I offer my
congratulations to Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on
his election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-third session. I wish him every success.
 The United Nations mandate to establish and
maintain peace and security has lost none of its
urgency in 2008. The task remains. However, fulfilling
it is more demanding than ever.
 When the Berlin Wall fell, no one had greater
hopes than we Germans not only that Germany would
be reunited but that a new age of global cooperation —
beyond the traditional front lines — would begin. The
Iron Curtain had divided the world into two blocs and
when it came to dealing with crises and conflicts, often
enough, loyalty within the blocs had priority; what was
needed to improve the lot of ordinary people was of
secondary importance.

47 08-52265

 The end of the East-West confrontation in the
early nineties seemed to mark the dawn of a new age of
effective multilateralism, while the United Nations
seemed to be on the threshold of a great renaissance.
Disillusionment has now set in, more quickly and more
profoundly than we had feared. The hoped-for peace
dividend did not materialize. On the contrary, the
cynical certainties of the cold war had disappeared, and
they were not replaced by new ones.
 The world is clearly searching for a new order,
and multilateralism does not always seem to be the first
choice in this quest. What we have experienced since
then is the confluence of the traditional power politics
of the 19th century, the legacies of the cold war and the
new challenges of the 21st century.
 At the same time, new players and Powers that
have still to find their place in the international order
are seeking to enter the global stage. It is now
generally accepted that we can master the new
challenges of the twenty-first century, such as climate
change, scarcity of raw materials, access to food and
water and the fight against epidemics, pandemics and
terrorism, only if we act together. Although we know
that and although it is absolutely vital that we focus on
finding common solutions to the key issues of the
future, time and again we are called upon to resolve
conflicts that have their roots in a past that we have
only seemingly put behind us.
 One conflict that smouldered for some time and
then escalated suddenly and violently is the crisis in
Georgia, where an entire region found itself on the
edge of the abyss of war and destruction and where
common sense failed to prevail on all sides. The United
Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union agree that
the weapons must be silenced for good. We must help
the suffering population without delay. That does not
mean accepting the status quo; nor does it mean the
calling into question of Georgia’s territorial integrity.
 Nevertheless, we have to work together to ensure
reconstruction, the return home of the refugees and
long-term security in Georgia and the entire region.
The European Union is making an important
contribution by sending an observer mission, which my
country is leading. Together with the United Nations
and the OSCE, the mission will put forward a
comprehensive strategy in Geneva this October. We are
aiming to pave the way towards the durable resolution
of the conflict through stabilization and confidence-
building in this particular region of the world, the
Southern Caucasus.
 The same task is even more demanding in
Afghanistan, a country where the situation is still
precarious. It is clear to us that, without security,
Afghanistan will not, and indeed cannot, develop.
Equally, however, we need economic development in
order to improve the security situation and to
encourage people to reject fundamentalism and terror.
 We have achieved much together in recent
months and years. Millions of children — many of
them girls — are going to school again, while streets,
bridges and hospitals are being built. The training and
build-up of the Afghan police force and army are
progressing. Compared to the deteriorating security
situation, however, they are not progressing fast
enough, especially in the present situation. Germany
intends to do even more in the future.
 However, we cannot afford to look at Afghanistan
by itself. We need to step up our efforts to help
Pakistan master the economic and social challenges it
faces. Pakistan’s internal stability is crucial to stability
in the entire region. This will require concrete support
from everyone in the international community, and my
country — rest assured — will play its part.
 International engagement is also still necessary in
the Middle East. In the current phase of domestic
uncertainty, we call upon all parties to the conflict not
to ease up in their efforts to resolve the conflict. As
experience has shown, to stand still in the Middle East
often means to take a step backward. A new wave of
terror and violent clashes would result, and neither
Israel nor Palestine, nor the international community,
can afford to let that happen.
 Germany believes it has a particular
responsibility to provide concrete assistance to
improve the framework conditions. Just recently, at the
Berlin Conference in Support of Palestinian Civil
Security and the Rule of Law — which many of those
here attended — we agreed on concrete measures to
strengthen the Palestinian security sector. Those
measures are already having an impact.
 An Iran armed with nuclear weapons would pose
a threat to security throughout the Middle East and
would trigger a nuclear arms race. Therefore, Iran must
put its cards on the table. We have made our offer,

08-52265 48

which is a tangible solution. The delaying tactics of the
Iranian side must not exhaust the patience of the
international community. We expect a clear signal from
Iran indicating its willingness to comply with the
international community’s demands and to build
confidence. And let me make the following very clear:
the Iranian President’s remarks concerning Israel are
irresponsible and unacceptable. In my view, the blatant
anti-Semitism that he expressed in his statement once
again this year (see ) is outrageous and
should be condemned by all of us. We must stand
together on that issue.
 The problems in Georgia, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and the Middle East highlight one fact: it is more
urgent than ever that we develop the foundations for a
stable world order. My country stands for dialogue and
the reconciliation of interests. That does not mean
dialogue for the sake of discussion, without any
results; nor does reconciliation of interests imply that
we are prepared to abandon our own principles. We
believe that it is essential to renounce violence, ensure
fairness and recognize international law.
 For us, that is the alternative vision to a world of
fabricated opposing interests, the bloc mentality and
oversimplified categories such as good and evil. East
against West, North against South — that is yesterday’s
thinking, and it no longer has a place in today’s world.
In order to resolve the problems of today and
tomorrow, we all need more partners, not more
opponents. The twenty-first century is the first in
which we can resolve problems only if we work
together.
 The same applies to disarmament policy. Only a
partnership of shared global responsibility can achieve
lasting results. The dangerous trend in which an ever-
increasing number of countries strive to gain access to
nuclear technology, or even to build nuclear weapons,
must be stopped. My proposal to multilateralize the
fuel cycle showed how those risks can at the very least
be minimized. Furthermore, I call upon all States to
sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,
because its entry into force would mean a huge gain in
security.
 For all that, however, we must remember that
more people die every day as a result of hunger than as
a result of war. The pledges that we made at the turn of
the millennium must not remain a mere piece of paper.
The fight against hunger and poverty is also part of a
global responsibility partnership. Germany will
therefore step up its efforts to promote poverty
reduction and global fairness. As part of those efforts,
we will increase our official development assistance
contributions in accordance with the plan of the
European Union. In the next budget alone, we will
increase development assistance by $1.2 billion.
 In that connection, I would like to say something
about Africa. For too long, we have perceived that part
of the world only as a continent of wars and conflicts.
However, I also know an Africa that has set off on the
road to the future with courage and resolve. It deserves
our partnership and support along that road.
 At present, the headlines are dominated by the
international financial crisis. Recklessness, greed and a
lack of common sense among those involved has set us
back years. The long-term consequences cannot be
assessed yet. However, I am certain that the painful
tremors on the world financial markets will accelerate
the multipolarization of the international financial
system. There can be no future without rules, and no
single player will be able to lay down those rules. It
will no longer be possible for any one country to act as
if it were immune to undesirable developments.
Europe, with its tried-and-tested policy of mediation
and reconciliation of interests, could play a key role in
this.
 Together, we must now finally ensure long-
overdue transparency, stability and provisions to guard
against risks on the world financial markets, along with
oversight. My country developed concrete proposals in
that regard a few years ago. I hope that, in the face of
this deep crisis, the international community will now
act quickly and with resolve. We need universal rules
for the international financial markets.
 That does not apply only to the international
financial sphere, however; clear rules, solid structures
and joint action are the vital prerequisites for meeting
global challenges. That is why we need a strong and
effective United Nations that enjoys the confidence of
the international community, has the requisite
legitimacy and can be the umbrella for a global
responsibility partnership.
 We therefore support the process of reforming the
United Nations and its organs. Security Council reform
is overdue, as we are all aware. The Council’s
composition must reflect the realities of world politics
today. Germany is prepared to shoulder greater

49 08-52265

responsibility in that area. Less than two weeks ago,
the General Assembly unanimously decided to begin
the negotiations on reform soon (see decision 62/557).
That important step must now be followed by others.
Germany is firmly convinced that, in the twenty-first
century, we need the United Nations more urgently
than ever before.


I bring to everyone here
greetings from His Excellency Al Hadji Yahya A.J.J.
Jammeh, President and head of State of the Republic of
the Gambia.
 The legitimacy of multilateralism, which lies at
the core of the United Nations system, is being
increasingly questioned. Yes, with the launching of the
former Secretary-General’s report “In larger freedom:
towards development, security and human rights for
all” (A/59/2005), a lot of reforms have taken place and
are still taking place. However, the question is, “Is it
enough?” One of the unassailable conclusions reached
in that report is that “no reform of the United Nations
would be complete without reform of the Security
Council” (A/59/2005, para. 169). We have established
a new Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding
Commission and have undertaken far-reaching
management reforms, yet the reform of the Security
Council is still being unnecessarily stalled for no
justifiable reason. That delay constitutes a source of
frustration for the citizens of this world, who are
increasingly questioning the legitimacy of our
decisions. The world is watching the unsatisfactory
status quo with dismay.
 In any event, the aspirations of the African people
and their Governments to adequate representation on
the Council cannot be ignored because they are
legitimate and justified. The suggestion that reforming
the Council’s working methods alone could constitute
sufficient reform is not accurate.
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29 08-53122

 My delegation has taken note of the High-level
Panel’s report and the Secretary-General’s comment on
United Nations system-wide coherence, as well as the
concept paper on institutional options to strengthen
United Nations work on gender equality and the
empowerment of women. My delegation aligns itself
with the position of the Group of 77 and China on that
work in progress.
 Our world is also going through a period of
crises, ranging from the food crisis and the energy
crisis to the collapse of financial markets and the
collapse of trade talks. There is no country on Earth
that is not affected by those crises. Too many repetitive
high-level meetings, too many false promises and
unfulfilled commitments continue to characterize our
efforts to address the global crises. We in the
developing world have received too many prescriptions
from the international community and we have
fastidiously followed them. The irony, however,
remains that our partners are not fulfilling their side of
the bargain in the way they should. It is our hope that
the upcoming Follow-up International Conference on
Financing for Development to Review the
Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, to be
held in Doha this November, will result in the reversal
of that trend.
 We are asked to eliminate subsidies while our
partners in the North continue to give huge subsidies to
their farmers. We are opening up our markets while
they continue to introduce subtle measures including
tariff and non-tariff barriers to deny us effective market
access. They commit to doubling overseas
development assistance, but turn around and withhold
the little that trickles in. When it trickles in, it becomes
a media event. That is no way to end poverty. That is
no way to end the food crisis. That is no way to end the
energy crisis. Certainly, that is no way to address
climate change, and it is no way to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals.
 Allow me to share some thoughts about the
global food crisis. When the crisis struck earlier this
year, no economy was spared. The food crisis was
predictable because the international community over
the past decade has neglected agriculture in the
developing countries. In most developing countries,
agricultural research and training institutions
collapsed, largely because of underfunding. Research
and development were outsourced to multinational
corporations. Most of us in the developing world saw
the collapse of our agriculture markets through
competition from the heavily subsidized farmers of the
developed world. World trade talks keep on failing, to
the detriment of poor farmers in rural Africa and
elsewhere in the developing world.
 Our response to the food crisis followed the usual
pattern of convening conferences and meetings and
adopting blueprints that merely heal the symptoms. We
need more than that. How many times have we met in
Rome and elsewhere just to adopt the same
commitments that we have already adopted over the
years? Our farmers need agricultural inputs, such as
machinery and fertilizers, to enhance their production
capacity. We all know what is at stake. Let us honour
our commitments in order not to repeat the dramatic
events that stem from food shortages.
 As we address the food crisis, we cannot
underestimate the impact of skyrocketing energy costs
on the incomes and livelihoods of our populations. Our
economies are under enormous stress and our gains in
economic growth and development are at risk of being
completely eroded. We appreciate the efforts that a
number of energy-producing countries are making to
ease the impact of the crisis on net importing countries.
Our delegation believes, however, that sustained efforts
should continue to be made to stabilize the oil market.
Beyond tackling the economic crisis that is impacting
the world, we should also pay attention to the question
of conflict resolution in various conflict areas.
 One of the cornerstones of the Gambia’s foreign
policy is the pursuit of peace and security. As a peace-
loving people, it is our constant desire to contribute to
the search for lasting peace wherever there is conflict.
It is for those reasons that the Gambia actively
participates in peace missions and promotes good-
neighbourliness, friendship and cooperation throughout
Africa and beyond.
 I must register my satisfaction at the peace
dividend that is being reaped today across Africa
thanks to the commitment of African leaders to finding
solutions to African conflicts. We are witnessing the
resurgence of hope in Sierra Leone and Liberia after
many years of consolidation of peace and security. It is
my delegation’s fervent hope that the international
community will not relent in extending to them all the
financial, technical and material support they require to
turn their societies around for the better.
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08-53122 30

 The Gambian delegation fully shares the agony of
the Somali Government and people over the
breakdown of law and order and the internal conflict
that continues to plague that country. In that regard, I
wish to salute the effort that the Government and the
people of Ethiopia, the neighbouring countries and the
African Union are making in trying to bring peace and
security to Somalia.
 It is the strong desire of my delegation to see a
peaceful settlement of the conflict in Darfur. As a
troop-contributing country to the African Union-United
Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, we humbly call on
all the parties to iron out their differences at the
negotiating table. Regarding the threat to indict
President Al-Bashir of the Sudan, the Gambia wishes
to register its full support for the position taken on the
matter by the African Union, the League of Arab States
and the Non-Aligned Movement.
 The people of the Middle East are tired of living
in a theatre of conflict. The Palestinian conflict has
lingered for too long and the condition of ordinary
Palestinians continues to deteriorate even after
numerous accords and promises. General Assembly
resolutions, Security Council resolutions and even the
recent International Court of Justice advisory opinion
on the situation are not being implemented. The
Quartet and the international community seem
helpless. We must ask ourselves: “How do we respond
to the despair and lack of action that seem to
characterize the peace agenda of the United Nations in
that region? When will the two-State solution be
achieved?” Unless we do something to break the
logjam in the ongoing negotiations, lasting peace will
remain elusive.
 Iraq and Afghanistan continue to roil in conflict.
The international community must give the
Governments of those countries space to make
decisions that are in the best interests of their peoples.
 Allow me now to address some neglected issues
of international justice. My delegation has always
addressed the question of Taiwan in this Assembly
from the point of view of justice, fairness and equality.
Taiwan is a stable and prosperous democracy that is
willing and able to take part in the work that the
Organization does. How can one justify the exclusion
of Taiwan from actively participating in the activities
of United Nations agencies? Safeguarding the welfare
of the 23 million Taiwanese through their participation
should be accepted under the principle of universality.
For example, although it has the world’s tenth largest
shipping capacity, Taiwan does not have access to the
International Maritime Organization. That adversely
affects the progress of its shipping industry.
 Furthermore, as the world’s eighth largest
economy and twentieth largest foreign investor, Taiwan
possesses significant economic strength and continues
to share its development experiences with many
developing countries through technical and
humanitarian assistance. Taiwan is supporting the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
and other internationally agreed development goals. I
therefore strongly believe that we should all agree to
let Taiwan participate in the activities of the
specialized agencies of the United Nations. That is a
modest request that my delegation fervently hopes
merits the Assembly’s objective consideration.
 The perpetuation of the unjust extraterritorial
economic embargo against Cuba has never made sense,
does not make sense today and has no place in our
community of nations. Its sole objective is to inflict
unnecessary harm and suffering on a resolute people.
The General Assembly’s persistent calls for its
abolition have only met with indifference. At their hour
of need, when hurricanes Ike and Gustav inflicted
massive damage on the country, Cuba’s humanitarian
call for the lifting of the embargo to enable it to
purchase necessary humanitarian supplies has met with
nothing but a cold response. There is no room for such
action in the twenty-first century. The embargo must
end.
 I would like to address a number of social issues
that are very high on the global agenda. In Africa, we
are committed to combating the scourges of
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious
diseases. Over the years, African Governments have
committed substantial resources to fighting those
diseases. Yet, our health-care delivery systems remain
under serious stress because of the flight of trained
professionals to more advanced countries. That is
considered to be positive migration, but we are being
devastated by it. I think some serious dialogue needs to
begin between our countries and beneficiary States on
how to get fair compensation for such huge losses.
 The other side of migration is what some call
“illegal” migration, especially from Africa to Europe.
It is a question that is tied to the problem of youth
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31 08-53122

unemployment in our societies and to the broader
question of development. Over the years, we have tried
to address the migration conundrum at various forums,
but we need to come up with solutions that empower
young people through job creation, skills and
vocational training programmes in order to stem the
tide. Governments must manage migration humanely.
The human rights and welfare of migrants and their
families should be upheld by all societies. My
delegation would like to appeal to all Governments to
do more to stamp out the increasing rise of intolerance,
xenophobia and racism directed against migrants and
their families.
 Ours is a world of considerable opportunities and
challenges. Let us collectively exploit the opportunities
offered by our globalized world to tackle the
challenges that face humankind. Together, we can do it.


I welcome the
opportunity today to address this sixty-third annual
gathering of the Assembly at such a critical moment in
the history of my own country and of the United
Nations.
 Sometimes, the most extreme tests of this
institution’s towering ideals arise in small, faraway
places, of which we know very little. I come to you as
the representative of one of those places — the country
of Georgia, a land of fewer than 5 million that last
month was invaded by our neighbour. Despite our
small size, the legal, moral, political and security
implications raised by that invasion could not have
greater consequences.
 Indeed, those issues cut through to the heart of
the founding Charter of the United Nations. The
principles enshrined in that Charter include the
inviolability of sovereign borders, the sanctity of
human rights, the supremacy of international law and
the global rejection of armed aggression.
 All of those principles were put to the test by the
invasion and now hang in the balance. The invasion
violated Georgia’s internationally recognized borders.
At the very beginning of the aggression, we clearly
told our own people and the world that the spirit of the
people of Georgia would not be broken and that we
would never give up freedom and never surrender. We
never did and never will. The subsequent recognition
of the so-called independence of our two regions —
South Ossetia, with a population of less than 20,000 in
the areas that Russia controlled, and Abkhazia, with a
population of less than 50,000 ethnic Abkhaz — in
order to punish our country and send a signal to the
rest of the world, not only challenged our territorial
integrity but also defied common sense and the
elementary principles of international interaction. The
ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of our
people violated the very idea of human rights.
 This General Assembly, therefore, faces a general
challenge. We are called upon not just to respond to the
particular question of one instance of armed aggression
in a single place but to define our attitude towards
armed aggression in all places. We are called upon to
answer the momentous question: will this body stand
up for its founding principles, or will it allow them to
be crushed under the treads of invading tanks, under
the boots of ethnic cleansers, under the immobilizing
impact of cyberattacks and under the pernicious tactics
of violent separatism?
 What would it mean for every member of this
Assembly to defend the underlying principles of the
United Nations?
 First, each of us must refuse to stand silent in the
face of this armed aggression and assault on human
rights.
 Secondly, we must stand united and immediately
adopt a policy of non-recognition towards Georgia’s
two breakaway provinces, currently occupied and

08-51606 26

annexed by the aggressor. Together, we have both a
moral and a legal obligation to protect international
law and the world order.
 Thirdly, we must ensure that all parties comply
with the full terms of the existing ceasefire agreement.
 Fourthly, and lastly, we must resolve to create a
meaningful United Nations conflict resolution process
that will peacefully reunify Georgia and solve the
problem.
 The bottom line is this: we must be ready to use
the full power of international law and of our collective
international institutions to uphold the historic balance
of justice and thereby set in motion a series of actions
to right these historic wrongs.
 While the crisis poses grave challenges for the
entire international community, it creates specific
obligations for my own country. I would argue that the
answer to that new assault on our shared values is not a
closing up or a circling of the wagons, but rather
greater openness on many fronts. As a democracy, we
have nothing to fear. As a democracy, we have an
obligation to our people and to the international
community to be even more open and transparent. For
me and my Government, that commitment translates
into a series of specific actions at both the international
and the domestic levels. Allow me to explain.
 First, I know that there are many people in the
world who seek a clearer understanding of how this
war started and who started it. Rather than recite our
case, let me repeat the simple invitation that I first
made on 17 August while standing next to German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who visited Georgia
immediately after the unleashing of hostilities, when I
proposed that there should be an exhaustive
independent investigation of the origins and causes of
this war.
 Investigators must have unimpeded access to all
officials, documents and intelligence. Georgia
welcomes such an investigation. My Government is
ready to share every piece of evidence and to provide
access to every witness sought by investigators. We
call on the other party to this conflict to fully cooperate
and not to obstruct the investigation. That is how
democracies behave. The truth must come out, not only
to clarify how events unfolded last month but also to
help us to answer the fundamental questions that this
invasion has raised.
 My Government’s second initiative of openness
involves developments within our borders. Whereas
others waged this war with arms, we will wage it with
values. Georgia was attacked because it is a successful
democracy in our part of the world. Our response today
is to make our democracy even more robust. That is
why I am announcing to the Assembly four categories
of expanded democratic initiatives.
 First, we will strengthen the checks and balances
of our democratic institutions, including granting
greater independence to parliament and to the
judiciary. Secondly, we will provide additional
resources and protections to foster greater political
pluralism, including by increasing funding for
opposition parties and ensuring they have greater
access to the airwaves. Thirdly, we will strengthen the
rule of law by introducing enhanced due process, trials
by jury and lifetime judicial appointments. Fourthly,
we will expand and deepen protections for private
property. In everything we do, we will be transparent.
 This morning, I was honoured to learn that, in
Transparency International’s latest index, Georgia was
among the few countries to have risen significantly in
the rankings over the past year. Indeed, the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development ranks
Georgia among the least corrupt economies in Europe.
 Despite all the turmoil, my country has endured.
That proves the resiliency and irreversibility of our
democratic commitment. In short, we will fight the
spectre of aggression and authoritarianism with the
most potent weapon in our arsenal, namely, our
commitment to ever-expanding freedoms within our
own borders. That amounts to nothing less than a
second Rose Revolution. If our first revolution was
about meeting a threat from within by reinventing a
failed State riddled by corruption, our second
revolution must be even more focused, as we now face
an even greater challenge — one that comes from the
outside. The success of the first Rose Revolution
helped save my country. The health of the international
order could well depend on the outcome of the second
Rose Revolution.
 Countless people throughout the world were
deeply moved and profoundly troubled by the invasion
of Georgia, which began, with tragic irony, on the eve
of that great celebration of peace, the Olympic Games.
On the most basic level, the world responded with
passionate humanity to the plight of ordinary

27 08-51606

Georgians under siege; to the sight of 80-year-old men
and women driven from their villages; to the hundreds
of thousands of innocent souls taking shelter from
bombings; to a small country of less than 5 million
people being trampled by a neighbour 300 times its
size. The world responded immediately by sending
generous aid, by coming to Georgia and by showing its
solidarity. Meanwhile, leaders from around the world
have been working tirelessly to negotiate and enforce a
ceasefire.
 I am especially grateful to President Sarkozy of
France for his dedication to ensuring that the ceasefire
is fully implemented in letter and in spirit. As all
parties have agreed, that means the full withdrawal of
all military forces from my country to their pre-conflict
positions.
 The world’s actions proved that the most potent
response to this brutal invasion is to rebuild Georgia’s
democracy and economy, making them even stronger
than before. I want to make a special commitment to
all those who, during these especially difficult
economic times, are helping to fund Georgia’s
reconstruction: we will spend their resources wisely,
well and with full transparency.
 Georgia will rebuild. It will contribute to the
prosperity and security of all its citizens and of the
entire international community by providing stability
in our part of the world and serving as a model for
democratic development. Reconstruction will also
ensure that Europe continues to benefit from the true
energy security that comes from diversification. And
everything we do will be done peacefully.
 But today we must ask a series of questions, the
answers to which have grave consequences. We have
all wondered in recent weeks: was this invasion an
aberration or a misguided attempt to resort to the
nineteenth-century logic of brute force, or was it a sign
of an ominous new trend, one that could continue and
deepen to undermine the international order of the
twenty-first century, eroding State sovereignty and the
power of our common and hard-fought principles? I
believe that that question and others have not yet been
answered. Others still need to be asked.
 Will we encourage violent and hateful separatism
around the world, standing aside when State
sovereignty is subverted, or will we draw a clear line
and defend the principles that uphold the international
order and declare, enough? In the twenty-first century,
we have better ways to protect the rights of ethnic
minorities than with T-72 tanks and Sukhoi fighter jets.
 We have developed a body of legal and political
examples to accommodate minority demands within
the context of national sovereignty. After all, that is
one of the great achievements of the United Nations, of
the European Union and of other multilateral and
regional organizations. Its foundation is the belief that
democracy and prosperity provide room for all. Are we
ready to throw all that away?
 And what of the use of brute force? Will we look
the other way or reward the dispatch of tens of
thousands of troops and hundreds of planes across
internationally recognized borders to bomb another
country? Will we cover our eyes when ethnic cleansing
occurs, as it has over and over again for the past
16 years in Abkhazia and South Ossetia? In a world
that struggles to reign in traditional forms of State
violence, will we sanction new ones?
 During the invasion of Georgia, we witnessed
several terrifying new twists in the waging of war. We
saw proxy forces and militias cynically unleashed to
ethnically cleanse the population of my country,
operating without any restraint and outside any order.
We demand a thorough United Nations investigation of
the crimes against humanity, war crimes and human
rights violations that have been committed.
 We have experienced the first full-scale cyber
warfare campaign, which was aimed at crippling my
country’s economy and our ability to communicate
with the outside world. It is profoundly distressing to
see the technology that has woven our world together
and helped to bridge cultures being used to divide
ethnic groups and to tear our world apart.
 Today, when most of the world understands the
existential threat posed by climate change and
ecological destruction, we in Georgia have witnessed a
sickening campaign of ecocide as part of the invasion.
That occurred when combat helicopter gunships
continuously dropped firebombs on old-growth forests
in the Borjomi National Park, which comprises our
national centre for tourism, recreation, culture and
water resources. I believe that, together, we have the
solemn responsibility to deliver answers to those
questions. We will succeed. Let us resolve to bring the
right conclusions to the world.

08-51606 28

 The invasion of our country provided an
impressive demonstration of the power of global public
opinion, which can find expression only when societies
are open and free. Ultimately, what stopped the tanks
and troops from taking our capital was the international
disapproval voiced by so many here, by the free media,
by courageous human rights groups and by leading
voices of the world’s conscience, from Natan
Sharansky to Václav Havel.
 Rhetoric, however, is no longer enough; today,
we must act. If words were sufficient, then something
might have come from the many calls for peace and the
countless warnings that I myself have made from this
rostrum over the years. No one has fought harder than
my country and myself to heal the ethnic rifts in
Georgia and to bring about a peaceful resolution of the
conflict, and we will continue to fight forcefully.
 Indeed, in this very place, I have warned so many
times that this situation was in the making — that there
was a threat. Four years ago, we were discussing the
dangers posed by the illegal Russian build-up in our
country aimed at our territories. We spoke about the
distribution of passports and about the illegal bases
built on our territories. We knew that those subversive
tactics, combined with the ethnic cleansing that had
driven most Georgians from those territories, would
one day be used as a pretext for invasion. And that is
precisely what happened last month. It is also
happening in other countries in our neighbourhood.
 In 2006, I urgently drew attention to the attempts
being made to annex Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and
I asked whether any members in this great Hall would
tolerate such interference by another Power on their
own soil. I warned of the risk that “a Pandora’s box
will be opened, unleashing violent separatism and
conflict not only in the Caucasus but across many parts
of our globe” (A/61/PV.16, p. 4). Today, unfortunately,
we stand at that very precipice, where peace could
yield to a pernicious new world order.
 One year ago, I came to this Hall with even more
distressing news: that an illegal new military base was
being built in South Ossetia by those who hoped that
arms and violence could triumph over the will of the
people. I noted that that dangerous escalation was
taking place under the very noses of the international
monitors whose job it was to demilitarize the territory,
and I asked that those reckless acts be countered. Our
warnings continued in the months and weeks before the
invasion. We told anyone who would listen about the
campaign that had been unleashed to slander Georgia
and my Government while blocking any meaningful
negotiations with the separatists. That was part of a
calculated effort to weaken international support for
Georgia and to lay the groundwork for the invasion.
 We gave the international community the details
of a sharp military build-up by the purported
peacekeepers — a build-up that began this spring in
both conflict zones, leading to armed attacks this
summer by separatist militias. Just before the land
invasion began in the early hours of 7 August, after
days of heavy shelling that had killed civilians and
peacekeepers, we urgently sought to refute claims that
2,100 South Ossetian civilians had been killed by
Georgians. That was the excuse used by the invader for
what it called a “humanitarian intervention” — a
profound perversion of the responsibility to protect.
That lie, which was subsequently debunked by Human
Rights Watch — which estimated that 44 had been
killed — and others, was an attempt to conceal the true
motives for the invasion.
 Over the years, I have also spoken many times to
you about the plans that Georgia has developed,
together with the international community, to
peacefully reunify my country. I have spoken about the
urgent need to replace and transform the failed
frameworks for negotiation and peacekeeping in our
region. Repeatedly and with sincere intent, I have
extended my hand to our large neighbour.
 Just a few days before the invasion of Georgia,
we continued to work furiously for peace. The
Secretary-General had sent his Special Representative
to Georgia to determine how to fix the broken process
of conflict resolution, and we cooperated closely with
him. The German Government had proposed peace
talks for mid-August — talks that my Government
eagerly supported. The Finnish Chair of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
also proposed talks in Helsinki in late July, to which
we subscribed. Unfortunately, the opposing parties to
the conflict repeatedly turned their backs; they had
other plans in mind.
 Finally, on the eve of the invasion, my Special
Envoy travelled twice in desperation to South Ossetia
to plead for peace. His counterpart from our
neighbouring country failed to come to those meetings.
He cited a flat tire as the reason for not showing up.

29 08-51606

Within 24 hours, thousands of very full tires were
rolling across the border of my country.
 So words alone are not nearly enough. Nor can
words accurately convey the horrors of war. It is
difficult, if not impossible, to say that anything good
can ever come of war. The value of human life is
incalculable, and we in Georgia grieve not only for our
own lost sons and daughters, but also for our fallen
neighbours who were sent in to carry out an unjust
aggression of war.
 Yet, the international community has emerged
from the invasion of my country with something truly
valuable: finally, clarity. We understand what has
happened. We can no longer deny the motivations and
intentions of those actors who instigated the war. With
clarity comes responsibility. We no longer have any
reason for inaction. Now each of us has a responsibility
to act.
 Despite the destruction wreaked by the
invasion — hundreds dead; nearly 200,000 displaced,
according to the United Nations; our economy
disabled — my Government is putting our convictions
into practice. I promise to you that my Government
will implement with all due speed the new democratic
initiatives that constitute the second “Rose
Revolution”. I promise to you that Georgia will soon
be stronger and more democratic than ever before, and
thus that it will be in a better position to contribute to
our collective security and prosperity.
 However, if that is to have any meaning, we must
together defend the principles on which this institution
was built. We need actions, not words. Allow me to
repeat once again the four commitments that, I believe,
we must make. First, each of us must refuse to stand
silently by in the face of this armed aggression,
occupation, ethnic cleansing and assault directed
against a United Nations Member State. Secondly, we
must stand united in rejecting the forced and illegal
recognition of Georgia’s two separatist provinces and
what is essentially their annexation by its neighbour.
Thirdly, we must ensure that all parties comply fully
with the existing ceasefire agreement. Fourthly, we
must resolve to create a meaningful conflict resolution
process that will peacefully reunify Georgia and
resolve the conflict, in the interest of all ethnic groups
and minorities, our society as a whole and the region.
 If we can accomplish those goals, then this
institution will emerge from this crisis stronger than it
was before. If, however, we fail to stop the violent
tactics that have subverted State sovereignty in
Georgia, they will spread to other parts of the world. It
is our collective responsibility to respond with
conviction and resolve.
 Georgia has made its choice, and our democracy
will emerge stronger as a result. Together, we will find
ways, as we have over the millennia, to ensure peaceful
coexistence among all members of our multiethnic
society, be they ethnically Georgian, Abkhaz or
Ossetian. We have been a Christian country since the
fifteenth century, but we are also a country in which
many different religious groups and communities
coexist. Diversity is our strength, not a source of our
weakness. We are willing to strengthen our diversity
even further in order to make my country successful
and whole once again, rejuvenated and rebuilt.


Let me first congratulate
you, Sir, on your election to preside over the sixty-third
session of the General Assembly. We express our full
support for your presidency. I also thank the Secretary-
General for his resolute efforts to promote the United
Nations and its values.
 Finland aligns itself with the statement of the
European Union.
 Our world is facing unforeseen challenges, such
as climate change and the food crisis. The current
economic turmoil also requires decisive action. At the
same time, we have not been able to rid ourselves of
conventional crisis. Unfortunately, armed conflicts are
still a reality all over the world. Too often, we — the
international community — are unable to agree on a
common response. Too often, people affected by
poverty and conflicts are let down.
 The need to adapt the international architecture to
these challenges is deeper than ever. We need an
efficient United Nations to find common solutions for
our future. The United Nations represents collective
security in its most global form. Finland is committed
to building a more secure, fair and just world through a
reformed and credible United Nations.
 I had the pleasure earlier this week of presenting
to the Secretary-General the final report of the Helsinki
Process on Globalization and Democracy. The main
political message of this joint initiative of Finland and
the United Republic of Tanzania is that some of the
challenges posed by globalization can be solved only
through multi-stakeholder dialogue, and that the United
Nations could play an important role in facilitating and
developing new practices for such cooperation.
 Climate change must be addressed with vigour.
Otherwise, it can wipe out our achievements in the
field of sustainable development and even bring into
question the whole future of mankind. Recent extreme
weather phenomena can be a serious indication of the
challenges we are about to face. Multilateral
engagement and shared responsibility are the only
effective means to tackle this global menace. Others’
indifference is no excuse for inaction. Climate change
is a matter of our responsibility to future generations.
There is no place for petty politics or recrimination.
 The United Nations has to play a leading role in
the global response to climate change. We must reach a

08-51606 2

comprehensive global agreement on a new
international climate regime. The Copenhagen Climate
Change Conference will take place in December next
year. It is evident that global commitments need to be
implemented and also supplemented by national and
regional action. It is important to include all
stakeholders, from non-governmental organizations to
private enterprises, and from individual citizens to
Governments. We need everybody; it is necessary that
women too can participate fully in this work.
 Industrialized countries have to bear their share
in mitigating climate change. However, international
negotiations on the new climate regime cannot succeed
without extensive participation by the developing
countries. We must actively support the most
vulnerable developing countries in adapting to and
combating climate change.
 There is mounting evidence that poverty,
especially in rural areas, can be reduced by sustainable
management of natural resources. Forests are crucial in
reducing greenhouse gases. Finland has a long history
of sustainable forest management, and we understand
its impact on rural development and employment. We
would like the United Nations to intensify its efforts to
assist Governments and communities to improve their
capacities for rural development and sustainable forest
management. We are of course ready to work with
others in this respect.
 I am pleased to be a co-host, together with the
President of Liberia, Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, my
friend, of the International Colloquium on Women’s
Empowerment, to be held in Liberia next March. The
conference will address women’s role in climate
change, security, governance and leadership.
 Rising food prices are a challenge with
worldwide consequences. Once again the poorest and
the most vulnerable — women and children — suffer
the most. Food shortages lead to deterioration of diets,
and can provoke social unrest. Effective Government
action and improved donor coordination are crucial in
tackling the food crisis. The United Nations
Comprehensive Framework for Action is an excellent
initiative in addressing this global challenge.
 Parallel to the short-term response, attention must
be paid to medium- and long-term policies in
enhancing food security. Support for the rural sector is
crucial for sustainable and equitable development,
growth and well-being. Moreover, the promotion of
good agricultural practices is among the best
approaches to adaptation to climate change.
 This food issue can also provide opportunities. If
developing countries are supported in the spirit of the
Aid for Trade agenda, they can better take advantage of
their agricultural potential, including exporting. And
we need to ensure, again, that both women and men
benefit from support, keeping in mind that women
produce most of the food in many developing
countries.
 The United Nations currently deploys well over
100,000 military and civilian personnel in
peacekeeping operations. This is a remarkable figure,
and we, the Member States, must continue to support
the United Nations efforts in this field. The United
Nations and regional organizations should work closer
together in carrying the burden in preventing and
resolving conflicts.
 Increased cooperation should be extended to the
African Union. We already have good cooperation and
experience in our own region, because improving
efficiency and improving cooperation between the
European Union and the United Nations remain a top
priority. In Kosovo, and most recently also in Georgia,
we continue close cooperation between the United
Nations, the European Union and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe.
 That is why I also dare to say that increased
cooperation should be extended to the African Union.
A continued United Nations peacekeeping presence in
Chad and in the Central African Republic would
contribute to wider stabilization efforts, both locally
and regionally.
 Tackling today’s multifold conflicts requires a
comprehensive approach to security. Trade,
development policy and humanitarian aid need to be
utilized alongside traditional crisis management tools.
We must — even better than today — take women and
children into account in conflicts and post-conflict
peacebuilding.
 We have made good decisions. We have to make
them become reality. I am pleased to inform the
Assembly that last Friday Finland published a national
action plan on implementing Security Council
resolution 1325 (2000). We hope that more and more
member countries will do the same.

3 08-51606

 Furthermore, there can be no sustainable peace
without justice. Finland strongly supports the
International Criminal Court in rejecting impunity for
the most serious international crimes.
 Finally, I want to share my memories and
experience. I had the privilege to co-preside over the
Millennium Summit with President Sam Nujoma of
Namibia eight years ago. We witnessed leaders having
the spirit and the courage to adopt the Millennium
Declaration and to make a commitment on the
Millennium Development Goals. It is our duty to fulfil
these commitments. Africa requires our devoted
attention and support, as was agreed yesterday. Let us
work for it, because today, in this Hall, it is once again
time to pledge our joint commitment to the ideas and
values of the United Nations.
 Everyone present may remember what the
Charter calls us to do: “to unite our strength to
maintain international peace and security”. While the
concept of security has changed and become broader,
the onus is on us to follow this call of the Charter and
translate it into action.


First of all, I would
like to congratulate the President of the General
Assembly on his election to his high office and to
express my confidence that, under his able
stewardship, the sixty-third session of the General
Assembly will be fruitful and successful.
 When Christopher Columbus reached the shores
of America in 1492, he believed that he had discovered
a new route to India. Today we know that, many years
before Columbus made that voyage, European
explorers had reached Saint Lawrence Bay. Obviously,
prior to the so-called discovery of America, developed
civilizations had already existed there. At the same
time, Columbus did discover America in a certain
sense, because it radically altered the understanding of
world geography.
 It is globalization that is giving us a new vision
of the world in the twenty-first century. While offering
new opportunities to the world economy and human
development, globalization is also triggering a new
surge of political and economic competition
worldwide.
 We can now see clearly that it is imperative to
prevent the interests of peoples and countries from
being sacrificed for the sake of that competition. Given
recent complications and disputes, it is urgent that we
preserve the basic principles of international law,
including that of territorial integrity. It is crucial that
we avoid double standards in the application of that
principle.
 Despite the efforts being undertaken, the world is
not becoming a safer place. We must admit that there is
still no international consensus regarding the issues of
disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction. As everyone knows, history could
repeat itself if we do not learn its lessons properly.
Therefore, nuclear disarmament and an enhanced
non-proliferation regime should become a priority for
all, without any conditionalities.
 Kazakhstan, a country that voluntarily
relinquished the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal in the
world, believes that it is absolutely imperative to
develop new mechanisms for adapting the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to new
realities. We call on Member States to finalize the
necessary procedures for the entry into force of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the
strengthening of its verification mechanism. That is
precisely the purpose of the integrated on-site
inspection field exercise currently being conducted in
our country at the former Semipalatinsk nuclear testing
ground.
 The crisis of the non-proliferation regime poses
the real threat that nuclear weapons will fall into the
hands of terrorists. Kazakhstan is actively participating
in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism
and in that regard hosted this year the Atom anti-terror
exercises and an international conference on the
physical protection of nuclear material.
 The situation in Afghanistan remains a matter of
grave concern. In our opinion, the way to normalize the
situation is to build up the international community’s
efforts for the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan.
To that end, the Government of my county has adopted
a special plan on assistance to Afghanistan.
 Kazakhstan is committed to timely and effective
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). We have already reached a number of targets
in several areas, including poverty reduction, access to
education and the empowerment of women. Now we
are embarking on the MDG-Plus targets, adapted to our
national conditions, in order to set up higher
benchmarks and indicators.
 Like many other countries, Kazakhstan is deeply
concerned about the situation regarding the global food
market. We share the view of the majority that an
integrated approach is required to overcome the current
food crisis.
 Today the international community faces the
challenge of a global rise in basic food prices.
Kazakhstan, as a major producer and exporter of grain
crops and flour, is prepared to make a substantial
contribution to overcoming the food crisis. As of
1 September 2008, we have lifted our ban on grain
exports. That is our contribution to the international
community’s collective efforts to curb global grain
prices.
 Because of the critical importance of energy
resources, preserving the global energy balance has
become a more urgent imperative. Kazakhstan fully
understands its ever-increasing role and responsibility
as a reliable energy supplier.
 Bearing in mind that energy and environmental
problems are closely interconnected, I would like to
once again draw attention to the initiatives set forth by
 A/63/PV.13

23 08-53122

the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev,
from this rostrum a year ago (see A/62/PV.4). They call
for adoption of a Eurasian pact on the stability of
energy supplies, as well as development of a global
energy and environment strategy within the United
Nations framework.
 Kazakhstan attaches critical importance to
problems associated with climate change and
sustainable development. To ensure the convergence of
the European and Asian processes of transition to
sustainable development and their merging into a
single Eurasian process, Kazakhstan has put forward an
initiative on convening in 2010 a conference of
ministers of environment, economy and social welfare
of the Asian and Pacific countries and a pan-European
conference on the environment for Europe in 2011.
 We would like to express our profound
appreciation to the entire international community, the
United Nations and its agencies and programmes for
the support they rendered to our country in mitigating
the consequences of environmental disasters in the Aral
Sea and Semipalatinsk regions. Calling for continued
active international cooperation, we request support for
the draft resolutions to be submitted at the sixty-third
session of the General Assembly concerning the
problems of the Semipalatinsk region and granting the
International Fund to Save the Aral Sea observer status
at the General Assembly.
 The growing number of natural and man-made
disasters makes it necessary to intensify international
cooperation as the most effective means of responding
to emergencies. Kazakhstan supports cooperation in
setting up national and regional platforms, exemplified
by the Central Asian Disaster Response Coordination
Centre.
 We strongly believe that the special needs of
landlocked countries should be fully taken into account
in accordance with decisions and recommendations
based on the Almaty Programme of Action. We hope
that the forthcoming midterm review of the Programme
will result in the adoption of specific decisions on
assistance to this group of countries.
 Escalation of ethno-territorial conflicts and
increased interfaith tensions indicate that we have
reached a critical turning point in our common history.
Under these circumstances, Kazakhstan has been
consistently and proactively pursuing a policy aimed at
ensuring inter-ethnic and interfaith accord, as well as
preserving political and social stability in our society.
Upon the initiative of our head of State, President
Nazarbayev, the Kazakh capital, Astana, hosted two
Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional
Religions, in 2003 and 2006. With its next summit
meeting to be convened in 2009, this forum has already
proved to be an effective international mechanism for
promoting peace and tolerance on a global scale.
 Kazakhstan is actively involved in the work of
the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations.
Our initiative to declare 2010 the International Year of
the Rapprochement of Cultures has been supported by
all Member States, as reflected in resolution 62/90. We
appeal to all countries and organizations of the United
Nations to prepare relevant plans for the attainment of
the goals of the International Year, in accordance with
the provisions of that resolution.
 Taking further practical steps to promote dialogue
among civilizations, Kazakhstan has proposed the
convening of a ministerial conference to be entitled
“Common world: Progress through diversity”. Foreign
ministers from different regions of the planet have
been invited to attend the first meeting of that forum,
which is to be held in Astana in October.
 As Kazakhstan prepares to assume the duties of
Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe in 2010 and of the Ministerial Conference of
the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 2011, we
intend to use this unique opportunity to promote the
issues of ensuring greater tolerance and furthering
measures by member States against all forms of
discrimination as serious items in those organizations.
 I would like to conclude my remarks with some
ancient oriental wisdom: “Between a man that digs a
hole and the man that fills it, there should always be a
third man ready to plant a tree”. In today’s world, the
United Nations performs that vital function by
fostering dialogue and cooperation among all peoples
and all States.


Mr. President, allow me to extend you the warmest and
most heartfelt greeting of the people and the
Government of Honduras. I would also extend this
greeting to all nations and peoples represented here. I
congratulate you, Sir, a distinguished representative of
the Republic of Nicaragua who today is leading the
Assembly. Your prestige as a man of peace and
harmony and as a builder of dreams and utopias has
been recognized throughout the world through the
numerous prizes you have received, which honour the
peoples of Central America.
 Honduras currently holds the presidency pro
tempore of the Central American Integration System,
and I would like to recognize the work of the United
Nations and use this opportunity also to recognize the
determination of the Central American Presidents to
bring about a process of Central American integration.
As was recognized by the European Commission, the
region of the world that is unifying the most and
becoming the most integrated is Central America —
after Europe, of course. That is part of an important
process, because we are addressing on areas and
sectors that are important for our society.
 Francisco Morazán was a martyr who gave his
life for the cause of Central American union and for
liberal policies, opposing the enemies of independence
and freedom. The peoples of Central America and of
Honduras continue to fight for these causes. We
continue to fight for unity as we seek to establish
economic independence. In recent years, Honduras has
achieved a sustainable growth rate of between 6 and
7 per cent, and we have been able to reduce poverty
and have recognized the international and national
importance of protecting the environment. Honduras
has become a tourist destination in Central America,
because of the beauty of its main Caribbean Bay
Islands, such as Guanaja, Utila and Roatán.
 However, today, all of those advances in our
economy and in the fight against poverty are being put
in jeopardy by the crisis and the international scale of
the financial fraud that has been brought about by the
big multinationals in the world. The serious events that
today have dragged us into a food and energy crisis
with high fuel prices, and the collapse of the financial
systems, particularly here in the United States of

08-51839 2

America, have shown that what I and others Presidents
are saying today are historic and irrefutable truths.
 For example, in our countries, particularly in
Honduras, poverty and inequality are continuing to
grow more marked in our societies. The State continues
to become weaker through privatizations and capital is
concentrated in a few firms and a few hands, lessening
capacity to produce and generate development for our
people. In recent years, the unequal distribution of
wealth and income has become ever more entrenched.
In Honduras, less than 1 per cent of the population
possesses 70 per cent of the national wealth. Barely
10 families with links to international capital control
the main economic activities of the country, naturally
impoverishing the rest of the population.
 Over the last two centuries, our peoples and our
region have resisted with heroism, dignity and stoicism
the onslaught of the cruel system that governs us. Pope
John Paul II himself came to call that capitalistic
system savage, an immoral mercantile system that
exploits men and women and turns them into mere
commodities and numbers. The merciless and demonic
laws of the invincible market only satisfy the wealth
and power of the few, to the detriment of the great
majority of our societies. They believe themselves
infallible gods. They are like a sinister Proteus that
plays cat and mouse with people. They act like Saturn,
the Greek god who devoured his children out of fear
that they would dethrone him. However, today, with
that logic of the law of the market, his sons are
devouring their creator in the very cradle of capitalism,
in the great centre of Wall Street or the other hubs of
speculative capital in the world.
 To give an example, the international trafficking
of drugs, arms and people are other scourges that
prevent us developing peoples from achieving the
economic freedom and independence to which our
nations aspire. The submission of our poor countries to
the economic choices of international capital is brutal
and surprising. We can say that capitalism is devouring
human beings in most parts of the world, and
paradoxically it is now also devouring the very creators
of that system. Here I shall mention two particularly
salient examples. In Honduras, over the last 20 years,
many small coffee producers have succeeded in
increasing their exports from $200 million to almost
$600 million. That involved 20 years of hard work.
However, in the last 12 months, in barely a year, with
the doubling of the prices of energy, oil, food, wheat
and the main staples that we consume, we are now
losing what we achieved in that period of hard work.
 Another example is what has happened here to
the mandate of the United Nations. In 2000, this
Organization agreed that poverty should be reduced by
at least 50 per cent in 15 years, which we know is not
coming about. The goal of reducing poverty and the
contributions that the international community pledged
to the developing world are not being translated into
reality. In contrast, by way of giving an example, for
each dollar that the international community
contributes to cooperation, it allocates 10 dollars to the
arms race.
 Another quite fantastic example to give today is
what is happening with the bankruptcy of the big
investment banks. Now people are racing to provide
funds to those big banks. Logically, if we were to
provide them with what is being proposed today to
save those banking institutions that have created that
speculative capital — a sum of $700 billion — with
just a third of that amount we could reduce and
immediately put an end to poverty in Africa, Asia or
Latin America. That system is the true present-day
King Midas, who tried to convert everything into gold
and profit for one particular sector. We shall never be
free under that system, and we know that we must not
accept that condition of neo-slavery and
neocolonialism through which, by its domination, it
bends us to its purposes.
 The question for us all is can that difficult
situation being experienced today, particularly by the
less developed countries, be saved. The answer is yes,
we can save ourselves from that crisis. We can respond.
First, the State must act, the State must operate again in
terms of social commitment. Capital must be used so
that it serves to build a genuinely fair society. The aim
should not be to destroy the market but simply to
construct a social market economy. Capital should
exist, but with limits. Defining the limits of capitalism
is important to put an end to its primitive laws of the
jungle. The aim is not to eliminate entrepreneurship
and the free market, but to check and regulate the
abuses and to humanize and sensitize those who are in
the driving seat.
 We must support a genuine democratic system,
not only in international bodies but also internally
within our countries. We must reform false democracy,
which uses different political means to legitimize that

3 08-51839

system of exploitation and injustice. It is a false
democracy, in which men and women are seen merely
as voters, as useful instruments employed only to
distribute power, whose consciences are manipulated
by the highest bidder in a political comedy in which
those who possess wealth impose their mercantile
irrationality on the larger group of those who are
excluded from and marginalized by the system. We
must reform that system, improve it and strengthen it
so as to convert it into a genuine democracy. It is by
the logic of political democracies that Governments are
controlled and States manipulated, basic services are
privatized and the whole of society is indoctrinated
with an ideology of gain, egoism and individualism.
 Imperialism as a system of domination of
countries and of trade must disappear from the face of
the Earth. The twenty-first century, and the peoples of
the twenty-first century, should not have to pay for the
excesses and brutality of the twentieth century.
 We agree that property must exist, as it has a
social function. Since the beginning of social
organization in the world, property has always been
granted within the framework of collective ownership.
There must be the authority to intervene in speculative
markets, as is happening now in the United States.
Traders and their spokespeople do not have the right to
direct society. The strategic areas of the economy must
be at the service of the State and under its control to
ensure that society never finds itself without food or
medicine and that consumers are not robbed. Profits
produced by work, wealth and capital should be better
distributed in our societies among the real owners —
workers, producers, capitalists, consumers and the
State — in order to attain a common good.
 The major transnational companies that produce
medicines and chemical products should make
available to developing countries the patents for
technological discoveries that can improve living
conditions for our citizens. This is a time for human
solidarity.
 We should end unfair competition in markets by
eliminating subsidies in industrialized countries and
removing tariff and non-tariff barriers. That would be a
good message of the international community, a good
intention at this time of crisis, for those peoples that
were once their colonies, a message that we are no
longer looked upon as mere game reserves but as
brothers in humanity.
 I am sure that the peoples of the world are able to
come together to provide alternatives to a crude system
that kills and destroys everything that does not adapt to
its unmerciful laws.
 Developed countries have a responsibility
towards the peoples. Members know that very well.
This afternoon we want to say, from this United
Nations rostrum, that we are very grateful to the
developed world, the industrialized world, for their
cooperation with us at certain times. However, our
peoples and our countries do not want donations. We
have not come here to beg.
 What we want is to be treated with equality and
respect, and the right to opportunities and to
participate. We do not want to be affected by the
asymmetries in the economies and differences in
developed countries. We do not want to have models
imposed on us, models that only impoverish our
nations. We do not want to be given lessons about how
to manage our economies. We want to be given
examples of solidarity and responsibility in the face of
the major problems of nations, examples of how to
distinguish between matters of importance to human
beings and matters that are simply material. To
developed countries we say that if they offer us aid, do
not attach conditions to our acceptance of it. Do not
insist that we accept a neoliberal model that is
suffocating and exploiting our communities.
 We cannot continue to measure development of
countries by the profits of large companies. We must
measure development by the access of young people to
education and jobs, of children to food, of mothers to
hospitals, of those who are ill to treatment, and of the
undernourished to food.
 We say to the countries of the Group of Eight
(G8), with all due respect, that that very important
organization should expand its membership to include
countries that represent the five continents, to include
countries of the Americas, such as Mexico, Brazil,
Bolivia or Cuba, or, from other areas, India. The G8
should increase its capacity for dialogue with, for
example, Central America or the South American
Common Market (MERCOSUR), where there are so
many societies that could contribute with ideas, for
ideas are sometimes worth more than money.
 The countries that cooperate should respect
national systems and not impose their own aid
reception mechanisms on us. They should respect the

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national priorities and systems that each country has
developed in its programmes, the planning of
Governments legitimately elected by the people.
 Likewise, with all due respect to the European
countries and to the United States of America, we wish
to ask them to consider — as a gesture of goodwill and
in light of the problems that we ourselves are suffering
as a result of the financial imbalances that those
countries caused — the rights of immigrants who are
already on their territories. I would also like to recall
that the peoples living in the lands of America and
Europe were themselves once immigrants in those
lands.
 What does it cost to reunite migrant families and
to begin to deal with their documentation, instead of
deporting them? To immigrate is a human right, not a
crime, and we should consider it in the context of
respect for society. All of us want peace and harmony,
and this is the best means of obtaining them.
 The world is also concerned with the enlargement
of the Security Council. Like other presidents who
have spoken about this matter from this podium over
the decades, we believe that there should be
democratization at the very top of the United Nations,
and the example should begin at home. That way we
could discuss the real problems of humanity and find
solutions.
 We therefore need to establish a new pedagogy, a
new way of education of our peoples, our children and
future generations. We must cultivate, as is logical,
genuine freedom for our nations, freedom of the press,
freedom of movement, an honest freedom that gives
the people the opportunity to know the truth about their
problems without lies and manipulation.
 The new manner of teaching that we are
proposing to the General Assembly today could be
promoted through the development programmes of the
United Nations. We must begin to teach the value of
solidarity among human beings, among countries and
among the various organizations represented here. That
teaching should demonstrate in a practical way that the
centre of the world is not material possessions or
money; the centre of the world should always be the
human being — men and women, young people,
children, the elderly, those beings with a soul and who
are made in the image of the Creator of the universe.
 In conclusion, I wish to take a moment to read a
poem entitled, “Gold”, by the Honduran poet and
writer Alfonso Guillén Zelaya, who described well
through poetry the events we have addressed in the
Assembly.
“Gold killed in men the native communion;
It divided the Earth and corrupted affection.
Before that, hunger did not exist.
Fruit grew in all places freely before this,
Waters, hunting, the plains were free.
As there were no owners, there were never thieves.
Life was one of peace, of love and of gentleness.
People were good, like blessings.
But, Lord of the gifts,
Your gifts are gone.
We are now condemned to live without fortune,
Everything that we have made,
Our own clothing, with the gold of the stars and the
silver of the moon.”
 This is the Christian moral; it is the moral of the
message today, tomorrow and forever, that we must
accept the fact that this world is extremely materialistic
and not very spiritual. It was the message offered when
a tycoon approached the Master of Galilee and asked,
Lord, how do I save myself? He replied: leave your
possessions and follow me.
 I would like to end with those thoughts on liberty,
which is what our societies most need today. Let us
ensure that the liberty advocated by our forefathers —
Martí, Bolívar and Morazán — transforms the destiny
of globalization so that we convert it into a
globalization of solidarity, of justice and of harmony
among the peoples. We must regain trust in the
collective so that we can return to trusting in reason
and say to the minority that they cannot be the reason
for the State simply because of what they own. That
alienating argument is unsustainable for the peoples of
the world.
 I fervently appeal this afternoon for us to secure
votes for the freedom and peace of all peoples and
nations of the Earth, for the principles expressed and
ratified today in the sixty-third session of the General
Assembly, because I firmly believe that a new world,
another world, a better world is still possible. We have
united to defend important matters of other countries.
We have united to defend the positions of President
Evo Morales in Bolivia so that a real social democracy
can be established, as he has advocated. Based on those

5 08-51839

principles, we have signed the Bolivarian Alternative
for the Americas — ALBA — and, based on those
principles, we hope that the international community
will also provide the international solidarity needed by
Taiwan, which is asking for that solidarity.
 We ask that God’s blessing for you all and for
your families and your nations become a reality today,
tomorrow and forevermore.


I would like to
extend my congratulations to His Excellency
Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on his election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-third
session. I also wish to express my deep appreciation to
His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his
dedication to having the United Nations meet global
challenges in a more effective and timely manner. I
assure them of the Republic of Korea’s full support for
their noble endeavours.
 As I stand here, I recall those turbulent days
seven years ago when we stood shaken by the terrorist
acts in the morning of 11 September 2001. Throughout
my presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-
sixth session, all Member States were united in dealing
with the grave challenges in the shadow of 9/11.
 On 12 September 2001, this Assembly began its
fifty-sixth session by adopting resolution 56/1, strongly
condemning the terrorist acts and calling for a
concerted effort by the international community to
combat terrorism. With the close cooperation that
followed, counter-terrorist capacity has been
strengthened at all levels.
 Nevertheless, as we are witnessing in many parts
of the world today, terrorism continues to threaten and
take the lives of innocent people. As the international
community shares the concern over such an intractable
trend, it is time for us to renew our commitment to
completely root out terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations.
 This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the
founding of the Republic of Korea. The Republic of
Korea was the first country to have the establishment
of its Government recognized by the United Nations

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through a General Assembly resolution, back in
December 1948. Thanks to the Assembly’s continuous
support, the Republic of Korea was able to step into the
twenty-first century as a full-fledged democracy and
vibrant economy. It is my sincere hope that this special
relationship will further develop and strengthen in the
years to come.
 Over the past six decades, the United Nations has
strived for the common good of the international
community and has become ever more relevant to the
well-being of the present and future generations of
humankind. It is currently leading the global efforts to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
and is demonstrating strong stewardship in addressing
the global food and energy crises, as well as climate
change.
 Standing at the midpoint to the MDG target year
of 2015, we realize that, in order to achieve what we
pledged, all Member States will have to redouble their
commitments to the MDGs. But political commitment
alone is not enough. We need solid economic growth
and a coherent strategy to translate our commitment
into reality.
 While the rapid growth experiences of Korea and
other countries have served as a useful reference for
many developing countries, we should move beyond
the conventional economic growth approach of “grow
first, clean up later”. Rather, what we need is green and
pro-poor growth.
 Climate change, on which the future of humanity
so critically depends, is now looming larger than ever
as a global challenge. Adverse impacts of climate
change are threatening the very foundation of the
MDGs, inter alia, by affecting agriculture, upon which
the livelihood of many in the developing world
depends, and by increasing climate-related natural
disasters, which are hitting hard the most vulnerable
bottom billion, as in the case of Typhoon Nargis.
 The conventional growth approach based on
cheap fossil fuel is among the factors driving up the
prices of oil and food. As such, we need a new climate-
friendly strategy for energy and development if we are
to attain the goals of the MDGs while addressing
climate change. I encourage all agencies of the United
Nations to closely cooperate to develop a new road
map. In that regard, I would like to express my full
support for the energetic leadership of Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon, who has been working hard to
place climate change as our top priority on the global
agenda.
 The Republic of Korea recently embraced a low-
carbon, green growth paradigm. We strongly believe
that that is and should be the new paradigm for growth
and development of the world in the future. We support
the global vision of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
by 50 per cent by 2050 and plan to announce next year
our voluntary midterm mitigation goal set for the year
2020. We will also launch the East Asia Climate
Partnership, which will initiate programmes in the
amount of $200 million over the next five years to
support other countries in making their economic
growth compatible with climate change concerns.
 In 2002, I attended the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, in my
capacity as President of the General Assembly.
Through that and other experiences, I have come to
firmly believe in the importance of high-level
commitments to strengthening our efforts and political
momentum on issues concerning the environment and
development. In that vein, I would like to emphasize
that a new world summit focusing on climate change
and sustainable development needs to be held in 2012,
not least to ensure a strong take-off for a post-2012
climate regime.
 Given that the past three conferences were held in
Europe, America and Africa respectively, it could well
be Asia’s turn to host the next. Asia is the most
populous region in the world and is undergoing vibrant
economic transformation, which makes the sustainable
development issue all the more relevant. As a country
well-placed to play a bridging role between developed
and developing nations, the Republic of Korea hopes to
make a contribution by hosting that conference.
 The global food crisis is another factor
contributing to instability by increasing the population
affected by poverty and starvation. It is also
threatening to reverse many of the gains we have
achieved thus far in the development field. As the
causes behind the current food crisis are complex and
varied, our responses must be comprehensive as well
as timely.
 The Republic of Korea has provided
humanitarian assistance to countries facing food crises.
I am pleased to inform the Assembly that the Republic
of Korea, in addition to its assistance to the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea, has decided to offer

33 08-51851

$100 million over the next three years for emergency
food aid and for assistance to strengthen the
agricultural capacities of developing countries. With
first-hand knowledge in agricultural development,
Korea plans to assist in various areas, including
farming infrastructure, technology and policymaking.
 This year also marks the sixtieth anniversary of
the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Over the decades, the United Nations has
played an indispensable role in setting international
norms and principles to ensure all human rights for all.
This year saw further progress, with the
implementation of the Universal Periodic Review by
the Human Rights Council and with the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities taking effect. At
the same time, we need to redouble efforts to stem the
serious human rights violations that still continue in
certain regions. The Republic of Korea urges those
human rights violators to urgently respond to the
international community’s call for dialogue and
cooperation and to follow up with appropriate
measures to enhance human rights.
 In the area of United Nations reform, it is more
crucial now than ever that the United Nations operate
efficiently, effectively and responsively. The Republic
of Korea supports all efforts, in particular the
initiatives taken by the Secretary-General, to make the
Secretariat more accountable, efficient and responsive.
 As for the Security Council, in order for it to
better fulfil its mandate of maintaining international
peace and security, it needs to be reformed to ensure
that it is more representative, accountable and efficient.
Moreover, considering the importance of the Security
Council, every effort should be made to acquire a
general agreement among all Member States in steering
the direction of the reform. It should be not an issue of
division, but one that unites Member States.
 The new Government of the Republic of Korea
has posited contributing to the international community
as a trusted partner as one of the pillars of its foreign
policy. To that end, we are strengthening our role in
official development assistance and peacekeeping
operations.
 Since 2000, our official development assistance
has increased three times in volume, with assistance to
Africa increasing threefold in the past three years. We
plan to triple our current official development
assistance to reach over $3 billion by 2015. To better
coordinate our development cooperation policy with
the international community, the Republic of Korea
plans to join the Development Assistance Committee of
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development in 2010.
 The Republic of Korea is also seeking ways to
strengthen its participation in United Nations
peacekeeping operations. Currently, we have a 350-
strong contingent dispatched to the United Nations
Interim Force in Lebanon and are considering
legislation to facilitate our participation in
peacekeeping operations.
 The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
and their delivery systems poses a grave threat to
international peace and security. We must strengthen
the disarmament and non-proliferation regimes,
including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In that regard, it is crucial
that the North Korean nuclear issue be expeditiously
resolved. That issue has remained for many years a
threat to the security of North-East Asia while
seriously undermining the very foundations of the NPT
regime.
 The Republic of Korea is making every effort to
resolve the North Korean nuclear issue within the
framework of the Six-Party Talks, under which some
progress has been made. However, Pyongyang’s recent
move to suspend the disablement measures and attempt
to reverse the process is highly regrettable. We urge the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to resume
disablement measures immediately so that the positive
momentum generated by the Six-Party Talks process
can be maintained and the denuclearization process can
move forward.
 With a view to developing more mature
inter-Korean relations in a pragmatic and productive
way, the Republic of Korea pursues a policy of mutual
benefits and common prosperity. As progress is made
in denuclearization, we stand ready to support
economic development in the North. We are also
willing to hold discussions with Pyongyang on how to
implement properly all past inter-Korean agreements,
including the Basic Agreement of 1992. President Lee
Myung-bak, in his speech to the National Assembly in
July, proposed to fully restore inter-Korean dialogue
and emphasized that we are ready to render our
cooperation to alleviate the food crisis in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We look

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forward to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
accepting the offer for dialogue so that real progress
can be made in inter-Korean relations.
 Eventually, I believe that we will see more peace
and prosperity in North-East Asia. The region is
already a major powerhouse for economic growth in
the world. With the peaceful resolution of the North
Korean nuclear issue, countries in the region will be
able to accelerate cooperation to make North-East Asia
more stable and future-oriented. Undoubtedly, that will
in turn contribute greatly to the peace and prosperity of
the world.
 Currently, the international community is
grappling with the grave financial turmoil that
threatens to spread worldwide. It has even been feared
that the turmoil could lead to a recession of the
magnitude of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Without a doubt, the current instability in the financial
market could have a devastating, domino-like impact
on the real economy of this globalized world.
 We have to be careful, however, not to rush into
protectionist policies either for fear of uncertainty or
out of self-interest. There are hard-learned lessons
from the Depression of the 1930s: the “beggar thy
neighbour” policy and the policy of raising tariffs to
protect particular industries harmed the world
economy. Therefore, I strongly believe that any
solution should be based on an even closer cooperation
within the international community and the open
market economy.
 Today, the expectations placed upon the United
Nations by the international community are higher than
ever. However, what the United Nations can achieve
cannot be greater than the sum of all our individual
achievements unless there are synergistic effects.
Therefore, all of us, each and every Member State,
should not only do our best in carrying out our
responsibilities, but should also be willing to help and
reach out to others. Only by doing so can this global
body live up to and even exceed the expectations of the
international community. To that end, the Republic of
Korea will faithfully do its part.