States - large or small - should be equal. Together with other democratic and peace-loving forces, socialist Albania has opposed the efforts of the super-Powers to manipulate the United Nations and to turn it into an instrument of imperialist policy. Albania has always taken a responsible stand towards this world Organization and has spoken up here with its own voice alone. By expressing its views openly and without reservations, whether or not those views were to the liking of one or the other super-Power, Albania has made a modest contribution to the efforts of the United Nations to fulfill the mission entrusted to it by the Charter.
As in the past, the Government of Albania will continue in the future to be an active Member of the United Nations. Consistent in its resolute stand of opposing the super-Powers' policy, Albania will collaborate with the democratic and freedom-loving countries in efforts to safeguard peace and international security and to develop just and fruitful relations among States on the basis of equality and mutual interest.
Both our principled and independent foreign policy and the just and resolute stands taken by the Socialist People's Republic of Albania in the United Nations are all indissolubly linked with the name and work of the architect of socialist Albania, the outstanding and immortal leader of the Albanian people. Comrade Enver Hoxha. Under his leadership, the Albanian people fought valiantly against the fascist beast and liberated the country in 1944. They embarked on the road of socialism, and in four decades turned Albania from a semi-feudal country, the most backward in Europe, into a developed industrial country with an advanced agriculture and a flourishing education and culture.
Leading our party and people for nearly half a century, he rendered Albania services that make him the greatest and most outstanding figure in the history of the Albanian nation. Enver Hoxha was an indomitable fighter against all forces of regression and an ardent supporter of the struggle of peoples for national liberation, social progress and socialism. Hence for us he will forever remain a hero, a teacher and a symbol of the struggle for the conquest and defense of freedom and independence and the construction of a new life. That is why our party and people are determined always to follow Enver Hoxha's road, because it is the road of progress, freedom and genuine independence for our homeland.
I avail myself of this opportunity to express to the General Assembly of the United Nations, on behalf of the Albanian Government and people, our sincere gratitude for the homage it paid to the memory of Enver Hoxha, the leader of the Albanian people, at its plenary meeting on 12 April of this year.
For years on end, much has been said inside and outside the United Nations about problems which are of concern to mankind: the rights of peoples to self-determination, the problems of safeguarding peace and opposing war, disarmament, and establishment of equitable international economic relations. The concern of peoples about these matters is as great as it is well founded.
It is true that in these 40 years the world has not been engulfed in a global conflagration, but this is no great cause for satisfaction, for the absence of world war cannot be identified with the existence of genuine peace. We cannot forget the fact that during this post-war period the world has seen more than 100 local conflicts and wars, which, in terms of the total number of weapons used and the human losses incurred, stand comparison with the Second World War.
It is true that the super—Powers have up to now avoided a direct conflict between them. This has come about not because they wish to spare the peoples but because they fear the catastrophic consequences that such a conflict might have, above all for themselves. Hence, they do not fail to seek and to find temporary solutions through a so-called dialog directed towards what has been termed "competitive coexistence" or "controlled rivalry." But this cannot be regarded as real security. We need only recall that during most of the post-war period many countries and peoples had to endure again the experience of war, devastation and destruction. Others are still living through the anguish of war or of famine and an uncertain future.
The hegemonist policies and militarist course of the super-Powers are leading mankind towards a new world war. The war budgets of the United States and the Soviet Union have today reached astronomical figures. Military bases and nuclear weapons have been placed in every corner of the earth. The skies have been filled with their spy aircraft and satellites and the seas and oceans with their fleets and warships, all of which threatens the peoples and peace.
Under the pretext that the balance of power has been upset and must be restored they attempt to justify the build-up of their war arsenals with the most sophisticated weapons and to make preparations for the so-called star wars. We do not wish to minimize the danger posed by the emplacement of weapons in orbiting space stations and the extension of the arms race into outer space, and we cannot but point out that by these means the super-Powers are trying to keep the world and its peoples in a state of constant tension and anxiety about the new weapons they are making. At one time it was the neutron bomb, then the latest nuclear missiles, and now they want to suspend a sword of Damocles above our planet in outer space, thus making mankind a kind of hostage. Thus, they hope that the threat of star wars will cause the peoples to forget that hundreds and thousands of missiles armed with nuclear warheads have been deployed throughout the world and are capable of destroying the earth in a far more barbarous fashion than are space weapons. They also want the threat of star wars to cloud the vision of the peoples so that they will not see Grenada or Afghanistan, not think about Lebanon or the fate of the Palestinian people, and forget Hiroshima and Viet Nam for ever.
Both in the East and in the West a great fuss is at present being made about the value and importance of the impending talks between the super—Powers. It is said that the future of peace and of mankind will depend on the agreements reached between them. The United States and the Soviet Union may well sit down and talk together, but the facts thus far have shown that the most they can agree on is making deals, particularly at the expense of the peoples. It is no accident that many of the agreements they reach are kept secret not only from the peoples but even from their allies.
The Albanian delegation believes that it is very dangerous to harbor any over-optimism or illusion that the problems weighing upon mankind will be solved by talks and agreements between the super-Powers. Quite apart from anything else, these mean that the role which can and must be played by the Members of the United Nations is being disregarded and that the United Nations is being ignored.
The fate of international peace and security cannot be left solely in the hands of those who want to dominate the world. In the present circumstances, the preservation and strengthening of peace demands the forceful denunciation of the policy of aggression and war, oppression and exploitation, and for the rejection of super-Power demagogy, which has spread a fog designed to cloud and distort the true picture and obscure future prospects.
A few months ago occurred the tenth anniversary of the signature of the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on so-called security and co-operation in Europe. Yet, 10 years after Helsinki, Europe is more insecure than ever. This is to be seen also in new developments, in which the focal points of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union are shifting from the periphery to the zones where the borders of the military blocs meet. The euphoria of a decade ago has died away, to be replaced by mutual accusations of non-implementation and violation of commitments undertaken. Albania did well not to attend a conference which, as it was manipulated by the super-Powers, was doomed to failure. Time has shown that we were right.
Today the peoples of Europe see clearly that the super-Powers have further pursued their policy of putting the old continent under the shadow of their nuclear missiles and their atomic umbrellas, and that they are behaving in their respective spheres of influence like real overlords. Indeed, even matters of national defense are no longer within the sovereignty of the individual countries concerned.
It is obvious that while the military-political blocs of the super-Powers -the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Treaty - exist, there can be no question of genuine security and co-operation in Europe, despite the marathon conferences and meetings held and the fine words spoken.
Nor is the situation in the Balkans tranquil; new negative factors are making it even more complicated. National resentments and chauvinistic passions are being stirred up and this creates tensions. It is our belief that the Balkan peoples will not allow the region to be turned once again into a powder keg. They are capable of grasping the situation and of deciding in full sovereignty on the relations between them without falling victim to the intrigues of the imperialists, which would be to the detriment of the interests of each and every people of the peninsula.
As for Albania, it will continue as before to pursue a policy of good-neighborliness. As a result of that policy, and through good will and common efforts, friendly relations have been established between our country and Greece, Turkey and Italy. Albania will continue to be a factor for peace and stability in the region. It will not permit any harm to its neighbors or to the interests of peace and security in the region to originate in its territory.
The imperialist Powers have turned the Middle East into a region of ceaseless explosions, which have often threatened world peace. For several decades now the two super-Powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, have been keeping the fires of war burning, sometimes fanning them, at other times letting them die down.
It is clear that they want to keep this sensitive region in a state of permanent tension as each strives to hold a dominant position.
The tragedy of the suffering Palestinian people has worsened. In Lebanon, Israel continues to sow death and destruction among the innocent people of that country. The intrigues and plots of imperialism, social-imperialism and Zionism in that region have led to a fratricidal war, with extremely grave consequences.
We have always believed and now we are convinced that the Arab peoples, with which we are linked by an ancient tradition of friendship, which are known throughout the world as the founders of illustrious civilizations, and which have withstood savage hordes and invasions during their thousand-year history, will be able to demonstrate the power of unity and stay the criminal hand of imperialism and Zionism.
The Government of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, consistent in its position, will continue in the future too to give powerful support to the heroic Palestinian people in its struggle to regain its plundered homeland, as well as to all the brother Arab peoples in their struggle to drive the Israeli aggressors from their occupied lands.
The war between Iran and Iraq, which has already lasted five years, must be ended. That would not only be in the interest of the friendly peoples of those two neighbor countries, but would serve the struggle of the peoples of the Gulf and of the region as a whole against the imperialist Powers.
It is hard to find a single region in the world today which is not experiencing interference by one or both of the super-Powers. In Central America, the valiant people of Nicaragua is facing an undeclared war on the part of the United States. In Afghanistan, the Afghan patriots continue their armed resistance aimed at driving out the Soviet occupiers. In South-East Asia, the imperialist Powers will not leave the people of Kampuchea in peace to build a free and independent life. The lawful Government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea is unjustly denied the place in the United Nations to which it is entitled.
The Albanian Government supports the just demand of the Korean people for the achievement of its national aspiration for the independent reunification of the homeland without any outside interference.
Today the countries and peoples of Africa, which have long experience in the struggle against colonialism, are encountering the interference and trickery of neo-colonialism and the rivalry of the two super-Powers which are striving to dominate Africa. They will not allow the African peoples to heal in peace the grave wounds inherited from centuries of colonial exploitation, but incite conflicts and bloody wars among different African peoples and States who in fact do not have opposing interests but, on the contrary, have a common bond in the struggle against neo-colonialism and racism.
South Africa, the bridgehead of imperialism on this continent, where the savage fascist regime of apartheid rules, not only oppresses the Azanian people with fire and steel, but also behaves arrogantly and carries out continuous provocations and aggressions against the surrounding African States.
The recent events in South Africa, where the racist regime of Pretoria has perpetrated barbarous massacres, killing and wounding hundreds of people, and imprisoning thousands of others from the black population have aroused profound anger and indignation among honest people all over the world.
But we are confident that toe terror and the diabolical maneuverer on the part of the racist regime of South Africa will never be able to put down the just struggle of the Azanian people, nor that of the Namibian people for freedom and national independence. The peoples and countries of Africa have never reconciled themselves to this situation. The Albanian people and Government, who nurture profound feelings of sympathy and friendship for the African peoples, will continue to give unreserved support to their just struggle against imperialist exploitation and oppression, racism and apartheid.
The peoples of the world, especially those of Africa, Latin America and Asia, are more and more feeling the heavy burden of the crisis and the exploitation of monopolies and transnational corporations which have in our day replaced the armies of old time colonialists. The colossal loans, which represent a new strategy of the imperialist Powers for the subjugation of countries and peoples, have suffocated the economies of many States and brought them to the verge of total bankruptcy. The industrialized imperialist Powers are using their technological and scientific monopoly as a tool of pressure in order to have the peoples of the developing countries remain backward forever and to intensify their neo-colonial exploitation.
The 10 years that have elapsed since the first special session of the United Nations General Assembly on economic problems have witnessed countless meetings and conferences within the framework of the United Nations and outside it, at which the developing countries have asked for more equitable international economic relations. It is precisely during this period that the industrialized Powers have totally disregarded the demands of the developing countries and have stepped up their exploitation, making those countries more economically dependent. A typical manifestation of this grave situation lies in the foreign debts of those countries which, from about $152 billion 10 years ago, today amount to the unprecedented sum of $1,000 billion.
Experience is convincingly proving the need for peoples and countries to exercise their sovereign rights over their national wealth.
In the four decades of its free and independent development, socialist Albania has advanced with sure steps towards all-round progress and the improvement of the well-being of its people. We are confident that a better future lies aheacJ, for it is based on solid foundations.
The experience of socialist Albania has refuted the capitalist outlook that no State can go forward on its own. Our implementation of the principle of self-reliance in no way precludes international collaboration. On the contrary, we have been and are for the development of normal trade, without discrimination, based on mutual benefit. We are also in favor of useful cultural, scientific and other exchanges. In the future, too, we shall extend our collaboration with neighboring countries and other states on the basis of the recognized principles which govern relations among sovereign States.
Comrade Ramiz Alia, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Albanian Labor Party and President of the Presidium of the People's Assembly, has said:
"Our policy towards our neighbors, as towards all the other States, is a consistent, principled policy. Those who dream about and expect changes in our course, who interpret the normal political and diplomatic activity of our independent and sovereign State as the 'opening up' of Albania, as a 'tendency' to rapprochement with one side or the other, do so in vain. Albania neither 'opens up' nor 'closes up'. It will proceed on the course which it has followed hitherto, a course which has secured its freedom and independence, the defense of socialism, and its good name in the world." We are confident that the course of socialist Albania and the Albanian people is in harmony with and conforms to the interests of peoples who fight for national liberation, social justice and democracy, for peace and genuine international security.
Although we are living in a troubled world, full of contradictions and confrontations, tensions and conflicts, we look into the future with confidence. It has always been our belief that, through the struggle of the peoples and the efforts of democratic and peace-loving countries, the hand of the imperialist warmongers can be stayed and progress promoted. In conclusion, allow roe to assure the Assembly that the Albanian delegation will spare no efforts to ensure that this fortieth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, which has before it many important problems for discussion, will face them with realism and in the interests of the peoples.