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General Assembly President Hails United Nations as Most legitimate Forum
For Concerted Global Action, as 30 World Leaders Address Session’s First Day
Amid signs that countries were slowly pulling back from the brink of recession, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today cautioned world leaders attending the General Assembly’s annual debate that serious challenges remained, and that tackling the fallout from ongoing crises in food, energy and climate would require nothing less than rising to the call of an exceptional moment in history.
“If ever there were a time to act in a spirit of renewed multilateralism –- a moment to create a United Nations of genuine collective action –- it is now,” Mr. Ban said, opening the Assembly’s sixty-fourth general debate with a call for collective action. “Now is our time,” he declared, urging member States to be united in purpose and united in action.
Laying out his vision, he expressed hope that this year would see significant progress on various fronts, including in the creation of a nuclear-free world. Amid new pledges by the United States and the Russian Federation to reduce nuclear arsenals, and optimism that next year’s Review Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) would offer a fresh start, the Secretary-General said that action on the issue now could helpbring the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force.
As for the ongoing fight against poverty, he drew attention to the fact that the “near poor” were becoming the new poor, and that an estimated 100 million people risked falling below the poverty line this year. With that in mind, he was creating the Global Impact Vulnerability Alert System (GIVAS) to provide real-time data on the world’s socio-economic picture. Further, a summit on the Millennium Development Goals would also be convened at Headquarters in 2010 to mount a final push towards the 2015 deadline.
Turning to the Organization’s work in the field, Mr. Ban called for consolidating progress in Darfur and delivering on world body’s mandate, especially as the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) –- which still lacked critical assets -– would be 90 per cent deployed by year’s end. Among other situations, he said that, in Myanmar, if next year’s elections were to be accepted as credible, all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, must be released.
Regarding the situation in Gaza, he underscored that issues of justice and accountability had to be addressed and negotiations revived towards achieving a two-State solution. Elsewhere, the United Nations was committed to standing with the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and solidifying gains in countries like Timor-Leste, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Nepal.
Above all, the United Nations was committed to offering a voice to the voiceless and defending the defenceless. With crises in food, energy, recession and pandemic flu hitting all at once, “the world looks to us for answers”, he said, adding: “If we are to offer genuine hope to the hopeless, if we are to truly turn the corner to economic recovery, then we must do so for all nations and all people.”
Picking up that thread, the President of the General Assembly, Ali Abdussalam Treki, said the biggest challenges –- peace and security, environmental degradation, extreme poverty, simultaneous economic, food and energy crises and disarmament –- could only be tackled through a well-functioning multilateral system.
As the United Nations chief deliberative policy-making organ, the Assembly held legitimacy unmatched by any other body or organization, and he pledged to work with States to forge consensus on a revitalized Assembly and a reformed Security Council. In the area of human rights, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance continued to plague societies across the globe, and the Assembly would need to support the development of the Human Rights Council.
Recalling that peace required global cooperation, United States President Barack Obama said his Government was ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation -- one that recognized the rights and responsibilities of all nations. Recalling that he had assumed office at a time when many viewed the United States with mistrust, he said it was his deep belief that in 2009 -- more than at any other time -- the interests of nations and peoples were shared.
He said the United States would live up to its values and lead by example. It had re-engaged the United Nations, joined the Human Rights Council and fully embraced the Millennium Development Goals. Challenging all Member States to work together and with more urgency to ensure global peace and security, Mr. Obama laid down four pillars towards a more peaceful word, including eliminating nuclear weapons, curbing global warming, ending intractable conflicts and creating a fair global economic and trade system.
He noted the General Assembly had often become a forum for sowing discord -- but twenty-first century leadership demanded more. No world order that elevated one nation over others would succeed. “The choice is ours,” he said. “We can be remembered as a generation that chose to drag the arguments of the twentieth century into the twenty-first […] or one that chooses to come together to serve the common interest of all human beings.”
Similarly, Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni said Africa was entering a phase of growth and transformation. Uganda had faired well during the recession, mainly because of strong regional trade, but it would do much better when roads, electricity and railways were in place. Progress in those infrastructure areas had been slow, due to dependence on foreign funding, which tended to be frivolous and erratic.
How could growth and transformation be expected in such a situation? he asked, and said the whole of Africa needed to “wake up” and cooperate on finding solutions. Indeed, Africa could no longer be held hostage to foreign funding in such vital areas, he said, stressing that African nations faced a double task: to transform from pre-industrial to modern economies and to cope with problems caused by others, including the global financial crisis and environmental deterioration. The need for dialogue among civilizations was long overdue, he added.
On that point, Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, said the international community had felt the need, as never before, for informal collective leadership, and an increased role for forums like the Group of Eight (G-8) and Group of 20 (G-20). Among problems that could not be solved without the United Nations was the imbalance of existing world economic governance mechanisms, the inadequacy of their “rules of the game” and the chasm between financial markets and the real economy.
He said the United Nations had to strengthen its influence and preserve its multinational nature. Reforming the Security Council was essential to those efforts and the time had come to step up the search for a compromise formula for its expansion. In addition, real progress in nuclear disarmament would be impossible without addressing national missile defence and non-nuclear strategic offensive arms potential. He expected work on a new treaty to fully take into account relevant provisions of the joint document endorsed by himself and the United States President at their meeting in Moscow earlier this year.
Hu Jintao, President of China, said that, as the world moved further towards multi-polarity and economic globalization, democracy in international relations had gained greater public support. At the same time, prospects for global economic recovery were unclear and he called on the United Nations to achieve a more balanced global economic system, notably by creating an international environment conducive to developing country growth. Developed countries should open their markets by reducing or exempting tariffs, while developing nations should upgrade South-South cooperation.
For its part, China would continue to open to the rest of the world, he said, pledging support to developing countries hurt by the financial crisis. Such efforts would include assistance for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, increased assistance to Africa, the reduction -- or cancellation -- of debt for heavily indebted poor countries and promotion of regional monetary and financial cooperation.
Also speaking today were the Heads of State of Brazil, Libya (on behalf of the African Union), Qatar, Turkmenistan, Chile, Uruguay, Algeria, Republic of Korea, France, Argentina, Tajikistan, Monaco, Colombia, South Africa, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Dominican Republic, Iran, Bolivia, Ukraine and Poland, as well as the Heads of Government of Sweden (on behalf of the European Union), Italy, United Kingdom and Australia.
The General Assembly will reconvene at 9 a.m. Thursday, 24 September, to resume its general debate.
Background
The General Assembly met this morning to begin its annual general debate.
Statement by the Secretary-General
Opening the sixty-fourth session’s general debate, United Nations Secretary-General BAN KI-MOON recalled that the Assembly gathered every September in a solemn rite –- to reaffirm the United Nations’ founding charter and faith in the principles of peace, justice, human rights and equal opportunity for all. Delegates assessed the state of the world and laid out a vision for the way forward.
This year, however, the Assembly had been asked to rise to an exceptional moment: amid the many crises of food, energy, recession and pandemic flu, the world looked to the 192-member body for answers.
“If ever there were a time to act in a spirit of renewed multilateralism –- a moment to create a United Nations of genuine collective action –- it is now,” he said. It was time to put the “united” back into the United Nations.
Laying out his vision, he asked world leaders to make this year one in which the Organization rose to the greatest challenge facing the human family: the threat of catastrophic climate change. Indeed, just yesterday, 100 Heads of State and Government recognized the need for a climate agreement that all nations could embrace, in line with their abilities, consistent with what science required, and grounded in “green growth” –- the lifeline of the twenty-first century.
He urged that this year see a world free of nuclear weapons. It was a cause that had lain dormant for too long, which was why, last October, he had proposed a five-point plan for putting disarmament back on the global agenda. The Russian Federation and the United States had pledged to cut nuclear arsenals and this May, there would be a chance to push for real progress at the United Nations Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Moreover, tomorrow’s historic Security Council Summit, chaired by the President of the United States, offered a fresh start. “With action now, we can get the ratifications to bring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force,” he said.
In the fight against poverty, he hoped this year would bring a focus on those left behind, as a new crisis was at hand. The near-poor were becoming the new poor and an estimated 100 million people risked falling below the poverty line this year.
Markets might be bouncing back, but incomes and jobs were not, he said. People believed the global economy was stacked against them, which was why he had put forward a Global Jobs Pact for balanced and sustainable growth, and was working to create a new Global Impact Vulnerability Alert System, which would provide real-time data on the world’s socio-economic picture.
A special summit on the Millennium Development Goals also would be convened at this time next year. “With only five years to go, we must mount a final push towards 2015,” he stressed. Rightly, women and children had been placed at the forefront.
The prevention of sexual violence against women also must be a priority. “Let us agree: these acts are an abomination,” he stressed. Leaders of every nation were personally accountable when such crimes were committed within their borders. When women died in childbirth or were raped as a weapon of war, the United Nations could not look the other way, and he reminded delegates they had recently agreed to create a single agency to address women’s issues.
Along similar lines, he said the Assembly also had reaffirmed the responsibility to protect. “Where conflicts arise, justice and accountability should follow,” he said, which was why the work of the International Criminal Court was so vital. He looked forward to the Review Conference next May as a chance to strengthen its mandate.
Turning to the United Nations’ work in the field, he said none of those noble goals could be achieved without peace, security and justice. In Darfur, that meant consolidating progress and delivering on the mandate. While the mission would be 90 per cent deployed by year’s end, it lacked critical assets, and in that context, he urged continued work to stabilize the Sudan and to shore up the comprehensive peace with the Southern Sudan.
Noting that Somalia continued to demand attention, he said the United Nations, in Sri Lanka, would continue to press for settlement, reconciliation and respect for the principle of responsibility. He welcomed the Government’s pledge to allow all displaced persons to return by the end of January.
In Myanmar, the release of some political prisoners last week fell short of what was needed, and he called for doing “much more” in the best interests of the country and its people. If next year’s elections were to be accepted as credible, all political prisoners –- including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi –- must be released.
In Gaza, people continued to suffer, he stressed. Issues of justice and accountability had to be addressed and he urged reviving negotiations towards a two-State solution and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. He supported United States President Barack Obama’s efforts for the resumption of peace talks and would work within the Quartet to that end.
While recent elections in Afghanistan had revealed serious defects, the world should not forget that progress had been made, he continued. The United Nations was committed to standing with the Afghan people, as well as with the people of Pakistan. Significant progress also had been made in Timor-Leste, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Nepal. Quiet progress had been made in Iraq and fresh opportunities created in Cyprus. It was time to take stock and move forward.
On a final note, Mr. Ban reminded delegates that their common ambition should be to make the United Nations’ outward renovation work a symbol of the Organization’s inward renewal. The United Nations had made progress in “Delivering as One” and in “getting peacebuilding right” so that societies emerging from war did not slide back into conflict. It had created the Department of Field Support and was developing the “New Horizons” strategy to make peacekeeping more agile and effective.
“We need the strong support of Member States, just as we do to secure the safety of our brave staff serving in dangerous places,” he said.
In his travels from the Arctic ice rim to the steppes of Mongolia, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and to summits in Trinidad and Tobago, London and L’Aquila –- he had spoken out on one point above all others: the United Nations was the voice of the voiceless, the defender of the defenceless.
“If we are to offer genuine hope to the hopeless, if we are to truly turn the corner to economic recovery, then we must do so for all nations and all people,” he said. “We are here to take risks, to assume the burden of responsibility, to rise to an exceptional moment, to make history.” This year, of all years, asked no less.
Statement by General Assembly President
ALI TREKI, President of the United Nations General Assembly, said the sixty‑fourth session was taking place as the international community faced multiple crises and enormous challenges in areas from international peace and security, to environmental degradation and climate change, to extreme poverty and deadly infectious diseases. The setbacks to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals; the economic, financial, food and energy crises; disarmament and non-proliferation were all challenges in the backdrop of this session.
Those challenges could only be addressed through a well-functioning multilateral system that would ensure effective and collective action. As the embodiment of multilateralism, the United Nations was the most legitimate forum for ensuring concerted global action. The Assembly was “the chief deliberative policymaking organ of the United Nations”, and held a global membership and legitimacy unmatched by any other organization. Mr. Treki pledged to work with Member States to forge a consensus on a revitalized Assembly, a more representative and reformed Security Council, and other initiatives to improve the effectiveness and management of the Organization.
Turning to crucial issues facing the world, he said the international community needed to work towards a global climate change agreement in Copenhagen and a more comprehensive and coherent approach towards peace, security and development in Africa. He said the upcoming high-level Assembly meeting, scheduled for the start of the sixth-fifth session in 2010, would be held just five years before the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and offered an opportunity to identify the impediments to progress towards the Goals.
Supporting post-conflict peacebuilding would continue to be a major concern for Member States, as would the promotion and protection of human rights. He noted that the Assembly would review the follow-up to the outcome of the Durban Review Conference as racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance challenged societies across the globe. The Assembly would be required to support the development of the Human Rights Council. The question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict remain unresolved despite its place on the Assembly’s plenary agenda for many years, and still posed a serious threat to international peace and security. A comprehensive and lasting settlement was needed, he said.
The Organization had a unique responsibility in striving for the rule of law within international affairs and was the universal centre for international standard setting in various fields of international law. Yet the rule of law meant little without the accountability of law, and in the face of violations of international law, there had to be effective means of redress. While the international community was constantly strengthening accountability mechanisms, including dispute resolutions, it had far to travel to fulfil this part of the vision. The law itself had to reinforce the common belief in the fundamental dignity of all human beings, Mr. Treki said.
Statements
LUIZ INáCIO LULA DA SILVA, President of Brazil, said he would focus on three perils haunting the planet: the ongoing economic crisis; the lack of stable world governance; and the threat of climate change. As he had said a year ago, history would never forgive the serious blunder of dealing with the “impacts” rather than the “causes” of the crisis.
For example, he said, the current economic crisis was more than a crisis of “big banks”. It was a crisis of “big dogmas”. An economic, political and social outlook that had been held to be unquestionable had simply fallen apart. A senseless system based on absurd doctrines, such as markets regulating themselves, had proved itself bankrupt. Furthermore, the fact that a total collapse of the system had been avoided had apparently given rise to irresponsible acquiescence in certain sectors. Most of the underlying problems had been ignored. There was enormous resistance to adopting mechanisms to regulate financial markets.
At the G-20 meetings and in other venues with world leaders, he continued, he had insisted on the need to irrigate the world economy with a significant volume of credit. He had defended the regulation of financial markets, the widespread adoption of anti-cyclic policies, the end of protectionism and the fight against tax havens. He had proposed true reform of the multilateral financial agencies.
The world could no longer be run by the same rules and values that had prevailed 65 years before, he stated. Likewise, the United Nations and the Security Council could no longer be run under the structures imposed after the Second World War. The world was growing “multilateral” and also “multi-polar,” based on regional integration, such as South America’s creation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). And rather than being in conflict with the United Nations, such a world would invigorate the Organization.
It would take political will to confront and overcome situations that conspired against peace, development and democracy, he continued. Without political will, throwbacks such as the embargo against Cuba would continue. There would be more coups such as the one that had toppled the constitutional President of Honduras, granted refuge in Brazil’s embassy in Tegucigalpa since Monday. The international community must demand that he be returned to the Presidency of his country and must ensure the inviolability of Brazil’s diplomatic mission in Honduras.
Finally, he said, the threat of climate change would continue to grow unless all countries took action to turn back global warming. His country would arrive in Copenhagen with precise alternatives and commitments based on a National Climate Change Plan that included an 80 per cent cut in deforestation of the Amazon by 2020. Further, despite the fact that Brazil was self-sufficient in oil and major reserves had recently been found, Brazil would not turn into an oil giant but would consolidate its role as a world power in green energy.
Meanwhile, he said the developed countries must set emission-reduction goals far beyond those tabled to date. Plus, the funding for technological innovations to protect the environment in developing countries was totally insufficient.
BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States, said that, while he had been in office for just nine months, he was aware of the expectations that accompanied his Presidency –- they were rooted in a discontent with a status quo that had allowed people to be increasingly defined by their differences and outpaced by their problems. At the same time, such expectations were rooted in hope that real change was possible and that the United States would lead in bringing it about, he said.
He had come to office at a time when many viewed the United States with mistrust, but it was his deep belief that in 2009, more than at any other time, the interests of nations and peoples were shared. Religious beliefs could forge new bonds or tear people apart. Technology harnessed could light the path to peace or darken it. What happened to the hope of a child anywhere could enrich the world –- or impoverish it. “We must embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interests and mutual respect,” he said. “Our work must begin now.”
“ America will live its values, and we will lead by example,” he said, noting that his Administration would work with all Members States to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaida and its extremist allies. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the United States and others were helping to develop their Governments’ capacity to lead in that effort, and advance their peoples’ security. In Iraq, it had removed American combat brigades from cities and set a deadline of next August to remove all such brigades from Iraqi territory. He pledged to keep his promise to remove all troops by the end of 2011.
He said the United States had outlined a comprehensive agenda to seek a world without nuclear weapons. In Moscow, the United States and the Russian Federation had announced they would pursue reductions in strategic warheads and launchers. At the Conference on Disarmament, they agreed to a plan for negotiating an end to the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons, and this week, the Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, would become the first senior American representative to the annual Members Conference of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
The United States also had re-engaged the United Nations, he explained, saying “we have paid our bills”, joined the Human Rights Council, signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and fully embraced the Millennium Development Goals. Some actions had yielded progress and others had laid the groundwork for it in the future. But such efforts could not fall to America alone; all had to bear their share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.
Recalling that peace rested on the cooperative effort of the world, Mr. Obama pointed out that the General Assembly had often become a forum for sowing discord. Twenty-first century leadership demanded more, and no world order that elevated one nation over others would succeed. “Old habits and old arguments are irrelevant to the challenges faced by our people,” he said, calling for building new coalitions that bridged old divides. “The choice is ours: we can be remembered as a generation that chose to drag the arguments of the twentieth century into the twenty-first […] or one that chooses to come together to serve the common interest of all human beings.”
With that, he put forward four pillars, fundamental to a future the United States wished to see, calling first on States to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and seek a world without them. Today, the threat of proliferation was growing in scope and complexity. Failing to act invited a nuclear arms race in every region. A fragile consensus stood in the way of that frightening outcome -– the basic bargain that shaped the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which outlined States’ right to peaceful nuclear energy and that those with nuclear weapons had the duty to move towards disarmament.
He said the United States would pursue a new agreement with the Russian Federation to substantially reduce strategic warheads and launchers, and complete a Nuclear Posture Review that opened doors to deeper cuts. It also would host a summit next April reaffirming nations’ duty to secure nuclear material on their territory and help those unable to do so. Such efforts must work to strengthen the NPT.
When International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections were avoided and United Nations demands ignored, people were less safe and all nations were less secure, he said, adding that the Governments of North Korea and Iran threatened to take the world down that dangerous slope. He was committed to diplomacy that opened a path to a more secure peace for both nations, but if they ignored international standards, they must be held accountable. “We must insist that the future does not belong to fear.”
Turning to the second pillar –- the pursuit of peace -– he said efforts must begin with an unshakeable determination that the murder of innocent people would never be tolerated. In confronting extremists that promoted conflict by distorting faith, he said the United States would forge partnerships, share intelligence, coordinate law enforcement and protect people. The most powerful weapon in its arsenal was the hope of human beings –- the belief that the future belonged to those who built, not destroyed.
The United States would boost support for peacekeeping and energize efforts to prevent conflicts. In the Sudan, he said, it would pursue lasting peace through support of people in Darfur and implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Elsewhere, from Haiti to the Congo to East Timor, it would work with the United Nations to support lasting peace.
In addition, the United States would continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, and the Arab world. Just yesterday, he had met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas. While progress had been made, he continued to call on Palestinians to end incitement against Israel, and reiterate that America did not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.
He said the time had come to relaunch negotiations –- without preconditions –- that addressed the permanent status issues: security for Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees and Jerusalem, he said. The goal was clear: two States living side by side in peace and security -– a Jewish State with true security for all Israelis, and a viable, independent Palestinian State with contiguous territory, that ended occupation begun in 1967. The United States would also pursue peace between Israel and Lebanon, Israel and Syria, and a broader peace between Israel and its many neighbours.
Turning to the preservation of the planet, he said the danger posed by climate change could not be denied and nations’ responsibility to meet the challenge could not be deferred. Without action, efforts to end conflict would be eclipsed by wars over refugees and resources; development would be devastated by drought. “The days when America dragged its feet on this issue are over,” he said, adding that the country would press ahead with deep cuts in emissions to reach the goals set for 2020, and eventually 2050.
On the final pillar –- creating a global economy that advanced opportunity for all people –- he said the world was still recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Across the globe, there were promising signs, yet little certainty about what lay ahead. At the upcoming G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, the United States would work with the world’s largest economies to chart a course for balanced growth. That would mean vigilance, to ensure efforts did not let up until people were back to work, rekindling demand, and strengthening regulation for all financial centres.
Indeed, there was a moral and pragmatic interest in the broader questions of development. The United States had set aside $63 billion to carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS, to end death from tuberculosis and malaria, to eradicate polio, and strengthen public health systems. The United States would join others in contributing H1N1 vaccines to the World Health Organization.
Growth could not be sustained unless all embraced their responsibility. Wealthy nations had to open their markets to more goods, and reform international institutions to give more countries a greater voice. Developing countries had to root out corruption that precluded progress. The United States would support honest police and independent judges, civil society and a vibrant private sector.
“Our goal is simple: a global economy in which growth is sustained and opportunity is available to all,” he said. Such changes would not be easy but he believed the world’s people hoped that for their children. Democracy and human rights were essential to achieving such goals. The test of leadership would not be the degree to which nations fed the fears of their people. As an African American, he would never forget that he would not be here today without the steady pursuit of a more perfect union in the United States. While America had too often been selective in its promotion of democracy, that only reinforced its commitment.
“We have reached a pivotal moment,” he said. “The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation -– one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations.” With confidence in its cause, and commitment to its values, the United States called on all nations to help it build the future people deserved.
MUAMMAR AL-QADHAFI, Leader of the Revolution of Libya, speaking also on behalf of the African Union, said he hoped this gathering would be a historic one. He also congratulated United States President Barack Obama on his first address to the General Assembly. This year’s debate was being held in the midst of many challenges and the world should unite and defeat these challenges, which included climate change, the economic crisis and the food crisis.
He said many Member States were not present when the United Nations was created by three countries years ago. They created the Charter but the Preamble was different from the provisions and articles. No one objected to the Preamble, but he rejected everything that came after. The Preamble of the United Nations Charter said nations were equal, whether large or small. The veto power bestowed upon the five permanent members of the Security Council was, therefore, against the Charter, and he neither accepted nor recognized it.
Continuing, he said the Charter’s Preamble stated that military force should not be used unless there was a common interest. But 65 wars, with millions of victims, had broken out since the creation of the United Nations. Moreover, the Preamble said if there was aggression against any country, the United Nations together would check such actions. Despite that, countries which held the veto used aggressive force against “the people”, even as the Charter said no nation had the right to intervene in the internal affairs of another.
He went on to express concern that right now, calls for reforming the Organization focused only on increasing the number of Member States. That would only make things worse. For instance, adding more Security Council seats would “give rise to more super-Powers, crush the small people and create more poverty”. Such an impractical move would also generate more competition among countries. In any case, the Council should act according to the rules of the United Nations. The solution was to close the admission of new Member States and provide equality among those already belonging to the Organization, he said.
Currently, the Assembly was like a decor without any substance. “You just make a speech and then you disappear...that’s who you are right now,” he said. Setting that right would mean that the Security Council could serve as a tool for implementing resolutions adopted by the Assembly. The Council should represent the interests of all countries, through individual seats or seats held by unions that represented each region of the world. There were equal votes in the Assembly and there should be equal votes next door in the Security Council, he declared, adding that ultimately, for a united and peaceful world, serious Organizational reform was needed.
Keeping his focus squarely on Security Council dynamics, he said that the 15-member body practised “security feudalism” for those who had a protected seat. “It should be called the terror council”, he said, underscoring that terrorism could exist in many forms. The super-Powers had complicated interests and used the United Nations for their own purposes. Indeed, the Security Council did not provide the world with security, but gave it “terror and sanctions”. He was not committed to adhere to the Council’s resolutions, which were used to commit war crimes and genocides. He reiterated that the Council did not provide security and the world did not have to obey the rules or orders it decreed, especially as it was currently constituted.
Regarding Africa, the African Union deserved a permanent seat in the Security Council for the suffering it had endured for many years. This had nothing to do with reform, he said, declaring that Africa deserved compensation, amounting to some $77.7 trillion for the resources and wealth that had been stolen in the past. Colonization should be criminalized and people should be compensated for the suffering endured during the reign of colonial power.
Africans were proud and happy that a son of Africa was now governing the United States of America and it was a great thing -- it was a glimmer of light in the dark of the past eight years, he said.
However, he noted the money spent by the United States and the city to secure United Nations Headquarters during the annual Assembly. While thanking the United States for its efforts in hosting the Organization for the past 50 years, he said the United Nations should hold its annual debate in another hemisphere for the next 50 years. He complained about the trouble some diplomats and their staff had in securing visas from the United States Government.
YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI, President of Uganda, said Africa had gotten grasp of the development compass in the last 15 to 20 years. Uganda’s economy had grown at the rate of 6.5 per cent a year for the two decades and had grown 7 per cent the last year, despite the global recession. Those reasonable rates of growth had been achieved despite the fact that three vital infrastructural elements remained to be resolved decisively.
In the areas of electricity, roads and railways, he said progress had been slow due to a dependence on foreign funding, which tended to be frivolous and erratic. Rising tax collections have now put Uganda in position to fund projects in those areas and foreign investments were welcome, of course. But Africa could no longer be held hostage to foreign funding in those vital infrastructural areas in which there were shameful global inequities. The United States, for example, had an electrical usage rate of 14,124 kilowatts per capita per year, while Africa had 574, and some African countries had rates as low as 9 kilowatts.
How could growth and transformation be expected in such a situation, he asked, and said the whole of Africa needed to “wake up” and cooperate on finding solutions to that matter and to the poor condition of roads. In China, the cost of transporting a ton of cargo between Beijing and Shanghai by rail, was $12. In East Africa, the cost was $65.
He said another two bottlenecks were related to the export of raw materials and the lack of progress in modernizing subsistence and traditional agriculture. The present process of exporting raw materials was called “modern slavery” by many Africans since it brought in only 10 per cent of the final processed product. The modernization of farming meant the implementation of initiatives to improve products and equipment, irrigation systems, breeding stocks and agro-practices.
Africa was entering a phase of growth and transformation, he said. Uganda had faired well during the recession because of regional trade, but it would do much better when the three infrastructural elements of roads, electricity and railways were in place. Africa had great growth potential that was not yet tapped and multilateral action would unlock the dormant potential. The situation was similar to the current global crisis, which had been caused by lax regulations in managing the world’s economics. Multilateral actions had been required to stop money-laundering and to strengthen regulations.
In conclusion, he said African countries had a double task. One was to transform their economies from pre-industrial to modern ones. The other task was to cope with problems caused by others, such as the global financial crisis and environmental deterioration. The need for dialogue among civilizations was long overdue.
SHEIKH HAMAD BIN KHALIFA AL-THANI, Amir of Qatar, said the current General Assembly coincided with an extremely special international situation; one that took place at “critical junctions of major historical developments”. That had given rise to the opportunity to regulate international interactions and systems. Those opportunities were a “pre-renewal” for a new future, especially after the financial market crisis, 11 September 2001 and other events.
He urged that the United Nations system needed quick renewal and strengthening of its institutions so that it conformed to the new realities of the world. Global events had altered the world map, changed the balance of power, and had also generated a “renewal-seeking movement” in the United States that “we are all following with interest”.
He added that the international community had become “confused”, and it was now clear that peace and prosperity required more than bi-polarity or the hegemony of one country, no matter how advanced that country was. “It is clear that the serious crises of the world were exacerbated when nations and the international order tried to tackle issues not from the United Nations framework but from another setting.” The situation in the Middle East was one of those issues.
Highlighting the contribution that small States could make on issues, he said that although the sizes of States were not equal that “it is time to go back to the United Nations system that accommodates everyone and is a venue recommended by all and a charter accepted by all nations of the earth”. It was necessary to use the United Nations to solve intractable crises with a legitimate international consensus.
Turning to the issue of energy, he highlighted Qatar’s involvement with energy alternatives, its concern with global climate change and the impact of that phenomenon on the environment and life on planet. Moreover, there could not be peace or prosperity when there was an energy crisis. He thanked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for his United Nations Summit on Climate Change, which was a forum to discuss the issue’s serious threats. He said it was the duty of the international community to respond to these new challenges.
Finally, he noted that Qatar’s North Field has made that country the world’s third largest producer of natural gas; consumption of which was less harmful to the environment. Thus, the Government of Qatar was promoting its use, as well as encouraging efficiency using other forms of alternative energy such as solar power.
GURBANGULY BERDIMUHAMEDOV, President of Turkmenistan, said today’s world demanded closer coordination among States and international organizations. How effective that interaction was would determine how global problems of ecology, energy, food, water distribution and poverty would be solved. It would be impossible to discuss achieving those goals without reaffirming the United Nations’s most important role. For more than 60 years, it had been the main guarantor of universal peace, security and development.
Regarding United Nations reform, he said the Organization had to improve its effectiveness. Reform must be sensible, targeted and related to the global community’s real needs. Supporting efforts to bring more openness to the United Nations, he said the Security Council’s structure had to be improved, notably to create closer interaction with the General Assembly.
He said the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, and features of its legal status, provided opportunities for positive influence on the process in the Central Asia and Caspian Sea region. The idea would be to create permanent mechanisms for discussing regional problems and working out mutually acceptable decisions. Security of one country could not be guaranteed in a lack of regional security.
On energy, he said discussion centred not on accepting preventive measures or local agreements on aspects of fuel transport, but on the creation of a new, universal model of relations in the world energy space –- those based on a multilateral balance of interests. In line with a General Assembly resolution on “Reliable and stable transit of energy resources and its role in securing stable growth and international cooperation” (2008), Turkmenistan had held a high-level international conference on that issue. A proposal from it outlined the creation of a legal document on the transit of energy resources, which would take into account proposals of interested countries and organizations. Turkmenistan fully supported that idea and called on interested States to put forward proposals.
Taking up disarmament and reduction of weapons arsenals, he said countering distribution was a main issue on the global agenda. Turkmenistan was convinced that the fewer armaments, the more stable the world’s development. All countries in his region were parties to the 2006 Treaty that established a nuclear-free zone in Central Asia, and he called for holding an international conference in the first half of next year under United Nations auspices. He also welcomed proposals aimed at assisting global disarmament processes.
Among the most serious issues today was effectively countering international terrorism, illegal drug trafficking and trans-border organized crime, he said. Such problems were especially important in his region and only through joint efforts could those threats be resisted. The United Nations should increase its participation in coordinating models of international cooperation that aimed to neutralize those threats.
Turning to the revival of Afghanistan, he said Turkmenistan would continue to provide assistance to that country for reconstruction, and social and humanitarian purposes. The United Nations, with its peacemaking experience, should suggest new political-diplomatic models for solving Afghanistan’s problems and take into account the potential of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia.
The serious after-effects of the world financial and economic crisis demonstrated the need to join efforts in shaping a global architecture of security and establishing conditions for equal relations among States, based on recognized international legal norms, he said. Responsibility, morality and humanism were criteria that current and future generations would use to assess the Assembly’s work. As a member of the world community, Turkmenistan would contribute to strengthening the high principles in such international affairs.
MICHELLE BACHELET, President of Chile, said that, while six decades of international collaboration had led to “significant progress”, the current economic crisis had given new urgency to the need for global collaboration on combating climate change and world hunger, among other things. On the issue of poverty, she reminded the Assembly that more than 1 billion people suffered from hunger globally -- 50 million of them in Latin America alone.
She noted the “sad paradox” that at the same time Governments in developed countries spent trillions of dollars to revitalize the economy, the World Food Programme had seen its budget reduced by half. She then observed that less than 0.1 per cent of what had been spent on the financial rescue plans could end the food crisis, and she added that the issue of global hunger should be put on the agenda –- in the Assembly and at the forthcoming meeting of the G-20.
“[It] is not possible that, on the pretext of the economic crisis, the executives of the investment banks, which were at the centre of the current crisis, gambling irresponsibly with financial assets, should today be back to business as usual,” she continued, decrying the excessive bonuses still being paid out by some companies. The world could not continue that way, especially since the collapse of financial institutions in some countries had revealed a “crisis of conception”, where the State and the public sector were now seen as parts of the problem, not the solution. While widespread damage had thus far been averted, it was time for all to recognize the need for constructing realistic, fair and pragmatic models that ensured advancement for all peoples.
Turning to her own country, she said that, having learned the lessons of the past, Chile had developed stricter and more effective financial regulation and more solid macroeconomic foundations, with better capitalized banking systems. “Today, reform cannot wait -– either domestically…or abroad.” On the issue of the United Nations, she said Chile supported the Organization’s recent efforts in the areas of human rights, development and climate change. Her country favoured reform and enlargement of the Security Council and supported the “important work” being done by the Peacebuilding Commission.
Regarding climate change, she warned that, unless the countries coordinate at the highest level, the upcoming Copenhagen Conference would not attain its goal, and she urged the Assembly, “Let us not use the economic crisis as an excuse for not reaching an agreement that our citizens are demanding.”
TABARE VAZQUEZ, President of Uruguay, demanded the immediate restoration of constitutional order in the Republic of Honduras and the restoration of those democratically elected by the Honduran people to their posts. He further called for the integration of the American continent without exclusions, exceptions or embargoes, such as the one on Cuba, without second-class partners. “We are all Americans,” he said, “and equals.”
As one of the main contributors of troops to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, he noted that the difficulties encountered in the peacekeeping system -– such as their growing demand and complexity –- far from being discouraging, should be a stimulus to better coordination of efforts with other Member States and the Secretary-General to stabilize areas affected by conflicts, protect the civilian population, strengthen institutions and promote economic and social development of affected countries. States must also cooperate in the fight against terrorism, while maintaining absolute respect for international law and human rights.
Uruguay, which had signed a wide range of human rights conventions, would be one of the first signatories to the Optional Protocol of the International Pact on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, he said. The country was also party to the main international conventions on the environment and sustainable development.
In a time of globalization, it was not only the economy that had to be globalized; “peace, freedom, democracy, justice, dignity and the welfare of the people must be globalized as well”, he said. Among the many policy and actions undertaken by Uruguay to that end, was its firm commitment to tobacco-control policies. Citing the World Health Organization (WHO) statistic that smoking was “the leading avoidable cause of death worldwide”, he noted that Uruguay had become the first smoke-free country in the Americas, which was no small matter when one considered it caused more than 5 million deaths annually. His delegation had sponsored and promoted the resolution to create a smoke-free United Nations. “It is a partial, but auspicious advance in the fight against this epidemic,” he said.
He also spoke of Uruguay’s efforts to become a country providing equal opportunity access to information technologies through the Ceibal Project, providing every student and teacher in the public primary school system with a laptop computer having Internet access. He anticipated that, by the end of 2009, every student and teacher in the elementary school system would have received an XO prototype. The programme developed intelligence and introduced deep changes in teaching and learning, offering equal access to information starting in childhood. The project would provide knowledge that was indispensable for becoming a member of society and ensuring its proper functioning.
In closing, he quoted Michel de Montaigne, who had said: “There is no greater destiny for human beings than taking care of the task of being human.” Five centuries later, it should not be remembered as something solely of the past, but something to be assumed as a task of the present. “I believe there is no other option if we really want to survive as a species and to improve as human beings,” he said.
ABDELAZIZ BOUTEFLIKA, President of Algeria, said the global economic crisis was again at the centre of the Assembly’s debate. It was only through an integrated, concerted approach to international relations that States could collectively surmount today’s problems and deal with the menace that weighed on peace and security. Describing the current state of affairs, he called for ending opaque commercial and financial practices imposed in the name of free trade, and incoherence in the face of the crisis, seen most notably in the unfair treatment of developing nations.
In negotiations to conclude a treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, a spirit of compromise and solidarity was needed, particularly because developed countries had been motivated by narrow national interests. He said such behaviour also had been seen on the issue of non-proliferation and disarmament, which had suffered from non-compliance of certain nuclear Powers, and in the fight against impunity. The question of human rights was based on a selective approach, casting suspicion on efforts in that area.
He favoured measures that would strengthen existing structures to counter the financing of terrorism. In that context, the African Union had launched an appeal, and he supported its efforts to make it concrete. He hoped the United Nations would make progress on reform in the General Assembly, Security Council and Economic and Social Council.
Indeed, he continued, a revitalized Assembly would be able to find compromiseon Security Council reform. Equitable representation in the Council was needed, in line with the demands of our time. In addition, the preservation of peace, promotion of development and respect for human rights were necessary for building an Arab-Maghreb region that was stable and integrated. The United Nations had supported Algeria in settlement of disputes in the Western Sahara, in line with the United Nations Charter, he added.
Continuing, he said Algeria was fully committed to Palestinians and their situation. Indeed, the Middle East would not be able to achieve peace without a just and sustainable solution to that question. Pressure must be brought to bear on Israel and its policy of aggression towards Palestinians. Noting that Algeria had joined all African efforts to end obstacles to development, he said the African Union’s collaboration with the United Nations had led to reduced tension on the continent. In closing, he reiterated his hope that international affairs be carried out in a manner that reinforced the multilateral system.
LEE MYUNG-BAK, President of the Republic of Korea, began by underscoring the special historical ties between his country and the United Nations, which had enabled it to carry out unprecedented democratic elections in 1948. The United Nations had come to his country’s rescue only two years into its independence, once the Korean war had broken out in 1950. He acknowledged the Organization’s invaluable support in that regard.
Regarding Republic of Korea’s international contributions, he said the country was striving to become a “Global Korea” by actively ensuring the well‑being of all human beings. Although financial support was crucial, he said it was fundamental to overcome poverty through a development model that was fit for each cou
