I
have the honour to represent the President of Ecuador,
Mr. Lucio Gutiérrez Borbúa, and the people of Ecuador
in this world forum of nations, to affirm once again
that my country, Ecuador, is an ally of States
committed to peace and the peaceful settlement of
disputes. Ecuador is a law-abiding country, upholds the
principle of international security and solidarity and is
a staunch defender of all the mandates arising from the
Charter of the United Nations.
It is worth highlighting once again that Ecuador,
in its relations with the international community,
opposes all forms of discrimination or segregation,
colonialism or neocolonialism. On this occasion, the
Government of Ecuador must once again ask the
community of nations and the international financial
organisms to not lose sight of the heavy burden on our
countries represented by the service of the debt, which,
year after year, severely strains our economies. The
Ecuadorian Government calls on the United Nations to
move forward with greater determination in identifying
specific actions aimed at effectively reducing existing
pressures, and, furthermore, in formulating proposals
to efficiently address with this issue in the long term
and enable our countries to develop.
The Government of Ecuador must also draw
attention to one of the most momentous problems
afflicting the international community, namely the
protection of civilians in armed conflict. This terrible
problem reflects a reality entirely at odds with the most
elementary ethical and moral principles of human
conduct and that destroys the basic premises of
civilized co-existence, in which respect for life and the
dignity of all individuals must necessarily be a priority.
It is time for the international community and the
United Nations to give absolute priority to this issue
and to find the political will and determination to
tackle and eliminate every bloody and inhuman
conflict in which international humanitarian law no
longer prevails. The Security Council is duty-bound, in
accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, to
reinforce the protection of civilians in armed conflicts,
in order to avoid undermining the entire international
juridical structure.
True to its international commitments and its
humanitarian vocation, Ecuador has been welcoming
thousands of refugees and immigrants from Colombia
and other countries who have fled their countries
because their lives, freedom and economic security
have been threatened. We must remind the
international community that, in order to solve this
critical situation, we need the commitment of every
country and international organism. For this reason, it
is essential that in conformity with principles of shared
responsibility and shared burdens, countries, such as
Ecuador, which take in refugees and immigrants,
should receive greater technical and economic support.
This support is necessary to alleviate the social burden
resulting from large numbers of persons entering local
border communities, which experience higher levels of
poverty and lack basic services.
With regard to the analysis of the northern border
of Ecuador made by the United Nations inter-agency
mission, we appreciate the support offered by the
United Nations Secretary-General to implement the
development proposals suggested in the report.
Ecuador would also like to have the support of the
international community and the international financial
institutions in this undertaking.
51

The Government of Ecuador urges the
international community to make good its commitment
to the implementation of programmes established by
Ecuador and Peru within the framework of the
bi-national development plan for their common border,
following the signing of the peace agreements in
Brasilia in 1998. These projects aim at meeting the
basic needs of the populations of the region, through
social programmes and infrastructure projects.
However, both Ecuador and Peru require the financial
support of the countries that pledged their assistance
for the post-conflict era.
To our countries’ development problems we must
add the persistent trade barriers which developed
countries impose on our exportable products, as well as
the subsidies worth millions that they grant to their
own products, especially agricultural ones, which
seriously limit normal competition among countries,
increase unemployment and threaten the future of the
education, health and well-being of our peoples.
Deteriorating conditions in developing countries
have resulted in increased flows of migrants towards
industrialized centres in search of employment, which
is no longer available in their own countries. In some
countries, this exodus has met with restrictive and
unfair policies based on xenophobic concepts that,
instead of providing a solution to the existing problem
and to its root causes, make it even worse.
International migration is a problem that has
grown more severe during the last decade. Each year,
more countries are affected by migration movements,
which are commanding increasing attention at the
decision-making level. Migration reflects the human
longing to have the opportunity to pursue a better
quality of life and enjoy greater economic prospects. It
also promotes exchange and understanding between
peoples, strengthens dialogue and adds cultural and
economic enrichment.
The history of humanity is inconceivable without
constant migratory flows. It is evident, then, that the
consequences of these migration movements have
economic, political, social and demographic effects, as
much for the countries of departure as for those of
arrival. In this context, and in this current era of market
globalization, emphasis must be placed on the
liberalization of the supply of services via the free
movement of persons.
Ecuador is strongly committed to cooperating in
the search for solutions to this huge problem through a
strict control of the illegal migration of persons and the
elaboration of universal agreements that favour the
development of human beings within their respective
countries. However, to this end we require active
cooperation between migrant source and recipient
countries, as well as from international organizations.
My country has traditionally maintained a policy
of promoting, respecting and protecting the human
rights of migrants, and for this reason, from this
General Assembly, I would like to appeal to all
Governments and all sectors of society, particularly
those of the developed world that receive migrant
workers, to direct their efforts towards the protection
of the rights of this vulnerable sector of society in a
non-discriminatory manner, taking into consideration
the highly positive and productive aspects of
migration.
The territory of Ecuador is home to 12
nationalities and more than 17 ethnic groups. This
diversity has been recognized in the Constitution of the
Republic, which defines Ecuador as a social democracy
that promotes the equitable distribution of welfare. The
fundamental charter of the Ecuadorian State lays down
a legal framework that promotes the participation of
ethnic minorities in political structures and processes
and guarantees the exercise of the constitutional rights
of these groups in the public and private spheres.
The Government of my country cannot fail to
mention that inequality has been, and continues to be,
the greatest impediment to economic development and
poverty alleviation in many developing countries. The
disparity of wealth and income currently evident within
and among many countries is a matter of concern for
the international community. In order to prevent this
inequality, we need to adopt effective multilateral
measures aimed at effectively reducing poverty, which
in itself constitutes an affront to human dignity and
consequently harms the rights of individuals.
In this sense, it has become imperative that the
intent of international summits addressing issues of
development and poverty eradication become manifest
through internal plans and programs based on enhanced
international cooperation.
The Government of Ecuador supports these
activities, which are embodied in three key areas:
poverty reduction, political governance and
52

transparency, and sustainable development through
equitable access to natural resources. This commitment
has led Ecuador to be chosen as an example for the
implementation of innovative models, with the goal of
optimizing the assistance and the quality of the
country’s response.
I believe it is essential that the voice of my
country be heard on the topic of terrorism. This
phenomenon has endangered the equilibrium, peace,
harmony, and security of the planet. It has torn the
socio-political fabric of societies, damaged financial
structures and undermined the functioning of States’
security apparatus.
I wish to reiterate the most unreserved support
and backing of the Government of Ecuador for all
initiatives and actions created to fight international
terrorism in all its forms and characteristics, but always
within the framework of the decisions of the United
Nations, of international law and of absolute respect
for human rights.
We must highlight the fact that hunger, ill health,
poverty, great economic disparities, lack of respect for
human rights, corruption, attempts to resolve disputes
and conflicts by non-peaceful means and the growing
weight of external debt are the seeds of international
instability and insecurity; they undermine governance
and are factors that destabilize democratic institutions.
The international community must become fully aware
of the fact that these harsh daily realities confronting
developing countries also represent a threat to world
security. Therefore, we must directly combat terrorism
with a broad-based and concerted global strategy to
foster development, improve the living conditions of a
large part of the marginalized world population and
encourage dialogue and tolerance, both between human
beings and among States.
The international community needs to make the
protection and security of individuals a global policy
objective. The security of the State, of society and of
individuals requires a consideration of the threats to
their fundamental values, which are sovereignty,
identity and survival. Only on that basis must we
establish the parameters of political, economic and
military action in a globalized world.
Ecuador, as a founding Member of the United
Nations, resolutely supports the multilateral system,
since it constitutes the best guarantee for the full
operation of the purposes and principles that led to its
creation and which are enshrined in its Charter. As a
result, Ecuador fully supports the current process of
reform of the United Nations, particularly of its main
bodies, such as the Security Council, along with the
revitalization of the General Assembly. We are
convinced that that will contribute to more effective
action in the fulfilment of its mission.
My country wishes to highlight the statement
made here by the Prime Minister of Spain — his words
of solidarity with the cause of Latin American peoples
and his commitment to support the reduction of debt
and of inequalities, as well as to promote and
strengthen relations between the European Union and
Latin America. Ecuador welcomes this expression of
good will shown by Spain’s Prime Minister, since
achieving those goals will contribute to the welfare of
the peoples.
Finally, democracy and respect for Governments
legitimately established through popular vote are the
greatest triumphs of Latin America in recent decades.
No attempt whatsoever should be made to revise this
basic principle of international policy, lest we seriously
affect the system of normal coexistence among nations.
In conclusion, allow me to urge the international
community to always bear in mind the precious ideals
of human beings that inspire this Organization, as set
forth in the Preamble to its Charter, which are the
fundamental mandates for its Members and various
bodies.


At the outset,
I would like to state that Portugal, of course, endorses
the statement made here by the presidency of the
European Union. Portugal wishes the United Nations to
fulfil the central role it rightly deserves in the
community of nations. The United Nations is an
indispensable international Organization. Without this
body, of which we are all a part, the world would be
more unstable, less predictable and a place where the
universal dream of peace and freedom would be no
more than a mirage on a far-off horizon.
The United Nations was established in a distant
historical context, but its ideas and basic values remain
contemporary. Portugal has a habit of recalling them,
on occasions such as this, because we feel that this
common undertaking is based on solid foundations.
“We the peoples of the United Nations” believe in the
dignity and the value of the human being, in
fundamental freedoms and in equality between men
and women. We defend the primacy of international
law and tolerance in relations between peoples.
But we also believe that one should not
distinguish between large and small nations, as we all
have a common interest in social advancement and in
the maintenance of international peace and security.
These are the objectives of this Organization that need
to be preserved and strengthened. This is, in good
truth, our common cause, the cause of humankind.
The month of September, in this city of New
York, inevitably brings back memories of the horror of
three years ago. It forces us to look at the challenges to
peace that this Organization and all of us face today.
The tragic events in Madrid, Beslan, Baghdad, Jakarta
and other places show us that terrorism has entered the
deepest and darkest of shadows.
No cause, no idea, justifies acts of pure barbarism
and the spilling of innocent blood. Terrorism is an
enemy of humankind. Moreover, Portugal believes that
it is up to the United Nations to contribute decisively
to the establishment of a global strategy against
terrorism — a strategy that takes into account not only
the obvious security-related responses, but also other
elements that may have the potential to generate
violence.
33

Let us be unyielding in the fight against
terrorism, but let us also engage ourselves in doing it
collectively. Let us take into account the laws and the
values in whose name we are fighting, and should be
fighting, this evil.
Hunger and poverty generate despair and may
cause people to choose the path of violence. I would
therefore like to express my appreciation for the
Summit of World Leaders for Action against Hunger
and Poverty, promoted by President Lula da Silva,
which I had the honour to attend. We believe that that
meeting was a fundamental step towards alleviating
cases of extreme poverty, which are unsustainable in
moral and political terms.
If we act now, the world can change for the
better; if we do not, its balance could become
increasingly difficult to manage. Portugal wants to be
at the forefront of the future. That is why we believe
that the sustainability of development and the defence
of natural resources are paradigms of a new era. We
believe that the economic development of the twenty-
first century will be sustainable only if it truly respects
the balance of the planet and if the Kyoto provisions
are truly implemented.
Does it make sense that an Organization like the
United Nations continues to work in the twenty-first
century as it did 60 years ago? The United Nations was
born at a time when there were no televisions, no
computers, no cellular phones. Communications,
technologies and means of transportation have all
changed; DNA and the human genome have now been
discovered; we surf the Internet on a global scale. And
yet the Organization that brings together the peoples of
the world has the same structure that it had more than
half a century ago.
The pace of change is breathtaking. The United
Nations finds itself at a crossroads: while its relevance
is not challenged, we may question its effectiveness.
But that is an issue that should be placed primarily
before Member States. After all, the United Nations is
an expression of our collective will. The Organization
cannot be seen as a distant reflection on which we
project our individual expectations, which often exceed
the limits of the mandates and the means that we make
available to it.
In that regard, we support the work of the High-
Level Panel established last year by the Secretary-
General to examine current challenges to peace and
security. The strategies for strengthening the
Organization to be recommended by the Panel aim at
preserving what is best in the United Nations and at
ensuring that it is equipped with the means necessary
to promote real development, prevent conflicts and
protect human rights.
Portugal unequivocally supports reform of the
Security Council. We support its enlargement so that it
will better reflect the world of today, through a
rebalancing of its representativity. We have already
stated before this forum — and we reaffirm today —
our support for an increase in the number of permanent
and non-permanent members. Portugal’s support for
Brazil, Germany and Japan has been known to the
General Assembly since 1993. We have already
expressed our support for India’s application for
candidacy, and, on behalf of the Government of
Portugal, I take the opportunity to express our
commitment to seeing the African continent
represented by a permanent seat on the Security
Council.
But we also want to improve the relationship
between the Council and other organs and agencies of
the United Nations, as well as promoting greater
transparency in its decisions. The democracy that the
Organization defends is not compatible with obsolete
working methods that often have a negative impact on
the image and the credibility of the United Nations and
lead to its paralysis.
Preventing conflicts is more important than
solving them. We should be aware that the usefulness
of the United Nations will ultimately be judged by its
capacity for conflict prevention. The proliferation of
crisis situations has led to the current deployment of
approximately 60,000 Blue Helmets in peacekeeping
operations, and that number continues to increase.
Portugal has been with the United Nations in
many of its peacekeeping operations around the world.
Here, I would like to pay tribute to my compatriots and
to all others who have served on peacekeeping
missions, particularly those who have given their lives
for our common ideals.
It is our hope that the Organization can better
develop its work in the field of conflict prevention.
However, we still lack an efficient instrument for the
development of that policy. Therefore, at the last
session of the General Assembly, Portugal proposed
the creation of a commission to promote peace and
34

development, under the authority of and in
collaboration with the Security Council and the
Economic and Social Council. Its objectives would be
to regularly monitor countries in crisis or at risk and to
ensure the cooperation6 of regional and international
institutions.
We believe that our proposal remains relevant,
and we thank all those who have already improved it
through suggestions and comments. This is an idea on
which we have worked in particular with our partners
in the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries,
which I would like to warmly acknowledge on this
occasion.
Indeed, the Portuguese language is the unifying
factor among hundreds of millions of people on five
continents. So that it can have strength as a vehicle of
communication and culture in the twenty-first century,
the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries
needs its members to make a clear commitment to the
connection between the past, the present and the future.
The fact that Portugal is the cradle of the Portuguese
language does not lead us to claim it for ourselves
alone with any special rights. The communities that
one joins as a result of specific interests, however
legitimate, can never erase one’s own community —
one’s family, spirit, language, culture and identity.
“Know thyself” was already inscribed at the foot of the
Temple of Delphi.
Nowhere are we confronted with such a huge
predicament regarding the ability of the United Nations
to act as in Iraq. Iraq needs the support of the
international community. The Iraqi people, ravaged by
decades of dictatorship and war, deserve such support.
And we should give the United Nations the necessary
means to fulfil in its entirety the mandate provided by
the Security Council. But we must also understand
clearly that the international presence in Iraq —
approved by the Security Council and by the Iraqi
Interim Government — is by its own nature
provisional.
It is time for the international community to unite
in its efforts to ensure that the Iraqi people again find
the path towards peace and development. We cannot
change the past, but we must assume that the future can
still be influenced in a positive way. Thus, we must
quickly restore unity if our Organization is not to suffer
permanent collateral damage as a result of the Iraqi
crisis.
For democracy to succeed in Iraq, and for that
country to maintain its unity, it is essential that its
people have a say, through elections, regarding the way
they wish to be governed. It is also important that the
agreed political timetable be honoured, or we may
seriously compromise the rightful expectations of the
Iraqi people and Government. We cannot allow those
who generate instability through unthinkable acts of
terrorism to have the power to veto the establishment
of a democratic regime in Iraq. Elections are the only
way to enable the Iraqi people to meet the destiny of
democracy and freedom to which they are entitled.
Peace, freedom and democracy are also at stake
in other parts of the world we inhabit. We cannot look
away from the tragedy unfolding in Darfur. Our
collective security also requires the effective
international control of the production of nuclear,
chemical and bacteriological weapons and the means to
deploy them.
For the maintenance of international security, it is
also essential that the Organization continues to push
for the resumption of the Middle East peace process.
The existing status quo is unacceptable. Israel and
Palestine need to learn to coexist in peace and security,
within internationally recognized borders and without
artificial partitions.
We cannot replace the dichotomy between
liberalism and collectivism with another between
liberty and peace on the one hand and terror and
dictatorship on the other. The world has already
entered a new era. The peoples of the whole world, as
referred to in the Charter of the United Nations,
demand a new contract between the governed and those
who govern.
The three classic powers of Montesquieu are no
longer the only ones in the government of the peoples.
Those who believe so are lost in time. There is nothing
worse than erring in our perception of reality. There are
powers that are not as they were and others that
Montesquieu, Locke and the drafters of liberal
revolutions could not know of, because they did not
exist or because, over time, they have changed
configuration. One need only think of the power of the
media over people’s lives today.
Our peoples want to feel strength in the present
and faith in the future. For that reason, I shall end my
address the way I began: stressing the indispensability
and the centrality of the United Nations in the daily
35

lives of free and sovereign nations. We belong to an
Organization that has restored hope to many peoples
and human beings by bringing the light of freedom to
those who lived in oppression. Timor-Leste is an
excellent example of the ability of the United Nations
to do good.
But one should also stress the attention the
United Nations has given to the vulnerable, children
and the disabled and to the promotion of gender
equality. For this Organization, humankind is not an
abstract entity. The dialogue between cultures,
civilizations and religions, which Portugal upholds, is
an integral part of the daily work of the United
Nations.
We are part of an Organization dedicated to
making peace and preventing war. We are party to a
collective project in the service of human rights and
fundamental freedoms. We have the strength of our
convictions. And, as Pope John Paul II has stated, we
know that peace is not weakness, but strength.


 The
current session of the General Assembly is of critical
importance to us, not only because of the urgent
questions on our agenda, but also because of the
distinct honour bestowed upon Africa through your
splendid election to the presidency of our venerable
Assembly. Burkina Faso congratulates you warmly
and, in its capacity as Vice-President of the Assembly,
pledges you its full and complete cooperation so that
you may successfully fulfil your tasks.
I also wish to pay a tribute to your predecessor,
Mr. Julian Hunte, who effectively guided the
deliberations of the fifty-eighth session.
Our Assembly is meeting at a time when the
international community finds itself confronted with
growing poverty in the countries of the South,
terrorism and fratricidal wars. On the African
continent, we can certainly welcome restored peace in
Angola, Liberia and Sierra Leone, but Africa continues
to be riven by many conflicts, particularly in Burundi,
CÙte díIvoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and the Sudan. In Iraq, an uncontrollable situation is
gradually plunging that country into chaos, while
dialogue still seems to be impossible among the
protagonists in the Middle East. In the struggle against
terrorism, we must humbly acknowledge that we are
far from having developed an appropriate and effective
strategy to eradicate that scourge. Killing and the
destruction of human life are on the rise in several
regions of the world.
And yet, people of good will and international
associations and organizations remain mobilized to
offer solutions and to restore harmony. That is
exemplified by the peace initiatives of the Southern
Africa Development Community in the Great Lakes
8

region, of the African Union in Darfur, and of the
Accra summit on the crisis in CÙte díIvoire, which,
under the sponsorship of the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, has revived a spark of hope for
national reconciliation in that country. The
Government and the people of Burkina Faso reaffirm
their support for the Linas-Marcoussis and Accra III
Agreements. I wish to reiterate Burkina Fasoís
commitment to joining any initiative aimed at
consolidating peace and stability on the continent.
Peace and security are not the sole safeguards of
order and global political stability. In its ability to
satisfy the basic needs of mankind, human security is
another important aspect thereof. Ever since the 1995
World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen,
the international community has recognized that the
greatest challenge confronting humankind is that of
poverty. Poverty compromises fundamental human
rights, undermines the dignity of individuals and
families, and threatens the political, economic and
social stability of States.
Of what value is globalization if it ignores such
essential concerns of peoples as economic progress,
nutrition, health, education and employment? The
especially alarming situation in Africa must be recalled
in this Assembly: a feeble growth rate, an ongoing
decline in per capita production, a slow increase in the
literacy and education rates, the ravages of hunger and
affliction, endemic underemployment and a disturbing
lag in science and technology.
In the face of such a state of affairs, African
leaders have undertaken to show more leadership in the
formulation of economic and social policies. The
convening of an African Union summit in
Ouagadougou on 8 and 9 September on employment
and poverty alleviation in Africa was an example of
that growing awareness and new vision. In the course
of that meeting, together with our development
partners, we agreed that macroeconomic stability and
sustained growth are necessary, but insufficient to
reduce poverty. We therefore agreed, inter alia, to make
employment the centrepiece of our economic and
social policies and to strengthen cooperation between
the regional economic communities in the areas of
employment, training and health care. The
Ouagadougou conference also decided to establish a
follow-up mechanism for decisions made at the
national, regional and continental levels.
Africa needs the effective assistance of the
international community to enhance the quality of its
economic choices in order to improve the living
conditions of its peoples. From this rostrum, I therefore
call on our development partners to act along three
principal vectors. First, they must respect the
commitments undertaken at various forums to increase
official development assistance and to provide
significant debt relief. Secondly, they must establish
rules to organize international trade on a more just and
equitable basis. Thirdly, they must implement the
recommendations of the report of the World
Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization.
Let us see to it that, in September 2005, as we convene
the United Nations high-level event on the Millennium
Development Goals, relevant consideration and
concrete actions will already have been undertaken to
that end.
For the francophone community, the themes of
solidarity and sustainable development will be
considered at the tenth conference of heads of State
and Government, to be held in November in Burkina
Faso.
We believe that the economic and social well-
being to which our peoples aspire can be achieved
within the framework of the rule of law. For its part,
Burkina Faso has resolutely opted for democracy, and
our determination has been fortified through free and
open electoral consultations for some 12 years now. We
are fully resolved to embed democracy in our
institutions and in our society, convinced as we are that
it represents one path of hope for our country.
The United Nations must serve as a guide in the
management of international affairs. If it is to play that
role successfully and accomplish its task, it needs to be
deeply democratized. In other words, it must listen to
the majority of States and civil society organizations so
as better to serve the common interest.
All signs point to the urgent need to reform the
United Nations reform and to adapt it better than ever
to the legitimate aspirations of nations. Every State,
small or large, must assume its responsibility and be
accountable for decisions taken for the common good.
Today, were the Security Council to grow
democratically and equitably in its representation of
Africa, Latin America and a large portion of Asia and
Europe, it would enjoy greater political and moral
9

resources to meet the challenges of peace and
development throughout the world.
Within the new United Nations that we so
sincerely desire, the situation of the Republic of China
on Taiwan will finally be resolved fairly and
acceptably. Reason dictates that that country, which
cooperates with a large part of the international
community and makes a valuable contribution to
universal civilization, should be rapidly integrated into
the United Nations.
With the valuable assistance of the Secretary-
General, we have laid the foundations of a vast
programme to reform our Organization. This
construction must produce an edifice sufficiently solid
to meet the countless challenges of the twenty-first
century.


On behalf of the Government and the people
of Costa Rica, may I convey to you, Mr. President, our
warmest congratulations and best wishes on your
assumption of the important post of President.
The nineteenth century was, for vast sectors of
mankind, the century of freedom. However, in many
regions of the world, there were and continue to be,
unacceptable levels of repression. The twentieth
century was, for a good number of nations, the century
of economic development. Nonetheless, the end of the
twentieth century witnessed a prevalence of poverty,
oppressive hunger and injustice, that have conspired
together against aspirations for peace, security and
justice.
The twenty-first century should be devoted to
making freedom universal and consolidating economic
development, but above all, to creating an opportunity
for social justice, international cooperation, equitable
relations among nations and the eradication of poverty.
Since the beginning of my administration and in
keeping with that idea, I have advocated a
globalization that is tempered by justice and focused
on fulfilling the basic needs of all human beings and
their right to happiness.
At my inauguration in May 2002, I noted that just
a few years earlier, when I began to speak of the need
to globalize justice and to humanize globalization,
some skeptics considered me a lonely voice crying out
in a desert of fierce competition. Today we are many
more and our voice is much more powerful in
demanding that the process of globalization be made
more humane.
I am therefore very encouraged today by the fact
that world opinion shares the same concerns which are
reflected in the recommendations of the ILO report
entitled “A fair globalization: Creating opportunities
for all”. That report correctly states: “We believe the
dominant perspective on globalization must shift more
from a narrow preoccupation with markets to a broader
preoccupation with people.” (Preface, p. vii)
As greater integration develops between peoples
and economies, it is urgent that we incorporate
elements of a humanistic ethic into the globalization
process, as an opportunity to spread the benefits of
economic development and scientific and technological
progress. These significant developments, the product
of human wisdom and intelligence, are and must be
enjoyed by all as part of the patrimony of all mankind.
Today, this Organization unites 191 States with
different identities and diverse histories, but with
futures and presents that grow more interdependent
with every passing day. In international forums, it has
become commonplace to speak of the need to
formulate inclusive national models of development. I
believe that it is high time to speak of an inclusive
global society. This General Assembly, which
represents and expresses the common will of all
25

mankind, must play a central role in promoting a
markedly humane globalization.
Economic development is a force that must be
directed and guided. The economy’s positive and
powerful forces should not be left to the invisible hand
determined, in most cases, by the obvious inequality
among nations. In that regard, it is necessary to
consider some concerning data regarding the global
economy. The rate of growth of the global gross
domestic product decreased progressively from an
average of 3.6 per cent in the 1960s to an average of a
1.1 per cent in the 1990s. If we compare the per capita
gross domestic products in constant dollars of the 20
poorest countries and the 20 richest, we note that,
between 1960 and 1962, the former were almost 54
times poorer than the latter, while four decades later, in
the period 2000-2002, they were 121 times poorer. The
differences have been accentuated and the gap has
broadened. These results show an inverse relationship
to what we should be looking for if we really seek a
peaceful, stable and fair world.
In light of those realities, and in order to enable
the 1.2 billion poorest people in the world to
participate in the benefits of economic development,
we must promote policies and strategies that create
opportunities for all. To that end, it is necessary to
make progress at the international level in the
following two directions. First, we must agree on and
strengthen rules and policies that provide a fair
normative framework for globalization. Secondly, we
should create or broaden the venues for the effective
international negotiation, management and
implementation of those agreements.
Poverty, the lack of opportunities, deficient
medical services and limited access to education,
frequently accompanied by excessive expenditure in
armaments, cause the suffering of most peoples. It is
noteworthy that, in 2003, the world set a new record by
devoting $956 billion to military expenditure. That
represents a 17-fold increase in the amount of
resources devoted worldwide to official development
assistance and more than the sum of the foreign debt of
the 64 countries with the lowest gross domestic
product. Those numbers demonstrate that mankind has
yet to understand that security results not from
multiplying weapons, but from multiplying loaves of
bread. Peace and security are built, above all, by
combating injustice, satisfying basic needs, striving for
common social goals and establishing fair and honest
Government.
As pointedly noted by Mr. Oscar Arias Sánchez,
former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize
laureate,
“the billions of dollars spent every year on
weapons and on military contingents deprive the
world’s poorest peoples of the chance to fulfil
their basic needs”.
In that regard, Costa Rica fully supports the draft
framework convention on international arms transfers.
That project, based on the obligations already
undertaken by States, seeks to regulate the export of
weapons and their marking and tracing in order to
prevent arms transfers to terrorist and rebel groups and
to those States that breach international humanitarian
law or basic human rights principles. I respectfully
urge all United Nations Member States to adopt that
instrument of international law. I am convinced that it
will contribute substantially to our struggle against the
illicit traffic of weapons around the world.
The aphorism that “the security of one is
inseparable from the security of all” is growing truer
every day. Global democratic governance requires
strengthening both the United Nations and the
competences of the General Assembly. Every State
Member must have a voice and every people of the
world must be represented, in conformity with the
principles of equality and universality that govern the
United Nations system. The Security Council must be
reformed by enlarging its membership and making it
more democratic.
The maintenance of prerogatives for some States,
to the detriment of the great majority of States
Members, is not only antidemocratic, but contrary to
the principle of sovereign equality among States
enshrined in the San Francisco Charter itself.
Committed to the principles of universality and
democracy on which the United Nations is based, I
renew Costa Rica’s longstanding call for the admission
to the United Nations, in conditions of full legal
equality, of the Republic of China on Taiwan, whose
Government has often reiterated its willingness to
assume the obligations imposed by the Charter.
Allow me to refer to one of the worst scourges
affecting peaceful relations among the nations: the
threat of terrorism. The grave attacks committed all
26

over the world over the past few years — in particular,
those committed in New York, Madrid and
Beslan — prove how far terrorists are prepared to go.
Costa Rica is fervently committed to the culture of life
and, in consequence, our people and Government
condemn all acts of terrorism.
Even the loftiest ideals from the most legitimate
sources become mere excuses and pretexts when they
are taken over by terrorists. The first victims of the
terrorists are the causes that they claim to defend.
International society must firmly and resolutely
confront all acts of terrorism, the painful and deadly
consequences of which touch so many nations and
innocent victims. It is essential to combat all forms of
terrorism as well as its sources of financing and safe
havens. It is equally essential to combat with the same
resolve the poverty, inequality and hunger — both for
food and for justice — that afflict many peoples.
The coordination of the international struggle
against terrorism must be assigned to an independent,
professional and permanent organ located at the centre
of this Organization. For that reason, we propose the
creation of the post of United Nations high
commissioner on terrorism that would assist the
Security Council, the General Assembly and the
Economic and Social Council in the comprehensive
fight against that threat and its causes. Only by
creating such an organ, which would draw together
resources and multiply efforts, will it be possible to
respond adequately and jointly to the challenge posed
by international terrorism.
Today, global democratic governance has two
fundamental pillars: the International Court of Justice
and the International Criminal Court. The International
Court of Justice, whose obligatory jurisdiction Costa
Rica accepts without reservation, provides us with an
impartial instance for the peaceful solution of
controversies within the framework of the rule of law,
thus avoiding haphazard or arbitrary interpretations of
the legal norms.
Nevertheless, we note with concern that very few
States accept the obligatory jurisdiction of the Court
without conditions. Most States have made reservations
that exclude, in some cases, all the possible or even all
the conceivable situations in which they would have to
submit to the authority of the principal judicial organ
of the United Nations.
The International Criminal Court, whose
establishment Costa Rica supported enthusiastically,
provides us with an impartial organ to judge the most
serious crimes against mankind. Ironically, while we
all repudiate those crimes, only 94 States have ratified
the Rome Statute and accepted the competence of the
Court.
I would also like to refer to the need to globalize
criminal justice in order to prosecute those who, taking
advantage of public office, rob their own peoples. How
many generations will be condemned to pay the odious
debts created by leaders irremediably sick of greed?
We must never forget that corruption is the mother of
poverty because it deprives the poorest peoples of the
world of the resources necessary to finance their
education, health, housing and social security.
Mr. Verbeke (Belgium), Vice-President, took the
Chair.
It is time to give justice its rightful place. There
should be no loopholes. Asylum and protection should
not be given to those who ransack their own peoples.
All safe havens of impunity must disappear.
As we have a duty to protect the oppressed and
persecuted, we also have a duty to protect those who
do not yet have a voice. In particular, there is a
pressing need to agree on a normative framework,
internationally binding, to uphold human dignity from
the moment of conception. It necessarily follows,
therefore, that to defend life is to defend the very
essence of man itself, all the promises, joys and hopes
of the human being.
I believe in science within ethical limits. As a
medical doctor, I reject human cloning, while I firmly
support research on adult stem cells, which does not
present the same ethical and legal problems as does
cloning. I invite you all to join us in our efforts to
adopt an international convention to ban all forms of
human cloning.
We owe a great debt to nature. It is time to ensure
that globalization be sustainable from an ecological
point of view, in order to maintain the viability of
human life on planet Earth. Notwithstanding the
commitment of 120 nations, we have been unable to
obtain the necessary support for the entry into force of
the Kyoto Protocol.
In 2001, the High-Level Panel on Financing for
Development proposed that the various international
27

entities on environment be consolidated into a single
organization with a standing similar to that of the
World Trade Organization or the International
Monetary Fund. Regrettably, this proposal, as well as
similar initiatives, has not yet enjoyed the necessary
consensus for its approval. Undoubtedly, something
must be done soon in this regard.
We live in a globalized world. This is the logical
outcome of the natural evolution of things and the
progress of mankind, especially in the areas of
telecommunication and information technology. This
fact has brought nations closely together and, at the
same time, it has created unavoidable multilateral
responsibilities.
Today, we live in a world that tries to follow not
only the rules of the global market but also democratic
principles, one that tries to uphold higher standards
regarding the observance of human rights, while
rejecting all forms of odious discrimination and
showing concern for the environment. The observance
of these minimum standards, adopted by the
international society itself, should be the rule for
measuring each State.
Costa Rica would like to see the following
principles recognized and practised by the whole
international community: greater respect for human
rights and labour guarantees, greater protection for the
environment and greater social investment in exchange
for less military expenditure. States should have
greater opportunities to access international
cooperation, credit and markets, while prices should be
fair, reflecting real costs. It is not fair that poor
countries, such as Costa Rica, which are making efforts
in the areas of disarmament, respect for human
rights, labour justice, protection of the environment,
and greater social investment, be penalized by
excluding them from the lists of beneficiaries of
cooperation programmes and from systems of
preferential treatment for the access of their products
to the markets of developed countries.
If we desire lasting peace and a secure world, we
should give a humane dimension to relations among
the various nations. Let us undertake together the
challenge to overcome poverty, hunger, malnutrition
and injustice, as we committed ourselves to do just
yesterday, in the meeting convened by the President of
Brazil, His Excellency Mr. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Let us make this task the centre of the international
agenda for the short term. A better world is possible. It
is in our hands to build it.


I would like, on
behalf of Bulgaria, to offer my sincere congratulations
to Mr. Jean Ping on his assumption of the presidency
ó a position of great responsibility. Given his great
experience in multilateral diplomacy, I sure that he will
lead the deliberations of the fifty-ninth session of the
General Assembly to a successful outcome. I would
47

also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the
work done by his predecessor, Mr. Julian Hunte, to
reform and revitalize the Assembly.
(spoke in English)
This is the first year that the Republic of Bulgaria
has taken part in the deliberations of the General
Assembly as a full-fledged member of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and as a State which has successfully
concluded its negotiations on joining the European
Union. We are fully aware of the great responsibility
which we bear this year in discharging our mandate as
the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe. All those factors
encourage Bulgaria to redouble its efforts in support of
the United Nations. We shall continue our efforts
aimed at strengthening the authority and role of the
United Nations. We shall support the constructive
proposals for reforms within the United Nations, which
should enhance its capacity and effectiveness.
Today the United Nations faces new challenges,
which require resolute joint action and coordination.
The United Nations and its bodies, as well as the
specialized institutions within its system, will continue
to make an important contribution aimed at dealing
with extreme poverty and hunger, achieving
sustainable development, containing and eliminating
violence and human rights abuses and affirming the
rule of law, good governance and democratic values.
International terrorism poses the most serious
threat to international peace and security. This requires
coordinated and resolute action by all States and the
entire international community. Nothing can justify
terrorist acts. It is essential that terrorists do not get
hold of weapons of mass destruction nor distract us
from our agenda, as outlined by the Millennium
Declaration.
This month the world remembers the victims of
the terrorist acts of 11 September, marking the
anniversary of those tragic events. We all watched in
horror, anguish and anger the cold-blooded massacre of
innocent children and their parents in the school in
Beslan. That is terrorism at its ugliest.
Bulgaria, too, is firmly convinced that
international terrorism threatens all States and that it
can be dealt with only through joint efforts. It is for
that reason that the people and the Government of
Bulgaria have whole-heartedly supported our countryís
active participation in the global coalition against
terrorism. We are committed to pursuing that policy
steadfastly, even though we have suffered human
losses and sustained damage.
Within the United Nations system, the Security
Council and its Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC)
are vested with the task of ensuring success in the fight
against international terrorism. We share the view that
Security Council resolution 1535 (2004) and the
creation of the new Counter-Terrorism Committee
Executive Directorate have improved coordination in
this field. The Al Qaeda and Taliban Committee,
beefed up in 2004 with the Monitoring Group and
Sanctions Enforcement Support Team, should also
continue to wield its positive influence.
Within the framework of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Bulgaria
has been assisting in the joint initiatives of the CTC
and OSCE and of the United Nations Office for Drug
Control and Crime Prevention.
The OSCE has been involved in several countries
in south-east Europe for many years now, and its
commitment to fostering peace and stability in the
region, through its field missions in Macedonia;
Croatia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Albania; Serbia and
Montenegro; and Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro, has
proved invaluable. Through activities such as
institution- and capacity-building, promoting and
supporting legislative reform, respect for human rights,
and - in cooperation with the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
and other international actors - the repatriation of
refugees and internally displaced persons, the OSCE
has made clear its comparative advantage in the region.
But, while this work is essential, it cannot be done
effectively without enhanced efforts by the international
community to address the regionís lagging infrastructure.
The development of infrastructure and political
stability must go hand in hand. The people of the
region are isolated from each other and from the rest of
the region. Indeed, it can take longer to fly from Sofia to
Tirana than to cross the Atlantic. There is a desperate
need for highways, railways and infrastructure
corridors to bring the people of the region closer
together. Bulgaria knows from experience the
importance for the people of south-eastern Europe of
having the prospect of full integration into mainstream
European political and economic structures.
48

Sustained efforts must be made by the
international community to stimulate economic growth
in that region and to offer young people in particular
tangible hope for the future.
Bulgaria has always regarded the stability and
security of south-east Europe as one of its priorities.
Yet, in spite of the positive changes and the
acceleration of the European and Euro-Atlantic
integration of the States in the region, the events that
took place in Kosovo last March revealed that serious
risks and latent threats still exist. Bulgaria supports the
emergence of a democratic, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural
and multi-religious society in Kosovo. We will
continue to cooperate actively with the United Nations
Mission in Kosovo so that this aim can finally be
attained.
Bulgaria is in favour of the full implementation
of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) and its
ìstandards before statusî policy. An agreement on
those standards, together with the forthcoming
negotiating process, will be decisive for Kosovoís
future. We welcome the Secretary-Generalís initiatives,
and in particular the comprehensive review of the
political situation in Kosovo prepared by Ambassador
Kai Eide. We will continue to lend our active support
to Mr. Soren Jessen-Petersen, the Secretary-Generalís
newly appointed Special Representative. We hope that
the elections next month will prove to be an important
step forward in the context of the social and political
processes under way and towards reaching a durable
solution to the Kosovo problem.
Bulgaria is firmly convinced that the United
Nations must play a key role in the stabilization and
restoration of Iraq, in the ongoing political and
constitutional process, based on Security Council
resolution 1546 (2004), and in the preparations for
democratic and free elections. We welcome the first
steps taken in Baghdad by Mr. Ashraf Qazi, the
Secretary-General's Special Representative, as well as
the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission
for Iraq (UNAMI).
There have been encouraging developments in
the resolution of conflicts in certain hot spots in the
world, such as Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste. At the
same time, there are complicated situations in other
regions, particularly in Africa. The situation in Darfur
is of serious concern. Security Council resolution 1556
(2004) and the recently adopted resolution 1564 (2004)
must be complied with in order to avoid a repetition of
the tragedy in other parts of the African continent, similar
to the events that occurred during the last decade.
During Bulgariaís chairmanship of the OSCE, we
have been making concerted efforts to spur and further
develop cooperation between the United Nations and
the OSCE. We have been encouraged by the Secretary-
Generalís specific initiatives, aimed at improving the
synchronization of actions, communication and
exchange of information with regional organizations.
We give very high marks to United Nations-OSCE
cooperation in the western Balkans, the region of the
Caucasus and in Central Asia.
Contemporary geopolitical realities require not
only cooperation between the United Nations and the
OSCE, but also cooperation with the European Union,
NATO, the Council of Europe, the Commonwealth of
Independent States and relevant international agencies.
In my view, closer interaction between them is of
crucial importance to security, stability, democratic
prosperity and tolerance throughout the world.
The developments in Georgia have been followed
with close attention by the Bulgarian OSCE
chairmanship. We have also been actively involved in
efforts to avert possible crisis situations in the
autonomous region of Ajaria. We note with satisfaction
the encouraging changes that have taken place in
Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, including the decision of the
President of Azerbaijan, announced in March, to
release 129 prisoners, as well as the June decision by
the President and the Parliament of Tajikistan to
impose a moratorium on the death penalty.
The OSCE, through its outreach activities,
attaches great importance to assisting the normalization
of Afghanistan and its steady progress towards
democracy and respect for human rights. We express
our satisfaction at the fact that the OSCE will
contribute to the monitoring of elections in
Afghanistan.
In adapting ourselves to current geopolitical
realities, we envisage building a bridge of confidence
over the Black Sea - an endeavour which can lay the
groundwork for future security, cooperation and
tolerance in Europe, in Asia and the rest of the world.
We are deeply convinced that the Black Sea dialogue is
of special importance not only for participating nations
but also because it can set a positive example for other
parts of the world.
49

Respect for and observance of internationally
recognized standards of human rights by Member
States is a prerequisite both for their national security
and for sustainable development. It is also a
prerequisite for international peace and security. The
protection of basic human rights and fundamental
freedoms worldwide is a priority in the policy of the
Bulgarian Government. Our historical experience
teaches us that, in the quest to achieve prosperity and
security in any society, it is necessary to have not only
an adequate legal system and mechanisms for its
effective implementation, but also a spirit of tolerance.
We must not tolerate only one minority and ignore the
others. Anti-Semitism, anti-Islamism, anti-Arabism,
anti-Europeanism, anti-Americanism and even anti-
globalism ought to be equally and totally rejected.
Bulgaria welcomes the progressive reintegration
of Libya into the international community. However, my
country believes that a compelling message from the
Libyan authorities about their respect for human rights
and human values could only be communicated through a
just solution to the well-known case of the medical
workers - six Bulgarians and one Palestinian - who
have been held behind bars in Tripoli and Benghazi for
almost six years. In this regard, we call upon the
United Nations to redouble its efforts in the fight
against the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, which we
believe is the cause of these tragic developments
concerning these seven innocent people.
Bulgaria regards issues concerning women,
children and persons belonging to vulnerable groups of
the population, including elderly and disabled persons,
as inseparable parts of the entire complex of human
rights. The Bulgarian Government fully supports the
strict implementation of the documents of the World
Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, the twenty-
seventh special session of the General Assembly on
children, the World Assembly on Ageing, as well as the
ongoing efforts of the international community to draft
and adopt a convention on the protection of the rights
and dignity of disabled persons.
The measures aimed at revitalizing all the
activities of the United Nations are of extraordinary
importance for the current session of the General
Assembly. The effectiveness of the work of United
Nations bodies, particularly the General Assembly, the
Security Council and the Economic and Social
Council, is fundamental for solidifying the all-around
role of this world Organization. The sooner we do it,
the better, and all the more so since next year we will
be celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the United
Nations. Let us hope that we will at that time be able to
congratulate ourselves on the adoption of these badly
needed reforms. Taking all this into consideration and
acting on the basis of the political will of all Member
States, as declared at the Millennium Summit, we give
our support to the common efforts for speeding up
United Nations reform and for strengthening the ties and
coordination among the United Nations, the Bretton
Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization.
The United Nations plays a principal and pivotal
role in the Republic of Bulgariaís foreign policy, as
stated at the fifty-eighth session of the General
Assembly by our Prime Minister, Mr. Simeon Saxe-
Coburg-Gotha. To this end, we shall continue our
efforts to promote the role of the United Nations and
enhance its efficiency and organizational structure in
order to promote peace, development, democracy and
the rule of law.


Mr. President, I
offer my congratulations and those of my country on
your election as President of the General Assembly at
its fifty-ninth session.
Eighteen months ago, the United Nations faced
divisions more serious than any since the Cuban
missile crisis of October 1962. We all worried whether
the strength and unity which we had built up since the
end of the cold war could survive.
Then last year we watched, as Secretary-General
Kofi Annan stood at his now famous fork in the road.
In the year since, almost instinctively, we have decided
to follow our Secretary-Generalís directions. This
Organization has not been plunged, as some predicted,
into paralysis; instead, I have felt a powerful if
unspoken determination to make the United Nations
work, and to work more effectively, to fulfil its central
task: to secure peace around the world.
Over the last 12 months we have dealt with new
crises such as that in Darfur in the Sudan, where we
have set clear tasks for both the Sudanese Government
and the rebel groups. We have tackled the situation in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great
Lakes; mobilized international support for the new
Iraq; and addressed a long list of hugely important
subjects which rarely receive the coverage they should
in the media ó Haiti, Georgia, Timor-Leste,
Bougainville and Western Sahara.
We have shown in those actions the unity of
purpose which is one of the strongest weapons in our
hands to defeat the evils which today affect the globe.
And the search for consensus has not been confined to
the Security Council.
I am proud that just a few months after the
difficult times of early last year, France, Germany and
the United Kingdom came together to work, as we
continue to do, on the Iran dossier before the
International Atomic Energy Agency.
I recognize, of course, the frustrations which all
of us feel, not least over the Israel-Palestine conflict,
where the clear path to peace set out in the road map
and endorsed by the Security Council remains elusive.
But all in all we have shown the will to make collective
action work, though we know, too, that we need to go
further.
In particular, we need to get better at tackling
threats which have changed dramatically since the
founding of the United Nations. Today the greatest
threats to our security often come not from other
functioning sovereign States, but from terrorist
organizations, from failing States and from man-made
shocks to our environment like climate change, which
can exacerbate State failure and breed internal
instability.
The High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and
Change appointed by the Secretary-General is
preparing its recommendations on ways to address the
various challenges. We should remember in all this that
we have one great advantage. Though its institutions
and the founding text of the Charter has hardly
changed in 60 years, the United Nations is not an
organization set in stone, but a set of living institutions
based on a shared will to make collective security
work. The United Nations has adapted in the past -
with the development of peacekeeping, a greater focus
on individual rights and the setting of global targets for
34

development - and I am confident that it can adapt in
the future.
Of course, institutional change is part of that. At
the United Nations foundation, one eighth of its
members could expect to be elected members of the
Security Council at any one time. Today that
proportion is less than one eighteenth. The United
Kingdom has long supported the case for expanding
the Security Council to, say, 24 members, and for
including amongst the permanent members: Germany
and Japan, two countries which between them
contribute 28 per cent of the budget of the United
Nations; India, which represents one sixth of the entire
worldís population; and Brazil, which just missed
permanent membership back in 1945.
But we should not see an expansion of the
Security Council, or other institutional change, as a
panacea. The biggest need is to adapt our common
understanding - the United Nations jurisprudence, if
you like - and its operational effectiveness so that we
can respond more quickly and more thoroughly to
todayís new threats.
Let me highlight three areas which to me seem
particularly important: first, our approach must be
broader and must tackle threats to the most vulnerable,
including poverty, disease and environmental
degradation; secondly, we must build a new consensus by
expanding the scope of collective action; and, thirdly, we
must deal with the threat of terrorism, which menaces
us all and everything for which we stand.
Let me now take these three points in turn. First,
there is the need for a broader approach which
addresses the complex and interdependent nature of
security today. Here, we have to do more to meet the
Millennium Development Goals and to promote
sustainable development, especially in Africa. We
cannot have security without development or
development without security.
As the Secretary-General highlighted in his
speech this week, we have to do more to entrench the
rule of law and justice, especially in States recovering
from conflict. The United Kingdom will pursue work
on the Secretary-Generalís report during its Security
Council presidency next month.
We could also use the United Nations better, to
agree to monitor and help implement globally accepted
norms of good governance.
And we need to act together quickly on climate
change, perhaps the greatest long-term threat to our
world in terms of stability and security. We have to
implement Kyoto - and I greatly welcome what my
colleague, His Excellency Sergey Lavrov had to say on
that today - and agree to emission reductions beyond
2012.
My second point is the need to build a new
consensus on the scope of collective action. We all
represent independent, sovereign states. But even as we
founded the United Nations we recognized that
sovereignty was a trust in the hands of a nationís
government: there to be respected, not abused, from
either without or within.
The Charter set out arrangements so that an abuse
from without could be dealt with through the inherent
right of self-defence recognized in Article 51 of the
Charter. But it also said that an abuse from within
which threatens the peace could and should be dealt
with by the Security Council, under the powers
enshrined in the other articles of Chapter VII of the
Charter, and by the many conventions concluded
within the United Nations framework, including, for
example, the 1948 Geneva Convention. No longer -
we all said - could or should the world turn away
from unspeakable barbarities like that of the Holocaust.
But we have not always lived up to those high
expectations, as the tragedies of Rwanda and Bosnia
ten years ago reminded us. Today we must resolve to
do so and to engage in situations of humanitarian
catastrophe or grave violations of international
humanitarian law and to act in the face of other threats
to international peace and security.
The principle of non-interference has to be
qualified by a duty to protect, especially where
Governments are failing in that duty.
We therefore need, for example, to be ready to
support greater use by the Secretary-General of his
powers under Article 99 of the Charter, to bring threats
to peace to the Security Council's attention. We have to
act quickly in response, because prevention is far better
than cure. We should look to work more closely with
regional organizations, as we are doing with the
African Union in Darfur. We need more discussion on
the criteria as to when the international community
might have to intervene with military force in extreme
circumstances. We must get better at engaging for the
long term in countries recovering from conflict,
35

coordinating our efforts in response to locally agreed
priorities.
My third point is the urgent need to combat
global terrorism, a menace directed at us all. If we have
learned anything in the three years since 11 September
2001 it is that international terrorism is indiscriminate
in its targets and merciless in its hatred. Christian, Jew,
Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim, people of no religion
or any religion, and of every or no shade of political
opinion, all have died through the terroristsí bullet or
bomb.
My friend Sergey Lavrov spoke eloquently a
moment ago about the tears still wet for the terrible,
unspeakable massacre of the young and innocent that
took place in Beslan. Sergey, your tears are my tears;
Russiaís tears are the worldís tears. We are all in the
fight against terrorism together.
Today in Iraq we are seeing again the depths to
which the terrorists plumb. The vast majority of the
victims of terrorism in Iraq are Iraqis. Our thoughts
and condolences are with the Government and people
of Iraq and with their families. But some of the victims
of terrorism in Iraq are foreigners who are helping
Iraqis to build a more stable and prosperous country.
One of them is Kenneth Bigley, a British engineer held
hostage by terrorists who have already barbarically
murdered his two American comrades. Our thoughts
and prayers are with their families. We continue to do
all we can to secure Mr. Bigleyís release.
I know - how could I forget - that opinions
have differed over the rightness of the military action
taken in Iraq 18 months ago. But I warrant that no
nation is in favour of the terrorist insurgency now
occurring there. For we all recognize that what is being
attempted by the terrorists in Iraq is an attack both on
the Iraqi people and on everything for which the
Organization stands: safety, security and human rights.
We have to come together to defeat the terrorists and
their despicable aims.
The threat of terrorism confronts democratic,
properly functioning States with an acute dilemma,
namely, how to fight those who recognize none of the
values for which we stand while remaining true to
those values. Our commitments under international
conventions express many of those values and the
importance that we attach to them. But equally, those
conventions cannot be allowed to shelter those
involved in terrorism. The conventions were designed
to protect citizens from abuse by States, not by
terrorists.
The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees protects those with a well-founded fear of
persecution. I am proud that the United Kingdom and so
many other nations have offered that protection when and
where it was required. But as the 1951 Convention
itself sets out, asylum is not an unqualified right. It does
not apply to anyone who has committed a war crime, a
crime against humanity or other serious crime; nor
does it apply to anyone who is guilty of acts contrary
to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
We must never stoop to the level of the terrorist ó
to torture, mistreatment or unjustified incarceration ó
nor will any country within the European Union be
party to the return of suspects to such conditions, nor
to face the death penalty. But we cannot let terrorists
exploit a protection designed for the persecuted, not
the persecutors. We in the United Kingdom shall
therefore be working closely with Russia on its
important draft Security Council resolution, to see how
best we can prevent those who commit, support and
finance terrorism from sheltering behind a refugee
status to which they are not entitled. Along with the
Russian Federation and other partners in the Security
Council, we also wish to look at ways to ensure the
speedier extradition of such individuals.
We, the United Nations, have over the last year
begun to show a new determination to come together
and to make collective action work. A year from now,
we will meet again here to review the
recommendations of the High-level Panel on Threats,
Challenges and Change, as well as the Millennium
Development Goals, and to set the United Nations
agenda for the next decade. The United Kingdomís
chairmanship of the G-8 next year will focus on
tackling climate change and on Africa, on which the
Independent Commission for Africa will be producing
recommendations as to how best we can support the
radical agenda for change and development designed
by Africa itself through the New Partnership for
Africaís Development and the African Union. Our
presidency of the European Union will help us to lead
efforts for a successful outcome in the Doha
Development Round, and for building the European
Unionís crisis-management capabilities.
More than ever, global security is our shared
responsibility. In the year ahead, as we continue to
36

adapt to todayís threats and challenges, we must find
renewed determination and political will to make
collective security work. The United Kingdom is
determined to play its full part in that endeavour.


I
would like to extend my warmest congratulations to
you, Sir, on your election as the President of the
General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session. My
delegation wishes to assure you of its full support and
cooperation during your tenure of office. I also express
my appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Julian Hunte,
for his leadership and tireless work over the past year.
I also extend my appreciation to Mr. Kofi Annan
and his staff for their continuous hard work and
commitment. The Secretary-General’s personal
dedication and leadership in the work of the United
Nations, especially his efforts for global peace and
stability, are an inspiration to us all. Those efforts are
all the more necessary in the light of what many of us
here have described as disturbing world developments.
On behalf of the Government of Brunei
Darussalam, I wish to extend our sympathy and
condolences to the Governments and the peoples of the
United States and the Caribbean countries for the
devastation caused by the recent hurricanes.
Since its establishment 59 years ago, the United
Nations has achieved much, especially in ensuring
international peace and security and creating a stable
and prosperous world. There has not been a world war
since its inception, and it has had a positive impact in
many fields, such as peacekeeping, the eradication of
various diseases and socio-economic development. We
highly commend those efforts and value the sacrifices
of those involved.
However, the achievements of the United Nations
have been undermined by increasingly complex
international developments. In his annual report on the
work of the Organization (A/59/1), the Secretary-
7

General stated that the United Nations has been
through an extraordinarily challenging year. It was the
year in which the Iraq war brought the debate on the
United Nations role into sharper focus.
Moreover, our Organization is still preoccupied
with many unresolved issues. Among others, the
Palestinian conflict remains a grave concern. Terrorism
and weapons of mass destruction continue to pose
serious threats. At the same time, poverty,
environmental degradation and the spread of disease
cause further misery and hardship for millions. Those
issues demand our effective response, which will
ultimately define the relevance of our Organization.
We therefore need more than ever a strong and
effective United Nations, one that is able to promote
world peace and development. It must also give hope
and purpose to the people who increasingly look to it
to improve their lives.
However, the United Nations cannot do all that
on its own. For it to carry out its responsibilities
effectively, Member States need to work together,
contribute resources and honour their commitments. As
we work collectively to meet today’s complex
challenges, we must continue to adhere to the
principles enshrined in the Charter. All the various
conventions and treaties, from nuclear non-
proliferation to environmental conservation, are
manifestations of how we and the United Nations aim
to protect our people and ensure that they can live to
their fullest potential. In that regard, I wish to
congratulate the Secretary-General for his address to
the General Assembly, in which he emphasized the
importance of those issues. It is through our
reaffirmation of the Charter’s principles that we can
effectively uphold human ideals, enhance security and
stability and promote sustainable development.
Without doubt, the United Nations is the most
universal international body for providing a
multilateral response. We need to reform the United
Nations urgently so that it can be better equipped. In
that regard, Brunei Darussalam fully supports the
Secretary-General’s efforts to strengthen and revitalize
the United Nations. In particular, we welcome the work
of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and
Change, which he has set up to address this.
We believe that United Nations reform should be
comprehensive and include an expanded and more
representative Security Council, a revitalized role for
the General Assembly and better coordination among
United Nations agencies. The interest a number of
countries have shown in serving as permanent
members of the Security Council is a clear indication
of the desire for change.
Next year, the Assembly will consider the report
of the High-level Panel and the recommendations of
the Secretary-General. I realize how difficult it is to
find a solution that is acceptable to all, but it is
incumbent upon Member States to make a difference
by implementing the much-needed reforms. Thus, a
willingness to find a balanced set of proposals will be
necessary. We look forward to the report, which,
hopefully, will make the necessary bold and realistic
proposals in order to end the decade-long debate on
this issue.
Next year will be a critical time for us as we
review implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals. To ensure that the commitments
set forth in the Millennium Declaration are
implemented on schedule, we must act without delay.
As for Brunei Darussalam, we are doing our part to
achieve those goals.
As we begin to look into our agenda for this
session, we must remain focused on the issues
affecting many innocent lives in Palestine. Recent
developments, such as the illegal construction of the
wall in the occupied Palestinian territories, must be
stopped and reversed. The advisory opinion of the
International Court of Justice and the subsequent
General Assembly resolution ES-10/15 reflect the
international community’s overwhelming support for
ending injustice in the occupied territories.
The concerned parties must do all they can to
prevent the situation from deteriorating. They must
make serious efforts to honour their obligations as
outlined in the road map. It is critical that progress
should be made so that we can find a comprehensive,
just and durable solution to that longstanding conflict.
The situation in other parts of the Middle East,
such as Iraq, has created enormous anxiety. We
acknowledge the central role of the United Nations and
the efforts of other countries and parties in addressing
the political and humanitarian dimensions of the
problems.
In our region, we recognize that the nuclear issue
on the Korean peninsula has a serious impact on the
peace, stability and security of the Asian-Pacific
region. We appreciate the role of China, the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, the
Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States in
8

seeking a solution through dialogue in the six-party
talks. It is important that all parties concerned continue
their efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the issue.
We are deeply saddened by the horrifying scenes
of harm inflicted upon innocent people by terrorist
acts. Brunei Darussalam would like to convey its great
sympathy to the Governments and the peoples of the
countries in Asia, the Middle East and Europe that
have been targeted by terrorist attacks in the past year.
We strongly condemn those atrocious acts.
Terrorism affects all of us — women and men,
adults and children, developed and developing
countries. It knows no boundaries. It has no ethnic,
racial or religious affinities. Despite concerted efforts,
devastating incidents this year have heightened the
threats and challenges posed by terrorism. Those acts
are becoming more complex, and our fight against
them is far from over. It is therefore important to
address this problem in a comprehensive manner. In
doing so, we need to identify this problem’s real source
and root causes. This is what we have to bear in mind
if we are to achieve a long-term solution. At the same
time, we must not allow terrorists to divide us and
undermine our determination to fight this menace
collectively.
The challenges that we face require us to move
forward to ensure that the United Nations continues to
play its pivotal role. I am confident, Mr. President, that
under your able leadership, the General Assembly will
achieve success and make the decisions necessary to
fulfil the hopes and expectations of the peoples it
represents. Our tasks are great, but so also are our
capabilities when we all work together.


May I, as Prime
Minister of Malaysia and in my capacity as Chairman
of the Non-Aligned Movement and Chairman of the
tenth Islamic Summit Conference, offer my sincere
congratulations to you, Mr. President, on your election
as the President of the General Assembly at its fifty-
ninth session. I am confident that with your wisdom,
experience and diplomatic skill, you will steer the
proceedings of the Assembly to a successful
conclusion. I assure you of Malaysia’s fullest
cooperation. I strongly believe that the member
countries of the Non-Aligned Movement and the
Organization of the Islamic Conference would
similarly render all their support and cooperation to
you.
Allow me also to pay tribute to your
distinguished predecessor, the Honourable Julian
Robert Hunte of Saint Lucia. He discharged his
responsibility with dedication and full commitment, in
an efficient and effective manner. I commend
especially his leadership in moving forward the process
of revitalization of the General Assembly.
I wish to commend as well the Secretary-General
and the Secretariat for their perseverance and relentless
efforts in pursuit of the goals of the United Nations. In
particular, I congratulate the Secretary-General for his
initiatives to claim for the United Nations a more
central role in the management of world affairs. I
salute also the dedicated men and women of the United
Nations who have sacrificed their lives in the service
of humanity.
When we met last year at the Assembly’s fifty-
eighth session, we were deeply distressed that there
was so much gloom in the international situation as a
result of a breakdown in the multilateral negotiating
processes. We were bitterly divided over the invasion
of Iraq; there was great disappointment about the
deadlock in the World Trade Organization ministerial
meeting in Cancún, and we had to mourn the death of
international civil servants who were killed during an
act of terrorism against the United Nations
headquarters in Baghdad.
2

Therefore, I consider it our solemn obligation at
this fifty-ninth session to reaffirm the rightful role of
the United Nations in the management of critical issues
affecting international peace and security, and commit
ourselves to abide by multilateralism in the quest for a
more just and equitable international order. We must
also take the necessary steps to ensure that never again
should the United Nations be sidelined.
As the General Assembly is the most
representative organ of the United Nations, we must
dedicate ourselves to finding consensus on measures to
revitalize the Assembly to fulfil its mandate in
accordance with the Charter. We must build upon the
work done in the fifty-eighth session. Again, we look
towards the leadership of the Assembly President in
that regard.
In that connection, the Malaysian delegation
wishes to advocate that this fifty-ninth session of the
Assembly accord high priority to ensuring that the
United Nations regains its central role in social,
economic and development issues. The United
Nations — through an enhanced Economic and Social
Council — should provide the impetus for the creation
of an international economic system which better
promotes the interests of developing countries. The
United Nations must do more to realize all
internationally agreed targets, particularly the
Millennium Development Goals. As the eradication of
poverty and hunger is fundamental to the achievement
of those Goals, Malaysia fully appreciates the Brazilian
initiative to create new and innovative forms of
funding to meet those challenges.
We look forward to receiving the report of the
High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change,
appointed by the Secretary-General last year. We
believe the Secretary-General will make his own
recommendations based on that report, and they should
provide the basis for in-depth discussion among
Member States in the months leading up to the sixtieth
anniversary of the United Nations.
This world body, the processes of multilateralism
and, indeed, the entire international system must
necessarily change. However, those changes must be
effected without sacrificing certain immutable
principles, such as sovereign equality, non-interference
in the domestic affairs of States, peaceful settlement of
disputes and respect for international law. What we do
in that respect during the fifty-ninth session of the
General Assembly will therefore be crucial.
Reform of the United Nations is a cause
particularly dear to both the Non-Aligned Movement
and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. They
look forward to working closely with you,
Mr. President, as well as with other Members of the
United Nations and the Secretary-General on this
matter.
Most immediately, we must find ways and means
to let the United Nations assume its proper role in
combating international terrorism. Malaysia is
convinced that the fight against terrorism cannot
succeed through the force of arms alone. To win it, we
need to exert genuine efforts and demonstrate good
faith to address the root causes of terrorism, one of the
most obvious of which is the unfulfilled dreams of
peoples struggling for independence and aspiring to
sovereign States of their own. To find the answers, we
must promote genuine dialogue and rid ourselves of the
prejudices and bigotry triggered by the events of
11 September and further aggravated by subsequent
events. The United Nations is clearly the best forum
for such a dialogue to take place without malice, in a
shared environment that is devoted to finding peace
among nations and building friendship between
peoples. The United Nations can facilitate the
convening of a special international conference to
consider the question in all its aspects, including the
root causes of terrorism and the issue of State-
sponsored terrorism.
One of the most important aspects to be
addressed by such a dialogue is the necessity to
inculcate a frank appreciation, understanding and
acceptance of different civilizations and cultures,
including religions. There is an urgent need to stop
tarnishing the Muslim world with unfair stereotypes.
We must cease associating Islam with violence,
poverty and indignity. In reality, the troubles have
nothing to do with Islam; nor are the problems
exclusively associated with Muslims. We need to clear
the confusion that links the problems faced by some
Muslim countries with the religion of Islam.
We also note with great concern the increasing
tendency to link the fight against terrorism with the
campaign against the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction. Developing countries suffer as a result of
restrictions imposed on their access for peaceful uses
3

to the technology, equipment and material necessary
for their economic development. Malaysia is fully and
firmly committed to the cause of non-proliferation, but
there must be multilateral negotiations for universal,
comprehensive and non-discriminatory agreements and
arrangements. Above all, nothing should be done at the
expense of the resources needed for the international
development agenda.
Most damaging of all is the increasing tendency
to attribute linkages between international terrorism
and Islam. The time has indeed arrived for us to
debunk, once and for all, the theory that there is a clash
of civilizations. I speak from the experience of my own
country, Malaysia, where we have shown that Islam is
not an impediment to modernity and to democracy. It is
not an impediment to rapid economic growth, to self-
respect and confidence, to tolerance and mutual respect
across religions, cultures and ethnic groups. In
Malaysia, we celebrate the multi-ethnicity of our
people, of Malaysians. For us, our multi-ethnic and
cultural diversity is a national asset. It has taught us to
be tolerant, value mutual respect and cooperate for the
common good. We sincerely believe that this message
deserves a wider audience.
I am certain that the Organization of the Islamic
Conference would be supportive of a dialogue designed
to create greater understanding between peoples and
civilizations and that would lead to real action and
effect changes at the societal level. The Non-Aligned
Movement, too, would be equally keen to support
initiatives that would have the effect of establishing
harmony and restoring stability in the world.
Since the stability of many nation-States
continues to be threatened, especially by armed
conflicts, there is a critical need, more than ever, for
Members of the United Nations to unite and close
ranks to put a stop to such conflicts, be they inter-State
or intra-State.
Iraq is still in turmoil. Although Security Council
resolution 1546 (2004) of 8 June 2004 enabled the
return of sovereignty to the people of Iraq, the
unrelenting conflict continues in that country. The
same resolution also renewed the mandate of the
multinational force, but the reality on the ground
suggests that the existing arrangements cannot stabilize
the situation there.
The situation in Iraq clearly calls for the United
Nations to be given the lead role, particularly in
establishing stability in preparation for the elections
scheduled for January 2005. Orderly elections are
critical to the process of re-establishing a truly
independent and sovereign Government in Iraq.
The United Nations also has the best credentials
to enable Member States to take part in peace-building
and in the reconstruction of Iraq. The international
community owes it to the people of Iraq to summon its
collective resolve and political will to allow all of that
to happen. If we collectively succeed in assisting Iraq
to seize the moment, we would also succeed at the
same time in bringing a closure to the bitter
divisiveness which was brought about, in the
beginning, by unilateralism over that same issue.
While the precarious situation in Iraq cries out for
United Nations action, the plight and suffering of the
people of Palestine remains a tragic embodiment of the
consequences of non-implementation of United
Nations resolutions and the non-enforcement of United
Nations decisions. We must actively revive the road
map for peace in the Middle East, which remains
unimplemented. The Quartet needs to play a more
vigorous role. The international community must lend
its full weight to push for an independent and
sovereign State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its
capital, and with Israel and Palestine living peacefully,
side by side within secure and recognized borders.
To create an environment of confidence for the
speedy resuscitation of the road map, we must
seriously consider approving the deployment of a
United Nations peacekeeping force or the deployment
of an international monitoring mechanism to oversee
the implementation of the road map for peace in the
Middle East.
We must also find ways to give effect to the
historic advisory opinion of the International Court of
Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of
a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory. In October
last year, the General Assembly overwhelmingly
adopted a resolution demanding that Israel stop and
reverse construction of the wall built in the West Bank.
It is unacceptable that a multilateral resolution giving
effect to the International Court of Justice’s advisory
opinion cannot be effectively implemented. Clearly, the
search for peace and security also depends on our
willingness and determination to ensure its
enforceability.
4

I strongly believe that multilateralism is the only
approach for implementing resolutions and decisions
concerning global peace and security. Adherence to the
Charter of the United Nations should be a solemn
obligation, not a matter of choice. For Malaysia, the
United Nations is crucial as the guarantor of the
sanctity of our existence as a sovereign nation and as
the institution where the principles of international law
are protected and safeguarded. Small nations such as
Malaysia do not have the military and other means to
insulate themselves from invasion or occupation by big
Powers. But no sovereign nation should ever be
subjected to the threat of military action by another. No
international intervention should ever be undertaken
unless consistent with the United Nations Charter. If
the law of the jungle were to prevail, the small and the
weak would certainly perish.
In this matter, no one should ever lose sight of the
fact that when the defence of the nation-State is called
for, it is actually the well-being of the State’s people
that is at stake. The world must take special note of
this and give due recognition to the voices and the
contributions of global civil society in matters
affecting international peace and security.
To foster genuine peace and security, the world
naturally looks to the big Powers for leadership. A
sincere commitment to multilateralism on the part of
the big Powers will send a strong signal to all nations,
large and small, that the purposes and principles of the
United Nations shall form the basis of the conduct of
relations between nations. Such a commitment will
also provide the foundation for a true international
partnership, not only for establishing global peace and
security but also for achieving international economic
and social development. Of course, multilateralism can
be sustained only if it embraces all nations as
important stakeholders and excludes none.
Therefore, urgent steps must be taken to make
multilateral processes relevant and effective. To begin,
the principal organs of the United Nations, in particular
the Security Council, should be rendered more
democratic and more representative of the number and
geographical distribution of its international
membership. The exercise of the veto by the permanent
members of the Security Council should be regulated
in order to prohibit that power from being used at the
sole discretion of its holder. It is unjust that any single
country should be allowed the impunity of overruling
at will the wish of the majority. That injustice can be
rectified, for example, by enabling certain types of
General Assembly resolutions to overrule a Security
Council veto.
We must find a comprehensive and just solution
to the problem of Palestine. We must allow the United
Nations to take the lead role in stabilizing the situation
in Iraq. We need to address seriously and resolutely the
scourge of international terrorism, the elimination of
global poverty, the proliferation of transnational
crimes, the destruction of the environment and the
spread of the AIDS epidemic, as well as the economic
and social advancement of all humankind. The global
economic order, especially in the sphere of
international finance, must be made more fair and
equitable. The way forward and our best hope lie in
universal commitment now to multilateralism.