It is my honour, as I begin my statement, to convey to Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, and through him to his country, Denmark, our sincere congratulations on his appointment to the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventieth session. I should also like to express our thanks to Mr. Sam Kutesa for his able leadership of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session.
At this time, I should also like to thank Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and assure him of the constant support of Tunisia in carrying out his noble duty.
In the past few years, Tunisia has seen very important events occurring in the framework of its democratic transitional process. There is now greater political and national awareness among politicians and components of civil society, which has allowed us to adopt dialogue as the only means to seek solutions to our crises and differences of opinion, and to avoid violence, individualism and exclusion. Thanks to this consensus- based approach, Tunisia has been able to adopt a new Constitution that manifests the fundamental values of democracy, human rights and the peaceful handover of power. Similarly, and in the framework of the transition process, we succeeded in organizing legislative and presidential elections. Observers, both inside and outside the country, bore witness to the integrity, transparency and independence of the elections, which allowed us to establish robust, permanent democratic institutions.
As the success of any political process is contingent upon efforts made on the economic and social fronts, the Tunisian Government, guided by its awareness of the need to tackle current challenges — in particular countering unemployment, strengthening national development investment and ensuring social justice — decided to draw up a strategic vision for
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the country for 2016-2020 that will determine the guidelines and courses set nationally regarding sustainable development. In this regard, Tunisia reaffirms its responsibility for improving growth and development and acting in line with the aspirations of its people. We therefore urge our partners and friends in the international community to support national efforts in particular in the area of youth employment, strengthening investment and support for local and national development.
Regional changes have been swift and ongoing. We have seen them lead over the past few years to an exacerbation of the terrorist threat that now jeopardizes the stability and security of many States of the region, including mine. While our country has made significant progress in the area of security and counter- terrorism — particularly through the defeat of many terrorist plans and other criminal activities and the arrest of many suspects who were then prosecuted — over the course of this past year, we have nonetheless been the victims of two heinous terrorist attacks targeting the Bardo Museum and a tourist site in the city of Sousse in a cowardly attempt to undermine our social approach of centrism, moderation and tolerance, and to frustrate the economy by targeting its vital tourist sector. While we express our great sadness regarding the country’s losses from these two crimes, we affirm that the perpetrators of these crimes will not enjoy impunity. No one can resort to terrorism to further his own objectives or to destroy Tunisian society.
Our plan for counter-terrorism is based on a comprehensive and integrated approach that goes beyond the necessity for military and security responses and seeks to understand the political, social, cultural and economic reasons behind terrorism. Nationally speaking, the prevalence of terrorism and extremism across the globe is now a significant incentive for finding a new way to combat terrorism, in accordance with bilateral and multilateral cooperation frameworks. While we welcome all initiatives to coordinate international efforts to combat terrorism, we reiterate our offer, made from this rostrum, to convene an international high-level counter-terrorism conference in Tunisia aimed at coordinating international efforts.
The alarming increase in conflicts and tensions throughout the world, whatever the reason, is of great concern to us. It requires the international community to scale up its efforts to find ways to halt these conflicts peacefully, particularly by prioritizing dialogue and
mediation efforts and strengthening activities for peacebuilding.
For Tunisia, the Palestinian cause remains at the core of important issues and conflicts in the region. We therefore reiterate our full support to the brotherly Palestinian people as it seeks to recuperate its legitimate rights to self-determination and the establishment of its independent State. Tunisia supports efforts for the continuance of peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of a timeline for ending the occupation, and for the adoption of a United Nations resolution that would put an end to the Israeli occupation and restore to the Palestinian people their legitimate rights. We also condemn the ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and its settlement policy, which is in violation of international law and international legitimacy. They represent an attempt to impose a new status quo and to undermine the two-State solution as well as efforts to continue talks on the basis of a solution that would guarantee security and stability for all countries of the region.
Near Tunisia, the brotherly Libyan people are seeing the fallout from a crisis that threatens its stability and security and goes beyond the borders of the Libyan State to jeopardize the stability of the entire region, and Tunisia in particular. We firmly believe that dialogue remains the sole solution to overcoming Libya’s internal differences and to ensuring national reconciliation and respect for the will of the Libyan people for a political solution and a rejection of violence.
I reaffirm Tunisia’s appeal to the brotherly country of Libya and our support for efforts to find a political solution under United Nations auspices and establish a Government of national reconciliation and accord. The international community’s support is very important in that respect. The threats and dangers posed to neighbouring countries by the spread of the terrorist organization Daesh from Libya are growing. That requires strengthened coordination and cooperation among neighbouring States. We also need support from the international community in our efforts to suppress the threats to neighbouring countries.
In addition to the crises in our region, four and a half years have passed as the Syrian crisis continues to deteriorate. That is a reflection of the gravity of the political and humanitarian crisis in which our Syrian brothers have suffered death, displacement and other travails. The situation calls for credible action on the part of the international community to coordinate and
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mobilize efforts to take immediate measures to halt the violence, disorder and chaos and to protect life. Tunisia urges all influential stakeholders in the Syrian conflict to step up their efforts to find a consensus- based political solution to the crisis based on dialogue and peace. We welcome the international efforts to breathe new life and hope into the situation and to find a consensus-based political solution that will spare Syria the threat of fragmentation and division.
In the face of the suffering of the brotherly country of Yemen and the humanitarian disaster that threatens to tear apart Yemeni society, national cohesion and Government, we express our full support for all efforts to put an end to the bloodshed and war and to assist the country to move beyond this crisis and alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people. We call on all factions in Yemen to return to the negotiating table and to prioritize dialogue and reason in the established framework for the country’s political transition.
Not far from that brotherly Arab country, we are seeing an exacerbation of the situation in Iraq, where terrorism is increasingly prevalent and entrenched, and ethnic and sectarian genocide is being perpetrated. This requires a firmer resolve than ever on the part of all regional and international stakeholders to re-establish security, stability and accountability for the gruesome crimes that have undermined the material, human and humanitarian assets in that country.
The sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly saw the evolution of many political, development and security milestones. We saw a galvanization of international efforts to ensure that all means were made available for success based on the growing awareness regarding the need to enhance justice in international relations and to put an end to disparities in development, while guaranteeing sustainable development for all in all social, economic and environmental dimensions. Among these milestones we note the holding of the United Nations Summit on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1) and the adoption of important resolutions to reduce poverty, promote social development and actively reduce the gaps between the countries of the North and the South by improving the levels of development in all its dimensions, in particular in developing and least developed countries.
Along these lines, the third Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa in July saw the adoption
of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, reflecting the concerns of developing and least developed countries regarding technology transfer, capacity-building, development assistance and others, and complementing international efforts in this arena. Tunisia actively contributed to the success of these events by actively participating in the preparatory process in our capacity as a member of the intergovernmental Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, and in the geographical group relevant to this issue.
In the framework of similar efforts to support the work of the international community in sustainable development, we assisted in the preparation of the twenty-first session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is to take place in Paris in December. We have finished preparing our nationally determined contribution, which reflects the country’s efforts in the areas of adaptability and future programmes. We welcome the relative successes of the United Nations in these areas. Nonetheless, we continue to believe that there is a need to continue to work together to better guarantee the efficiency of the Organization’s efforts to address important contemporary issues for humankind, in particular by broadening the decision-making circle and encouraging balance in international relations by enshrining the principle of partnership.
The choice of the topic “The United Nations at 70: the road ahead for peace, security and human rights” as the theme for this session of the General Assembly is relevant to us all at a time for taking stock of the progress that has been made in various areas. Each and every one of us here today is responsible for correcting imbalances and changing the future or destiny of peoples to ensure more justice, equality and fair sustainable development. We are all accountable for redressing these imbalances and ensuring that greater justice, equality and equitably distributed sustainable development prevail in future. That also holds true for any confrontations and for establishing channels of communication in the framework of mutual respect. We shall spare no effort to achieve these noble goals.
In conclusion, allow me also to convey my hope that the United Nations will be capable of tackling the major challenges before us today so that, thanks to the shared desire of Member States, we can achieve peace, development and security. I am convinced that the common ground that brings us together is much more significant than the differences that divide us.


The United Nations is now 70 years old. At the start of the meeting in San Francisco where the United Nations Charter was drafted, President Truman said “You members of this conference are to be architects of the better world. In your hands rests our future.” And he was right. The United Nations Charter has served humanity well for 70 years. Despite many challenges, there have been important milestones: decolonization, the establishment of the universal human rights system, the Millennium Development Goals, and a reduction in the number of inter-State wars.
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Unfortunately, as we celebrate these 70 years, the forces of disorder, discrimination, violence and disruption are on the rise again. International law, universal norms and human rights are being violated by States and non-State actors alike. One of the consequences is the massive refugee crisis that we are seeing, with 60 million refugees and displaced people.
All States benefit from a global legal order where right prevails over might. One of the most important rules of the new world order created in 1945 is respect for internationally recognized borders. This basic principle has been blatantly violated in Europe during the last couple of years, and Europe’s security landscape has been changed. We must return to a situation where all States abide by their obligations under international law.
The four most serious humanitarian crises in the world are, in fact, political crises. Power hungry politicians, armed groups and military leaders have ignored the plight of their peoples in the countries concerned: South Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Iraq. When State authorities ignore the rule of law or fail to live up to their human rights obligations, the result is often conflict and chaos. The regional and global consequences of these crises are far-reaching.
During the course of 2015, the United Nations has been carrying out three important reviews of peace operations, of the peacebuilding architecture and of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). These reviews will be important tools for improving our work on peace, security, human rights, mediation and conflict prevention. We must ensure that the United Nations has the funding and the political backing to prevent political exclusion and poor governance. Then we will be better able to prevent armed conflict and the resulting humanitarian crises.
The permanent members of the Security Council have a particular responsibility. Norway urges all States to join the proposed code of conduct to enable the Security Council to act decisively against mass atrocities. We support the French initiative to suspend the use of veto in such situations. We will also step up our efforts to support United Nations peacekeeping and the capacity of the United Nations to prevent conflict.
The flow of arms to conflict areas and the lack of protection for civilians further increase human suffering. The Arms Trade Treaty, with its humanitarian goals, gives us an important tool for addressing these
problems. The Secretary-General has called on all parties to conflict to refrain from using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas. We support his call.
At the Oslo Conference on Safe Schools, we endorsed the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict. Some 49 countries have already endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration. They have committed themselves to protecting education from attack in conflict situations. We urge other countries to come on board.
We see progress in Iraq, and we have hope for South Sudan. Norway is committed to supporting the transitional arrangements to help South Sudan out of its self-destructive conflict. The crisis in Syria started with peaceful protests calling for freedom. These were met with a violent crackdown. Upholding human rights is one of the fundamental obligations of any Government. The exodus from Syria today is a direct consequence of the violence unleashed by the Government.
The conflict in Syria has also allowed extremist terror groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to gain a foothold. Now, both the Government and non-State groups such as ISIL and the Al-Nusra Front are committing monstrous atrocities. The spread of these extremist groups needs to be stopped.
Norway will adhere to global norms in its response to the crisis. We are receiving refugees at our borders in line with the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 and our international human rights obligations. We have agreed to take in a high number of refugees from Syria’s neighbouring countries for resettlement under United Nations quotas. We are taking part in the rescue efforts in the Mediterranean. We have already doubled our humanitarian aid to Syria and the region this year and we will increase our aid further. We will be hosting a donor conference in cooperation with Germany and the United Nations.
When leaders fail to shoulder their most basic responsibilities, the international community must make use of the tools the United Nations has at its disposal. The United Nations has established many global standards. Fifteen years ago, the Security Council adopted resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security. It is a landmark resolution, but its implementation is taking too long. In several war- ravaged towns in Syria, groups of women are calling for a ceasefire and evacuation. They do this at great
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personal risk. Their bravery should inspire us. We must intensify the implementation of the Security Council resolutions on women and peace and security.
Seventy years ago, we set out to eradicate extremism. The fight against extremism must be maintained, also in our countries. Extremism is once again raising its head in different shapes and forms. The ideology of disorder, discrimination, violence and disruption dominates the ideologies of ISIL, Al-Qaida and their various affiliates. International cooperation at all levels is essential. In June, Norway hosted a European conference on countering violent extremism, where a European youth network was launched. The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy will remain a cornerstone of our efforts. We also welcome the Secretary-General’s initiative in developing a new United Nations plan of action for this issue, and I would like to highlight the importance of including girls and women in the planning and implementation of efforts to counter violent extremism.
The recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals are another example of the important role the United Nations continues to play. We know that health and education are fundamental to inclusive growth and jobs. Ebola was a wake-up call for us all. Education is also crucial in resolving conflicts and rebuilding societies. However, we need to address the considerable financial gap in the field of education. A first step is the International Commission on the Financing of Global Education Opportunities, announced at the recent Oslo Summit on Education for Development. Norway will double its investment in education for the period from 2014 to 2017. But sustainable development is not possible without respect for human rights. It is therefore vital to ensure that the human rights pillar of the United Nations is strong and assertive. If we do not provide adequate funding for human rights efforts, we will not be able to achieve the results we want and need.
The United Nations should not be seen as a costly burden; it provides win-win solutions for all Member States. I would like to highlight two areas where that is particularly clear. First, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has been called the constitution of the oceans. It provides a clear framework for all activities in oceans and seas. It regulates the rights and duties of various States. And it should be used to the full in order to help to decrease tensions, prevent conflict and find peaceful solutions. Secondly, climate change is a fact. The Climate Summit to be held in
Paris later this year is our opportunity to shoulder our responsibilities and take action. We, the Member States, must grasp that opportunity for the sake of our future as nations and as a global community.
We can be the generation that defeats extreme poverty. We can be the generation that prevents political crises from becoming humanitarian crises. We are already the first generation to experience human- made climate change. Let us also be the generation that halts climate change. And we can be the generation that finally realizes the right to education for all. With the Charter of the United Nations as our starting point, we must adapt our global norms to address new challenges. The forces of disorder, discrimination, violence and disruption must be stopped. The United Nations is a crucial arena for developing shared measures to address shared threats. We must use it to the full if we are to meet the threats we are facing today, from climate change to terrorism. We can thus ensure that the United Nations continues to serve humanity well for the next 70 years. Its Member States can still be, in Truman’s words, the architects of a better world.


My first words are directed to the new President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, to whom I extend sincere congratulations on his election to that post during this session.
I also thank the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his leadership and tenacity in ensuring that our Organization remains the most appropriate and legitimate forum for solving the problems of the world.
For our part, we can attest to the active support of the United Nations during the election process in Madagascar. Moreover, since January, the United Nations has continued to support Madagascar through the Peacebuilding Fund.
The seventieth anniversary of the United Nations is a historic one, as it coincides with the adoption of the new post-2015 development agenda in the form of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), thereby auguring an ambitious and promising future for our peoples. From the perspective of its 70 years, the United Nations remains a forum to whose long journey the world can bear witness. It has overcome numerous challenges, has both strengths and weaknesses, yet it has always remained clear-sighted and committed to peace and security, and, above all, to the service of humankind.
Let us take objectively assess its work over the past 70 years. To be fair, we should assess them objectively. During the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), poverty has been our main enemy. Yet today it is clear that poverty remains and inequality persists. Our goal of eradicating extreme poverty has not been fully met,
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although there has been significant progress. The MDGs have largely contributed to growth in many countries and have encouraged each country to redouble its efforts to adopt practical strategies to help avert difficulties. Today, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aspire to that same vision. The Assembly has thereby shown a new commitment in line with the requirements of our ever- changing world, to which we must constantly adapt our strategies.
The new post-2015 development Agenda will fuel our future actions aimed at creating noticeable and lasting impacts for the benefit of humankind. We do not have the right to fail to meet the expectations of our peoples. We must ensure the well-being and the daily lives of our peoples, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations because today, extreme poverty still prevails in many countries of the world, and threats to global security also deserve our urgent attention. Terrorism, climate change and the recurring problems associated with poverty are factors pushing populations to flee in the hope of a better future or simply a life of dignity. By adopting the new post-2015 development Agenda, we are offering Governments a solution for development that enables them to act effectively. Since its independence, Madagascar has consistently promoted the same values as those of the United Nations and has taken the same path as the Organization in adopting policies and universal strategies.
In adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, the world has just set the foundation for a new framework for its development. Commitments have been made to leave future generations a better world, given our current natural resources and the fact that they are not unlimited. With that common aim, Madagascar would like to renew its commitment to implementing the new post- 2015 development Agenda, which will serve as a frame of reference and aid in the realization of our national development plan.
The global threat of climate change deserves our unwavering attention. We all have an obligation to achieve results, faced with that global scourge. The coming twenty- first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Paris in December, will provide the ideal framework for showing our solidarity in that fight. While t developing countries are not the main parties responsible for the causes of climate change, they pay a heavy price for it, especially because they lack the resources needed to confront those challenges. Madagascar routinely suffers
from the consequences of climate change, which have led to agricultural losses and the destruction of basic social infrastructures and have often set back efforts to achieve socioeconomic development.
On 24 September, we submitted our national proposal with a commitment to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 14 per cent and to increasing absorption capacity to 32 per cent by 2030. With a view to protecting biodiversity — and Madagascar holds a significant portion of that world heritage — we recently supported resolution 69/314, entitled “Tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife”. In addition, with regard to disaster-risk reduction, we have been fully involved in the implementation of resolution 69/283, on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted in June 2015, which was designed to reduce disaster risks. The Malagasy Government focuses particular attention on its population, especially the most vulnerable. Its visionary social protection policy will enable it to significantly reduce the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2030, in line with the new post-2015 development agenda.
The country is also involved in the implementation of the Secretary-General’s plan on the reduction of maternal mortality. We have launched a campaign to speed up the reduction of maternal mortality and another against early marriage. In regard to food security, I would like to share our promising regional prospect to make Madagascar the breadbasket of the Indian Ocean. Such fundamental transformations must be based on support for the civil sector. Our men, women, youth and children must have access to education, basic health care, security and justice. We have a young population, which commits us to meeting the challenge of education as well as training and job creation. It is our joint responsibility to offer our young people decent work.
A new era is opening before us. New hope is being built with the advent of the new Sustainable Development Goals. By meeting in this Hall today, each nation is providing proof of its commitment to make progress on those Goals. The SDGs must not simply be a reference point and ready guide in the fight against poverty. All our actions must be capitalized on, brought together for sustainable human development, because there is no world apart from that of humankind. All our efforts should be focused on capitalizing on sustainable development, because human beings are our richest resource. Human capital is both the stakeholder for and beneficiary of the SDGs. The development of human capital must be at the heart of all of our actions. Our peoples’ security, in all its
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forms, must be ensured so that we can move away from extreme poverty and vulnerability, which are becoming chronic.
We are convinced that wars, crises, conflicts and insecurity are the root causes of systematic violations of human rights. In that light, peace and security remain the Achilles heel of all development strategies. It is through that shared vision that Madagascar is pursuing its path towards democracy and stability. We all agree that there is no real development without lasting peace and security.
Cybercrime, transnational organized crime and terrorism have become more pressing issues. We are fighting faceless enemies, and we must constantly adapt our strategies against those new threats. The security of our peoples must therefore be ensured in order to remove them from poverty and vulnerability. We are engaged in many forms of combat against urban and rural insecurity and are fighting against all kinds of trafficking and looting, which impacts our natural resources on land and at sea. On that issue, our country will be the location for the Maritime Information Fusion Centre, serving the Indian Ocean and East and Southern Africa with a view to assisting in combating maritime piracy, all types of illicit trafficking and terrorism.
With regard to the democratic process of carrying out elections, Madagascar is in a good position to provide a favourable environment for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Without institutional and political stability, the progress we envisage and to which the population aspires will not be lasting and shared.
In the area of collective security, I would like to pay tribute to the commitment of peacekeeping mission personnel. Madagascar actively participates by sending peacekeeping officers. From this podium, we declare our intention to deploy, for the first time, an infantry battalion to peacekeeping operations by 2017.
On the topic of the fight against human trafficking, Madagascar has ratified the main relevant international legal instruments on human rights, and it recently ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (resolution 45/158). As some in this Hall know, Madagascar has also sought to meet its international commitments by regularly submitting its reports on human rights to the various human rights treaty bodies and to the Human Rights Council in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review, whose recommendations are implemented through a national operational plan.
This year, Madagascar deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. During a meeting in New York earlier in 2015, in keeping with its international commitments, Madagascar reaffirmed its commitment to promote women’s rights and renewed its previous commitment made in Beijing. We are joining our efforts with those of others in seeking to make the representation of countries on the Security Council more equitable. It is only fair that that opportunity be offered to under-represented regions such as Africa.
The General Assembly remains the body most suited to the task of overcoming the major challenges associated with the eradication of poverty and the disruptive effects of climate change. The issues of migration, peace and security are no less important. The resolution of those complex problems constitutes a top priority among the SDGs and Africa’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.
Given the momentum created by the newly adopted 2030 Agenda, Madagascar foresees that the next 15 years will be rich in collective action and solidarity. In accordance with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, our country is committed to mobilizing its own resources and urges our international partners to do the same. Accordingly, we call upon the United Nations to propose the appropriate financing mechanisms and structures to support economic and social development policies and to combat poverty in developing countries.
Official development assistance is necessary and important to support growth. The Northern countries’ solidarity with those of the South must be effective. We must support one another complementarily, because it is together that we will succeed and be able to act and react in real time to the major challenges that are facing us. Our will and determination will guide us in quickening our stride to meet those challenges. I therefore unhesitatingly reiterate my call for the enhancement of the North-South dialogue and the strengthening of global partnerships. In order to truly support development, the terms of funding must not in any way penalize those countries and peoples that are already vulnerable.
Can we have confidence in the future? Can our young people have confidence in the future? On this solemn occasion, I urge my peers not to lose sight of the commitment that we made 70 years ago, which
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has been reflected in the solid decisions that we have taken throughout the years and not delay in taking action. The SDGs enable us to facilitate prevention and the maintenance of peace, security and stability. The new Agenda outlines new strategic directions that will guide us in forging the destiny of our peoples.
Madagascar maintains its hope and faith in the United Nations for the next 70 years. A good portion of the path has already been trodden, but the road remains long. We must not be concerned about counting steps. The challenges are immense, but never, since time immemorial, have so many countries and leaders demonstrated their will and commitment to move ahead so as to overcome and solve the problems of today’s world. We must demonstrate that we are moving closer to a millennium of solidarity that transcends borders. That requires the commitment and responsibility of each country and each leader.
This month we began laying down the foundations of a new edifice. Its completion depends only on us. Rest assured that Madagascar will contribute to that endeavour.


It is an honour to stand before the General Assembly. I am here representing Jordan as a God-fearing and God-loving human being. I am here as a father who wants his children, like all others, to live in a compassionate and more peaceful world.
Such a future is under serious threat from the khawarij, the outlaws of Islam, who operate globally today. They target religious differences, hoping to kill cooperation and compassion among the billions of people of all faiths and communities, who live side by side in our many countries. Those outlaw gangs use suspicion and ignorance to expand their own power. And worse still is the free hand they grant themselves to distort the word of God in order to justify the most atrocious of crimes.
All of us here are united by our conviction that those forces must be defeated. But before we ask how to achieve that objective, let us ask the following. What if they were not defeated? What would our world look like? Can we tolerate a future where mass murder, public beheadings, kidnapping and slavery are common practices? Where the persecution of communities is the law? Where humankind’s cultural treasures that have
been preserved for thousands of years are systematically destroyed?
I have called this crisis a third world war, and I believe we must respond with equal intensity. That means global collective action on all fronts. But let us make no mistake; the more important war is the one we wage on the battlegrounds of the heart, the soul and the mind. And, in this fight, all countries and all people must come together.
Jordan has been proud to work with Member States and their countries to spearhead global initiatives for tolerance and dialogue. That has been reflected in the Amman Message and A Common Word, and, four years ago, we helped to initiate the World Interfaith Harmony Week, an annual United Nations event to focus all people, especially young people, on the essentials of tolerance and coexistence. Those efforts must continue, and the United Nations has a central role. But all of us, as individuals and as leaders, must help build the road ahead. Let me suggest seven essential steps.
First, let us get back to basics and to the essence and shared spirit of our respective faiths and creeds. It seems to me that we can sometimes lose sight of the larger picture. What separates human beings is minuscule, compared to what we hold in common: deep values of love, peace, justice and compassion.

“And My mercy embraces all things.” (The Holy Koran, VII:156)

Secondly, let us change our tone. On my travels not long ago, I saw a roadside sign that said, “Fear God”. A few miles down the road, was another, saying the same thing, then another and then a final one, saying, “... Or you will go to Hell”, and I asked myself when and how did fear and intimidation creep so insidiously into our conversations, when there is so much more to be said about the love of God. Most people may think they have nothing to do with the hate expressed by extremists. But our world is also threatened when violence, fear and anger dominate our discourse, whether in school lessons, weekly sermons or international affairs.
Thirdly, let us act upon our beliefs. And here, I mean more than praying, fasting or zakat — giving alms. I mean integrating our values into every part of our daily lives and every hour of every day. By loving our neighbour, showing respect to those different from
us and being kind to our own children, each one of us can do something to reflect the spirit of our Creator.
Fourthly, let us amplify the voice of moderation. It is one of the greatest ironies of our time that extremist voices use advanced media to propagate ignorant ideas. We must not let our screens, airwaves, broadband and social media be monopolized by those who pose the greatest danger to our world. We too must populate our media and, more important, the minds of our young people, with the purity and power of moderation.
Fifthly, let us recognize deceit. When we examine the motives of those outlaws, the khawarij, and, indeed, the motives of extremists on all sides, we find hunger for power, control of people, of money and of land. They use religion as a mask. Is there a worse crime than twisting God’s word to promote one’s own interests? Is there a more despicable act than feeding on the vulnerable and innocent, to recruit them to one’s ranks? In the global Muslim community — 1.7 billion good men and women, one quarter of humankind — today’s outlaw gangs are nothing but a drop in the ocean. But a drop of venom can poison a well. We must protect the purity of our faith from worldly contamination. As Muslims, this is our fight, as it is our duty.
Sixthly, by all means, let us be intolerant of intolerance. Extremists rely on the apathy of moderates. But moderation does not mean accepting those who trample on others and rejecting all those who differ. Today’s global fight is not between peoples, communities or religions. It is between all moderates of all faiths against all extremists, in all religions. Leaders of every country, every belief and every neighbourhood need to take a clear and public stand against intolerance of any kind. That includes respecting all places where God is worshipped, whether mosque, church, synagogue or temple.
And nothing can be more important and can have more impact in framing this respect and coexistence than Jerusalem. The Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites is a sacred duty, and we join Muslims and Christians everywhere in rejecting threats to the holy places and the Arab character of that Holy City.
Lastly, there is hyperconnectivity. In our era, connectivity defines how we live and interact in our work, our communities, our schools and our lives. Only a few years ago, we were introduced to the Internet of computers; now, we talk about the Internet
of things. But over them all must be the Internet of humankind — a hyperconnection, bringing us together in collective consciousness and common cause. By gathering here today, we acknowledge that the power of working together far exceeds any individual effort. Our great General Assembly must address urgent world issues: sustainable and inclusive development that can deliver more opportunities, especially to young people, and peaceful, political solutions to regional crises.
It is the world’s obligation to find solutions and provide relief for the millions of refugees in my region. Today, we are still facing huge shortfalls, cuts and threats to vital United Nations programmes and agencies, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme.
Today, we are haunted by the images of thousands of refugees on the shores and borders of Europe, seeking hope, far away from their homeland. In Jordan, we have been faced with that challenge since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. Today, Syrian refugees alone constitute 20 per cent of my country’s population.
We have been relieving the international community of a significant part of the burden of that humanitarian disaster since the beginning. Support to our country has been a small fraction of the cost we have endured. It is high time for the international community to act collectively in facing this unprecedented humanitarian crisis and to provide support to countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, which have been carrying the brunt of that burden over the past four years.
In all these areas, we must act, and act collectively, for the future of our world. And connectivity is key. The values we share — equality, compassion and hope — need to be connected to everything we do. And we must keep ourselves connected to each other, for the good of all. These bonds are the power and promise of our United Nations. Here, together, we can and must create the future our people need — a safer, stronger world of coexistence, inclusion, shared prosperity and peace. Seven steps can bring us closer to our destination. God willing, our countries and peoples will achieve those seven steps and many more.


Sixty years ago, Secretary- General Dag Hammarskjöld said these simple words, which summarize our task here today:
“The United Nations is an expression of our will to find a synthesis between the nation and the world ... to serve the world by serving our nation, and to serve our nation by serving the world.”
We will never forget Dag Hammarskjöld’s life, and we welcome the new resolution 69/246, investigating his death, but now more than ever, we need to ensure that his idea of international solidarity lives on.
The current refugee situation is a global crisis, a global responsibility and now also a global crisis of responsibility. The United Nations system and all the world’s leaders need to come together to ensure that those fleeing war and repression are treated in a safe, orderly and dignified way. We should dramatically increase the number of resettlement places, expand legal avenues for migration and base all our efforts on the principle of non-refusement and the right to seek asylum. It is extremely urgent that all the countries of the European Union treat people seeking refuge in the Union with a spirit of humanity, solidarity and shared responsibility.
Sweden will do its share. We are the largest per capita receiver of asylum seekers in Europe and we are increasing our funding to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which is in dire need of more resources. But that is something no country or continent can tackle alone. It is time for us all to step up to solve this crisis. It is not simply our task. It is our duty in the service of our nations and the world.
To solve the current crisis, we also need to stop the horrors in Syria. Extrajudicial executions, sexual and gender violence, and atrocities that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity cannot be tolerated by the international community. Sweden supports the efforts to secure humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people. We stand behind Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura and his proposal to form working groups with Syrian participation to implement the Geneva communiqué (S/2012/523, annex). To support that process, we want to see an international contact group comprising key international and regional actors. And time is of the essence. The Security Council and its major Powers must shoulder their responsibility. The bloodbath must end.
Meanwhile, other conflicts cannot be forgotten. A seven-year-old child in Gaza has already lived through three wars. Peace talks need to be resumed so that the State of Israel can live alongside a democratic, coherent and viable Palestinian State. Sweden has recognized the State of Palestine. We want to see a more equal relationship that will pave the way for the two-State solution that Israelis, Palestinians and a broad international community view as the right path to peace. Sweden will also step up its efforts to promote peacekeeping and crisis management.
We are contributing civilian personnel to missions in South Sudan, Afghanistan, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Middle East, and we have sent military personnel to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali and the Global Coalition to Combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. We stand ready to contribute to future United Nations missions and are continuing research on developed doctrines and methods for peacekeeping to share within the United Nations.
Working to maintain peace also means following through on our mutual promises of disarmament,
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namely, to pursue legal, practical and technical solutions to fully rid our world of its remaining 16,000 nuclear weapons; to finally destroy what remains of other inhumane arms, such as biological and chemical weapons; to implement the Arms Trade Treaty; and to fight the spread of small arms and light weapons, including ammunition. If we sway from those goals, humankind will suffer for our faults.
If peace is more than the absence of war, peacebuilding is more than the direct prevention of military conflict. Lack of resources, rising sea levels and natural disasters have already wreaked havoc on women and men living in vulnerable States. Climate change can work as a conflict multiplier, threatening peace as well as our chances to achieve all our Sustainable Development Goals. We need a course of action to create a low-carbon and climate-resilient world economy. We must protect land and ocean ecosystems. That is not a choice; it is a necessity for our survival.
The world must therefore reach a fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement in Paris in December that, over time, will hold the rise in global temperature below 2°C, to the extent possible. Sweden will play its part by becoming one of the first fossil-free welfare nations in the world and having no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. We will be strong financial supporters of the Green Climate Fund and international climate action, with a view to supporting adaptation and transfer of technology on a global scale.
The coming decade will also need to see major investments in the schooling, higher education and professional training of our youth. We need fair and equal societies, where the just contributions of those who have are used to finance the gift of knowledge and power to those who have not. That is a foundation for peace that is too precious to neglect. Moreover, it is closely connected to the potential of gender equality. Barring women from power, public debate, work and education and depriving them of their human right to decide for themselves, including control over their own bodies, reproduction and sexuality — all that is a global disgrace.
It is time once and for all to get rid of structures that discriminate against and belittle people, on whatever grounds. It is time to fully realize Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), granting women their crucial role in peace and State-building. It is time to see sexual violence as one of the most destructive weapons of all
and to fight it with the full force of the international community.
New times also demand a new mindset. As several leaders of island countries have told me: “We are not a small island nation; we are a large ocean State”. To fully grasp the potential of the new world economy, we need to remove old colonial prejudice and false conceptions of large and small, North and South, East and West. We should welcome and enhance the transformation and expansion of the global economy through free and fair trade and create a global deal for decent work, while working to free some 160 million child labourers and also to end modern slavery. Sweden is taking concrete measures to maintain political support at the highest level for our common 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), and we will continue to allocate 0.1 per cent of our gross national income to official development assistance.
For me, words that are not followed by actions are not worth being spoken, but the challenges for the international community also show the dire need for a strengthened and reformed United Nations. Sweden contributes resources, but we also want to contribute reforms. We want to make the United Nations more effective, transparent and fit-for-purpose. We will work to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, not least the African Union.
In 2017, it will have been 20 years since Sweden last held a seat on the Security Council. Over the years, we have stood by those fighting for independence and dignity and against repression, colonialism, apartheid and inequality. We now seek Members’ confidence to champion the perspective of small and medium-sized States as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. We will strive tirelessly for a Council that can respond swiftly to the security challenges of our time and that is more representative, transparent and effective. A reformed Council must reflect today’s realities, with adequate representation for Africa, Asia and Latin America. We also support efforts to limit the use of the veto.
Although we see distress, we also see hope. The agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue was indeed a victory for the idea of diplomacy. Shared efforts create shared progress. Our decision on the new Sustainable Development Goals will, if thoroughly implemented, enable us to create another landmark in human history. And the upcoming Climate Change Summit in Paris
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will give us the opportunity to act — late, but hopefully not too late.
Sweden is fully committed to those tasks. We believe that international solidarity is the first and foremost foundation for shared peace and prosperity. International cooperation is the only way to transform solidarity into substantial change. This year must be the essential milestone for global development and for future generations. So let us create that milestone, serving our nations and serving our world.


The United Nations is marking its seventieth anniversary this year, making this session of the General Assembly a historic one. I hope that this year will also be historic for the United Nations in terms of outcomes. I would like to assure the President that he will receive India’s full support in his efforts.
Seventy years ago, the foundations of the United Nations were laid at the San Francisco Conference, in a city on the west coast of this country. India was one of the signatory countries of the Charter of the United Nations, although at that time we were not independent. We obtained our independence two years later. When the United Nations was established, a rather diminutive-looking man with the powerful weapon of non-violence was writing the final act in a struggle that would become a symbol of hope for the colonized and the oppressed everywhere. I am grateful that the United Nations has proclaimed the birthday of this extraordinary man as the International Day of Non-Violence. It is a pleasing coincidence that tomorrow is 2 October, and
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that we will be celebrating his birthday then. Mahatma Gandhi said, “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems”. His message is most fitting in the context of the United Nations.
The seventieth year of any human being’s life is a milestone from which to look back and reflect on what one has achieved and what one has lost. Similarly, for people associated with an institution, the seventieth year provides an opportunity to analyse whether the institution has fulfilled its purpose and achieved the goals set for it at its establishment. Today we need to ask ourselves whether we have fulfilled the purpose and achieved the goals for which the United Nations was established 70 years ago. When I ask myself that question, I receive an affirmative answer for some questions and a negative one for others. For example, the United Nations has been successful in preventing a third world war, assisting decolonization and dismantling apartheid. It has been successful in combating global epidemics, reducing global hunger and promoting democracy and human rights.
Yet, when we ask ourselves whether we have been able to prevent conflicts taking place in various parts of the world, the answer is “no”. If we ask whether we were able to find permanent solutions to those conflicts, the answer is “no”. If we ask whether we were able to show the path of peace to a world which is treading the path of violence, the answer is “no”. According to those parameters, the United Nations appears to be ineffective at maintaining international peace and security, an institution that has failed to effectively address new challenges in that area.
Today, the world is ravaged by war on three continents, with the Security Council powerless or unwilling to stem the f low of blood. Traditional solutions that rely on force have only exacerbated problems. We must ask ourselves if we have the political will to craft alternatives to conflict and to pursue them with commitment and single-minded dedication. Nowhere is such a goal more important than in peacekeeping. Under the blue flag, men and women are constantly working to prevent conflict, protect civilians and sustain peace processes. With 180,000 peacekeepers deployed so far, India has been the largest contributor to international security provided by the United Nations. Even today, about 8,000 Indian military and police personnel are participating in 10 peacekeeping missions, operating in highly challenging environments.
India remains committed to continuing its support to United Nations peacekeeping operations and even to enhancing its contributions, as announced by our Prime Minister at the leaders summit on peacekeeping. Our new contributions will cover all aspects of peacekeeping: personnel, enablers and training. At the same time, no dilution of the cardinal principles of peacekeeping must occur. The fact that troop-contributing countries have no role in the formulation of mandates, which are often amended without consultation, is a matter of concern. That is a clear violation of Article 44 of the Charter of the United Nations. We also believe that peacekeeping operations cannot be a substitute for political solutions, a fact that the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations underscored.
As we mark the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations, I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the more than 3,300 peacekeepers, including 161 from India, who have made the ultimate sacrifice. We stand ready to contribute to the memorial wall for United Nations peacekeepers, which was approved by the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session.
The safety of our peacekeepers, the security of our nations, and indeed the future of the international community itself now depend on how we respond to the greatest threat that we face today: terrorism. It is a threat that India has lived with for more than a quarter of a century, and one that was tragically brought home to this very city in the autumn of 2001. Since then, we have not adequately countered the proliferation of terrorist acts, the rise of extremist ideologies and the impunity of States that back terrorism.
Only organized international action can defeat international terrorism. The world must demonstrate zero tolerance for terrorists who kill and maim innocent civilians and base its action on the principle of prosecute or extradite. The international community must make countries that provide financing to terrorists and safe havens for their training, arming and operations pay a heavy price.
Equally important, the establishment of an international legal regime, under a comprehensive convention on international terrorism, can no longer be held up. Nineteen years ago, in 1996, India proposed such a regime at the United Nations, but the Member States have been unable to adopt it and have become mired in the issue of definition. We have to understand that no such distinction exists as good terrorists and bad terrorists, and that terrorism cannot be linked
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to any religion. A terrorist is a terrorist, and anyone who commits crimes against humanity cannot have a religion. Therefore, I appeal to everyone to come together during this seventieth anniversary year of the United Nations and to pledge to unanimously adopt a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.
While on the subject of terrorism, I take this opportunity to share the challenges that we face in our ties with Pakistan. None of us can accept that terrorism is a legitimate instrument of statecraft. The world shared our outrage at the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which citizens of many nations were helplessly butchered. That the mastermind behind the attack is walking free is an affront to the entire international community. Not only have past assurances in this regard not been honoured, but new cross-border terrorist attacks have taken place recently, and two terrorists from across the border have been captured alive. We all know that these attacks are meant to destabilize India and legitimize Pakistan’s illegal occupation of parts of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir and its claim to the rest of it.
Let me use this occasion to spell out our approach clearly. India remains open to dialogue but finds talks and terrorism to be incompatible. Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan proposed what he termed a new four-point peace initiative. I would like to respond to this. We do not need four points. We need just one — give up terrorism and let us sit down and talk. This will solve all the problems. That was precisely what was discussed and decided by the two Prime Ministers in Ufa this July. Let us hold talks, at the level of national security advisers, on all issues connected to terrorism and arrange an early meeting of our Directors-General of Military Operations to address the situation on the border. If the response is serious and credible, India is prepared to address all outstanding issues through bilateral dialogue. Even as we counter the menace of terrorism, we must acknowledge that real social and economic progress remains a critical goal. The elimination of basic human want leads almost invariably to more peaceful societies, as is evidenced by a map of the conflicts that engulf parts of the world.
Just a few days ago, we adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), with the Sustainable Development Goals at its core. They constitute a blueprint that is more comprehensive and holistic than the Millennium Development Goals. However, their successful implementation will require political resolve and an inclination to
share both technology and financial resources, while simultaneously improving our delivery mechanisms. As a woman and an elected Member of Parliament, it has been my firm conviction that there is a shortcut to real social change, and that is empowering the girl child. Our Government’s policy and our Prime Minister’s programme of Educate the Girl Child to Empower Her was conceived with that vision.
Our future rests on our building a sustainable planet for our children and our children’s children. As we prepare to meet in two months’ time, in Paris, the world expects us to deliver an ambitious and credible agreement on climate change. We have a duty to take common action, but in doing so we must keep in mind the larger historical contributions of some and the differentiated responsibilities of others. If Mahatma Gandhi were among us today, he would ask if we have used the resources of the planet for our needs or for our greed. He would also ask if adapting our lifestyle choices and reducing extravagant consumption would help us to correct our course. For this reason, the agreement in Paris needs to be comprehensive and equitable, while delivering concrete action. Developing countries can do more if they are enabled in their efforts by support from developed countries in the areas of finance, technology transfer and capacity- building. India is and always has been a willing partner in global efforts towards this goal. We will play our due role in reaching a meaningful, equitable and effective agreement in Paris.
India’s reverence for the environment is based on our traditions, which have always held nature as sacred. The health of the planet is tied to our own well-being, and it is this holistic approach that guided us in our call for the First International Day of Yoga, which was celebrated with much fervour in 192 countries of the world, as well as in this hallowed institution. I thank the international community for its enthusiasm and support in this regard. I hope that the seed that has been planted will grow into a magnificent tree.
I also congratulate States for their prompt action in tackling the threat of global epidemics. By linking our efforts, we have managed to eradicate smallpox and nearly eradicate polio. HIV/AIDS has been controlled and, more recently, the Ebola outbreak was contained, although not before an unacceptably high price in lives had been paid. The Ebola epidemic is an important example of how national action and international support can resolve a global crisis. We are proud that
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India played its due part in these efforts. Inspired by our successes, we must redouble our efforts to eradicate other diseases, whether it be tuberculosis or malaria.
Natural disasters and man-made conflicts also deserve our coordinated response. In recent months, the international community has been found wanting in its response to the refugee crisis caused by the conflict situations in Syria, Iraq and Libya. What is needed is a swift response backed by political will. Our own response to humanitarian crises in our neighbourhood has been quick, responsive and holistic. Whether in Nepal or Yemen, India has emerged as a net security provider, assisting not only our nationals but those of other countries that sought our help. India will be hosting the first Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in November 2016, when the topic will be the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Like the United Nations, India has walked a long way these past 70 years. As 1.25 billion of my countrymen would attest, we have done so happy in the knowledge that our democratic traditions are deeply embedded. Nonetheless, every once in a while, there is a need for transformative change — one that can reinvigorate the nation and redeem its spirit. Ever since the new Government of Prime Minister Modi took office a year and a half ago, we have committed ourselves to this renewal. It is one that has enabled India to play its rightful role in international affairs, while also becoming the fastest-growing major economy in the world. The driving force of this comprehensive renewal has been premised on the motto of sabka saath, sabka vikas, which places emphasis on the welfare of all our people.
At the same time, we have started to reach out enthusiastically to all our partners in the international community. Our efforts have focused, first and foremost, on our immediate neighbourhood and the results have been truly transformational. We have also reached out to our extended neighbourhood, renewing ancient linkages and constructing modern economic partnerships, including, most recently, a summit with 14 Pacific island nations. Our Act East policy has replaced the previous one, Look East, with a more vigorous and proactive engagement in an economically vibrant region, and complements our Link West engagement.
We remain committed to the Middle East peace process, which is key to preventing further radicalization of the region. We continue to hope that a
solution can be reached to the Palestinian question. We have also qualitatively upgraded our relations with all the major Powers.
Africa is a region with which we have historical bonds, a solidarity born out of a common struggle against colonialism and a belief in a future of shared prosperity. Later this month we will host the third India- Africa Forum Summit, the first time that the leaders of all 54 African countries have been invited.
As a nuclear-weapon State, India is aware of its responsibility, and its support for global, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament is undiminished.
As with nations, so it is with institutions. Only periodic renewal can provide an organization with meaning and purpose. In a world that continues to be dominated by wealthy and influential nations, the United Nations notion of sovereign equality has permitted the developing world to question some unfair norms. But it has not permitted a fundamental challenge to the inequity of a system built for a world that longer exists. If we are to preserve the centrality and legitimacy of the United Nations as the custodian of global peace, security and development, the most urgent and pressing need is reform of the Security Council. This is the need of the hour. How can we have a Security Council in 2015 that still reflects the geopolitical architecture of 1945? How can we have a Security Council that still does not give Africa and Latin America seats as permanent members?
We must include more developing nations in the decision-making structures of the Security Council. And we must change the way it does business by doing away with outdated and non-transparent working methods. Giving it more legitimacy and balance would restore its credibility and equip it to confront the challenges of our times. We are happy that during the past year, under the leadership of Their Excellences Mr. Sam Kutesa and Mr. Courtenay Rattray, we have achieved what we had been unable to do in two decades of discussions — a text for negotiations unanimously adopted by the General Assembly as decision 69/560. That first but critical step must be a springboard for action at this historic seventieth session.
For an organization such as the United Nations, 70 years has a unique significance. It is an occasion for revitalization and for renewal. I invite everyone in this Hall to contemplate the idea of the United Nations as
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a banyan tree. In the eastern tradition, the banyan tree connotes wisdom, and yet is non-judgemental and all- encompassing. It has not one trunk but many, growing outwards, each connected to the others as well as to the sky and the earth. Its expansive branches provide shade and relief, and its base has always been a place for discussion and debate.
At 70, unlike the men and women who might have planted its seed, the banyan is still young. But without constant regeneration and expansion, it withers away. That could be the fate that awaits the United Nations. Either we can take this historic opportunity to renew this critical institution or we can condemn it to irrelevance and tragic withering. We could easily lose ourselves in a labyrinth of our own creation, but if we seize the day, we will see a United Nations growing to its full potential, a United Nations that can reduce the gap between what it does and what it is capable of doing, a mighty banyan tree providing the canopy for a peaceful and prosperous humankind. I end my statement with the hope that the United Nations will grow into such a banyan tree.


At the outset, allow me to welcome a very relevant event that took place here a few days ago — on 10 September — when, by 136 votes in favour, the General Assembly approved the Basic Principles on Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes (resolution 69/319). That was a very significant triumph.
New principles have been established — which I have written down here so that I do not forget any of them — that should guide how we address and resolve matters when a country has decided to renegotiate its external debt. They include the sovereignty of a country to decide its own macroeconomic policies and how it will restructure its debt; good faith, transparency, impartiality, and equitable treatment so as not to distinguish among different creditors and so that everybody is treated in the same manner. They also include sovereign immunity from jurisdiction and execution, as well as legitimacy and sustainability.
The latter is perhaps one of the most important principles, as it refers to repaying and honouring one’s debts — not at the cost hunger and poverty for the people, but through a political and economic project and through macroeconomic variables that should make the development and growth of society sustainable.
Finally comes perhaps the most important principle lacking today in terms of regulation of sovereign debt. It is a logical principle that applies in nearly all the domestic legal systems throughout the world. When a company goes bankrupt and is unable to pay its debts in any country — including in this one, the United States of America, where municipalities are also allowed to go bankrupt — how is consensus reached? Through a qualified majority. When 66 per cent of the creditors here in the United States, and also in my own country of the Argentine Republic, come to an agreement with the debtor with regard to timetables and the form of the payment, that becomes law and is mandatory for the other creditors. Let me repeat, when 66 per cent agree. That principle also enshrines the idea that when the majority decides on a form of payment, that should be accepted by everybody else.
This agreement — these principles and conventions — was approved here, and we have decided to submit it to our parliament for it to become an instrument of public order that controls our country’s domestic practices. It has its roots in the default that Argentina experienced in 2000, history’s largest sovereign default. At that time the world was growing by more than good rates. However, Argentina went bankrupt as a result of debts that had been incurred much earlier. In fact, to be more accurate, it began in earnest in 1976, when there was a coup d’état and the country’s constitutional order was overthrown, and began to deepen in the 1990s with the convertibility regime, by which they made us Argentines believe that an Argentine peso was worth $l. That culminated in the 2001 default and in institutional bankruptcy: there were five different Governments in just one week.
Argentina, however, was able to rebuild its economy and its society when politics once again took control over the economy starting on 25 May 2003. It was then decided to summon creditors to a first restructuring offer in 2005, and again in 2010 under my presidency. The first restructuring was during the presidency of Néstor Carlos Kirchner, who in his first address to the General Assembly (see A/58/PV.11) said that the dead did not pay their debts and that it was necessary for the creditors to allow Argentina to grow in order to be able to pay. That was neither a premonition on his part nor a matter of foretelling the future. He simply applied economic logic: it was impossible to pay a debt in the absence of growth in the economy of the debtor country. That is when Argentina began its inexorable process of getting out of debt.
But it also had to do with what happened in 2005, when it was decided to pay off the total debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had been imposing macroeconomic policies on our country. That is when Argentina began to grow and linked itself up as yet another wagon to the locomotive engine of the emerging countries, which were the ones that had been supporting the sustained growth of the international economy. Let us not forget that the greatest growth was led by the emerging countries, essentially headed by the giants of Asia.
During my first address to the General Assembly as President of the Argentine Republic, in September
2008 (see A/63/PV.5), I noted how the locomotive that was driving the world to sustained growth had another locomotive engine added to it. Like those old trains with two locomotive engines, this one now also had two: China and the rest of the emerging countries, pulling towards growth with rates that in the case of China had already attained 14 per cent growth in gross domestic product by 2007.
Then in 2008, with the fall of Lehman Brothers on Wall Street, came an economic crisis that we are still experiencing, but with several differences. Although it began here at the very heart of international finance, there had in fact been signs of a crisis, namely, the 2007 sub-prime mortgage crisis, which ultimately exploded in 2008. The year 2009 marked the global economic collapse, except in Asian countries. Even in Latin America, we experienced negative growth that year. In 2010 the crisis spread to the eurozone, and off they went to the rescue of indebted countries. We all know that was a euphemism; the banks were actually the ones they went to rescue. Billions of dollars were transferred to banking institutions. I still remember a discussion that took place in London at the Group of 20. Our position was that, while it was necessary to save the banks to stave off a 1930s-type depression, it was also absolutely essential that there be regulation so that the tide of resources that was being injected into the financial sector should flow back to the real economy, enter the goods and services production cycle and make the wheels of growth turn again.
But none of that happened. Indeed, on the contrary, adjustment policies were the consideration in exchange for being rescued. And the adjustment policy imposed on the eurozone caused a recession in that zone and a drop in employment to unprecedented lows: 50 per cent of young people in Italy unemployed, with double-digit unemployment in Spain as well.
That is how we got to 2014 and 2015, with a sharp decrease in global demand. Now we see how that crisis train — the Lehman Brothers locomotive engine, which departed from here, in the heart of Wall Street, and stopped off in Europe — is trying to move on to the emerging economies, we who underpinned economic growth for so long. Argentina was and is part of that growth. This year, despite difficulties and the harassment by vulture funds, which do not collect nor do they allow the 92.7 per cent that agreed to the two restructurings to collect, with the complicity
of a certain part of this country’s judiciary, there are demands that
we pay 7 per cent of the creditors $20 billion, when the restructuring accepted by the 92 per cent had amounted to $40 billion.
What is the capitalistic logic behind this? What is the mathematical model for this? How long would it take us to restructure those 93 per cent if we met the demands of these predatory financiers, who make up only 7 per cent of the creditors, and paid them half of what we paid to 92 per cent of the creditors? Any logical judge would say that was not right. One cannot pay to 7 per cent of the creditors half of what one pays the other 92 per cent of the creditors, particularly when some of the 7 per cent had bought lots of these bonds after Argentina had already defaulted on its external debt.
It is for that reason that the approval of the Basic Principles on Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes — for which there are some precedents already through anti-vulture laws such as those in the Kingdom of Belgium — represents help, not to Argentina, which is depositing 100 per cent of its debt to its creditors, but help to the rest of the world. It is the first serious attempt to introduce fairness and regulation to the financial and derivatives sectors, which, from the moment that merchant banks became investment banks, have remained outside the scope of all oversight and intervention.
That is why we say that what was agreed on 10 September was a very significant and major step forward that must also be in line with the fact that the world is not doing well at all. That is not news to anyone. We could talk about the refugee crisis resulting from the action of financial predators in countries that do not manage to support their people who have to migrate to Europe in canoes or rafts from Africa, or about the refugees who have to flee their homelands because of warlords.
I also want to talk to the Assembly about an unprecedented process of economic concentration that is unheard of in the world. According to the most recently released IMF report, 1 per cent of the global population at present is holding 50 per cent of the wealth. Here, in this very country that once hosted the American dream — the dream of the American middle classes, which encouraged and continues to encourage so many Latin Americans to come here — 1 per cent have more than 30 per cent of the total wealth. How long can such a society or the world continue when income
distribution is that unfair and with all the consequences of such unfairness?
Yesterday, at President Xi Jinping’s gender equality meeting, we pondered how gender empowerment could be discussed in a world in which resources are so unequally distributed; how much gender equality can we find in a world that expels people from their home countries because they have become unlivable and when they are refused entry into other countries? That forces us to address the problem of the financial markets and the need to reinject resources into the real economy so that employment and production can be resumed as the main engines for societies’ welfare.
I should also like to welcome the fact — and commend the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany — that an agreement was reached on nuclear issues that will help to defuse the situation and provide more certainty and security to a world shrouded in conflicts and warmongering. We were aware of those negotiations. We harboured hopes that this agreement would eventually see the light of day.
Members will wonder how we knew. Easy. In 2010 Gary Samore, at that time the White House’s top adviser on nuclear issues, visited us in Argentina. He came to visit Argentina on a mission with one goal. In 1987, under the first democratic Government and under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Argentina supplied the nuclear fuel for the reactor known as “Tehran”. Gary Samore explained to our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Héctor Timerman, that negotiations were under way on an agreement for the Islamic Republic of Iran to cease its uranium enrichment activities or to do it to a lesser extent, but that Iran claimed that it needed to enrich for the Tehran nuclear reactor and that was hindering negotiations. They came to ask us to provide nuclear fuel to the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Rouhani was not yet in office. The negotiations had begun under President Ahmadinejad.
I remember that the Minister for Foreign Affairs came to see me and submitted to me the proposal that Gary Samore had brought. He had already informed the White House envoy that his request would be very difficult to satisfy given the relationship between Argentina and the Islamic Republic of Iran because of the terrorist attack against the Argentine Israelite
Mutual Association (AMIA) that had taken place in 1994 and the decision of the judge in the case to press charges against five Iranian citizens and summon them to appear in court. Against that backdrop, it was impossible for Argentina to make a contribution to the negotiation process, which, I repeat, was already under way in 2010. I looked at the Minister in my office — I recall this clearly — and I said that if the request was made in writing and signed, we could cooperate despite all that, because we believed that the attainment of the nuclear non-proliferation objective was important.
Members know that Argentina is a member of a select club of nuclear energy-producing countries but that, nonetheless, we occupy a leading position in the field of non-proliferation. Therefore, for us nuclear non-proliferation is also a question of governmental interest. That is what I said to my Minister for Foreign Affairs, who in turn conveyed to the White House envoy that we would agree to provide the fuel, because it had been in the hands of Argentina since 1987 and we also had the necessary technology to produce it — in exchange, obviously, for such a request to be submitted in writing and signed. That message was conveyed. I believe that that was the last time that the Minister saw Mr. Samore.
Thus by 2013, when Argentina signed the memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Republic of Iran to unblock the legal matter that had brought the case to a halt years ago — and please bear in mind that the attack took place in 1994 and I am now referring to what happened in 2013 — other Governments had intervened, there had been other developments. And, because we were strongly convinced of the need to combat terrorism and of the importance of remembering, of honouring truth and justice and clarification, we were trying to find those who were guilty of that terrorist attack and to punish them.
That was the objective of the memorandum of understanding. However, it seems as if all hell broke loose with the signing of the memorandum. Time passed, and when the agreement was signed on 2 April between the 5+1 and Iran — no longer with Ahmadinejad but with Rouhani — and with the negotiations well under way, one could not but wonder why there was so much opposition and criticism against us negotiating with Iran a simple agreement of judicial cooperation for the Argentine judge to depose in Teheran the five Iranian citizens accused because of the laws that prevented the extradition of Iranian citizens. What was the reason?
I learned it here from the mouth of another President regarding hypocrisy in diplomatic relations. There is much hypocrisy blended with a lot of geopolitics and very little interest in setting the record straight when it comes to remembering and honouring the truth and justice demanded by the victims and their families.
We later sent a bill on this treaty to our Congress, which approved. I say to President Obama that I fervently hope that the United States Congress will also approve the agreement, or at least refrain from blocking it, as it will be an important contribution to global peace.
We are coherent in our approach. It is not that what applies to us does not apply to others, although we use elements or instruments that have little to do with the objectives we declare to harm the relation or the image of a country, but that is the reality of the situation.
Finally, the judge hearing the AMIA case also considered it to be a mechanism apt to shed light and to allow him to depose the accused. An appellate court was not of the same mind, and today the case has all but come to a halt. Today we can appeal only to the goodwill of the Islamic Republic of Iran, because we have no other instrument to obtain the Iranians’ depositions.
But there have been developments in my country. Under way today, on the grounds of concealment, is an action brought against the highest ranking authorities and intelligence and judicial officials taking part in the AMIA case since 1994. The proceeding is now at the oral and public trial stage.
After my order late last year to remove from office whole sectors of Argentina’s intelligence officials on the grounds of strong suspicions that they had hindered the investigation and opposed attempts to unblock the case by going and deposing the Iranians, I dismissed some high-ranking officials, some of whom had been in office since 1972 and had rendered services to all the dictatorial Governments and all the other Administrations, including my own. Some of those dismissed officials have settled here in the United States. A few days after these dismissals, the investigating prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, died.
All this amounts to something more than I have already said. I have always maintained that AMIA was a complex game of chess in international politics. Today I believe that, in addition to a chess game, it is also spiderweb of interests alien to my country. As with
all spider webs, it is only the weakest and the smallest that get caught, while the others remain outside.
In the trial for concealment being pursued now, the commencement of which was delayed almost 14 years, and also in the investigation under way into the death of Prosecutor Nisman, some details are being revealed of horrific linkages to external secret services, bank accounts abroad and relationships with vulture funds that have been denounced not by me but by individuals who are themselves members of my country’s Jewish community.
I am not here to talk with hypocrisy or lies, I am talking about what is actually happening. A few days ago we summoned the United States Ambassador in our country for an explanation of the capacity in which a particular former member of the intelligence services of Argentina was in the United States. He was in charge of the entire investigation of the AMIA case from the outset. I was just a provincial deputy in the south of the country, in Patagonia, and a delegate to the constitutional convention when the bomb exploded, and that person was already in charge of the investigation. The investigation into the death of Prosecutor Nisman is now proving his total and absolute connection with the Prosecutor, as well as that of other individuals.
On instructions from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, our Ambassador to the United States has submitted two letters to the State Department and also held meetings with the State Department to ask in what capacity that person was here in the United States. He is almost protected. I do not know from what or from whom, but he is here and protected. A few days ago, the new prosecutors in the AMIA case asked Interpol to issue a Blue Notice concerning the whereabouts of that individual.
As we have been doing since 2007, first President Kirchner and then me, every year we have been requesting the cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran to clarify the attack. Today we are also asking for the cooperation of the United States. Judges in our country want to know the whereabouts of this official whom everybody refers to as someone closely connected to the case, and a cover-up is even mentioned.
Members may ask themselves why I spend so much time on this issue. It is very little compared with the time that organizations paid by vulture funds have devoted in this country to criticizing, slandering and offending us as if we were accomplices of the Iranian
regime. If we are accomplices of the Iranian regime, then what is President Barack Obama? Is he not also?
Hypocrisy and double standards cannot continue in diplomacy. We cannot continue to use weapons and instruments of international intrigue — old ones — worthy of a John le Carré novel. The world is a world of communications, of the globalization of the Internet, which some dreamed would enable them to better dominate the entire world. Today the Internet is a very powerful communication tool for everyone, the entire global village where everybody knows instantly what is happening in a particular place in the world.
Our Government in Argentina will tirelessly continue to seek truth and justice in the AMIA case. We ask for the cooperation of the country whose citizens are accused, and of this country, the United States, so that it will also help to clarify the presence of this citizen, who will surely be required, as he is already being required, by the State agencies in our country.
In this world of economic crisis — and I was listening closely to some of today’s speeches — the truth is that enemies change and mutate with amazing speed. I remember the most recent G-20 meeting in which I participated — I was absent for the last one for health reasons — in St. Petersburg, where those who confronted the Government of Syria, the freedom fighters, were those who had to be supported by the entire Western world. Today the freedom fighters are part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Shams. I should like to ask members how this seemingly Islamic group actually functions. Who finances it?
When one sees these horrendous scenes where people have their throats slit and where one can clearly see three or four cameras filming the scenes, it is like a movie. It is not simply a home-made film such as a fundamentalist group could make with a simple camera. No, this is almost a full-on production. At times it seems almost like a Francis Ford Coppola movie. Four or five cameras are used, and the faces are never shown. It would be good if we asked ourselves from where is all this financed. That would help to ensure that the world can find clues to combat one of the worst scourges facing humankind today: fundamentalism of whatever nature, whether dogmatic or religious, but mainly those who consider their neighbour an enemy and a target to be eliminated.
I do not want to leave the Assembly today only with problems of debt and the economy or terrorist attacks
and international complicity. I also wish to pay homage to the continent of which I feel I am a daughter, Latin America.
Not long before I spoke, the President of Cuba, Raứl Castro, a President and a comrade whom I love and admire, spoke to the Assembly. For the first time in 17 years the President of Cuba is back here in the General Assembly. The truth is that for us Latin Americans, members of the Common Market of the South, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States who have struggled so much, discussed so much and argued so much so that Cuba can return to be part of these multilateral entities, we see this as a triumph of perseverance by the region, and fundamentally an achievement by Cuba.
We also recognize the Government of the United States, which has finally opened its mind and understood that things could not continue as they had done in the past. I should like to thank another Latin American who was also in this very same Hall — and who has perhaps greater authority than the rest of us because he sits on the throne of St. Peter in Rome — who played a determining role in establishing the agreement between the United States and Cuba. He came here and spoke from this platform (see A/70/PV.3) to the world and said that money cannot continue to determine politics and that there was a basic principle understood by all religions, that is, “Do not do to others what you would not like others to do to you”.
As a Latin American I also had the joy of seeing the other day in Havana the photograph of the President of Colombia, the President of Cuba and the representative of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia launching the end of a conflict that has been going on for more than 50 years and that they had tried to end with bombs and rifles. No, political, social and cultural conflicts are not resolved with bombs and rifles; they
are resolved by talking, through dialogue and the acceptance of others.
I am pleased to be part of the Latin American region, where we do not have religious or cultural clashes, where we are all children or grandchildren of immigrants and where we still receive even internal migrations. In my country the public and free national universities host students from across the continent. We do not issue a red card to anyone, for we believe it is necessary to contribute to and establish a more just world.
For that reason I say that Latin America — once perhaps the emblem of inequality — with the growth achieved by the national, popular and democratic Governments that some call populist but which have incorporated millions of our fellow citizens and which have allowed our citizens to enjoy the benefits of education, health and housing — today we say that we are a growing continent, a continent of integration.
Perhaps the contribution that Argentina has made — it was left alone in 2001 but could still reconstruct our country, and today its gross domestic product will grow by 2.7 per cent — allows us to say that inclusion, growth, development, production and trade will be reactivated only by employing the millions who have lost their jobs, improving the wages of those who get a pittance, respecting the rights of young people and children and, on the basis of synthesis, creating a fairer, more equitable and more egalitarian society.