At the outset, it gives me pleasure to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session, and to wish you every success.
I also express our appreciation to Her Excellency Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces for her efforts in leading the work of the General Assembly during its seventy-third session.
We appreciate as well the efforts of Secretary- General Antonio Guterres to enhance the role of the United Nations and achieve its lofty goals.
The world is facing enormous and diverse cross- border challenges between peoples and States that require multilateral action, especially to address threats to international peace and security, environmental issues, sustainable development, asylum and migration.
Regarding international peace and security, nothing can replace the wisdom of leaders — especially among the major Powers — who embrace the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations. All that we can do is use the mechanisms adopted by the international community for collective security, deter those who violate international law, ensure respect for the sovereignty and security of States, prohibit the occupation or annexation of the territory of others by force or attempts to change their nature, and prevent armed conflict through the peaceful resolution of disputes.
The strategic importance of the Gulf region makes stability in our region an imperative issue at the regional and international levels. We stress our firm position that the region should be kept risk-free by resolving differences through dialogue based on common interests and respect for the sovereignty of its States. Provoking tensions and dictating conduct through the use of blockades and sanctions are not in the interests of any of the States of the region. I have previously pointed out the need to establish a regional security system that preserves the security and stability of the Middle East in general and the Gulf region in particular. Current events confirm the importance of that idea and the need to achieve it.
The unjust, unlawful and unjustified blockade imposed by some countries against the State of Qatar continues. The Gulf Cooperation Council was the second victim of the blockade, which paralysed it and robbed of its role in the region.
When I stood here before the Assembly two years ago, three months after the imposition of the blockade, I was confident in the steadfastness of the Qatari people and that we could overcome the blockade’s effects (see A/72/PV.4). I was even confident they we would take advantage of the challenge imposed on us despite the price we paid.
I have also been confident, since the first day of the campaign of incitement and distortion which preceded the blockade, that Gulf, Arab and world public opinion would come to realize the hidden agenda of the propaganda campaign against the State of Qatar, which is driven by a tendency towards domination, a desire to impose influence and control over the potential of other States and the objective of making false accusations that are quickly proven wrong. That has indeed happened, as was the case when that approach was repeatedly exposed in the past after other States fell victim to it.
In line with our firm policy of respect for international law and the peaceful resolution of differences and disputes, and having endured aggression, we emphasize our position that unconditional dialogue based on mutual respect and the lifting of the unjust blockade is the only means to end the crisis. We reiterate our deep appreciation for the sincere efforts of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Amir of the sisterly State of Kuwait, and the endeavours of sisterly and friendly countries to resolve the crisis.
The ongoing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and of Arab territories in general, as well as associated unlawful practices, in particular the expansion of settlements, the Judaification of the city of Jerusalem, the unjust and repressive blockade of the Gaza Strip and the intensification of settlement activity in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights leading to a change in its nature, are taking place in overt defiance of the United Nations and its resolutions, to the extent that Israel has come to regard the airspace of the countries of the region as open to it. How long will the international community remain unable to enforce respect for itself when it comes to Palestine?
It has been proven that settling differences by force can only lead to occupation based on force. However, permanent peace is based on justice, which entails guaranteeing the rights of the Palestinian people whose homeland has been usurped and who have the absolute right to the establishment of a Palestinian State within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as the ending of the Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab lands, including the Syrian Golan Heights and the Lebanese territories. Qatar will continue to support any effort to realize a just peace and to provide political and humanitarian support to the brotherly Palestinian people.
The tragedy of the Syrian people and their continuous suffering for the past eight years has become a major scandal and a disgrace to humankind. What makes that human crisis all the more dangerous is the absence of a clear vision for its resolution, compounded by the continued killings, destruction, displacement and international indifference.
We are all aware that the main responsibility for the failure to impose a political solution, which we would all like to have for Syria, is the inability of the Security Council to protect civilians and make the necessary decisions to stop the bloodshed and the continued intransigence of the Syrian regime and its rejection of all regional and international initiatives. Everyone listening to me now knows that when we refer to the Security Council, we mean the major Powers.
It is high time for the Syrian people to enjoy security, a decent life and justice through a political solution that fulfils the aspirations of all segments of the population in line with the 2012 Geneva communique (S/2012/522, annex) and Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2254 (2015). That would preserve the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Syria, while upholding justice by holding accountable, in keeping with the international law, those who commit atrocities against civilians. The State of Qatar will continue to fulfil its humanitarian obligations by providing political support and humanitarian aid to the brotherly people of Syria in order to alleviate their suffering.
As for our brotherly Yemen, we stress its unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as the need to conclude the political process in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions, specifically resolution 2216 (2015).
In that regard, I emphasize that the outcome of the National Dialogue Conference in January 2014, in which all the Yemeni parties participated, provided equitable and fair solutions to all the issues related to the ongoing fighting, including the system of government, the State’s federal structure and the issue of the south. The parties reached those solutions by way of dialogue among themselves. Until Yemenis implement the solutions they have reached without foreign intervention, there is nothing to be done but support United Nations efforts to end the war and support its humanitarian and relief efforts.
The latest developments in Libya threaten national unity and stability. The recent military operations against the capital Tripoli have thwarted the comprehensive National Conference — yet another failure of the collective security system in the Middle East caused by double standards and selectivity in the implementation of international law resulting from some countries supporting the military militias against the legitimate Government.
The militias do not hesitate to commit war crimes against civilians. We call for the perpetrators of such crimes to be held accountable and for the legitimate, internationally recognized Government of National Accord to be supported with a view to enabling it to discharge all its functions, putting an end to the suffering of the Libyan people and restoring security and stability across Libya.
The Libyan people have paid a high price for their liberty but have not reaped the fruits of their struggle and sacrifices and have grown tired of the chaos despite international efforts and an internationally recognized settlement. Why is it not being implemented? Because certain countries do not practise what they preach. They formally participate in international efforts while undermining those efforts by supporting warlords and terrorist militias for the benefit of their narrow interests. We call on all actors in Libya to assume their responsibilities and respect the will of the Libyan people for a peaceful solution. We caution that interference in Libyan affairs further complicates the crisis, impedes national reconciliation and goes against Security Council resolutions.
With the help of God, Qatar continues to provide a space for dialogue and support for reconciliation based on rational and equitable solutions to crises and armed conflicts. We hosted negotiations between the United States and the Taliban. Before the United States decided to hold those negotiations, significant progress had been made between the two sides to achieve peace in Afghanistan. We call on the international community and in particular on the States of the region to join their efforts to achieve peace and stability in that country.
Developments over the past year in more than one country in our region have proven that repression and crimes against humanity, whose perpetrators have tried in vain to block the course of history, have not diminished people’s aspirations for justice and human dignity or the aspirations of Arab young people for a better future. They have also proven that gradual reform is the best path to change in countries with complex societies in what is a complicated region. Had some regimes opted for reforms in response to the aspirations of their people, they would have saved themselves enormous losses and the lives of countless victims.
In that regard, we value the steps taken and agreements reached between the Sudanese parties. We are confident that the Sudanese people are capable of moving beyond the ongoing sensitive transitional phase. We renew our commitment and stand alongside our brethren people of the Sudan, and call on all regional and international Powers to support the Sudan in realizing the aspirations of its people for security, stability and development. I also call on the Administration of the United States to remove the Sudan from the list of States that sponsor terrorism.
The combination of terrorism and violent extremism has become a major threat to the entire world. The eradication of terrorism requires a comprehensive approach that includes tackling its political, economic and social roots, in addition to taking preventive and military action.
We reiterate our condemnation of all forms of terrorism and our support for combating them. In that regard, many countries have begun to realize the mistake of linking terrorism to a particular religion after experiencing racially or ideologically motivated terrorist acts. There is a political and moral imperative to stop confining terrorism to certain individuals and groups and to consider all crimes against unarmed civilians committed by States as State terrorism. We all know what is happening in Syria, Palestine and Libya. It is also necessary to distinguish between terrorism and resistance against occupation.
The State of Qatar will continue to actively participate in international efforts to combat violent extremism. In that respect, I note the conclusion of a partnership agreement between the State of Qatar and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and our contribution of $75 million to strengthen the capacity of that Office, as well the opening of the international centre on applying behavioural insights to preventing and countering violent extremism, as well as the partnership agreement between the Silatech institution in Qatar and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force for capacity-building and launching projects in the Arab region aimed at preventing terrorism.
Locally, efforts are continuing at the legislative level and so is our support for national counter- terrorism institutions — to the point where they have become a model to be followed at the regional level. Qatar is playing an active role today in implementing the counter-terrorism mechanisms adopted by the international community.
Although the use of communications technology is of the utmost importance in our modern world in the security, economic, commercial and other fields, the misuse of that technology is threatening the security of States and the cordial relations among them ,and is also infringing on the private lives of individuals and causing economic damage. As the Assembly may know, Qatar News Agency has been prey to digital piracy and espionage.
Mindful of the growing importance of that issue, I renew my proposal of last year (see A/73/PV.6) in calling for an international conference to examine means of regulation in that area by international law. I would like to express the readiness of the State of Qatar to host such a conference under the auspices of the United Nations and to make every effort alongside international partners to ensure its success.
We are all aware that the effects of climate change are a common concern of the international community and pose an existential threat to some countries. They also have a negative impact on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the quality of human life. Despite the different situations and circumstances among countries, we need international cooperation today more than ever and must ensure the credibility of multilateral action to counter the challenges of climate change. In that connection, the State of Qatar has assumed an active role in international efforts on climate change — in partnership with France, Jamaica and the United Nations — and has led the coalition on climate finance and carbon-pricing.
The State of Qatar has pursued a consistent policy to protect and promote human rights on the basis of our Arab and Islamic principles and values, which affirm human worth. In that regard, we honour our commitments at the national and international levels to defend individual and collective rights and ensure respect for human rights and dignity. Qatar has made significant achievements in terms of workers’ rights and work conditions, in coordination with the International Labour Organization.
The success of the United Nations in addressing common challenges depends on the implementation by Member States of their commitments and responsibilities. In that regard, the State of Qatar has concluded partnerships with many United Nations organs and Doha will soon host the United Nations House, which includes offices of various agencies of the Organization concerned with peace, development, human rights, the rule of law, humanitarian action, counter-terrorism and combating extremism, so as to enable them to optimize the performance of their functions.
The State of Qatar has recently announced its support for the core resources of the United Nations, with the allocation of $500 million in addition to the support that we have already provided. Qatar is now one of the biggest donor partners supporting the United Nations in various fields.
In conclusion, I renew our commitment to multilateral international action, partnership and cooperation in the interest of our peoples and the good of humankind.
May peace and God’s mercy and blessings be upon those present.


I stand here deeply moved at the coincidence that I should speak following my counterpart, the Foreign Minister of Botswana, given that my grandfather, Z. K. Matthews, stood here in 1966 as the first Ambassador of the newly independent Botswana.
I represent the President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa as I stand here today. I wish on behalf of South Africa to congratulate you, Sir, on your leadership of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. We are pleased to see a leader from our sister country Nigeria preside over the Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. I assure you of South Africa’s full support as you implement your priorities and responsibilities during your term in office.
We thoroughly welcome the theme that you have chosen. It is indeed timely and relevant, especially given the complex challenges facing the world today. Far too many of the world’s population remain poor, jobless and hopeless. It is imperative that we intensify efforts directed at fundamentally changing their lives.
This debate holds special significance for South Africa as it coincides with the twenty-fifth anniversary of South Africa’s freedom and democracy. Our anniversary is due in large measure to the solidarity we enjoyed from most States Members of the United Nations, and it is because of this history that South Africa is also vested in the ideal of a robust and coherent United Nations as it is this Organization that has the ability to ensure that all who yearn for freedom achieve it. We know from our experience and history that it will only be through the determined efforts of the United Nations family that freedom for the people of Palestine can be achieved and only through the United Nations family that the Sahrawi people can enjoy freedom.
As early as 1946, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, the issue of apartheid South Africa’s discriminatory policies was included as an item on the agenda of the first session of the General Assembly. It was therefore with no great surprise that a democratic South Africa eagerly pursued its new international role and enthusiastically took up its responsibilities as an active Member of the United Nations.
We have sought to participate in all aspects of the United Nations, including by serving in its principal organs. The principles that motivate our action derive from a firm belief in multilateralism, especially a global governance system that is fair, equitable and representative; the promotion of peace and security through global disarmament, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the promotion of good governance; the promotion of human rights; and the fight against poverty through the promotion of sustainable development. We strongly believe that a purposive system of multilateralism is necessary to deal with the global challenges we confront us. We are all interdependent in an ever more globalized world, and we can ill afford the pursuit of narrow self-interests.
Today, South Africa is able to partner with the United Nations in addressing the injustice and imbalances that are a legacy of our past. As Government and civil society in South Africa, we respect and act on the decisions of the United Nations. This includes actions in response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which articulate a transformative global development agenda. South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030 is the policy we have adopted to execute our commitment to achieving the SDGs. Our Plan complements our efforts to support peace, development and security on our continent and the aspirations contained in Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU).
We believe that, in order to achieve these goals, all Member States should establish partnerships, primarily with the private sector and civil society organizations, to ensure a joint commitment aimed at realizing a world free of poverty and underdevelopment.
One of the greatest obstacles to building a world free of poverty and inequality is intolerance. This includes intolerance of other nations and intolerance of our fellow human beings, as well as inadequate care for the natural environment that sustains us all. Intolerance is exhibited most gruesomely by the evidence of gender-based violence and the exclusion of women from many sectors in society. Our country, South Africa, is taking urgent steps to address the scars of gender-based violence. All of us need to act urgently to ensure that we all enjoy full access to our human rights and that all our citizens, in particular, women, enjoy bodily security. We also face an existential threat due to our intolerance and the disrespect and veritable violence we inflict on the planet on which we all depend.
The Organization, however, is a manifestation of the rejection of intolerance. It was created in the aftermath of a devastating world war as a global forum where nations of the world can address differences and work together for the common good of all people. Our annual gathering here in the Assembly Hall should provide us an opportunity to recommit to these important values.
I firmly believe that we are all here because we are committed to the ideal of multilateral solutions to the world’s problems, which draws on strength through diversity — diversity of perspective born from differences in upbringing and culture. By being here, therefore, we recognize that we need each other and that we need to work together. We must therefore use this opportunity to rally against intolerance of any kind so that nations can live in peace and respect each other irrespective of nationality, religion, ethnic or social origin, gender or any other status. It is through our differences that we should find strength and not division.
Unfortunately, our country, South Africa, has not been immune from evidence of intolerance and division in some parts of our nation. The incidents of violence and looting that erupted in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces were regrettable and shameful for a nation with such a proud history of struggle and international solidarity and support. The Government of South Africa strongly condemned these tragic actions and is working hard to ensure we address the security lapses and intolerance that led to the violence. We are working tirelessly to tackle crime and lawlessness and to ensure that the arrested criminals face the full might of the law.
We are also committed to addressing the inadequacy of our immigration administration in order to curb illegal migration and to make sure that everyone who comes to South Africa is documented and safe. We plan to work with all countries of the continent to ensure that we implement our development strategies and use them to create greater economic opportunities for all our people so as to diminish feelings of resentment and antipathy. Working with civil society, we will build bridges allowing all who live in South Africa to reach out to each other in order to build bonds of friendship and pan-Africanism.
I am pleased that I can honestly confirm to this important global body that South Africa has an unwavering commitment to our continent, Africa. We have made dedicated efforts to contribute positively in support of peace and development on our continent, and we will continue those efforts even as we work to address the inadequacies I have referred to.
Our country, South Africa, has enjoyed democracy for 25 years, and in that time the leaders and the people of South Africa have consistently acknowledged the immeasurable contribution that the people of Africa rendered in support of the struggle against apartheid. Our neighbouring States in particular, and the rest of the countries of Africa made great sacrifices in support of the liberation movements and the oppressed citizens of South Africa.
We wish to reiterate that South Africa does not condone any form of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia or related intolerance. In fact, South Africa has embraced millions of migrants and refugees from all over the continent of Africa, and the majority of our people have warmly embraced their brothers and sisters from the continent. We are determined to ensure that it becomes a national embrace and is not a limited to some communities.
It is an honour for us to address the General Assembly in the first year of the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, which the Assembly last year agreed would run from 2019 to 2028. The Decade calls on us to intensify our efforts to pursue international peace and security, development and human rights. South Africa therefore commits to use the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace to promote the strengthening of multilateralism and diplomacy as effective tools for addressing the challenges facing the world today.
We cannot decisively deal with the threats of poverty unless we transform the current structure of the global economy, which continues to perpetuate divisions between the global North and global South. While a few enjoy the benefits of globalization, the majority of the people of the world have not reaped those benefits. It is necessary for us all to work together and spare no effort in addressing the challenges brought by the impact of globalization and the untransformed structure of global economy.
The issues of global peace and security continue to be one of our foremost priorities within the United Nations family. In that regard, we welcome the United Nations efforts to address the plethora of challenges to peace and security that serve as a major obstacle to our efforts of the development of the continent.
We are currently serving as a member of the Security Council. The theme for our term is “Continuing the legacy: working for a just and peaceful world”. That is the embodiment of the legacy of Nelson Mandela and furthers the objective of silencing the guns on the African continent by 2020. We are using our tenure to promote the maintenance of international peace and security and advocate for the peaceful settlement of disputes and inclusive dialogue. We continue to encourage closer cooperation between the Security Council and other regional and subregional organizations, particularly our African Union.
We further emphasize the role of women in the resolution of conflict. We argue for a gender perspective to be mainstreamed into all Security Council resolutions, in line with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), on women and peace and security, which was adopted at the initiative of our neighbour Namibia. Despite the commitments in the resolution, women remain excluded from peace processes, including in the drafting of peace agreements, and their involvement in United Nations peacekeeping is limited. We need to ensure that women are fully part of peacebuilding processes and form a part of the institutions that are established once conflict has been eradicated. In October, we will preside over the Security Council’s debate on that subject. The emphasis of the debate should be to ensure the implementation of the commitments that we have made to fully implementing the women and peace and security agenda.
As we have consistently stated, South Africa is supportive of this global institution and a rules-based multilateral system, but we believe that the United Nations remains hamstrung by the fact that it continues to have structures that are undemocratic and anachronistic. We remain gravely concerned that 74 years after the founding of the United Nations, key decisions on peace and security are the de facto domain of only five countries. Twenty years of discussions on reform of the Security Council have yielded no movement towards a more representative and inclusive body.
We believe that the time has come for the broader membership to heed the overwhelming call for Africa to obtain at least two permanent seats, with all the prerogatives of permanent membership, as well as five non-permanent seats, as embodied in the Common African Position, adopted in the Ezulwini Consensus. In that regard, we must see an invigoration of the negotiations on reform at the intergovernmental negotiations, including by ensuring that we move to text-based negotiations.
Our continent Africa has reached an important milestone with the adoption and launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement. The agreement entered into force on 30 May, and we are confident that it will unleash Africa’s economic potential and consolidate its position as a new frontier of economic growth and development. It is a flagship imitative of the AU Agenda 2063, and the trade opportunities it creates must be taken up by all member States and our partners. We are ready to engage in active deliberations on that bold step.
We wish to stress that Africa’s development cannot be addressed without responding to illicit financial flows. We believe that those debilitate our efforts to generate sufficient domestic resources to support our development. We propose that we work together as the international community to establish an intergovernmental framework that would have a universal political mandate, which would serve as a basis to address those illicit flows, including speeding up the return of assets.
The international community stands at a unique crossroads where the shifting international order has the ability to shape international peace and security for decades to come. It is therefore a great disappointment that we witnessed the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in August. Furthermore, in the prevailing international climate, successes in the field of disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, are few and far between. The threats posed by those weapons are too great for the international community to ignore. We believe that only the complete, transparent, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of such weapons and their means of delivery can prevent their use in an escalating conflict.
We feel ashamed by the fact that for over 70 years, the people of Palestine have lived under occupation. In the past year, that occupation has worsened, with continued illegal settlement activity and further insecurity for the peoples of Palestine and Israel. As the international community, we must continue to urge for a negotiated settlement to that long-standing conflict.
The United Nations must remain seized by the issue of Western Sahara, for the benefit of its people and Africa’s aspirations to a truly free Africa, with no country under colonial and imperial control.
We also reiterate our steadfast solidarity with the Government and people of Cuba, while condemning the continuation of unilateral sanctions against Cuba and Zimbabwe.
I wish to conclude by affirming that South Africa stands ready to work with all Member States to promote the United Nations and its objectives of promoting international peace and security, development and human rights enjoyed by all, so that finally we can reach a point when all our people enjoy freedom, development and democracy.


Seven decades of history have passed through this Hall in all of their richness and drama. From where I stand, the world has heard from presidents and premiers, even at the height of the Cold War. We have seen the foundation of nations. We have seen the ringleaders of revolution. We have beheld saints who inspired us with hope, rebels who steered us with passion and heroes who emboldened us with courage, all here to share plans, proposals, visions and ideas on the world’s biggest stage.
Like those who met us before, our time is one of great contests, high stakes and clear choices. The essential divide that runs all around the world and throughout history is once again thrown in to stark relief. It is the divide between those whose thirst for control deludes them into thinking they are destined to rule over others and those people and nations who want only to rule themselves.
I have the immense privilege of addressing the General Assembly today as the elected leader of a nation that prizes liberty, independence and self-government above all. The United States, after having spent over $2.5 trillion since my election to completely rebuild our great military, is also by far the world’s most powerful nation. Hopefully, it will never have to use this power. Americans know that, in a world where others seek conquest and domination, our nation must be strong in wealth, in might and in spirit. That is why the United States rigorously defends the traditions and customs that have made us who we are.
Like my beloved country, each nation represented in this Hall has a cherished history, culture and heritage that is worth defending and celebrating, and which gives us our singular potential and strength. The free world must embrace its national foundations. It must not attempt to erase them or replace them. Looking around and all over this large, magnificent planet, the truth is plain to see. If you want freedom, take pride in your country. If you want democracy, hold on to your sovereignty. And if you want peace, love your nation.
Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first. The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots. The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations that protect their citizens, respect their neighbours and honour the differences that make each country special and unique. That is why we in the United States have embarked on an exciting programme of national renewal. In everything we do, we are focused on empowering the dreams and aspirations of our citizens.
Thanks to our pro-growth economic policies, our domestic unemployment rate reached its lowest level in over half a century. Fuelled by massive tax cuts and regulations cuts, jobs are being produced at a historic rate. Six million Americans were added to the employment rolls in under three years. Last month, African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian- American unemployment reached their lowest rates ever recorded. We are marshalling our nation’s vast energy abundance, and the United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world. Wages are rising, incomes are soaring and 2.5 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty in less than three years.
As we rebuild the unrivalled might of the American military, we are also revitalizing our alliances by making it very clear that all of our partners are expected to pay their fair share of the tremendous defence burden that the United States has borne in the past. At the centre of our vision for national renewal is an ambitious campaign to reform international trade. For decades, the international trading system has been easily exploited by nations acting in very bad faith. As jobs were outsourced, a small handful grew wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
In America the result was 4.2 million lost manufacturing jobs and $15 trillion in trade deficits over the last quarter-century. The United States is now taking decisive action to end this grave economic injustice. Our goal is simple. We want balanced trade that is both fair and reciprocal. We have worked closely with our partners in Mexico and Canada to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement with a brand new and, hopefully, bipartisan United States-Mexico-Canada agreement. Tomorrow I will join Prime Minister Abe of Japan to continue our progress in finalizing a terrific new trade deal. As the United Kingdom makes preparations to exit the European Union, I have made clear that we stand ready to complete an exceptional new trade agreement with the United Kingdom that will bring tremendous benefits to both our countries. We are working closely with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a magnificent new trade deal.
The most important difference in America’s new approach to trade concerns our relationship with China. In 2001, China was admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Our leaders at that time argued that that decision would compel China to liberalize its economy and strengthen protections against things that were unacceptable to us and in support of private property and the rule of law.
Two decades later, that theory has been tested and proven completely wrong. Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, but it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy State subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets on a grand scale.
As just one example, I recently met the Chief Executive Officer of a terrific American company, Micron Technology, at the White House. Micron produces memory chips used in countless electronics. To advance the Chinese Government’s five-year economic plan, a company owned by the Chinese State allegedly stole Micron’s designs, valued at up to $8.7 billion. Soon the Chinese company obtained patents for a nearly identical product, and Micron was banned from selling its own goods in China. But we are seeking justice.
The United States lost 60,000 factories after China entered the WTO. That is happening to other countries all over the globe. The World Trade Organization needs drastic change. The second-largest economy in the world should not be permitted to declare itself a developing country in order to game the system at others’ expense. For years, those abuses were tolerated, ignored or even encouraged. Globalism exerted a religious pull over past leaders, causing them to ignore their own national interests.
But as far as America is concerned, those days are over. To confront those unfair practices, I placed massive tariffs on more than $500 billion worth of Chinese-made goods. Already, as a result of those tariffs, supply chains are relocating back to America and other nations and billions of dollars are being paid to our Treasury.
The American people are absolutely committed to restoring balance to our relationship with China. Hopefully, we can reach an agreement that would be beneficial for both countries. But as I have made very clear, I will not accept a bad deal for the American people.
As we endeavour to stabilize our relationship, we are also carefully monitoring the situation in Hong Kong. The world fully expects that the Chinese Government will honour its binding treaty made with the British and registered with the United Nations, in which China commits to protecting Hong Kong’s freedom, legal system and democratic ways of life. How China chooses to handle the situation will say a great deal about its role in the world in future. We are all counting on President Xi as a great leader. The United States does not seek conflict with any other nation. We desire peace, cooperation and mutual gain with all. But I will never fail to defend America’s interests.
One of the greatest security threats facing peace-loving nations today is the repressive regime in Iran. The regime’s record of death and destruction is well known to us all. Not only is Iran the number one State sponsor of terrorism, but Iran’s leaders are fuelling the tragic wars in both Syria and Yemen. At the same time, the regime is squandering the nation’s wealth and future in a fanatical quest for nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. We must never allow that to happen.
To stop Iran’s path to nuclear weapons and missiles, I withdrew the United States from the terrible Iran nuclear deal, which has very little time remaining. It did not allow inspection of important sites and did not cover ballistic missiles. Following our withdrawal, we implemented severe economic sanctions on the country. Hoping to free itself from sanctions, the regime has escalated its violent and unprovoked aggression. In response to Iran’s recent attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, we just imposed the highest level of sanctions on Iran’s central bank and sovereign wealth fund.
All nations have a duty to act. No responsible Government should subsidize Iran’s bloodlust. As long as Iran’s menacing behaviour continues, sanctions will not be lifted; they will be tightened. Iran’s leaders will have turned a proud nation into just another cautionary tale of what happens when a ruling class abandons its people and embarks on a crusade for personal power and riches.
For 40 years, the world has listened to Iran’s rulers as they lash out at everyone else for the problems they alone have created. They conduct ritual chants of “Death to America” and traffic in monstrous anti-Semitism. Last year, the country’s Supreme Leader stated: Israel is a malignant, cancerous tumour that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible and it will happen.
America will never tolerate such anti-Semitic hate. Fanatics have long used the hatred of Israel to distract from their own failures. Thankfully, there is a growing recognition in the wider Middle East that the countries of the region share common interests in battling extremism and unleashing economic opportunity. That is why it is so important to have full normalized relations between Israel and its neighbours. Only a relationship built on common interests, mutual respect and religious tolerance can forge a better future.
Iran’s citizens deserve a Government that cares about reducing poverty, ending corruption and increasing jobs, not stealing their money to fund massacres at home and abroad. After four decades of failure, it is time for Iran’s leaders to step forward and stop threatening other countries and focus on building up their own country. It is time for Iran’s leaders to finally put the Iranian people first.
America is ready to embrace friendship with all who genuinely seek peace and respect. Many of America’s closest friends today were once our greatest foes. The United States has never believed in permanent enemies. We want partners, not adversaries. America knows that, while anyone can make war, only the most courageous can choose peace. For the same reason, we have pursued bold diplomacy on the Korean peninsula. I have told Kim Jong Un what I truly believe — that, like Iran, his country is full of tremendous untapped potential, but that in order to realize that promise North Korea must denuclearize.
Around the world our message is clear — America’s goal is lasting harmony, and not to go on with these endless wars. With that goal in mind, my Administration is also pursuing the hope of a brighter future in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the Taliban has chosen to continue their savage attacks. We will continue to work with our coalition of Afghan partners to stamp out terrorism, and we will never stop working to make peace a reality.
Here in the Western hemisphere we are joining with our partners to ensure stability and opportunity all across the region. In that mission, one of our most critical challenges is illegal immigration, which undermines prosperity, rips apart societies and empowers ruthless criminal cartels.
Mass illegal migration is unfair, unsafe and unsustainable for everyone involved. The sending countries become depleted very fast, their young people are not taken care of and human capital goes to waste. The receiving countries are overburdened with more migrants than they can responsibly accept, and the migrants themselves are exploited, assaulted and abused by vicious coyotes. Nearly one third of women who make the journey north to our border are sexually assaulted along the way.
Yet here in the United States and around the world there is a growing cottage industry of radical activists and non-governmental organizations that promote human smuggling. Those groups encourage illegal migration and demand the erasure of national borders.
Today I have a message for those open-border activists who cloak themselves in the rhetoric of social justice: your policies are not just; your policies are cruel and evil; you are empowering criminal organizations that prey on innocent men, women and children; you put your own false sense of virtue before the lives and well-being of countless innocent people; when you undermine border security, you are undermining human rights and human dignity.
Many of the countries represented here today are coping with the challenges of uncontrolled migration. Every country has the absolute right to protect its borders. And so, of course, does our country. Today we must resolve to work together to end human smuggling and human trafficking and put those criminal networks out of business for good.
Our country, I can tell the Assembly sincerely, is working closely with our friends in the region, including Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama, to uphold the integrity of borders and ensure safety and prosperity for our people. I would like to thank President Lopez Obrador of Mexico for the great cooperation we are receiving and for right now putting 27,000 troops on our southern border. Mexico is showing us great respect, and I respect them in return.
In the United States we have taken unprecedented action to stop the flow of illegal immigration. I implore anyone thinking of crossing our border illegally to please hear these words: do not pay the smugglers; do not pay the coyotes; do not put yourself in danger; do not put your children in danger because, if you make it here, you will not be allowed in; you will be promptly returned home; you will not be released into our country. As long as I am President of the United States, we will enforce our laws and protect our borders.
For all of the countries of the Western hemisphere, our goal is to help people invest in the bright futures of their own nations. Our region is full of such incredible promise, dreams waiting to be built and national destinies for all waiting to be pursued. Throughout the hemisphere, there are millions of hard-working, patriotic young people eager to build, innovate and achieve. But those nations cannot reach their potential if a generation of young people abandon their homes in search of a life elsewhere. We want every nation in our region to flourish and its people to thrive in freedom and peace.
In that mission we are also committed to supporting those people in the Western hemisphere who live under brutal oppression, such as those in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. According to a recent report of the Human Rights Council, women in Venezuela stand in line for 10 hours a day waiting for food. More than 15,000 people have been detained as political prisoners. Modern-day death squads are carrying out thousands of extrajudicial killings. The dictator Maduro is a Cuban puppet protected by Cuban bodyguards, hiding from his own people, while Cuba plunders Venezuela’s oil wealth to sustain its own corrupt communist rule.
Since I last spoke in this Hall (see A/73/PV.6), the United States and our partners have built a historic coalition of 55 countries that recognize the legitimate Government of Venezuela. To the Venezuelans trapped in that nightmare: please know that all of America is united behind you. The United States has vast quantities of humanitarian aid ready and waiting to be delivered. We are watching the situation in Venezuela very closely. We await the day when democracy will be restored, Venezuela will be free and liberty will prevail throughout the hemisphere.
One of the most serious challenges our countries face is the spectre of socialism. It is a wrecker of nations and destroyer of societies. Events in Venezuela reminds us all that socialism and communism are not about justice, equality or lifting up the poor, and they are certainly about the good of the nation. Socialism and communism are about one thing only — power for the ruling class. Today I repeat a message for the world that I have delivered at home: America will never be a socialist country.
In the last century socialism and communism killed 100 million people. Sadly, as we see in Venezuela, the death toll continues to rise in that country. Those totalitarian ideologies combined with modern technology had the power to exercise new and disturbing forms of suppression and domination. For that reason, the United States is taking steps to better screen foreign technology and investments and to protect our data and our security. We urge every nation present to do the same. Freedom and democracy must be constantly guarded and protected, both abroad and from within. We must always be sceptical of those who want conformity and control. Even in free nations, we see alarming signs and new challenges to liberty. A small number of social media platforms are acquiring immense power over what we can see and what we are allowed to say. A permanent political class is openly disdainful, dismissive and defiant of the will of the people. A faceless bureaucracy operates in secret and weakens democratic rule. The media and academic institutions make outright assaults on our histories, traditions and values.
In the United States, my Administration has made clear to social media companies that we will uphold the right to free speech. A free society cannot allow social media giants to silence the voice of the people, and a free people must never, ever be enlisted in the cause of silencing, coercing, cancelling or blacklisting their own neighbours.
As we defend American values, we affirm the right of all people to live in dignity. For that reason, my Administration is working with other nations to stop the criminalization of homosexuality, and we stand in solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons who live in countries that punish, jail or execute individuals based upon sexual orientation.
We are also championing the role of women in our societies. Nations that empower women are much wealthier and safer and much more politically stable. It is therefore vital — not only to a nation’s prosperity but also to its national security — to pursue women’s economic development. Guided by those principles, my Administration launched the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative. It is the first- ever Government-wide approach to women’s economic empowerment, which will work to ensure that women all over the planet have the legal right to own and inherit property, work in the same industries as men, travel freely and obtain access to credit and institutions.
Yesterday I was pleased to host leaders for a discussion about an ironclad American commitment to protect religious leaders and religious freedom. That fundamental right is under growing threat around the world. It is hard to believe, but 80 per cent of the world’s population lives in countries where religious liberty is in significant danger, or even completely outlawed. Americans will never tire in our efforts to defend and promote freedom of worship and religion. We want and support religious liberty for all.
Americans will also never tire of defending innocent life. We are aware that many United Nations projects have attempted to assert a global right to taxpayer-funded abortion on demand right up until the moment of delivery. Global bureaucrats have absolutely no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life. Like many nations here today, we in America believe that every child, born and unborn, is a sacred gift from God.
There is no circumstance under which the United States will allow international actors to trample on the rights of our citizens, including the right to self- defence. That is why I announced this year that we will never ratify the Arms Trade Treaty, which would threaten the liberties of law-abiding American citizens. The United States will always uphold our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. We will always uphold our Second Amendment. The core rights and values America defends today were inscribed in America’s founding documents. Our nation’s founders understood that there will always be those who believe that they are entitled to wield power and control over others.
Tyranny advances under many names and many theories, but it always comes down to the desire for domination. It protects not the interests of many but the privilege of few. Our founders gave us a system designed to restrain that dangerous impulse. They chose to entrust American power to those most invested in the fate of our nation, a proud and fiercely independent people.
The true good of a nation can be pursued only by those who love it, by citizens who are rooted in its history, nourished by its culture, committed to its values and attached to its people, and who know that its future is theirs to build or theirs to lose. Patriots see a nation and its destiny in ways no one else can. Liberty is only preserved, sovereignty is only secured, democracy is only sustained and greatness is only realized by the will and devotion of patriots. In their spirit is found the strength to resist oppression, the inspiration to forge legacy, the goodwill to seek friendship and the bravery to reach for peace. Love of our nations makes the world better for all nations.
I invite all the leaders present here today to join us in the most fulfilling mission a person could have, the most profound contribution anyone can make — lift up your nations, cherish your culture, honour your histories, treasure your citizens, make your countries strong, prosperous and righteous, honour the dignity of your people, and nothing will be out of your reach.
When our nations are greater, the future will be brighter, our people will be happier and our partnerships will be stronger. With God’s help, together we will cast off the enemies of liberty and overcome the oppressors of dignity. We will set new standards of living and reach new heights of human achievement. We will rediscover old truths, unravel old mysteries and make thrilling new breakthroughs. And we will find more beautiful friendship and more harmony among nations than ever before. The path to peace, progress, freedom, justice and a better world for all humankind begins at home.
God bless those present, God bless the nations of the world. And God bless America.


At
this crucial moment, when it is debating questions vital
to the United Nations and all humanity, the General
Assembly has unanimously decided to elect you, Mr.
President, to preside over the deliberations of its
sixtieth session. I therefore congratulate you very
warmly and offer you my best wishes for success. I
also congratulate your predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping, and
thank the Secretary-General for his efforts for peace,
development and agreement among nations.
Our world has been radically transformed since
the end of the cold war — that sombre period that still
has continuing effects. New threats have appeared,
while other, older ones remain. New kinds of
challenges loom, even as the international community
is falling behind in finding appropriate responses to
existing challenges, which are getting worse. New
conflicts are erupting violently today, while the
international community still struggles with the
flashpoints that appeared following the Second World
War, as well as those that arose out of the ensuing
process of decolonization.
Humanitarian disasters, whether man-made or
natural, and the problems of refugees, famine, the
AIDS pandemic and malaria, exacerbated by persistent
underdevelopment have contributed more than ever to
stretch beyond strictly military issues our definition of
collective security, which our Organization, since its
birth, has been asked to promote. The mission to
protect remains today an unattainable goal.
A vital threat seen daily throughout the world is
the growing threat of international terrorism, which
respects no borders and violates the most fundamental
human rights. It is not enough to vigorously denounce
the killing of innocent victims. To combat terrorism,
we must oppose it with relentless determination. In that
context, there is no alternative to resolute international
cooperation that recognizes, above all, that an effective
response to transnational terrorism is necessarily a
collective effort.
Algeria believes it urgent to implement existing
agreements on the fight against terrorism and to
conclude a comprehensive convention on terrorism that
can overcome the difficulties in reaching an agreed
definition of terrorism while not providing pretexts for
the oppression of peoples seeking to realize their
legitimate rights. Active cooperation has been long
awaited, but it is not sufficient.
Bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation
must be expanded and improved as we strengthen
international legal instruments, such as the
International Convention for the Suppression of Acts
of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted last April.
At the same time, given the justifiable revulsion
terrorism provokes, we must guard against attributing
such acts to any religion or civilization. On the
contrary, we must emphasize that the aspiration to
peace and the search for agreement and exchange
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among peoples are values common to the various
civilizations we represent. That leads us to express our
complete rejection of terrorism and spurs our collective
reaction against it.
We cannot hide our concern at growing
intolerance and the echoes we sometimes hear of
pseudo-theories and false analyses that show ever less
restraint in directly blaming Islam, which, for the
overwhelming majority of a billion believers, is a
religion that calls for fraternity, solidarity and
tolerance. To blame Islam - as some small but
influential groups do - is to forget that before
terrorism was recognized as an international
phenomenon, it also struck, in particular, at Muslims
who had rejected the perpetrators and denied their
claims that they represented all Muslims.
I strongly reaffirm that those criminals have placed
themselves outside Islam and have no claim to it. I say
this on behalf of a country that has suffered a decade of
terrorism and which has found precisely in its religion
the endurance and the will to triumph over barbarism,
staunch its wounds, renew its hope and take the path of
reconciliation and brotherhood, which are at the very
heart of the community of people and its leaders, as we
approach the national referendum of 29 September.
Although the situation today confirms some of
our earlier doubts and concerns, our only concern now
is to see the people of Iraq — the heirs to an ancient
civilization that is admired by the whole world —
return to peace and stability through the recovery of its
full and complete sovereignty over a territory whose
integrity is best preserved by exorcising the divisive
demons generated by the present circumstances.
The Arab world is today the site of promising
developments for the development of democracy and
economic prosperity for its people. It would be wrong
to see in these developments merely a response to
external pressure. First and foremost, it comes from
peoples wishing to participate, finally and actively, in
their future, and who are eager to make their specific
contribution to the conduct of affairs in a world where
nothing that happens should be alien to them.
This desire for reform brought the Arab heads of
State together in Algiers, last March for a summit
meeting, over which we were honoured to preside.
Reaffirming that desire, the leaders made firm
commitments and we have proceeded to implement
them.
As diverse as the Arab countries may be in their
political, economic and social realities, we still have
the same aspiration, which is bearing us towards a
future of peace and progress to be shared by all if
possible. In other words, we are fully aware that no
peace and no sustainable economic momentum can be
built in the Middle East unless the Palestinian people
recover their full and complete sovereignty in the
occupied territories, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif,
capital of their independent State.
It is a positive thing that the risks of nuclear
proliferation have received heightened international
attention in the last few years. The seventh Conference
to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty held
last May should have provided us with a special
occasion to develop and adopt appropriate measures to
deal with the problem on a consensual basis. However,
we must note that our expectation was not met,
particularly with respect to the 13 measures on nuclear
disarmament agreed to at the preceding Conference.
Algeria, which has adopted and supported the
Additional Protocol on the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards regime, also fully
supports total and complete disarmament, as well as
the total elimination of weapons of mass destruction.
But we cannot conceal our concern that an exception to
the treaty that has been tolerated, even allowed, in a
region as riven by conflict as the Middle East only
further underscores the discriminatory approach that
prevails with respect to non-proliferation.
The African landscape has been profoundly
transformed since the formation of the African Union
and the launching of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD). So it is with new energy that
Africa, having established its Peace and Security
Council, has decided to tackle the conflicts that afflict
it and to take up the resolute promotion of their final
settlement. Anyone who looks at Africa objectively
cannot ignore the endemic diseases, all of the visible
and latent crises, the natural and man-made disasters,
the famine and illiteracy. But today’s Africa, we must
note, has never had so many democratically elected
regimes and so many economies undergoing promising
reforms. Much still needs to be done, and the African
countries are the first to recognize that.
Out of a sense of solidarity and also out of self-
interest, developed countries should accompany Africa
in its determination to make a radical change in its
circumstances so as to allow the African continent to
14

become part of the world economy, gain prosperity and
make its contribution to the prosperity of the world in
general. This cannot be done unless we take specific
actions that have been amply identified by NEPAD, by
the Commission for Africa established by Tony Blair
and by the report of the Secretary-General of our
Organization.
As you know, the main points are to erase the
debt and raise official development assistance (ODA)
from the current $25 billion to $50 billion and then to
$75 billion between now and 2010, to establish an
international finance facility and to raise ODA from the
developed countries to 0.7 per cent of their gross
domestic product by 2015.
It is also in Africa, near Algeria, that we still see
one of the last remaining uncompleted processes of
decolonization. I am referring to the conflict in the
Western Sahara, where Morocco and the Polisario
Front are adversaries. The United Nations has
identified this territory as being non-autonomous, and
it is a situation that is actionable under the Declaration
on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples. There is a peace plan that has been
approved unanimously by the Security Council, calling
for a framework and modalities for a final settlement
through a free consultation of the Saharawi people
regarding their destiny.
My country believes that the Baker Plan is the
only framework able to lead to a settlement of the
conflict, which pits Moroccans against the Polisario.
Algeria fully supports the efforts of the United Nations to
this end. We are pleased in this respect to see Mr. Peter
van Walsum appointed as Personal Envoy of the
Secretary-General and we assure him of our support in his
mission, just as we do the new Special Representative of
the Secretary-General for the Western Sahara.
Resolving the conflict in the Western Sahara in
keeping with norms of international legality and within
the framework of the United Nations would have the
positive effect of giving critical momentum to the
building of the Greater Arab Maghreb, which Algeria
has always called for.
We can only agree with the Secretary-General
when he puts development at the centre of his concept
of a new international economic order and gives it
priority attention within the United Nations agenda. A
few days ago, Member States evaluated progress made
since the September 2000 adoption of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), and we must admit that
the results are not that encouraging, the case of Africa
being rather instructive. With regard to the
implementation of the eight goals of the 2000
Declaration, we would say that some of them, such as
poverty reduction, have been deferred to a dangerously
remote future.
The requirement of adapting to new international
realities makes reform an obligation for our
Organization. Such reform must be thoroughgoing and
balanced and serve and preserve the interests of as
many as possible. We cannot just have specific
amendments for the ambitions of a small number of
Members, legitimate though those ambitions may be.
The reforms to be undertaken must, above all, satisfy
the majority and serve the collective interests and
common aspirations of all.
The special attention given to the expansion of
the Security Council is certainly justified, given the
dominant role played by the Council in maintaining
international peace and security, but we must not let
this cause us to lose sight of the legitimate demands of
Africa, nor of the need to maintain balance among the
various bodies. Given the fact that most of the African
countries were excluded from the Conference for the
United Nations at San Francisco because they were
colonies, it would be paradoxical, anachronistic and
ineffective if developing countries were now invited to
validate reform proposals that ignore their interests and
concerns.
In this exercise that we are undertaking under the
watchful eye of our peoples, let us work together and
embrace a common vision that will ensure a future of
peace and prosperity shared by the Member States that
the United Nations has the duty to guarantee.


I convey my
delegation’s felicitations on your election,
Mr. President, on leading this historic session. I also
wish to express our deep appreciation to Ambassador
Jean Ping, whose leadership and wisdom proved to be
the key to the successful negotiation and adoption of
our outcome document.
Sixty years ago, enduring peace was foremost in
the minds of the founders of our Organization. Scarred
from war and stunned by mankind’s capacity for death
and destruction, they did not consider failure an option.
Our common humanity demanded that we build a
better and peaceful world. To do that, representatives
from 50 nations gathered in San Francisco, in a
building dedicated to those who defended and fought
for freedom, to draft a charter that would unite the
nations of the world for peace. General Carlos P.
Romulo, the head of the Philippine delegation,
articulating the hopes of mankind, said then at the
United Nations: “Let us make this floor the last
battlefield.”
Mr. Zarif (Islamic Republic of Iran), Vice-
President, took the Chair.
The leading lights attending the founding of the
United Nations are still familiar to us — Joseph Paul
Boncour of France, Wellington Koo of China, Andrei
Gromyko of Russia, Lord Halifax of the United
Kingdom, Edward Stettinius of the United States, His
Royal Highness Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia,
Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar of India, Jan Smuts of the
Union of South Africa, Jan Masaryk of
Czechoslovakia, Herbert Evatt of Australia, Exequiel
Padilla of Mexico, and many others. Those visionaries
led the historic and daunting task of writing the United
Nations Charter.
A third of mankind was still under colonial
domination. Only three Asian nations were in
attendance. Most of Africa were not yet independent
nations. In a forum dominated by colonial Powers, the
Philippines fought to ensure the notion that the goal of
the Trusteeship Council should not only be self-
government but independence.
When the United Nations emblem was being
drawn, General Romulo asked that the Philippines,
although still a commonwealth, be included. He was
told that the Philippines would only be a small dot on
that now familiar map. He demanded nevertheless that
the dot be placed on the map.
The Philippines insistence on its place on the
world map, albeit just a dot, symbolized for many
soon-to-be independent and developing nations the
challenge facing the United Nations. The clear
challenge facing the United Nations at its inception,
and particularly developing nations, was to ensure that
freedom from want, freedom from fear and freedom to
pursue human dignity would be at the heart of the
political independence of the States.
Sixty years after San Francisco, we continue to
face the challenge of freeing all our peoples from want
and from fear and allowing them the true dignity that
they deserve as independent nations. The fight for the
political and legal independence of States is over, but
the fight to win for all peoples their freedom from fear
and want and to pursue human dignity continues.
For the Philippines, as a developing country,
freedom from want is of utmost concern. Poverty, the
energy crisis and insufficient financial resources,
compounded by debt, are the pressing challenges
5

facing my country and its people. We also face serious
security threats, particularly from terrorism — with
many of our citizens victimized by terrorist attacks. We
recognize the economic and social underpinnings of
such acts.
In the not too distant past, my country also had to
confront the threat of the severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS). Our national experience prompts us
to agree with the Secretary-General that these global
threats are all interrelated, and our different
perceptions of the imminence of the threats facing us
should not deter us from cooperating to address them.
This brings me to my central theme — that we
should let the bond of our broad vision of our common
humanity inspire us all to work towards a stronger
United Nations for a better world.
We agree with the Secretary-General that no
nation can defend itself against threats entirely on its
own. We agree that development, freedom from fear
and human rights concerns are interrelated and should
be equally considered in designing the solutions to the
threats we face. We believe that because of this
interrelation, these concerns should be addressed in a
comprehensive and integrated manner.
The world is facing the problem of unbridled
spiralling of oil prices. International cooperation on
energy is increasingly becoming an imperative as the
capacity and capability of countries, particularly non-
oil producing developing countries, to meet their
development objectives, including the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), are affected. This
unavoidably impacts on security.
The Philippines welcomes the 100 per cent debt
cancellation for the 38 heavily indebted poor countries.
However, the debt situation is expected to worsen, as
middle-income countries go deeper in debt with the
threat of rising world oil prices. Once more, the need
for other innovative and creative means of international
cooperation for debt relief also becomes imperative.
The Philippines has proposed the consideration of
the adoption of a debt conversion scheme
including “debt-for-equity” or “debt-for-Millennium
Development Goal projects”. The scheme calls for the
conversion of 50 per cent of the debt service into
equity for MDG projects of at least equal value with an
income earning potential.
Debt for development projects can focus on areas
that would achieve MDG benchmarks such as hospitals
and health care, schools, classrooms, information
technology, clean water, electricity, reforestation, eco-
tourism and many others that should help us achieve
our MDGs by 2015.
The nexus between development and
international migration cannot be overlooked.
Migration brings challenges and opportunities to
countries of origin, destination and transit. This is
another multifaceted issue that requires international
cooperation to be addressed in a coordinated and
coherent manner. A comprehensive and effective
international mechanism for cooperation should be
drawn up to address its politico-security, social,
cultural and economic development dimensions.
As one of the major sending States, the
Philippines stands ready to cooperate with all countries
in contributing towards the formulation of effective
mechanisms that would help ensure a smooth
management of the migration phenomenon.
The Philippines knows only too well the fear that
terrorism instils in the civilian population and the
anguish it brings to victims and close relatives. We
take cognizance of terrorism’s political, social and
economic underpinnings.
Our national experience has shown us the value
of dialogue in our approach to consider all those
factors. The Philippines wants to share this positive
value of dialogue and therefore has taken the lead in
drawing attention to the need for interfaith dialogue as
an integral part for the promotion of the culture of
peace. My President recently convened a successful
informal summit on interfaith dialogue and cooperation
here in the United Nations. The summit adopted a
declaration calling for greater interreligious,
intercultural and intercivilizational dialogue and
cooperation to ensure a lasting and durable peace and
understanding at the global, regional and national
levels. We invite all who agree with its principles to
consider endorsing the declaration.
We all acknowledge that the world has reached an
unprecedented stage when there are virtually no more
barriers, whether of space or time. Communication
technology has made possible the dissemination of
information instantaneously to practically all parts and
corners of the globe.
6

As the nineteenth century brought us the
industrial revolution, the twentieth century brought us
to the technology revolution ushered in by
computerization. The twenty-first century now offers
infinite possibilities to further advance the information
age. At no other time has the saying “no man is an
island” rang truer. As the Secretary-General has said,
what affects one affects all in this globalized world.
However, the information age is a two-edged
sword, as experience has shown us. While it opened
opportunities, it also brought challenges that we all
have to cope with. Our concern however is that just as
the limitless opportunities it offered could be used to
benefit humanity, it could also be used destructively.
Information technology enables companies to search
for lowest cost factors of production globally, operate
more efficiently and pass on the benefits to consumers.
However, this same technology also enables
disillusioned and desperate members of society to
become agents of terror and recruit adherents to their
way of thinking as well as to fund their destructive
activities. It is therefore in our common interest to
bring together our collective strengths to take
advantage of the opportunities before us as well as to
confront common threats.
For 60 years, the United Nations has provided us
the forum to draw up norms of conduct that take on
board all our concerns. From its inception with 51
Member States in 1945, the membership has almost
quadrupled to its present 191 States.
While the United Nations has, time and again,
adopted some reforms, at no other time has the
pressure for far-reaching change been starker than it is
now. The evolving global and regional security
environment, ongoing conflicts in many countries that
have multidimensional root causes and other
flashpoints have to be addressed. It is clear that in
pursuing our shared interest to preserve our common
humanity, the United Nations continues to serve as our
indispensable tool. It is therefore also our shared
interest to strengthen it.
Even before San Francisco, some key decisions
had already been reached among the major Powers,
primarily on the power of the veto, or what was
referred to then as the “unanimity rule”. Our
delegation, in concert with others, pressed for an
increased role of the General Assembly. We felt that
this was the balance necessary to safeguard the
effectiveness of the United Nations in maintaining
international peace and security. We also urged wider
and more equitable representation in the Security
Council — an aspiration that has yet to achieve
realization, and thus an advocacy that my country
carries to this day.
The outcome document of the High-level Plenary
Meeting provides the substance upon which to
strengthen the United Nations system. It should guide
us well in our discussions on institutional reform.
Six decades after San Francisco, our common
humanity remains at stake. We have today another
opportunity to make our United Nations succeed.
Whether the issue is United Nations reform or freedom
from want or fear, we must act now to ensure that the
principles committed to by our leaders at this year’s
summit be implemented effectively and efficiently.
Allow me therefore to present at this point some
practical strategies that may assist us in ensuring that
we achieve our goals.
Firstly, the agreed commitments should be broken
down into tangible steps. Concrete benchmarks and
pragmatic indicators of progress must be set.
Secondly, with concrete international
benchmarks, national strategies can be geared to
achieving them. All concerned national actors in
domestic procedures and actions should be involved.
This is necessary to put into effect and implement
multilateral commitments. Ideally, national actors
should be privy to developments in the negotiating
process and have the opportunity to provide their own
inputs with respect to the national position to be taken.
This is expected to ensure implementation and follow-
up to the commitments made by our leaders.
Thirdly, we must not lose sight of the need to
increase congruence among national, regional and
international plans of action. Keeping these in sight
contributes to a faster rate of achieving these goals.
National plans of action can be elevated to the regional
level, whenever feasible.
Fourthly, we must rethink our existing modes of
international cooperation. There will be value in
assessing how we have been collaborating bilaterally,
regionally and multilaterally. Let us assess the
effectiveness of our current modes of cooperation.
7

In adopting practical measures and in discovering
new opportunities and addressing new threats, we must
be mindful of the old hopes and enduring dreams that
led to the birth of our United Nations. As a child, I
listened with all innocence as my family closely
followed the work of the Philippine delegation in San
Francisco. I felt proud that my nation, the
Philippines — the Benjamin among the founders —
was part of this historic event.
We were rebuilding our shattered lives and
mourning our dead. Yet we held on to hope. We had
hope that no country would ever again crush us with
their bombs, trample us with their tanks or defile our
mothers, sisters and daughters. As a nation devastated
by war, we placed great hope in the United Nations. I
still remember the words that made us dare dream of a
better, more peaceful world — words heard by a child
through the crackle and static of an old radio, words
spoken by General Carlos P. Romulo in addressing the
delegates in San Francisco in 1945. He said:
“Words are more powerful than guns in the
defence of human dignity. Treaties are stronger
than armamented boundaries. The only
impregnable line is that of human
understanding.”


On behalf of the
delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, please allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on
your election to the presidency of the sixtieth session
of the General Assembly. I should also like to
congratulate your predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping, Minister
for Foreign Affairs of the Gabonese Republic, on his
commendable work as President at the previous
session. I look forward to the successful outcome of
this session. My appreciation also goes to Secretary-
General Kofi Annan for his tireless efforts aimed at
reforming the Organization to bring about
multilateralism centred on the United Nations in
conformity with the demands of the current changed
situation.
Five years ago, when the Millennium Summit
adopted its Declaration of peace, poverty eradication
and respect for human rights, humankind sincerely
hoped that, with the dawn of a new century, peace and
prosperity would take hold around the world. However,
despite the adoption of that Declaration and the
aspirations of humankind, the world is today being
drawn further into a vortex of instability and fear due
to unilateralism and the highhandedness of the super-
Power. On one side of the world, voices yearning for
peace, poverty eradication and sustainable
development continue to grow; while on the other side
provocative acts such as armed invasion and the threat
27

of pre-emptive nuclear attack are being committed
openly against sovereign States.
In North-East Asia alone, with the Korean
peninsula at its centre, adventurous military attempts
continue unabated, aggravating tension in the region,
as does the strengthening of strategic military
alliances, the large-scale introduction of highly
sophisticated weapons and operational equipment, the
establishment of missile defence systems and Ulchi
Focus Lens-05 military exercises for pre-emptive
strikes.
The current situation is becoming increasingly
acute due to arbitrariness on the part of unilateralist
forces. That urgently requires that Member States
undertake a joint effort to bring about multilateralism
centred on the United Nations on the basis of respect
for the principles of sovereignty, equality, territorial
integrity and mutual benefit.
As is well known, peace and stability on the
Korean peninsula are directly linked to peace and
security in the North-East Asian region and the rest of
the world. As we have seen in recent years, the
situation on the Korean peninsula is once again part of
a vicious circle of tension and dÈtente that is
preventing the establishment of durable peace and
stability. The primary cause for that lies in the national
division forced upon us by foreign forces and the
extremely hostile policy of the super-Power towards
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's
policy of Songun Jongchi - which is to say, to give
priority to military affairs - is aimed primarily at
coping with the attempts of the United States to
suffocate the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
which constitute a real threat. The Songun policy
administered by the respected General Kim Jong Il is
the basic safeguard for our sovereignty from the
constant threat of the United States and for preventing
another war on the Korean peninsula, thereby ensuring
peace and security in North-East Asia.
This year, the north and the south of Korea
together significantly commemorated the fifth
anniversary of the announcement of the 15 June North-
South Joint Declaration, as well as the sixtieth
anniversary of Korea's liberation, thereby setting a new
stage for the attainment of overall national unity and
the realization of the cause of national reunification
independently and peacefully under the theme ìOur
nation itselfî. The Government of our Republic will
also make every possible effort in the future to bring
about independent national reunification as soon as
possible, achieve lasting peace and stability on the
Korean peninsula and bring about the nation's common
prosperity by thoroughly implementing the 15 June
North-South Joint Declaration.
With a view to facilitating better understanding
on the part of Member States and making positive
contributions to the work of the current session, I
would like to refer to the principled position and
sincere efforts of our Republic regarding a fair solution
of the nuclear issue between the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea and the United States.
The Government of our Republic has consistently
adhered to its position of addressing the nuclear issue
peacefully, through dialogue and negotiations. As
everyone knows, the nuclear issue is a direct product of
the hostile policy of the United States against the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea during more
than half a century. Given that, driven by extreme
hostility towards the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, the United States has gone as far as designating
our country as part of an ìaxis of evilî and making it a
potential target for pre-emptive nuclear strikes, thereby
militarily threatening our security, our country has
been compelled to possess a self-defensive nuclear
deterrent as a means of safeguarding our national
dignity and sovereignty. In circumstances in which the
United States, the sole world super-Power, is looking
down on us and threatening to use nuclear weapons,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - a
country with a small territory and population - has no
alternative but to possess a strong and legitimate means
of self-defence.
As we have clarified time and again, the ultimate
goal of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
with regard to the nuclear issue is the denuclearization
of the Korean peninsula. The denuclearization of the
Korean peninsula was called for by President Kim Il
Sung, the fatherly leader of our people. The 1992
North-South Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula and the 1994 Agreed
Framework between the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea and the United States are manifestations of
the invariable political will of the Government of the
Republic to denuclearize the Korean peninsula by all
means.
28

During the recent fourth round of six-party talks
in Beijing, we approached discussions seriously and
with magnanimity and a principled, fair and above-
board position to achieve our consistent final goal of
the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula at any
cost, thereby enabling the talks to come up with an
agreement on the principles to that end as part of a
broad framework to overcome all challenges. The joint
statement issued at that meeting reflects our principled
position on the resolution of the nuclear issue. At the
same time, it also clearly specifies the obligations of
the United States and South Korea as the parties
responsible for the denuclearization of the entire
Korean peninsula.
As we have clarified more than once, there will
be no need for the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea to keep a single nuclear weapon if relations are
normalized between our country and the United States,
bilateral confidence is built and the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea is not exposed to the
United States nuclear threat any longer. What is most
essential at this stage is for the United States to provide
light-water reactors to the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea as soon as possible as evidence of
the former's substantial recognition of the latter's right
to peaceful nuclear activities.
We shall watch closely how the United States acts
in reality during the ìaction for actionî phase. Our
country's Government will continue to be patient and
to do its best to bring about the denuclearization of the
Korean peninsula.
If the United Nations is to fulfil its mission to
ensure international peace and security and economic
and social development, it should be reformed in
conformity with the demands of the new century. That
is the unanimous view of the international community.
In that regard, it is important that we take a
multilateral approach centred on the United Nations
and in line with the purposes and principles of the
Charter. To that end, efforts should be made to, inter
alia, prevent unilateralism and high-handedness
leading to violations of the Charter and of international
law, and to ensure that the functions and role of the
United Nations in addressing major international issues
remain pivotal.
Disputes should be resolved peacefully, through
dialogue and negotiation. The unilateral use of force
can never be justified in any case. Such actions as
authorizing specific countries to launch pre-emptive
attacks on the pretext of preventing conflicts should
not be viewed as strengthening the collective security
system of the United Nations and should therefore be
rejected, as they are dangerous attempts to ignore both
the principles of non-interference in others' internal
affairs, as well as respect for sovereignty, as stipulated
in the Charter.
Secondly, all important international issues
should be addressed fairly and reasonably, in the
interests of the overwhelming majority of Member
States. We should not allow them to be dominated or
dealt with by the super-Power or by a few powerful
countries. In this context, we have been consistent in
our insistence on the establishment of a system that
mandates the General Assembly to review and endorse
Security Council resolutions relating to sanctions and
the use of force that can affect international peace and
security.
The Security Council should be reformed on the
basis of the principle of ensuring the full representation
of the non-aligned and developing countries, which
make up the overwhelming majority of Member States.
We should never tolerate the permanent membership of
Japan, which refuses to liquidate its past crimes against
other countries, distorting its history of aggression and
driving the regional situation towards confrontation.
The reform of the United Nations human rights
machinery should take place in accordance with the
demands of the majority of countries. In reforming the
human rights machinery, the Organization should
consider its most pressing task and ultimate goal to be
putting an end to infringement on national sovereignty,
the politicization of human rights and the application
of double standards and selectivity, which are the most
serious human rights violations at present. Like the
reform of the Security Council, that reform effort
should be carried out on the basis of the principle of
ensuring the full representation of the non-aligned and
developing countries that make up the overwhelming
majority of the United Nations membership.
If that principle is ignored, the reform of the
human rights machinery will remain just empty talk.
Worse still, if the establishment of the Human Rights
Council is aimed at legitimizing the high-handedness
of a few countries on the pretext of human rights
protection, the discussion itself will be completely
meaningless.
29

The Government of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea will continue to make an active
contribution to the efforts of Member States to build a
new, peaceful and prosperous world by further
strengthening its friendly and cooperative relations
with all countries that respect our national sovereignty
in accordance with the ideal of independence, peace
and friendship.