On behalf of the
Government and people of the Commonwealth of the
Bahamas, I convey my sincere congratulations on
Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki’s election to preside over the

47 09-52470

General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. My
delegation wishes to assure him of its full cooperation
and support throughout this session. I would also like
to take this opportunity to congratulate his predecessor,
Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, on his
stewardship of the sixty-third session.
 The current global financial and economic crisis,
possibly the worst since the Great Depression,
threatens to negate all that we have achieved thus far
on our development agenda, at both the national and
the international levels. This threat was acknowledged
at the High-Level Event on the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) in September 2008. The
scenario is no better today.
 The fallout for the Bahamas has been
considerable. Ours is a very small, open economy that
is closely linked to the performance of most developed
economies. Tourism matters in the Bahamas; it is our
primary industry and it affects all aspects of economic
life in our country. We are in the midst of arguably one
of the most difficult tourism seasons on record. Visitor
arrivals are down, hotel occupancies are down and
revenues earned from tourism are down.
Unemployment has sharply increased. The continued
economic uncertainty means that unemployment will
pose a problem until the global economy is stabilized
and returns to growth. In this regard, we are heartened
by some of the signs of global economic recovery.
 The Government of the Bahamas acted quickly to
soften the impact of the international economic
downturn on our population. We took appropriate steps
to ensure the continued integrity of our domestic fiscal
and financial system; we accelerated planned capital
works to generate employment and economic activity;
and we increased targeted social relief for those most
disadvantaged by the crisis. In implementing these
policies and programmes, the Government exercised
appropriate fiscal restraint, so as to ensure
sustainability in the long term as well as the medium
term and to encourage and ensure that the economy
would be well placed to respond swiftly to any upturn
in the global economy. The Bahamas believes that it is
critically important to global financial health that
actions taken at the national level be complemented by
appropriate international responses.
 This year the General Assembly will consider the
scale of assessments for the apportionment of the
expenses of the United Nations for the period 2010-
2012, as well as the scale of assessments for the
apportionment of the expenses of United Nations
peacekeeping operations. The Bahamas takes this
opportunity to reiterate its long-standing position that
per capita gross national income (GNI) should not be
given undue weight in determining capacity to pay, as
it often leads to distortions. Nowhere is this distortion
more visible than in the case of the scale of
assessments for peacekeeping operations. The current
scales place the Bahamas, a small developing island
nation, in the same category as the most developed
economies in the world, with the exception of the
permanent members of the Security Council. This
unjust formula creates an onerous burden, and we call
upon this body to address the inequity, which seriously
undermines the development objectives of the
Bahamas, as well as other developing countries.
 Clearly the GNI criterion does not properly
reflect either the vulnerability of our economy or the
extraordinary costs associated with the duplication of
infrastructure required by our archipelagic
configuration. Yet, despite our vulnerabilities, we have
never wavered in our responsibilities as a fully fledged
member of the international community and will
continue to meet our obligations to the United Nations
in the manner prescribed and agreed. While my
Government is committed to paying its assessed
contributions in a full and timely manner, we believe
that the proposed scale of assessments is unfair and
unduly burdensome to countries such as the Bahamas,
and should therefore be reconsidered and adjusted,
taking into account those considerations that reflect our
vulnerabilities.
 Climate change presents acute challenges for
small island developing States such as the Bahamas,
and we are certainly vulnerable to its impact. One of
the major consequences of climate change for the
Bahamas has been the increase in the number,
frequency and ferocity of the hurricanes affecting our
country and region over the last two decades.
Restoration and recovery efforts required as a result of
these extreme events have taken a toll amounting to
hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade
alone, diverting scarce resources from other critically
important national development programmes and
compromising our efforts at sustainable development.
 Hence, we have a special interest not only in
actions taken to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate
change but also in measures designed to slow —

09-52470 48

indeed, to reverse — actions that negatively affect
climate. As a founding member of the Alliance of
Small Island States, the Bahamas has joined with many
like-minded States in our region and around the world
in calling for a global agreement in Copenhagen, with
legally binding targets, that will permit us to achieve
the ultimate objectives of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change.
 The Bahamas is cognizant that the responsibility
for climate change does not rest with developed
countries alone. Within our limited capabilities, we
have undertaken a number of appropriate actions,
highlighted during the High-Level Event, in order to
increase our resistance to the adverse impacts of
climate change. But it is also important that initiatives
undertaken in the quest for environmental protection
do not cause greater harm than good. For example, the
introduction of an air-passenger levy will damage our
already weakened tourism industry, the industry that is
our economic lifeline. The proposed marine bunkering
levies or taxes are likely to have a similar negative
impact on our maritime registry’s cost competitiveness.
Such supposedly well-intentioned environmental
initiatives come at a time when resources available for
adaptation are not readily available to small island
developing States like the Bahamas.
 As an archipelagic nation, the Bahamas faces
particular challenges in the area of maritime safety and
security. My Government has committed tremendous
financial and technical resources to combat illicit
trafficking of drugs and weapons; illegal, unreported
and unregulated fishing and human smuggling, and
underscores the need for effective cooperation and
coordination among States, as well as the development
of innovative approaches to resolve those issues and
complement national efforts. The Bahamas welcomes
the constructive engagement of the United Nations and
the International Maritime Organization in addressing
the issue of piracy. As the country with the world’s
third largest ship registry, the Bahamas will continue to
engage with its partners in the international community
to ensure the safety and security of international
shipping.
 Haiti is a near neighbour and a member of our
Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The Bahamas and
the Caribbean Community States are committed to
Haiti’s stabilization and to its political and economic
development in the short and long terms. This cannot
be achieved without sustained support from the
international community. The Bahamas is therefore
heartened by the United Nations active and sustained
engagement in Haiti over the past four and a half years,
through the work of the United Nations Stabilization
Mission in Haiti. We share the hope of the Secretary-
General that Haiti is moving away from a history of
conflict towards a future of peaceful and sustainable
development.
 We call on the Security Council to further extend
the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization
Mission in Haiti beyond 15 October 2009, as
recommended by the Secretary-General. We are also
hopeful that the recent appointment of former United
States President Bill Clinton as the Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy for Haiti will help to keep the issues
affecting Haiti at the forefront of the agenda of the
national and international community. The Security
Council meeting on Haiti earlier this month was
certainly most welcome in this regard.
 An increased level of criminal activity is creating
new challenges for the Bahamas — a phenomenon
shared with other countries in our region. We continue
to implement national and regional anti-crime
initiatives to combat this scourge, which undermines
our economies and, indeed, affects our social stability.
 Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and small arms
and light weapons are major contributing factors to this
phenomenon. The Bahamas — as many are aware — is
not a producer of illicit drugs; neither the Bahamas nor
the other States members of CARICOM are
manufacturers or suppliers of small arms and light
weapons. Yet, illicit drugs and light weapons account
overwhelmingly for the amount of crime in our
societies. A disproportionate amount of our scarce
budgetary resources are dedicated to fighting illicit
drug and light arms trafficking through our territory
and in dealing with the terrible fallout in our
communities.
 The Bahamas is fully committed to enhancing
regional and international cooperation in the area of
peace and security. We are pleased that the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has agreed to
re-engage with the Caribbean region to support the
fight against the crime and violence that today mar our
societies.
 In closing, my delegation wishes to state that the
current economic crisis dramatically demonstrates the
interdependence of the economies of the world. This in

49 09-52470

turn shows the critically important role which
organizations like the United Nations can play in
facilitating dialogue and crafting creative solutions to
global problems. As we continue to face these
unprecedented global challenges, the Bahamas
reaffirms its commitment to engaging fully and
constructively with its partners in the international
community to find collective solutions to the
challenges which confront all of us.


First of
all, I would like very warmly to congratulate you, Sir,
on your election to preside over the General Assembly
at its sixty-fourth session. I am certain that, thanks to
your recognized experience and wisdom, you will be
able to enrich our discussions and provide an
appropriate framework for our deliberations. That will
ensure that, through our joint efforts, this session is a
productive and special one that strengthens the role and
improves the work of the Organization as the principal
international body for multilateral action and the
fulcrum of our joint efforts. I should also like to
commend your predecessor, Mr. Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann, for his efforts during the previous session,
which we appreciate. I also thank and commend His
Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
 We are pleased to see concrete trends towards
enhancing multilateralism in the United Nations. We
are convinced that such a course of action is the best
and most effective way to reach agreement and take up
the complex international challenges we face. These
challenges cannot be confronted by one country on its
own, because they are transnational and complex in
nature and require concerted international action under
the auspices of a single international organization in
which all participate. Although some have doubted the
effectiveness of the United Nations and its ability to
address the challenges and problems of the twenty-first
century, there is no doubt that, because of the
universality of its membership, it remains the ideal
forum to address the current challenges facing peoples
and Governments, of which we are all aware. As we
are all aware, the current tendency to marginalize
multilateral efforts — particularly those of the United
Nations — has negative effects that only make
problems more complex, instead of helping to
overcome or resolve them.
 The United Nations and its subsidiary organs
require reform, including financial and administrative
reform, so that the Organization can be fully effective
in addressing present and future international
challenges. Such challenges have arisen as a result of
structural and systemic changes since the establishment
of the Organization, as well as technological
advancements, such as the information and
communications revolution, and the well-known
effects of globalization. All of this has made the world
a global village in which everybody feels the negative
effects of problems and challenges such as
desertification, climate change, terrorism, poverty,
pandemics and the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
 Among the major achievements of the United
Nations is its pioneering role in seeking to eliminate
colonization and occupation in order to ensure the right
of all peoples to self-determination. Although the
Organization has assumed ongoing responsibility for
the question of Palestine, Israel has, unfortunately,
been occupying Palestinian and Arab territories since
1967 to prevent the Palestinian people from exercising
their right to self-determination by creating an
independent State on their national soil in the West
Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on
the basis of the line of 4 June 1967. Israel continues
also to occupy the Syrian Golan and some Lebanese
territory. For their part, the Arabs adopted the Arab
Peace Initiative at the 2002 Beirut Summit and have
reaffirmed its principles at all subsequent Arab
summits, including that held in Doha last spring.
 Discussions continue on the two-State solution
and on a comprehensive peace, which would permit the
establishment of an independent Palestinian State and
enable Syria and Lebanon to recover their occupied
territories. That would provide a just and agreed
solution to the question of Palestinian refugees in
accordance with the provisions of resolution 194 (III),

45 09-52586

which would ensure peace and security, with
recognition of Israel by all Arab States. Israel
continues to reject the Arab and international option of
a just and comprehensive peace and a two-State
solution under the international terms of reference and
the Arab Peace Initiative. Therefore, a good-faith
response reflecting genuine and positive political will
must be forthcoming.
 There has been unprecedented support in the
international community — including in the Arab
world and among the Palestinians — for the
considerable and sincere efforts being made by United
States President Barack Obama and his Administration
with a view to the holding of serious negotiations
leading to the two-State solution and the establishment
of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, which
would be in the interest of the United States, Palestine,
the Arabs, the Israelis and the entire world. We in
Jordan, under the auspices of His Majesty
King Abdullah Bin Al Hussein, son of His late Majesty
King Hussein, continue to strive tirelessly to attain that
noble objective, which our people deserve.
 The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan fully supports
the statement made by United States President Barack
Obama on 23 September (see ). It provided a
clear vision of a definitive solution and of terms of
reference that would end the 1967 Israeli occupation in
order to permit the establishment of a viable,
independent Palestinian State with contiguous territory,
living side by side in peace and security with Israel,
and achieve peace among Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
With regard to the political terms of reference for
negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis,
President Obama stated that the final-status issues of
security for Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees
and Jerusalem were key to successful negotiations. We
appreciate the importance of his comments regarding
the illegality of the settlements.
 Thus, President Obama has demonstrated his firm
commitment to a two-State solution and a
comprehensive peace in the Middle East. Since his first
day in office, he has continued to seek to create a
constructive atmosphere conducive to the swift
resumption of serious negotiations, on all issues and on
all tracks.
 The international community as a whole must
also shoulder its responsibility to ensure the swift
resumption of negotiations and their success. In that
connection, I wish to express our appreciation and full
support to His Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas
for his commitment to peace based on genuine
partnership, fundamental Palestinian and Arab
principles and the international framework, as well as
his sincere engagement on behalf of the Palestinian
Authority in all efforts to achieve a two-State solution,
which was demonstrated once again at the tripartite
meeting organized by President Obama in New York at
the beginning of this week.
 This constructive and appropriate atmosphere has
been marred by the actions of Israel, which refuses to
halt its settlement activities, including in occupied East
Jerusalem, where it continues to take unilateral action.
Its excavations continue under and around the Al-Aqsa
mosque and other areas that are part of the Islamic and
Christian cultural heritage. It continues to demolish the
homes of Arabs and to expel them. Israel is doing this
in order to alter the demographic character of East
Jerusalem, which has an Arab religious and historical
identity. It is at the heart of the occupied territories and
is inextricable from them. The Security Council and
the General Assembly have declared those Israeli
actions null and void.
 From this rostrum today, we ask Israel to return
to the peace process that everyone supports and to put
an end to its illegal measures, including its settlement
activities, in order to create an atmosphere conducive
to the resumption of serious and productive peace
negotiations on all tracks, in particular on such issues
as monitoring mechanisms that include clear timetables
and benchmarks for assessing the status of mutual
implementation once negotiations have ended.
 There can be no doubt that the United Nations
has a direct role and an obligation in this regard, given
its permanent responsibility for the question of
Palestine, alongside the role of the Quartet, which we
fully support. The Organization could also play a
bigger part in the negotiations and verification
mechanisms, as well as on other crucial issues.
 We reaffirm the importance of the role of the
members of the Quartet — the European Union, the
Russian Federation, the United States and the United
Nations. The blockade on Gaza must be lifted. Every
day, our people there are suffering tragically, and they
lack basic commodities. It is unacceptable and
unreasonable that the siege should continue and the

09-52586 46

situation persist. The inhumane blockade must be
ended and Gaza must be rehabilitated.
 We hope that Palestinian reconciliation efforts are
successful, and we fully support Egypt’s efforts in that
regard. We should pay particular attention to the report
of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the
Gaza Conflict (A/HRC/12/48), and we hope that it will
promote the necessary follow-up.
 The United Nations has played a central role in
establishing an international human rights protection
system and international mechanisms for promoting
human rights and fundamental freedoms. The
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is honoured to have
been a member of the Human Rights Council twice
since its establishment. We appreciate the international
recognition of our policies on the protection of human
rights and fundamental freedoms, adopted by my
country under King Abdullah II.
 In addition, the United Nations provided the
impetus for international efforts to establish the
International Criminal Court as a permanent
international judicial body to try cases of war crimes,
crimes against humanity and flagrant violations of
human rights. Jordan actively participated in the Rome
Diplomatic Conference that brought about the adoption
of the Court’s Statute. We had the privilege of chairing
the first meeting of States members of the Court.
 The United Nations has also played a significant
role in codifying international humanitarian law: its
Charter prohibits recourse to the use or the threat of
use of force in international relations. The
Organization subsequently supported the adoption of
the major international conventions on that issue, in
particular the four Geneva Conventions, of which we
are marking the sixtieth anniversary, as well as the
1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural
Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
 The United Nations has made great progress on
the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
in particular nuclear weapons, through the unlimited
extension in 1995 of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Here,
we call for compliance with the other decisions
accompanying the decision to extend the NPT from
1995 and for recognition of the Middle East region as a
zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of
mass destruction.
 We affirm our country’s commitment to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,
while also reaffirming our legitimate right to the
peaceful use of nuclear energy and to strengthening
control mechanisms that would prevent peaceful
programmes from being used as a cover for military
ones. We are resolved to make peaceful use of nuclear
energy, and we have adopted all the agreements,
documents and verification mechanisms of the
International Atomic Energy Agency.
 The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan supports all
international efforts to bring into force the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We encourage
countries to adopt and ratify the Treaty so that it may
enter into force as soon as possible, which would be a
step forward towards nuclear disarmament. We call for
adherence to Security Council resolution 1887 (2009),
adopted on 24 September.
 My country has always been and will remain at
the forefront in the fight against terrorism and
extremism and in working to bring religions and
civilizations closer together, as well as in transmitting
the true and admirable essence of Islam and its noble
human values. We have therefore adopted important
initiatives, including the Amman Message issued by
His Majesty the King, and its accompanying document,
the Good Word.
 Jordan supports comprehensive national
reconciliation in Iraq among all segments of the
population, with no exception. It supports efforts to
consolidate peace and security in Iraq in all spheres so
as to ensure civil peace, territorial integrity, political
independence and sovereignty and to stop all external
interference in its internal affairs so that that brother
country can fully recover its place in the region and in
the world at large.
 Finally, Jordan is committed to international
peace and security. We participate actively in
peacekeeping operations. The number of personnel that
we contribute to the various peacekeeping operations
in which we are taking part is growing and becoming
geographically broader. This demonstrates that we are
truly playing an active role in the United Nations,
because we are backing up our words with action. It
also shows our clear political resolve to contribute to
serious multilateral action within the United Nations
system.

47 09-52586

 I would like to reiterate that we will do what is
necessary, and more, to strengthen multilateral
international action for efforts to implement a two-
State solution and to achieve comprehensive peace in
the Middle East, and for anything that contributes to
international cooperation and to bringing together
diverse civilizations, which would enrich the lives of
our societies in the world that we share.


I must confess that, when I arrived in this
city to participate in this session of the General
Assembly, I had intended to begin my statement with a
strong appeal on the need to rebuild multilateralism
and cooperation as the two basic instruments to
overcome what today is undoubtedly the central issue
in our global discussion, namely, overcoming the social
and economic crisis.
However, certain events on Monday and Tuesday
oblige me to begin my statement by reporting that the
Embassy of the Argentine Republic in Tegucigalpa,
Republic of Honduras, had its electricity cut off some
two days ago. That, of course, was not because we had
not paid the bill, but was for far more serious reasons.
 Next to the Argentine Embassy is a television
studio which broadcast the news of President Zelaya’s
arrival in Honduras, the repression and the
demonstrations in favour of the return of democracy.
That was one of the reasons. In any event, we have had
better luck than the Embassy of the sister Republic of
Brazil, where, at an early stage they cut off not only
the electricity but the water as well — for having given
shelter to the constitutional President, Manuel Zelaya.
 As a Latin American, I must recall that not even
in Chile during the dictatorship of General Pinochet, or
in Argentina during the dictatorship of General Jorge
Rafael Videla — perhaps the two cruelest dictatorships
in Latin America — was there similar behaviour
against embassies that were actively working to give
shelter to refugees.
 I say this because it is crucial that we realize that
we must design and forge a multilateral strategy which
is strong and specific to return democracy to Honduras.
We need a strategy which would actually allow for true
respect for human rights and ensure free and
democratic elections — which can take place only with
full respect for the constitution. If we do not do this,
we would be setting a harsh precedent in a region
where, for decades during the national security
doctrine, suspensions of democracy claimed the lives
of thousands and thousands of Latin Americans, led to
the exile of many other and created the region’s most
serious economic and social tragedy in memory.

09-52228 2

 I make this appeal because I played an active role
from the platform of the Organization of American
States, and also accompanied the former President of
the General Assembly, Father Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann, to El Salvador in order to carry out a task
which would safeguard two basic values which, in my
opinion, our region has managed to develop:
democracy and respect for human rights.
 Therefore, I believe that multilateralism would
also mean understanding that we have to set common
and general rules in this globalized world that must be
accepted by all countries. In this case, we are faced
with a cynical media coup which was carefully hidden
or minimized because, in fact, it was slanted against
the advent of populist progressive Governments in the
region. I believe that, for all of us, defining
multilateralism is going to require specific actions and
rules so that absolutely all of us will have the same
parameters when it comes time to judge conduct,
attitudes and institutional situations.
 Yesterday I took part in the climate change event
convened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in order
to bring positions closer together with a view to the
Copenhagen Conference, which will take place in a
little more than 10 weeks’ time. A decade and a half
ago we agreed on the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, dealing with
environmental protection, and we later adopted the
Kyoto Protocol in order to begin ensuring respect for
those obligations undertaken by nations. A decade and
a half later, it is clear that neither agreement is being
satisfactorily implemented.
 Essentially, this is sometimes because the nations
most responsible for pollution and gas emissions,
which should bear greater responsibility for reducing
those emissions, in terms of investments both in their
own countries and in developing countries, cannot
come to an agreement either. As I was saying yesterday
in our meeting, I think we need to understand that the
only possibility of successfully approaching
globalization lies precisely in the setting of common
rules which would be respected by all nations,
developed and developing.
 In this framework, we should mention the
situation of the Argentine Republic, where we still
have a colonial enclave, our Malvinas Islands, which
persists without the possibility of addressing the
question of sovereignty together with the United
Kingdom, as proclaimed in many General Assembly
resolutions. We were recently able to agree, following
a humanitarian request, that family members with
loved ones buried on the islands should be able to
travel there by air to inaugurate a cenotaph to pay
tribute to those who fought for their homeland.
 All of this points to the very clear need to look at
multilateralism not only as a type of rhetorical
statement repeated every year in this or other
multilateral forums, but rather in terms of concrete
results. Otherwise, it will become increasingly
complicated, with ever more unresolved problems. For,
in the final analysis, the multilateralism we have been
persistently proclaiming since 2003 has not been put
into practice.
 My country and the United States are the only
two countries to have experienced attacks of
international terrorism. For Argentina, the first was in
1992, at the Embassy of Israel, and the second was at
the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA).
Hundreds of people died in those attacks. Today, in this
Assembly, I am joined by the head of AMIA, the entity
that was bombed, as well as by family members who
have accompanied him.
 In 2007, then-President Néstor Kirchner came
here to the Assembly (see A/62/PV.5) to call on the
Islamic Republic of Iran to agree to extradite officials
of its country wanted by the Argentine justice system
in order to carry out a proper investigation and assign
responsibility for that serious attack. Last year, I
myself came here (see A/63/PV.5) to call once again on
the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to
accede to our request. I said that there were
constitutional guarantees in my country; that the
principle that no one is guilty until proven guilty
beyond a shadow of a doubt prevails from one end of
my country to the other; and that we have guarantees
for freedom and the administration of justice.
Nevertheless, that did not happen. Instead, this year,
one of the officials whose extradition was sought by
the prosecutor on the case was promoted to minister.
 I know that some 4, 5 or 15 speakers from now
the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran will take
the floor. Surely, he will once again deny tragedies that
occurred in the course of western history in the
twentieth century. He will surely invoke the threat of
other imperialisms. And he will also surely invoke
God. I would like to say to him that my country, the

3 09-52228

Argentine Republic, is not an imperialist country —
neither by way of belief nor as a reflection of our
history. To the contrary, ours is a country that suffered
from colonial oppression at its founding. During the
world’s bipolar era, we also suffered from the doctrine
of national security. I would like to tell him that, like
him, I believe in God. We may do so in different faiths
but, in the end, I believe that neither of us believes that
God could command us to prefer threats or to avoid
justice from being done.
 As President of the Argentine Republic, therefore,
I humbly reiterate once again our appeal for the
extradition of the officials whom Argentina’s justice
system believes are responsible — not to be found
guilty, but to be judged and to be allowed to take
advantage of all the rights and guarantees that every
Argentine citizen and foreigner has in our country:
guarantees under democracy, whose unconditional
defence Argentina has made part of its institutional and
historical core.
 I would not wish to conclude without referring to
three events that I believe are very positive, which I
would like to share with the members of the Assembly
today. The first took place quite recently, on
9 September, when the Argentine Republic received a
visit from the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, including its Chair and the President of the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights. That visit
occurred 30 years after the Court’s first visit, during
the dictatorship, when it came to investigate the crimes
that were being committed and to take complaints from
Argentine citizens — including our Minister for
Foreign Affairs, who is with me today and who, like
his father, was imprisoned at that time — and to hear
testimony about the serious violations that were taking
place.
 Thirty years later, the men who comprised the
Commission and the men and women who are its
members today visited an Argentina where criminals
responsible for genocide under the dictatorship are
being tried by judges in accordance with the
Constitution. We have also reached an agreement with
the Inter-American Court to send a bill to our
legislature — which I have already done — to
eliminate the crime of libel and defamation against
journalists. That is homage to the freedom of
expression and of the press. But I also firmly believe
that it should apply to all citizens. It is offensive that,
in the twenty-first century, someone could be sentenced
to prison for having said something and said it freely.
 We have also reached an agreement to send up
two bills — which we have also already done — to
contribute to the recovery of children born in captivity
during the dictatorship. Those will include provisions
to ensure respect for the victims, as well as on society’s
collective right to learn their identities.
 The second thing that I would like to share has to
do with the fact that I listened today to the President of
the United States speak about an issue that is crucial to
world peace and security, as well as to the rights of the
Palestinian people. It is also a key component of a
strategy against international terrorism, which, as ever,
we continue to condemn. It is genuinely satisfying, and
a salve to the soul, to hear from the mouth of the
President of the United States of America that there is a
need for the Palestinian people to be able to live on
their land free of settlements of any kind, as well as,
clearly, a right for Israel’s citizens to live in peace
within their borders. The words of the President and
the timely message he delivered at Cairo University,
which many here likely followed with interest, place us
in a position that we have not occupied for many years,
namely, the possibility of beginning negotiations —
successful ones, I hope — between the Palestinian
Authority and the Government of Israel to at last
resolve a key issue for international peace and security,
namely, the Palestinian question.
 Lastly, I would like to tell the Assembly that, as a
member of the Group of 20 (G-20), which will meet
tomorrow in Pittsburgh, we would like to call for the
presence of another multilateral body to be heard from
at those meetings: the International Labour
Organization. In the two previous G-20 meetings, there
was a great deal of discussion about the financial
crisis. However, as we did then, we continue to believe
that a key issue is to once again discuss the real
economy. That is why we believed it timely that
workers and business owners, as genuine actors in the
real economy and as catalysts to re-energizing it,
should be heard from as well in those forums,
alongside officials from multilateral credit institutions
and the World Bank.
 We are genuinely convinced that there is a need
to build a new multilateralism in which all of us are
genuinely on an equal footing; where rights and
obligations and the road map for the course to be taken

09-52228 4

are the same for rich and poor countries alike; and
where the rights and responsibilities of developing
countries are the same as those of developed States. We
therefore agreed that equal rules of the game for the
entire world was one of the basic elements of ensuring
success in building multilateralism. If we do not
achieve this, we will continue with these rhetorical
exercises year after year, but we will never achieve the
results that are not a right but an obligation for all of us
who make up this body.
 In conclusion, democracy, the defence of human
rights, and equal rules for all countries in the world are
the three key elements to building a new
multilateralism. These three requirements must be
equal and the same for all countries, but above all for
those that, through their own actions and because of
their level of social and economic development, lead
the major developed countries of the world.
 It is clear that those who have the greatest
responsibility and hold the greatest leadership roles —
won through military, technological, economic and
even cultural power — also have an obligation to
exercise that leadership in a responsible manner. This
is what we, the developing and emerging countries,
feel, and what we ask of the major nations of the
world. They have the responsibility to build this world.
This will no doubt be echoed in all our speeches, but
this building must be done every day through our
decisions and concrete actions.


It is a pleasure for me to
address the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth
session. Our coming here as leaders gives us the
opportunity to debate global challenges as per our
objectives and goals as enshrined in the United Nations
Charter.
 The United Nations is a forum where we all come
together to share ideas, review progress and come up
with strategies to deal with world issues that need our
attention and input. The founders of this Organization
had a noble idea of addressing world issues amicably
with a view to avoiding confrontation. Therefore, we
are supposed to meet as equal partners to debate issues
that affect us as the world community, in a forum
where we are guided by the principles of trust, respect
and natural justice. The aim of the United Nations is to
bring joy and peace to the nations of the world. Let us
make sure that people develop confidence in the United
Nations so that they can approach the Organization
when they have problems.
 We note that Africa has multiple problems that
seriously hinder its progress in the areas of health, the
economy, poverty and social welfare, which all come
under the Millennium Development Goals. It is our aim
as the African continent to evolve from being third
world countries to a first world status. That calls on
us — Africa in general and Swaziland in particular —
to work harder and smarter in order to realize that goal
and generate a strong economy for the betterment of
the lives of all our peoples.
 However, we realize that we cannot effectively
deal with the challenges confronting us alone, mainly
because our resources are limited. It is through the
United Nations that we continue to forge partnerships
with different countries so that we work together to
grow our economies. We appeal to the developed
nations to recognize our hard work and to increase our
access to soft loans and grants to support development
programmes and poverty-reduction strategies. We call
on the United Nations to continue supporting national
initiatives aimed at eventually transforming our
economies to first world economies.
 However, the global financial and economic crisis
has made the situation difficult, especially for
developing countries. It restrains us from achieving the
Millennium Development Goals.
 The secondary effects of the crisis are now hitting
hard on developing economies, like that of the

09-52470 10

Kingdom of Swaziland, whose export trade is largely
dependent on performance in developed global
markets. In our case, several Government interventions
have been undertaken to rescue sectors such as the pulp
and textile industries. Added to this is the need to
mobilize resources and promote financial inclusion in
order to stimulate economic growth at the grassroots
level. In that regard, financial inclusion remains an
important stimulus for poverty alleviation programmes
in developing countries like the Kingdom of
Swaziland.
 We are encouraged by signs of recovery from the
crisis, and we are confident that the United Nations
will continue to play its leading role in the efforts to
find a speedy resolution to the situation so that we may
all focus on development issues for the benefit of all
our peoples.
 It is most unfortunate that while we do our level
best to improve our economies, we continue to be
confronted by disturbances and conflicts that include
wars and coups. We condemn those acts, as they lead to
untold suffering for millions of our peoples. As nations
of the world, let us come together and make sure that
such acts are not supported or encouraged. We call
upon all nations of the world to isolate and discourage
the sympathizers and sponsors. Where there are
problems, the peoples of the world must know that they
can address the challenges that they encounter through
peaceful engagement and dialogue.
 If we want to achieve peace in the world, it is
important that we reduce and eventually eradicate
nuclear arms, which pose a threat to our planet. We
need to encourage nations that are at the stage of
developing, and those that already possess, nuclear
capability to utilize it for power generation that
supports and stimulates economic growth. Therefore,
we encourage the International Atomic Energy Agency
to continue to monitor countries that are developing
nuclear arms so that they may be stopped. It must also
ensure that countries that already have nuclear
capability reduce and eventually eradicate their nuclear
arms so that they become a thing of the past. In order
to accelerate the eradication of nuclear arms, the
United Nations must set targets and timelines for
compliance.
 Another issue of concern is the continuing delay
of the reform of the Security Council. Many nations
have come to the conclusion that the Council
membership needs to be expanded so that it is more
representative, so that its decisions may be owned by
all Member States.
 Africa has adopted firm and clear resolutions on
the Council composition they would like to see. Those
decisions were further affirmed at the recent summit of
the Non-Aligned Movement. Regrettably, we still have
not seen meaningful progress on that matter. We
therefore would like to call on all members of the
Security Council to address that issue with the urgency
that it deserves.
 We are encouraged by the call made by fellow
leaders for us to open a new page in the work of the
United Nations by approaching global matters
collectively. It is imperative that the United Nations
take the lead in all issues that affect mankind. The
reform of the Security Council is one such area that
could clearly demonstrate the new approach to issues.
 The Kingdom of Swaziland reiterates its support
for the efforts deployed by the international community
under the auspices of the United Nations towards a
political solution to the issue of Western Sahara. We
reaffirm that the initiative by the Kingdom of Morocco
for considerable autonomy for Western Sahara is the
beginning of a realistic and credible move. The
Kingdom of Swaziland calls upon all parties to join the
process in order to implement Security Council
resolutions 1813 (2008) and 1871 (2009).
 The Kingdom of Swaziland continues to support
efforts to bring lasting peace to the situation in the
Darfur region, Somalia, Madagascar and other parts of
our continent.
 I take this opportunity to express my appreciation
for the support and assistance being extended to the
Inclusive Government and the people of the Republic
of Zimbabwe by the nations of the world and by
international organizations. I also wish to echo the call
and appeal of the Southern African Development
Community for the immediate removal of all sanctions
against Zimbabwe, in order to ensure the speedy
recovery of the economy of that country for the benefit
of its long-suffering people.
 As we gather here, we also wait with anticipation
for the outcome of the Israeli and Palestinian peace
efforts. We have seen the two parties enter into
promising peace agreements in the past that,
regrettably, faltered along the way. We call upon the

11 09-52470

two parties to continue to pursue peace to avoid loss of
life and to live in harmony.
 We are happy to acknowledge the improvements
in the relations between the Republic of China on
Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. That new
development has resulted in the international
community responding positively to the request of
Taiwan to be involved in United Nations agencies, as
evidenced by the granting of observer status in the
World Health Assembly. We look forward to seeing
Taiwan being allowed to fully contribute to humanity
by being given adequate participation in other United
Nations specialized agencies.
 It is encouraging that this year’s General
Assembly was preceded by the Summit on Climate
Change, where issues of environmental protection were
given priority, as they are critical to all our
development strategies. The Summit noted that some
developed countries pollute the environment, mainly
through gas emissions, despite all the protocols in
place to protect it.
 I am confident that the Summit was able to
mobilize adequate political support to guide the
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held
in Copenhagen in December, where developed
countries will be able to share their experiences and the
challenges that they faced. This will inform the agenda
that will lead to the transfer of skills and technology so
that, as developing countries pursue their growth, they
can avoid the mistakes of the past.
 We cannot overemphasize the need to protect the
environment, as it is a precious gift from God to
humanity and must be preserved for generations to
come. We support the call for the establishment of a
major fund to cater to all projects related to climate
change. We are hopeful that Copenhagen will come up
with solutions for funding climate-change projects that
will be predictable, accessible and incremental. The
Kingdom of Swaziland is determined to work harder to
meet the targets set by the United Nations.
 In conclusion let me say that the Kingdom of
Swaziland appreciates the good work of the United
Nations and its related agencies, which remain the only
hope for overcoming the many complex challenges
facing the world today. We therefore take pride in
reaffirming our commitment to the principles and
ideals contained in the United Nations Charter.


I have the special
pleasure today to extend to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki,
President of the General Assembly, my congratulations
on his excellent work in presiding over the sixty-fourth
session of this Assembly. I would also like to thank his
predecessor, Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, for his
work in successfully leading the Assembly at its sixty-
third session.
 I avail myself of this opportunity to extend my
greetings to all those present in this Hall today. I also
express my deep gratitude to Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon for his high competence and professionalism
in leading the United Nations, and acknowledge his
important personal contribution to the success of this
session.
 We are gathered here today after a year in which
the world has faced one of the worst financial and
economic crises in history. We are gathered here once
again at a time when hundreds of millions of people
are being oppressed by tyrannical regimes or are facing
extreme poverty, disease and major health or social
calamities. We are gathered here at a time when brutal
conflicts continue to take the lives of innocent people
in various regions of our world, and when nuclear
crises in Iran and North Korea represent a genuine
threat to world peace.
 Albania and the Albanian people continue to
engage in international cooperation and are determined
to offer their modest contribution to advancing peace,
freedom and security and respect for human rights,
fighting poverty, promoting sustainable development
and prosperity and, last but not least, protecting the
environment.
(spoke in French)
 As a European country, Albania remains fully
committed and determined to carry out every reform
and to take every decision and every other measure
required of it on the road to membership of the
European Union (EU). More than 94 per cent of
Albanians support Albania’s application process for
joining the EU. This is not only highly encouraging,

09-52592 2

but also a major obligation for my Government to
proceed swiftly along this path. This autumn, we
expect a positive response from the Council of
Ministers of the European Union to our application for
candidate status, while we also hope to obtain visa
liberalization as soon as possible.
 Albania is a new but functioning democracy.
About two months ago, we held general parliamentary
elections. The international watchdog Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights reported
that the elections met the principal standards of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
and deserve a generally positive assessment. The newly
elected Government has proclaimed the following core
pillars of its programmes: building new and modern
infrastructure throughout the country; bringing Albania
into the digital age; reforming the health-care and
education systems; fighting poverty, and creating new
jobs for Albanian citizens.
 Next year here at the United Nations, we will
assess the progress we have made towards fulfilling the
Millennium Goals. Albania has put intense effort into
achieving significant progress in this area. Over the
past three years, some 400,000 Albanians have moved
up from below the poverty line, while extreme poverty
has been reduced by 70 per cent; tens of thousands of
new jobs have been created; the number of university
students has doubled and infant mortality has been
drastically reduced.
(spoke in English)
 The years 2008 and 2009 have seen the worst
financial and economic crisis the world has known
since the Great Depression. The Albanian economy has
felt the consequences of the crisis. Its exports fell by
10 per cent and the levels of financial credit were
drastically reduced. Despite these consequences,
however, Albanian gross domestic product (GDP) grew
by more than 5 per cent in the first six months of 2009,
our revenues saw an 8 per cent increase compared with
those of last year, and foreign direct investment was
59 per cent higher than last year.
 I believe that the main factors protecting the
Albanian economy in this crisis were, first, the very
fact that Albania has the lowest fiscal burden in Europe
and that its economy is largely based on liberal
standards; secondly, the fact that my Government has
invested 10 per cent of the country’s GDP in
infrastructure projects in 2009, or, taking into account
investment for 2008, 20 per cent of GDP over the past
two years; thirdly, our thorough reforms aimed at
achieving smaller Government, as a result of which
Albania now has one of the smallest public
administrations per capita in Europe and, indeed, in the
entire world; and, last but not least, the very favourable
climate for business and investment created by my
Government over the past four years. I take this
opportunity to invite investors from all countries to
consider my country for their projects, which will
definitely turn out to be success stories for them, and
for Albania.
 Albania has maintained excellent cooperation
with the United Nations and its agencies. Albania is
one of the pilot countries of the Delivering as One
initiative, and through its experience and positive
results is making a real contribution to this United
Nations reform. Delivering as One provides for
excellent savings of time and money, as well as much
more efficient coordination of the work of United
Nations agencies in their cooperation with Member
States. This project has had an excellent track record in
my country due to the coherence and better
coordination of the activities of United Nations bodies
with those of our national authorities, particularly with
regard to aligning international projects with the
country’s priorities.
 We have been pleased to see that our reform
priorities and national strategy on European integration
are in full harmony with the Millennium Development
Goals and those of the Delivering as One initiative.
The outcome has demonstrated that this project, the
philosophy of which depends on the concept of
national ownership, has produced more efficient
implementation of United Nations development
programmes.
 Albania is a multireligious society with religious
harmony par excellence. In the framework of the
Alliance of Civilizations and in accordance with our
national strategy on intercultural dialogue, we offer our
example of religious harmony and coexistence, one of
the most invaluable spiritual heritages of our nation, as
a contribution to the aims of this United Nations
initiative.
 This general debate was preceded by the Summit
on Climate Change. It gives me great pleasure to
inform the Assembly that more than 90 per cent of the
electricity my country consumes comes from

3 09-52592

renewable hydroelectric power. Although we are open
to other energy sources, including nuclear, we are
working hard and have so far secured about €5 billion
in new investment for new hydroelectric, wind and
biomass energy plants. Albania intends to become a
small super-Power of green energy in the region.
 The last decade of brutal conflict in the Balkans
seems to have been consigned to the annals of history.
The countries of that region are now engaged in a
process of cooperation in all fields and in European
and Euro-Atlantic integration. This year, Albania and
Croatia became full members of NATO. Other
countries of the region have made significant progress
towards EU and NATO membership.
 I must stress at this point that, although only a
short time has passed since Kosovo’s declaration of
independence, the establishment of the independent
state of Kosovo has become an important factor for
peace and stability in South-East Europe. In that
country, which declared independence 20 months ago,
inter-ethnic relations have improved and inter-ethnic
tensions have been significantly reduced. Serbs are no
longer leaving Kosovo. The opposite is happening —
many Serbian families are coming back to Kosovo to
build their future in their country. My Government is
determined to help and assist the Government of
Kosovo in its projects to facilitate the return of the
displaced people of that country.
 The European Union has deployed its Rule of
Law Mission, which is doing an excellent job and
providing extremely valuable help to the Government
of Kosovo and its authorities in consolidating the rule
of law and functional democracy in Kosovo, as well as
in developing the highest European standards for the
coexistence of the various ethnic communities. The
International Security Force in Kosovo has also played
a very positive role, and the very fact that its strength
has been reduced is clear evidence of the stability in
that country.
 Meanwhile, 63 States Members of the United
Nations have recognized independent Kosovo, and the
Republic of Kosovo has become a member of the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Nevertheless, Kosovo has not yet assumed the place
that it deserves in the family of sovereign countries of
this prestigious Organization.
 On this occasion, I would like to point out that all
the countries that recognize the Republic of Kosovo
and the international institutions that have accepted it
in their forums as an independent member State have
done so because, above all else, they are convinced that
the independence of Kosovo and its international
recognition make a major contribution to peace and
stability in South-East Europe. That is why I take this
opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all
Governments and States Members of the United
Nations that are considering a review and assessment
of the existing reality in South-East Europe and the
possibility of recognizing the independence of Kosovo.
In my judgment, that would be a great contribution to
peace, stability, security and cooperation in our region.
 Fourteen years ago, after condemning the
coercive oppression, violence and barbarism of the
Milosevic regime against Albanians in Kosovo, 137
States Members of the United Nations voted in
resolution 49/204 of 23 December 1994 to recognize
and respect the will of the inhabitants of Kosovo.
Today, that will has become the reality of an
independent Kosovo and has been recognized by 63
countries that took that historic vote. I hope and firmly
believe that the rest of the countries that voted for that
historic resolution will reaffirm the will that they
expressed 14 years ago — this time through their
recognition of Europe’s newest State, the Republic of
Kosovo.
 With its foreign policy of peace and good
relations with all countries, its modest but important
contribution to international missions of peace and
human rights protection through its policy of good
neighbourliness, and a moderate and constructive role
in the region, Albania has become a producer of and a
direct contributor to stability and security in the region
and at the global level.
 Today, Albania participates in peacekeeping
missions in several international operations in the
framework of the United Nations and other regional
security organizations, such as in Afghanistan, Bosnia,
Iraq, Chad and other countries. Only about two months
ago, Albania doubled its number of troops in the
International Security Assistance Force mission. My
country acknowledges and supports every effort for
global peace and security, and will continue to support
all efforts of the United Nations, NATO and other
actors that promote peace, stability and security in the
world and that keep in check those two countries that
threaten it — Iran and North Korea — with their very
dangerous nuclear programmes.

09-52592 4

 All States Members of the United Nations share
the responsibility for the efficient functioning of this
Organization. No one can ignore the track record of the
United Nations activities in many fields. Whenever
there is a crisis, poverty, famine, disease or disaster,
the United Nations is there to provide relief and
support.
 However, it has long been evident that the world,
countries and the complexity of international relations
develop much faster than the United Nations is able to
adjust and adapt itself to the new realities. That is why
Albania strongly supports the continuation of the
reform process of this Organization and the further
improvement of the United Nations system. A more
efficient decision-making mechanism is pivotal in that
respect. We support the efforts to reform the Security
Council. We believe that in order to meet the
challenges of the twenty-first century, we need a
Security Council that is efficient, transparent and
legitimate in its decision-making process and in which
regions and individual Member States are adequately
represented.


I should like to congratulate
the President on his election to preside over the
General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. We are
confident that under his able leadership and guidance,
our deliberations will be successful. I assure him of my
delegation’s fullest support and cooperation. I would
also like to convey our deep appreciation to his
predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann, for his leadership at the sixty-third session.
 It has been only 18 months since my country
successfully made the transition to a democratic
constitutional monarchy. Within this period, the elected
Government has made every effort to establish a strong
foundation for a sustainable and vibrant democracy, as
it is these initial years that will determine the direction
of democracy in Bhutan. Concrete steps are being
taken to empower the people and to ensure that
democracy truly benefits every citizen.
 The people of Bhutan, although hesitant at first,
were guided and encouraged by our enlightened and
visionary monarchs and have fully embraced
democracy. From our experience so far, we are
confident that a strong foundation for democracy has
been established; it is now time to nurture and continue
to strengthen this foundation.
 The world is grappling with multiple, interlinked
global crises. The impact of these crises has been
particularly severe on the least developed countries,
where levels of poverty and insecurity are already high.
The food and energy crises have driven millions of the
most vulnerable people deeper into poverty and further
desperation. Meeting their needs and freeing them from
the cycle of poverty continues to be the major
challenge to development and to achieving the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is
inconceivable that, in an era of unprecedented
prosperity, the vast majority of the world’s population
remains in poverty and destitution. The alleviation of
poverty, therefore, must be at the forefront of the
international community’s development efforts.
 Since the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus in
2002, developing countries have made significant
progress in many areas of domestic resource
mobilization. However, challenges remain, especially
during the current economic slowdown, for developing
countries to mobilize adequate domestic resources to
meet their development needs. For many such
countries, official development assistance (ODA)
remains the most important source of external
financing for achieving their development objectives
and attaining the MDGs. We therefore encourage donor
countries to take concrete steps towards fulfilling their
ODA commitments.
 In Bhutan, we have achieved relative
socio-economic progress over the past five years. The
annual gross domestic product growth rate has
averaged around 8 per cent, the national literacy rate
has reached 60 per cent and health coverage has been
sustained at 90 per cent. The royal Government
continues to accord high priority to the social sector.
Bhutan launched its tenth five-year plan in July 2008
with the overarching goal of poverty reduction and
implementing MDG-based initiatives. As this is the
first plan to be implemented under our first elected
Government, its successful implementation is of
paramount importance to reaffirming the people’s faith
in parliamentary democracy and ensuring a successful
political transition.
 These successes in the political, social and
economic fields would not have been possible without
the support of our development partners, bilateral and
multilateral. To them I offer our deep gratitude and
appreciation, and we look forward to their continued
assistance and support during this critical transitional
phase.
 It is becoming increasingly evident that the
impact of continuing climate change cannot be ignored.
While its adverse effects will spare none, small

09-52598 46

developing countries will bear a heavier burden, even
though they contribute the least to the causes. Despite
Bhutan’s negligible emission of greenhouse gases, our
fragile mountain ecology faces potential threats,
primarily the adverse impact on agriculture, which is
the mainstay of our people. Erratic and severe weather
patterns and the threat of glacial lake outburst floods
are of particular concern to Bhutan. Other hazards,
such as flash floods, landslides, forest fires and
droughts, are also likely to increase. When Cyclone
Aila hit the Bay of Bengal in May, it also had
disastrous and widespread effects in Bhutan, touching
every corner of the country. Precious lives were lost;
power and water supplies affected; roads, bridges and
vital infrastructure damaged. Farms, the most
vulnerable sector, were the worst affected.
 Our capacity to carry out adaptation and
mitigation measures is severely constrained by our lack
of scientific, technical and financial resources. Bhutan
has always maintained that climate change must be
addressed within the framework of sustainable
development. The issues are inextricably linked to
development, and any debate on the subject must take
into consideration equity and the right of developing
countries to be able to provide their people with better
livelihoods.
 My delegation appreciates the initiative of the
Secretary-General in convening the high-level Summit
on Climate Change. It provided the necessary political
impetus for negotiations to be concluded in
Copenhagen this December. We must now advance the
progress of the multilateral negotiations in every
possible way to ensure that tangible results are
achieved in Copenhagen for the well-being of present
and future generations. In this regard, I am pleased to
inform this gathering that Bhutan will assume the chair
of and host the sixteenth summit of the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in
April 2010. Given the importance of the subject,
climate change and environment will be the Summit’s
theme, and the issue will receive our leaders’ highest
attention when they meet in Thimphu.
 Terrorism in all forms and manifestations is a
serious threat to domestic as well as global peace and
security. It endangers and undermines our common
values of respect for human rights and the rule of law,
and our basic desire to live in peace and harmony.
Preventing terrorism preserves these fundamental
values, through which we can achieve lasting peace
and security.
 Even my country, which has always enjoyed
peace and stability, has not been spared this evil
menace. Bhutan therefore fully supports the
international consensus on taking firm action against
terrorism. The General Assembly’s adoption of the
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288)
was an important political achievement that represents
our common approach to combating the scourge of
global terrorism. We must show similar commitment in
concluding a comprehensive convention on
international terrorism. Within our region, the leaders
of SAARC have concluded an agreement on mutual
legal assistance in criminal matters, reaffirming our
region’s commitment to collectively addressing the
evils of terrorism.
 Bhutan accords high importance to reform of the
United Nations, particularly the revitalization of the
General Assembly and reform of the Security Council.
We fully support the expansion of the Security Council
in both its permanent and non-permanent membership.
For their active role in global affairs and their capacity
and resources to shoulder greater responsibilities,
reflect present global realities and make the United
Nations more representative, we fully support electing
India, Japan, Brazil and Germany, plus two African
countries, to be permanent Security Council members.
 My delegation is greatly encouraged by the
momentum gained in the intergovernmental
negotiations on the reform process. We hope that the
sixty-fourth session will build on the progress achieved
so far and bring this long-drawn-out process to a
successful conclusion under Mr. Treki’s leadership.
 Natural calamities are occurring regularly every
year, and smaller developing countries are increasingly
faced with the challenge of coping with such problems.
Just last week, my country was severely affected by an
earthquake that measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. It is
one of the biggest disasters we have experienced in
recent times. Its devastating effects were felt in six
districts of eastern Bhutan, where 13 people lost their
lives and many were left injured and homeless. About
1,900 homes, numerous schools, Government offices
and historical monuments were destroyed or damaged.
The full impact is still being ascertained. During this
difficult period, we have been comforted by the
outpouring of support from friendly countries such as

47 09-52598

India and others, which have rendered much-needed
technical and financial assistance for the massive relief
work.
 Given the increasing frequency of such severe
natural calamities and their negative effects on many
parts of the world, there is a need for institutionalized
disaster preparedness and response mechanisms at the
national, regional and global levels. In this context, the
establishment of the United Nations Central Emergency
Fund is an important step towards providing the
disaster relief that is urgently required for life-saving
operations. Bearing this in mind and as an expression
of our continued support for the commendable
humanitarian work of the United Nations, Bhutan has
made a modest contribution to the Fund, which we
hope to increase in the coming years.
 These are indeed difficult times with multiple
crises hitting us simultaneously. The threat of climate
change is real and its effects are occurring even as I
speak. Global governance needs to be made more
effective to help us address the global challenges more
efficiently. In this interdependent world, it will be
impossible for any country to act alone in resolving
these crises. Therefore, as we gather here once again to
deliberate and find solutions to the many difficult
problems confronting us, I conclude by reiterating my
delegation’s full support and cooperation in working
towards addressing our common challenges.


At the
outset, I would like to extend to you, Sir, and through
you to the brotherly Socialist People’s Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya our sincere congratulations upon your
election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-fourth session. We are confident that your broad
experience and many skills will help enrich our work at
this session and achieve the objectives to which we all
aspire. Our high appreciation goes also to Mr. Miguel
d’Escoto Brockmann for the excellent manner in which
he conducted the work of the previous session.
 I also express our warmest thanks and
appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his
tireless efforts in the service of world peace and
security to promote the role of the United Nations,
achieve our common noble objectives and find
effective solutions to various international problems.
 Today our world is witnessing profound and rapid
changes that have added new dimensions to
international relations, which in turn have altered the
balances and equations that have long governed those
relations. These changes have generated major
challenges at various levels, requiring all parties to
shoulder their responsibilities with vision and wisdom
and to enhance their efforts to establish the foundations
of a safer, more stable and more developed world and
of balanced and equitable international relations based
on solidarity.
 We must redouble our efforts to reform the
United Nations, which was designed decades ago, in
order to update it to current global circumstances and
enable it to carry out its essential role in maintaining
international peace, security and development, and in
serving the interests of world solidarity.
 Global circumstances have changed since the
creation of the United Nations. Its present structure and
equations no longer reflect the reality of the world
situation and international relations. Given our concern
for justice and balance in international relations, we
hope that the international community will introduce
the necessary reforms to the United Nations system, in
particular in the context of expanding the Security
Council and increasing the transparency and efficiency
of its work, while bearing in mind need for the
broadest possible consensus among States on pending
issues.
 In spite of its complex and interrelated nature, the
world situation can only strengthen our attachment to
the United Nations and to its founding principles.
Those principles constitute the ideal framework for
coordinating and uniting our efforts to address issues

09-52598 20

and challenges in the implementation of the noble
principles enshrined in the Charter, finding effective
solutions to pending issues, mitigating the impact of
the economic and social crisis, and promoting
solidarity-based frameworks of partnership and
cooperation, in keeping with a more comprehensive
approach based on the close correlation between peace,
security and development.
 Further rapprochement and solidarity among the
nations of the world remain, in our view, among the
noblest aims of the United Nations and a pillar of the
new system of international relations. Therefore, today
more than ever before, we must further disseminate the
culture of tolerance, dialogue and acceptance of the
other and respect for cultural differences and religious
symbols. We must build constructive relations among
States and peoples, based on moderation and the
rejection of extremism, violence and fanaticism of any
kind.
 For many years now, Tunisia has promoted
initiatives to give effect to that noble objective, the
most recent of which was “Kairouan, Capital of
Islamic Culture for the Year 2009”, organized with the
cooperation of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization and the International
Organization of la Francophonie.
 Globalization, with its numerous problems and
major challenges, requires us to pay close attention to
our young people and to constantly listen to their
concerns in order to protect them from exclusion,
marginalization and the dangers of seclusion,
extremism, carelessness and estrangement, while at the
same time instilling in them a culture of tolerance,
compromise and moderation.
 Based on the special status that we reserve for
our young people, whom we consider to be our true
wealth, the support of the present and foundation of the
future, we in Tunisia have insisted on entrenching the
spirit of responsibility within this group and encourage
them to participate actively in all aspects of public life
and in establishing the country’s future policies and
objectives.
 Based on this vision and our experience in
dealing with our youth and its aspirations, President
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali called for the proclamation of
2010 as the International Year of Youth and for the
convening, under United Nations auspices and in
cooperation with the relevant international organizations,
of a world youth conference to be attended by young
people from all over the world and to conclude with
the drafting of an international pact uniting world
youth around universal values.
 We strongly hope that this initiative will
contribute to deepening awareness of the position of
young people in society so that they become active
stakeholders in the success of our development
processes. Furthermore, young people should play a
major role in promoting dialogue and in enhancing
understanding and mutual respect among peoples on
the basis of universal values and noble human
principles concerning which all cultures and
civilizations agree — values such as tolerance,
moderation and respect of the other; rejection of all
forms of violence, extremism and discrimination; the
culture of citizenship, solidarity, peace and
communication; stimulation of the spirit of initiative;
volunteerism and environmental protection.
 This initiative already enjoys the support of Arab,
African and Islamic regional organizations as well as
the Non-Aligned Movement. We look forward to your
support, Mr. President, for the adoption of a resolution
by the General Assembly at this session in order to
give concrete expression to this initiative.
 Terrorism remains a major threat to world peace,
security and development, in spite of numerous
national and international efforts to counter it. It
remains a challenge to the international community,
and we have on numerous occasions called for a
comprehensive approach in addressing a danger that
spares no one. We must take into consideration the root
causes of such phenomena, as well as just and
sustainable solutions to ongoing world problems. We
must work to decrease poverty, exclusion and
marginalization, and we must confront extremist
movements that favour fanaticism, seclusion and
hatred.
 As one of the first countries to warn against the
dangers of this phenomenon in the early 1990s, Tunisia
renews its call for the convening of an international
conference under the auspices of the United Nations to
craft a universally binding code of conduct to fight
terrorism.
 Faithful to its identity and keen to ensure its full
integration into its community, Tunisia strives
tirelessly and resolutely to enhance cooperation with
its partners in various regional affiliations. In the firm

21 09-52598

belief that the Arab Maghreb Union is an indispensable
strategic choice for the interests of the Maghreb
peoples and will enhance the regional and international
status of its members in a world where blocs and
groupings are proliferating, Tunisia has spared no
effort, together with other Maghreb countries, to
complete the process of building the Union, promote
common Maghreb action and work to overcome the
temporary difficulties that are preventing its
materialization. We seek thereby to ensure that the
Union enjoys the position it deserves on the
international scene and to increase the capacity of its
member States to meet present and future challenges.
 Tunisia also continues to work to promote
common Arab action, revitalize its mechanisms,
develop cooperation and partnership relations with
sister Arab States in various fields, and bring about the
desired Arab economic integration and complementarity.
 Many international problems, particularly in the
Middle East, remain unresolved and are a source of
deep concern for the international community, with
negative consequences for security and stability in the
region and the world. From this rostrum, we reaffirm
Tunisia’s constant and principled support for the just
Palestinian cause and the brotherly Palestinian people
in their struggle to recover their legitimate rights and to
establish their independent State on their own land.
 We note with satisfaction the positive stance of
the United States Administration on the Middle East
issue, the elements of a just and comprehensive
settlement of the conflict, the two-State solution, and
subsequent international efforts and momentum to
revive the peace talks.
 Today, we renew our appeal to the international
community, especially the sponsors of the peace
process, to intensify their efforts so as to compel Israel
to end its settlement policy, without preconditions, thus
enabling talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides
to resume, in accordance with international resolutions,
all peace terms of reference and the Arab Peace
Initiative.
 Achieving peace and ensuring security and
stability in the Middle East will require Israel to lift the
blockade, dismantle the roadblocks and abandon its
humiliating measures and other provocative steps
against the Palestinians, as well as the recovery by the
Palestinian people of its legitimate national rights, the
establishment of its independent State, and Israeli
withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan and the
Lebanese lands that remain under Israeli occupation.
 We also express our solidarity with the brotherly
Iraqi people and hope that they will overcome the
difficulties they still face, achieve national
reconciliation and consolidate security and stability so
that all Iraqis can devote themselves to the
reconstruction of their country in a spirit of unity and
accord.
 The hotspots of tension and conflict in many
regions of Africa, some of which persist, have
devastated the continent, sapped its energies and
potential, jeopardized its development, slowed its
growth and negatively affected its societies.
 Faced with this situation and given the
necessarily comprehensive nature of any approach to
world peace and security, the international community
and the United Nations organs, first and foremost the
Security Council, must support the efforts of the
African Union and its member States and stand with
the African peoples as they seek to restore security and
stability and to overcome the effects of conflict and
war.
 Given the organic relationship between peace,
security and development, and the world’s pressing
need to reinvigorate the values of cooperation and
solidarity, Tunisia proposed an initiative that was
adopted by the General Assembly in December 2002 to
create the World Solidarity Fund to fight poverty and
lay the foundations of solidarity-based development.
Today we renew our call to operationalize the Fund,
thus enabling it to assist developing countries,
particularly those in Africa.
 On a different level, and taking into consideration
the rich and long-standing political, economic, social
and cultural links between Tunisia and Europe, our
country is ever keen to strengthen its relations with all
the States of that sphere. Tunisia’s relations with the
European Union have seen tangible progress, thanks to
both sides’ determination to upgrade their ties to the
level of advanced partnership, thus opening prospects
for enhanced cooperation in all fields and enabling our
country to achieve further integration with its regional
and international environment.
 The Euro-Mediterranean region remains one of
the main focuses of Tunisia’s foreign policy. On the
basis of our strong belief in the importance of building

09-52598 22

a secure, stable and prosperous Mediterranean region
on a foundation of equal partnership and mutual
interests, we support initiatives and mechanisms to
consolidate peace and promote development. From this
perspective, Tunisia is determined to play an active
role in ensuring the success of Mediterranean
cooperation for the benefit of the peoples of the region.
 Tunisia is also working to strengthen its ties of
friendship and to broaden and enrich its cooperation
with American and Asian States through the
establishment of a solidarity-based partnership. We are
thus laying the groundwork for a new era in these
relations that will secure the interests of all sides, bring
them together, consolidate conditions of peace and
stability, and achieve further progress and prosperity
around the world.
 The peoples of the world today urgently need a
clean environment and all States must preserve it in
order to avoid the severe consequences of which much
research and many studies have warned, as climate
change has caused huge economic losses to the
international community.
 Seeking to meet the environmental, economic and
social challenges caused by climate change, in
November 2007 Tunisia hosted the International
Solidarity Conference on Climate Change Strategies
for the African and Mediterranean Regions. Our
country also hosted the African regional meeting of the
Preparatory Committee for the Conference of the
Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification in order to develop a unified African
position and garner support for African States that are
negatively affected by desertification and land
deterioration, as well as to promote scientific research
in this field.
 Tunisia has spared neither effort nor energy over
the past two decades to join the ranks of developed
countries, based on an open-minded and forward-
looking vision, the foundations of which were laid by
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. This vision has
encompassed all fields — political, economic, social
and development — and been implemented via
thorough reforms to strengthen democracy and the
culture of human rights in word and deed, and through
the expansion of public freedoms and the participation
of all sectors of Tunisian society in charting the
country’s political course within the frameworks of the
rule of law and institutions.
 I reiterate in conclusion that our success in
securing development and promoting relations of
cooperation among all States is closely linked to an
international environment characterized by security,
stability and justice.


I would like to offer my
congratulations, Mr. President, on your assumption of
the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-
fourth session. Allow me also to commend your
predecessor, Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, for
his capable leadership during the sixty-third session. I
assure you, Sir, of my delegation’s full support and
cooperation as you lead the work of this important
session.
 The new millennium has been no stranger to
crisis. We have seen how ideological extremism can
foment turmoil and civil unrest in ways that do not
respect international borders. We have also learned that
financial instability can quickly propagate through
global markets and cause chaos in the real economy.
And we have been repeatedly reminded that we
disrespect the natural environment at our peril.
 The global challenges that we face today may
sometimes shock us, but they should not surprise us.
Most stem from problems that have been allowed to
fester and grow for many years, if not decades. All are
inextricably linked to the choices made by the
international community regarding international
commerce and development. The challenges of the new
millennium are global in nature and therefore require a
global response. Now, more than ever, we must
revitalize our multilateral systems of governance in
order to make them more responsive and more
representative. Large countries tend to dominate
international forums and drown out the rest of us.
 In the case of climate change and small island
States, I mean that quite literally. We must consider the
impacts of our activities and institutions on the most
vulnerable, so that large and small countries alike can
enjoy the stability and security necessary for
sustainable economic development. In this new
millennium, even the mighty have been humbled. So
what does that mean for a small island nation like
Nauru? When giants stumble, it is usually the smallest
that suffer the most serious injuries.
 The international community must begin this
process of renewal by reaffirming its commitment to
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), an
initiative meant to alleviate the burdens of extreme
poverty, hunger, illiteracy, inequality and disease. After
early success in the 1990s, progress towards the MDGs
has slowed throughout the world.
 In the Pacific, where nearly 40 per cent of the
population lives on less than a dollar a day, it has been
no different. The reasons are not hard to identify. The
Asian financial crisis was devastating for the
economies in our region. The recent spike in food and
energy prices has strained our limited financial
resources. Now the global economic downturn
threatens to depress our economies even further.
 Additionally, the Pacific confronts a unique set of
challenges in reaching our MDGs. Our remoteness
makes it difficult to access world markets and greatly
increases the cost of doing business. Our small size
deprives us of the advantage of economies of scale, and
our vulnerability to climate change places our hard-
won economic and social progress in jeopardy. Perhaps
the most vivid example of our situation is the price of a
bag of rice. For most countries, the food crisis has
eased as commodity prices have fallen but, in Nauru,
the price of a bag of rice has increased by 80 per cent
over the past year, hovering now above $60. The rest of
the world pays less than $25.
 The time has come for the international
community to deliver on its promises and to dedicate
0.7 per cent of gross national income to helping
developing countries meet their development goals.
Past recessions have led to a steep drop in levels of
official development assistance. There will be no hope
of reaching our MDGs if that happens again.
 It is vitally important for United Nations agencies
to strengthen their engagement in the Pacific region.
For the past four years, Nauru has called upon the
United Nations to establish a presence on the ground
by opening an office in our country. It is my fervent
hope that the next time that I address this body I can
announce that that commitment of the United Nations
has been fulfilled.
 The absence of the United Nations in the Pacific
is reflected by the paucity of statistics collected in the
region. Accurate indicators are necessary for tracking
economic and social progress. It is critical for United
Nations agencies and other international institutions to
work more closely with our national Governments and
with regional organizations so that accurate data is
available for planning and policymaking.
 The temptation to add layer upon layer of new
programmes must be avoided. We must not forget the
commitments made under the Mauritius Strategy for
the Further Implementation of the Programme of

5 09-52463

Action for the Sustainable Development of Small
Island Developing States, the Monterrey Consensus,
the Paris Declaration and other international
agreements. Too often, the United Nations and other
development partners succeed in delivering many new
reports, but fail to deliver tangible results. Action plans
are no substitute for action. We must dispense with the
excuse that helping poor countries develop is
something that we cannot afford. That is simply not
true. Quite the opposite: in a globalized world, leaving
large portions of the world to languish in poverty is
what we cannot afford.
 The international community must also reform
the world financial system so that all developing
countries share equitably in global economic
prosperity. The current economic crisis has revealed
deep flaws in our international financial system. The
overriding goals of those reforms should be to facilitate
growth in developing nations and to increase their
resilience to abrupt economic fluctuations and the
fickle flow of capital.
 While Nauru does not have a mature financial
sector, shocks to the international system can be
devastating to our local economy and dry up vital
development assistance. To be effective, development
assistance needs to be reliable. That is not possible
without a stable and transparent financial system.
 Lastly, the international community must next
take swift steps to mitigate climate change, starting
with a bold agreement in Copenhagen. Climate change
presents the greatest threat for my country and many
other small island developing States. Scientists warn
that, within our children’s lifetime, sea levels may rise
by a metre or more. That would wipe out low-lying
coastal areas, and many Pacific islands would be a
distant memory.
 However, we do not need to wait for that
catastrophic scenario to see the impacts of climate
change. We live with them every day. Flooding and
inundation are already eroding our shores and
contaminating our water supply. Higher water
temperatures and ocean acidification are damaging the
marine ecosystems that we depend on for food and our
economic livelihood. We pray that malaria does not
find its way to our doorstep.
 I applaud the commitment of the Secretary-
General to addressing that issue and his efforts to build
consensus among world leaders this week at the high-
level Summit on Climate Change. From Asia to Africa
and the Arctic, he has visited affected regions to
observe the effects of climate change first hand, but not
the Pacific, one of the most vulnerable regions in the
world.
 When the Secretary-General glances out the
window of his aircraft while travelling between Asia
and the Americas, I would ask that he remember that,
in the vast expanse of water below, there is a whole
region of people living on small islands who are
already grappling with the consequences of climate
change. I encourage that his next trip be to the nations
of the Pacific before they disappear.
 The science tells us that we must reduce the
concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to
350 parts per million or less in order to avoid the most
dire climate change scenarios. However, most
developed countries have proposed emissions targets
that would result in concentrations far higher.
 That is not acceptable policy when human lives
are at stake. If a doctor prescribes medicine to treat a
serious illness, do we only give the patient half of what
is needed? If an engineer says eight columns are
necessary to support a building, would any responsible
person recommend that we use only four? Then why
are the most vulnerable countries asked to accept
proposals that would surely lead to our extinction?
That is not good enough when the lives of real people
from real places are being threatened.
 Developed countries must also provide the
financial, technical and human resources necessary for
us to address a problem that was not of our own
making. Nauru joins the Alliance of Small Island States
in calling for developed countries to provide the
equivalent of 1 per cent of their gross domestic product
for urgent adaptation and mitigation efforts in
developing countries. That must be in addition to their
current commitments for development assistance.
 Climate change calls for the widest possible
cooperation from every member of the international
community. Taiwan, as one of the world’s 20 largest
economies, can contribute in many ways and should be
invited to play a larger role in the United Nations
system, particularly in the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change process. Taiwan has
much to offer to vulnerable countries, especially in
adaptation measures, technology transfer and
financing.

09-52463 6

 Climate change is an imminent threat to
international security. It is therefore vital that the
Security Council be seized of the issue and closely
monitor new developments. Special attention must be
paid to the most vulnerable countries, including the
small island developing States and least developed
countries, and also to vulnerable groups within
countries, including women and children, indigenous
people and the poor.
 The challenges of the new millennium can be
overcome only through multilateral cooperation and a
revitalized United Nations system. It is necessary for
the Security Council to be more representative in both
the permanent and non-permanent categories to reflect
current geopolitical realities, which is why Japan,
India, Germany and Brazil should be made permanent
members. I also call upon the General Assembly, as the
world’s most representative governance body, to accept
Taiwan’s meaningful participation in its specialized
agencies and other world forums.
 We have seen the power of multilateral
cooperation around the world and close to home. My
country was at the brink of economic collapse at the
beginning of this decade. In cooperation with Pacific
Islands Forum member Governments, my country
outlined a number of key governance and development
priorities in the Pacific Regional Assistance for Nauru
(PRAN) programme. It included a re-evaluation of
fiscal policies and objectives, review of our
Constitution, and reforms for our education and health
sectors. I am proud that in just four years we have
reached the goals laid out in PRAN, so much so that at
the fortieth Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting,
held in Cairns, Australia just last month, leaders agreed
that Nauru had emerged from the crisis phase and was
on the path to sustainable economic recovery and
development, and that PRAN was no longer required.
 PRAN was an excellent example of how country-
focused development aid can quickly lift a nation out
of crisis and back onto the path towards sustainable
development. PRAN was successful because it
identified concrete objectives and was backed by
sufficient funds. Future programmes in the region
should likewise bring tangible benefits and be free
from political influence.
 Here I must acknowledge and express Nauru’s
deepest appreciation to Australia, New Zealand,
Taiwan, Japan and Forum island countries, our own
regional organizations and others for their unwavering
funding and other forms of support to PRAN. The
people of Nauru will always remember their generosity
during our time of need.
 We are also grateful to the United Nations
Democracy Fund. With its assistance, Nauru recently
adopted a number of important constitutional
amendments that will enhance good governance and
bring increased stability and responsiveness to my
Government.
 One of the founding fathers of the United Nations
once said, “The test of our progress is not whether we
add more to the abundance of those who have much; it
is whether we provide enough for those who have too
little”. President Roosevelt passed away before the
inaugural session of the General Assembly, but those of
us here today have the responsibility to see that his
spirit lives on.
 The United Nations system of multilateral
governance was born out of a time of great crisis and it
ushered in over half a century of peace and prosperity.
However, the benefits were not shared equally, and two
thirds of humanity was largely left behind. The time
has come to take up the project begun 64 years ago so
that future prosperity can be shared by all, including
the smallest and most vulnerable. The United Nations
continues to be our best hope for creating a fairer and
more just world.
 God bless the Republic of Nauru, and God bless
the United Nations.