A/67/PV.22 General Assembly

Members will recall that the Secretary-General presented his annual report (A/67/1) to the General Assembly at its 6th plenary meeting, on 25 September.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the States members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and my own country, Cambodia. As global events over the course of the past decade have vividly demonstrated, the world we live in today is fundamentally different from the world that existed at the time of the founding of the United Nations 67 years ago. In the complex web of interdependence in our world today, a local crisis can — with what was once unthinkable speed — affect the hopes and aspirations of entire societies halfway around the globe. Such challenges, while daunting, present new opportunities to strengthen international dialogue and cooperation. ASEAN is currently redoubling its efforts in regional integration via the establishment of an ASEAN community by 2015. Underlining those efforts is a firm commitment to the work and principles of the United Nations. As such, ASEAN seeks to strengthen coordination and cooperation on key global issues of common interest and concern. In that spirit, ASEAN wishes to share with the General Assembly certain issues of importance. First, ASEAN attaches great importance to sustained economic growth. In the context of declining economic prospects and mounting global challenges, collective action at the regional and global levels is needed in order to produce an effective response. While ASEAN continues its efforts to establish an ASEAN economic community by 2015, economic integration with all its partners has been strengthened. Moreover, in an effort to stabilize the financial sector, ASEAN has worked closely with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea to strengthen a regional financial safeguard mechanism — the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) — with a recent doubling of CMI funds from $120 billion to $240 billion as a firewall against a liquidity crisis. In the global context, ASEAN contributes to the Group of 20 (G-20) annually. At this year’s G-20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, Cambodia, acting as ASEAN’s representative, reiterated the need to sustain economic stability and structural reform for growth and employment, and the urgency to improve and strengthen international financial architecture in an interconnected global economy. Secondly, meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is one of the pillars of sustainable development. As the deadline nears, greater progress in achieving the MDGs is of paramount importance. As enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, reducing poverty and narrowing the development gap within ASEAN through mutual assistance and cooperation is a primary mandate of ASEAN. As such, ASEAN is in absolute concurrence with the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/67/1), in that we must not lose our momentum on reaching the MDGs by 2015. To that end, ASEAN has been advancing its own efforts, as contained in its vision of an ASEAN sociocultural community. With the aim of facilitating closer intra- and intersectoral collaboration, ASEAN adopted a road map in August 2011 for the attainment of the MDGs. Since then, remarkable progress has been made by ASEAN member States, with some reaching their targeted goals. However, significant challenges remain, particularly in narrowing the development gap within the region. We agree with the Secretary-General that disaster risk reduction is essential to sustainable development. Given the fact that Southeast Asia is prone to natural disasters, disaster management is one of our top priorities. We reiterate the importance of strengthening ASEAN’s collective response towards disasters by strengthening the ASEAN disaster response mechanism, namely, its Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response, and enhancing the role of ASEAN’s Secretary General as Coordinator. Cooperation between ASEAN and the United Nations is also strengthened through the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management. ASEAN welcomes efforts to define new paradigms for sustainable development and fully endorses the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and the policy guidelines outlined in the outcome document, entitled “The future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex). Thirdly, in order to preserve our planet for the next generation, immediate and concerted action to address the critical problem of climate change is vital. Small States in the Asia-Pacific and Caribbean regions remain threatened by rising sea levels, and developing nations dependent on agriculture face threats to their livelihoods as a result of the externalities of climate change. In that context, it is regrettable that the international community remains divided on the most appropriate response. We call on the developed countries to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions in accordance with the United Nations principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. It is disappointing that many of the promises made by nations since Copenhagen 2009 have not been fulfilled in a timely manner. Fourthly, ASEAN’s commitment to regional and global peace remains high on our agenda. This year marked the forty-fifth anniversary of the founding of ASEAN. Within a single generation since its initial founding, the region has enjoyed sustained and durable peace and stability, which have been consolidated via initiatives such as the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum. ASEAN firmly believes that peacekeeping remains the pre-eminent instrument for maintaining international peace and security. We would also like to reiterate, however, that peacekeeping operations must respect the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs. We are of the view that the cooperation between ASEAN and the United Nations in the area of peacekeeping is of great importance. At present, around 5,000 police, military experts and troops from ASEAN member States have actively participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations, including in demining activities. Fifthly, ASEAN continues to strongly support international disarmament efforts, including efforts toward achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world. We believe that nuclear-weapon-free zones play an important part in maintaining peace and security in our region. ASEAN has worked hard to facilitate the signing of the protocol to the Treaty on the South- East Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone and its related documents by the five nuclear-weapon States as early as possible. Finally, ASEAN attaches great importance to the promotion and protection of human rights. Currently, ASEAN is in the process of finalizing the ASEAN human rights declaration for adoption at the twenty- first ASEAN Summit in November 2012, with the aim of establishing a regional framework for cooperation to fully realize human rights in the region. While we move forward to consolidate regional integration and attain the MDGs by 2015, we remain firmly committed to working in tandem with the United Nations, and we support all efforts to reinforce and enhance ties between our respective organizations. ASEAN warmly welcomes the strengthening of the relations between the two organizations since the adoption of the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between ASEAN and the United Nations in November 2011. In that context, ASEAN will submit to the General Assembly at the end of October the draft of a resolution on cooperation between ASEAN and United Nations, which reflects the improved relationship between the two organizations. ASEAN hopes that the draft resolution will receive strong support and co-sponsorship from all Member States as in the past.

First of all, I would like to begin by congratulating you, Sir, on your assumption of your duties as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. Japan looks forward to your leadership during the current session as we deal with the global challenges that the General Assembly is mandated to discuss, as outlined in the Charter. We reaffirm our commitment to contributing to that work. I also would like to convey to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Japan’s deep appreciation for his efforts in guiding the diverse activities of the United Nations and for his latest report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). The spirit of the United Nations Charter and the shared principles of the international community call upon us to settle international disputes in a peaceful manner based on international law. Japan is committed to those principles and is determined to protect peace, ensure the safety of its people and protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with international law. Japan reiterates its firm belief that any attempt to realize a certain ideology or claim by the unilateral use or threat of force is inconsistent with the United Nations Charter. In that connection, Japan will continue to work with the United Nations to strengthen the rule of law, including through efforts to facilitate the use of international courts and tribunals and by extending assistance to developing countries for the improvement of their legal systems and the development of their human resources. Furthermore, it is our strong belief that the idea of the rule of law has a strong connection with the enhancement of human rights, which is one of three pillars of the United Nations. Japan will continue to actively contribute to efforts to strengthen our role in the promotion of human rights. Japan will again submit, with the European Union, a draft resolution on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in order to address the grave concerns of the international community there, including on the abductions issue. Regarding the maintenance of international peace and security, which is one of the primary tasks of the United Nations, progress was made through the concerted efforts of the international community during the sixty-sixth session, in particular when looking at the situations concerning the Sudan and South Sudan, and in Somalia and Yemen. In that regard, Japan is fully committed to contributing to United Nations efforts by participating in peacekeeping operation missions and extending assistance of various kinds to the affected areas. Japan is currently sending an engineering unit with approximately 330 personnel to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and is operating a Self-Defence Force facility in the Republic of Djibouti, which is actively engaged in counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. Japan welcomes the work undertaken by the United Nations in the field of peacebuilding through the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). Japan allocated an additional $12.5 million to the PBF last November. We believe that stronger emphasis must be placed on the linkages between peacekeeping and development operations. Japan remains committed to ensuring that peacebuilding dividends are felt on the ground through the work of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture. In addition, we welcome the initiative by the Secretary-General to strengthen civilian capacities in post-conflict States, including through the launching of CapMatch, the online United Nations civilian capacities exchange, last month. Japan takes interest in that initiative and its trial. The adoption of resolution 66/290 on human security by the General Assembly last month was a significant step towards addressing widespread and cross-cutting challenges to the survival, livelihood and dignity of people. Recognizing that the three pillars of the United Nations — peace and security, development and human rights — are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, Japan will continue to further promote human security and seek specific ways to implement that principle on the ground. To that end, the Government of Japan has announced a contribution of $10 million to the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security. In addition, on the occasion of the fi fth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, to be held in Yokohama, Japan, in June next year, the Government of Japan will seek to discuss various measures that could be adopted and implemented by participating African States for their people and communities, with a view to strengthening human security. Human security also applies when coping with natural disaster. In order to share the lessons learned from the great East Japan earthquake of March 2011 and to formulate a framework for the sake of future generations, Japan reiterates its intention to host the third World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2015 and would like to substantiate our preparation for the Conference with the support of the General Assembly. From the perspective of human rights, strengthening capacity-building and the empowerment of individuals and communities, especially women and young people, is also crucial in the context of human security. Bearing that in mind, Japan will also continue in various forums, including UN-Women and the Security Council, to address the challenges facing women in order to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women. Furthermore, in the light of resolution 66/67 on volunteerism, which was adopted in 2011, Brazil and Japan have jointly submitted draft resolution A/C.3/67/L.8 on mainstreaming and promoting volunteerism for the next decade. The transitions in the Middle East and North Africa have again highlighted the importance of democracy and the rule of law. Japan will continue to support democratization and reform efforts by all countries. The continuous violence and suppression, as well as the serious violations of human rights, in Syria cannot be overlooked from the perspective of the rule of law. Japan strongly condemns such violence in Syria and fully supports the efforts by Mr. Brahimi, Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for Syria. Japan also has extended humanitarian assistance to the people of Syria. Furthermore, Japan commends the leadership of the United Nations for the mediation and electoral support provided in Libya and the engagement for political transition in Yemen. Such assistance is vital for those countries in their efforts to achieve peaceful transitions based on rule of law. With regard to the Middle East peace process, the United Nations must also play a proactive role there. Japan strongly hopes for the immediate resumption of direct negotiations between the parties and is committed to continuously contributing to the efforts by the international community to realize a two-State solution. In its efforts to strengthen the rule of law in both the regional and global contexts, the United Nations needs to redouble its efforts aimed at suppressing the proliferation of arms that could fuel conflicts around the world. The threat posed by weapons of mass destruction continues to be one of the most pressing issues that the United Nations and its Member States need to tackle. Japan has been playing a leading role in the adoption of the General Assembly resolutions that call for united action to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the nuclear and missile programmes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea pose serious threats to the region, as well as to the entire international community. Japan strongly urges the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to fully comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions and its commitments under the Joint Statement of the Fourth Round of the Six-Party Talks of 2005. With regard to Iran, Japan continues to cooperate with the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006). Japan strongly believes that full implementation of the Security Council resolutions on sanctions is of critical importance, as it provides a solid basis for United Nations action to strengthen international peace and stability. In order to strengthen the commitment of States Members of the United Nations to full implementation of the relevant resolutions, Japan has been holding a number of New York-based conferences since 2010, and we will continue to do so. We also need to establish the highest common standards to regulate the international trade in conventional arms, and in that connection, the creation of a strong arms trade treaty is one of the highest priorities. As we were unable to conclude negotiations on such a treaty at the previous session, Japan, as one of the original seven authors of the resolution on the arms trade treaty, will do its utmost to finalize our work at the earliest possible time during this session of the General Assembly. Terrorism also remains a grave threat and challenge to peace, democracy, and freedom that requires a continuing and comprehensive effort by the international community. Japan has been extending assistance to Afghanistan and many other countries in order to address local conditions that may be conducive to the spread of terrorism. Together with its partners in the international community, Japan remains firmly committed to the eradication of safe havens for terrorists in order to ensure peace and security in the world. Among the multitude of challenges confronting the United Nations, as presented in the report of the Secretary-General, foremost is the building of the foundations for sustainable development. In that context, accelerating worldwide efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is a crucial task, and Japan is determined to contribute to that process and also to work toward the formulation of the next development framework. In that regard, my delegation welcomes the establishment of the High- level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda by the Secretary-General, in which former Prime Minister Naoto Kan is an active participant. With a view to substantively contributing to the post-2015 discussions, including the High-level Panel, Japan has been leading an informal discussion forum, known as the post-MDGs contact group, since last year. As the chair of the contact group, Japan produced the summary of the chair’s note and the framing questions as input to the Panel. The issue of sustainable development, in particular the follow-up to the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), is another major task that the United Nations must accomplish. Japan will actively participate in the follow-up process, including through discussions on the sustainable development goals. Japan is also committed to following up the Green Future Initiative, which the Government of Japan announced at Rio+20. In that regard, Japan will host the International Conference on Urban Planning and Regional Development next year. The issue of climate change should not be put on the back burner. We must keep advancing concrete efforts to reduce greenhouse gases without waiting for the establishment of the future framework. It is also important that such efforts be made in effective and efficient ways, not only in each country but through international partnerships. In that regard, we proposed Japan’s vision and actions towards low-carbon growth and a climate-resilient world at the seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and have actively advanced regional and bilateral efforts alike. Japan’s efforts have included the first formulation within the Asia Low-Carbon Growth Partnership of a strategy to promote low-carbon growth and climate- resilient development in the framework of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development and the new flexible market mechanism proposed by Japan. Although Japan appreciates the General Assembly’s complementary efforts concerning the grave situation in Syria, it is regrettable that the Security Council has continued to fail to unite and speak in one voice on the issue. The malfunction in the Security Council reminds us that reform of the Council is long overdue and is one of the most urgent tasks that Member States should tackle with priority. Based on that belief, the Foreign Ministers of the Group of Four countries met in the margins of the opening of the current session of the General Assembly and reconfi rmed their common vision for reform. In that context, Japan appreciates the concrete efforts made by the Chair of the intergovernmental negotiations, Ambassador Zahir Tanin, during the sixty-sixth session and welcomes his recommendations contained in his letter dated 25 July. Japan calls for the drafting of a concise working document on the matter, and calls upon other Member States to be actively engaged in genuine text-based negotiations during this session with a view to the holding of a high-level meeting on Security Council reform. Regarding administration and budgetary issues, that significant topic includes two important items, namely, the scale of assessments and human resources management, including the mobility framework. Both items will have great impact on the future of the Organization, and Japan will be actively and positively involved in the negotiations on those items. Japan expresses its appreciation for the Secretary-General’s continued strong commitment to better management in the Secretariat, and we welcome his recent efforts to improve transparency in the area of management. With regard to the regular budget, Japan will push for budgetary discipline and will carefully scrutinize potential additional requirements for the current budget. Furthermore, it is imperative for the Secretariat to consider the next biennium budget carefully, not by simply extending the 2012-2013 budget, but through a fresh look at the true needs of the Organization. I will close my statement today by reaffirming Japan’s firm commitment to the efforts of the Secretary- General in ensuring a common, effective and efficient United Nations.

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General for his valuable report (A/67/1). The successful conclusion of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) Conference and the adoption of its outcome document, “The future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex), marked the launching of the era of sustainable development in the work of our Organization, which requires a more integrated approach so as to confront the global challenges that we are facing. In the coming era, interlinkages among the challenges facing us must be recognized, and economic, environmental and social aspects must be incorporated in dealing with those challenges, while avoiding separate paths towards the same objective. In that context, integration and coherence are key words that should also apply to our working methods, including addressing the post-2015 development agenda, which should be fair, inclusive, sustainable and supportive of development efforts. While the rules for the future establishment of the working group on sustainable development were not among the topics addressed in the report of the Secretary-General, I take this opportunity to express concern about the delay in the establishment of that group. In that regard, I would like to suggest considering the appointment of two facilitators — one from the developing countries and the other from the developed countries — and to convene the working group in an open format, until consensus is reached on its composition, so as to start substantive work at the earliest opportunity,. That is consistent with the spirit and letter of paragraph 248 of the Rio+20 outcome document, which provides for the launching of an intergovernmental process that is transparent, inclusive and open to all stakeholders and for the establishment of an open-ended working group for that purpose. Egypt stresses the importance of accelerated progress to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. We view the mention in the report of the decrease, for the first time in many years, in the level of official development assistance as well as the rise of trade protectionism, with great concern. They may have potential negative consequences on the development efforts of developing countries. Egypt reaffirms that any international response to climate change must enhance the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It must be in accordance with the principles and provisions of the Convention, in particular the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities. Egypt looks forward to a positive and effective outcome to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to take place in Doha, Qatar. We hope that it will succeed in achieving and agreeing a legally binding second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. We also look forward to United Nations efforts to help African countries to address their development goals. We call for providing adequate funding for peacebuilding programmes by intensifying cooperation with international and regional financial organizations. We also look forward to increasing the available resources of the Peacebuilding Fund. The Syrian crisis is deteriorating after more than 18 months. With thousands of innocent civilians killed, it is evident that the Syrian people do not need further decisions or initiatives. What they really need is substantive improvement on the ground. That will not be possible unless an immediate cessation of violence is achieved. The Syrian regime bears the main responsibility for the violence. We believe that any plans to resolve the crisis should be based on starting the process of transition and political change immediately in order to respond to the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and provide the necessary guarantees for all factions of Syrian society. The democratic transition in Egypt and the Arab world has proved that real democracy comes from the people, from their own priorities, from their aspirations to economic development and social justice, and from their cultural and religious specificities. It highlights the interrelated and interdependent relationship between political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. That is why it is extremely important to provide further support for United Nations efforts to promote all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development. The starting point of any discussion on the responsibility to implement the concept of the responsibility to protect is to affirm that such responsibility lies mainly with the Member States. The role of the international community is to support Governments in carrying out that responsibility. We must continue discussions on the concept of responsibility to protect in accordance with the relevant paragraphs of the 2005 World Summit Outcome document (resolution 60/1) and the General Assembly resolutions, including resolution 64/291. We should avoid politicization of the concept. We should also avoid using it as a pretext to interfere in domestic affairs. Egypt welcomes the inclusion of youth issues among the priorities of the Secretary-General in his second term, as well as his emphasis on the comments made by the Egyptian President in his statement before the General Assembly (see A/67/PV.9) to consider the establishment of a United Nations body on youth in order to address the challenges facing young people and to respond to their aspirations in areas of education and employment. We also express our appreciation for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women for its activities in Cairo and its commitment to promote women’s political participation in the Arab States. Corruption in all its forms is the most dangerous crime in all societies. It undermines security and stability. It destroys national economies. It is also closely linked to forms of organized crime. Egypt looks forward to identifying the contribution of the United Nations Task Force on Transnational Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking, established by the Secretary-General in 2011, in the fight against corruption and achieving development, especially in developing countries. We also look forward to effective international efforts to recover illegally acquired funds smuggled abroad from developing countries, and to establish a mechanism to trace those assets in all countries, banks and financial institutions. I would like also to thank the Secretary-General for emphasizing the importance of implementing the outcome of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). I wish to highlight the particular importance that Egypt attaches to the upcoming 2012 conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction. The outcome document of the 2010 Review Conference (NPT/CONF.2010/50 (Vol. I)) clearly mandated the Secretary-General and the three NPT depositary States to take the necessary measures to convene the conference, in consultation with the States of the region. We reiterate that the achievement of the universality of the NPT remains the basis of the multilateral disarmament regime. I would like to emphasize here that the final document of the 2010 Review Conference cannot be compared to other documents emanating from other forums with limited participation and less authority. Egypt agrees with the recommendations of the Secretary-General on the need to combat the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons. It is also important to address the issue of the accumulation of stockpiles by producing States for purposes of export and profit. The arms trade treaty should achieve a balance between the interests of exporting and importing countries. It must also affirm the rights of States to self-defence and to acquire, export and import weapons within legal frameworks. In conclusion, I express our appreciation to the Secretary-General for his important report, and I assure you, Sir, of Egypt’s readiness to work with you and with all other delegations to reach concrete results during this session in order to contribute to achieving our goals of peace, justice, development and universal human rights.

My delegation wishes to thank the Secretary-General for his report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). We appreciate his continued efforts and those of his staff, both at Headquarters and in the field, to meet the expectations of the membership. The global community today is facing unprecedented challenges to peace, security and development. Ranging from popular uprisings to political turmoil, from climate disaster to global financial crises, from human rights violations and deprivation to extremism or terrorism, the list of threats to humankind is ever- expanding. The times call for us to reaffirm our resolve and fight the challenges collectively and peacefully under the auspices of the United Nations. The ideal of global peace and stability will remain an empty slogan without prosperity in the developing countries. The global economic downturn has, unfortunately, worn away years of development gains in many countries. Under those circumstances, the quest for poverty eradication and sustainable development becomes an uphill task. It thus appears that the realization of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 will not be possible for many developing countries, especially the least developed countries (LDCs), without additional financing. Against that backdrop, the reported decline in official development assistance last year is indeed alarming. In general, developing countries should have more say in international economic affairs. It is necessary to establish a rules-based and fair multilateral trade system and push towards multilateral trade negotiations grounded in the principles of mutual understanding and concession. It is also essential to review decision-making processes in the international financial system and ensure that developing countries have more weight in those processes. Support for the least developed countries like Bangladesh must come in the form of granting market access, removing trade barriers, the fulfilment of overseas development assistance targets, more aid commitments, funding adaptation to climate change, and giving us equal voice in the Bretton Woods institutions and other international financial institutions. Commitments have been made by the international community to strengthen the economic stability of LDCs. It is now time for the development partners to implement the commitments made in Monterrey, Paris, Brussels and, most recently, Istanbul. Migration for development is one of the largest inter-State economic activities of this century. The majority of the world’s labour migrants are from the developing South. Their remittances alleviate poverty and contribute to development in both the sending and the receiving States. Although there is relatively free flow of capital, there is no free flow of labour. In that regard, Bangladesh continues to advocate in favour of implementation of Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services under the World Trade Organization. Building the foundations of sustainable development is the greatest challenge we face today as an international community. At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20), the international community renewed its commitment to sustainable development. In its outcome document (resolution 66/288, annex), Member States agreed to define universally applicable sustainable development goals. The work to develop the goals will begin soon. As agreed in Rio, that work will have to be closely associated and coordinated with the processes that will take up the development agenda beyond 2015. Priority must be given to the challenges of poverty, employment, food and energy, water, health and environmental sustainability. The Millennium Development Goals must be integrated into the new framework so that the unmet development priorities continue to be the main focus of the international community. Climate change is having a serious impact on many countries and is even threatening their existence. Its impact is undermining the development efforts of many countries. It is high time that a global, comprehensive and ambitious agreement on climate change is reached. The agreement should include not only provisions on greenhouse-gas emissions based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and burden- sharing, but also the concerns of climate migrants, the transfer of green technologies and the funding of the Green Climate Fund, inter alia, for adaptation and mitigation purposes. We support all efforts to mainstream the rule of law into the activities of the United Nations system. Whether it is for the maintenance of international peace and security or the promotion of development and protection of human rights, it is crucial to stick to and respect the rule of law. The countries that promote the rule of law internally must also respect the rule of law in international settings. My delegation is deeply concerned over the stagnation of the multilateral negotiations on disarmament and non-proliferation. Progress in the nuclear field continues to be impeded in particular by the inability of the Conference on Disarmament to overcome its differences and agree on a programme of work that would allow for the resumption of substantive work. There is also need for meaningful dialogue among all States possessing nuclear weapons to build trust and confidence for reducing the imperative of nuclear weapons in their security doctrines. Poor regulation of the global trade in arms continues to pose a significant threat to peace and security. It is therefore very disappointing that the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty failed to agree on the text of a treaty that would have set common standards for the international trade in conventional arms. It frustrates the hopes of the millions of people all over the world who bear the brunt of the negative consequences of conflict and violence fuelled by the unregulated arms trade. My delegation welcomes the Secretary-General’s efforts in the areas of peacekeeping and peacebuilding, which are the vital cornerstones upon which the United Nations was created. The challenge before us is to ensure that United Nations peacekeeping is adequately financed and enabled to meet the realities of today. We strongly support continued partnership among the troop- and police-contributing countries, the General Assembly and the Security Council to make peacekeeping more effective. It is also essential to ensure that all stakeholders are closely involved with planning and managing peacekeeping operations. The establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Peacebuilding Fund was an important development. The Peacebuilding Commission provides a much-needed forum in which all actors involved in peacebuilding can coordinate their efforts. The ongoing engagement of the PBC and the programmes funded by the Peacebuilding Fund have made critical contributions to fostering stability in post-conflict countries. We need to nurture those nascent structures in the greater interest of peace and stability in the world. We need to make the United Nations and its work more relevant to the evolving international order. As such, we support the ongoing efforts to undertake necessary reform. The objective of the reform should be to strengthen the leading role of United Nations in international affairs, enhance its working efficiency and strengthen its capacity to deal with various threats and challenges. My delegation attaches importance to the ongoing process of revitalizing the General Assembly. The primacy of the Assembly flows from the universality of its membership and the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members. The General Assembly should be emboldened as the chief deliberative and policymaking organ of the United Nations. United Nations reform will not be complete without meaningful Security Council reform. The Security Council needs to be reformed by expanding both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership in order to reflect the realities of the twenty-first century. We attach great importance to the transparent, accountable and efficient management of the United Nations. We welcome and support efforts to transform the Secretariat into a more efficient and responsive body. In our view, a dynamic Secretariat, accountable to all its stakeholders, is needed to deliver quality results for the benefit of the wider membership. Finally, it is our sincere hope that in this session the General Assembly will continue to move from commitments to action and that the United Nations will continue the process of transforming itself into an institution ready to meet the challenges of the day.

Allow me first of all to thank the Secretary-General for his report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). We share many of his assessments of the current world situation and the activities of the United Nations during the past year. The most important thing for us to do is ensure that the United Nations delivers. We must deliver to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other internationally agreed development goals. We must deliver to bring peace to places of conflict. And we must deliver to promote human rights, rule of law and democracy. Indonesia aligns itself with the statement made by the representative of Cambodia on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The world is confronted by multifaceted, interlinked and simultaneous challenges. Only by working together will we find the effective avenues and capacity needed to address them. I wish to take this opportunity to share some thoughts on the report, as follows. First, I note with pleasure the successful conclusion of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which renewed the global commitment to mainstreaming a balanced approach in order to integrate the three dimensions of sustainable development. It is essential that we honour our commitments made at the Rio+20 Conference. While developed countries are expected to do more to help developing countries, the latter must also strive to do their utmost. When it comes to following up the Rio+20 outcome decisions, it is important that the international community work in a coordinated manner to scale up its efforts. The United Nations should therefore focus on ensuring that follow-up efforts to the Rio+20 outcomes are implemented. Since their inception, the MDGs have lifted millions out of poverty and to a better standard of living. Yet progress has been uneven and unbalanced, and many countries are still not on track to meet the MDGs by 2015. We should therefore make it an urgent priority to greatly accelerate progress by providing those countries with the necessary support. And as the deadline to achieve the MDGs approaches, this is an appropriate time to begin a discussion that will lead to a robust, bold and ambitious agenda for development beyond 2015. For developing countries, economic growth and eradicating poverty remain overriding priorities. We share others’ concern that as the supply of fossil-fuel- based energy is depleted, we must seek more sustainable and efficient energy sources. Indonesia is making ongoing efforts to establish bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the promotion and development of renewable energy use. In that regard, the Secretary- General’s initiative on sustainable energy for all could be used as a basis for formulating national policy on energy. Concerning the issue of climate change, it is vital that the Doha Climate Change Conference, to be held at the end of this year, make significant progress towards saving the planet. The Conference should ensure that the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol will be effectively implemented in order to create a foundation for stabilizing the global climate in future. While, in a spirit of common and differentiated responsibility, developed countries should take the lead in reducing emissions and developing countries should also make their best efforts, the world must come up with a cogent and comprehensive climate-change regime for the years following 2020. It is estimated that this year global unemployment will reach 200 million, of whom 75 million are young people. In developing countries, where young people constitute the fastest-growing segment of the population, prolonged youth unemployment is damaging to inclusive, sustainable and equitable growth. In Indonesia’s experience, it is important to encourage growth in sectors that can generate greater employment, and to invest intensively in sectors such as health and education. Cooperation in education, skills development and training, including internships, is very important. On-the-job training for young people that helps to support a successful transition from school to work should also be included. Where United Nations peacekeeping operations are concerned, we must ensure that adequate equipment and resources, along with training, are available so that personnel are prepared for the complexity of their mandated tasks, particularly those relating to the protection of civilians. Indonesia has been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions since 1957, and will continue to contribute troops and police to such missions. We are now the top troop- contributing country to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. We would like to emphasize the importance of enhanced transparency in the selection and appointment of strategic posts in United Nations peacekeeping operations, both in the field and at Headquarters, taking into account Member States’ troop contributions. We also plan to broaden our participation by becoming a provider of global civilian capacity in the aftermath of conflict. In that regard, we continue to support transparent dialogue among Member States and other relevant stakeholders, in keeping with the provisions of resolution 66/255 on civilian capacity in the aftermath of conflict. We are deeply concerned about the many threats we see to international peace and security. We are worried that the continued existence of nuclear weapons and the growing arms race are casting a shadow over the stability and security of the world. We must exercise our political will and capacity to act to overcome the continuing lack of progress and impasse that afflict our disarmament machinery. We must tackle the problems that are hindering progress on disarmament and non-proliferation firmly and in all seriousness. The impasse in the Conference on Disarmament is an obstacle to our attainment of a world free of nuclear weapons. It is vital that the Conference, as the single multilateral negotiating forum on disarmament and non-proliferation, start its substantive work on the core issues of its agenda. Indonesia welcomed the third biennial review in June of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and therefore also welcomes the full implementation of the Counter-Terrorism Strategy’s four pillars. Indonesia has based its national response to the challenge of terrorism on those pillars for several years now, and we believe that they provide the kind of holistic framework necessary to ensure coordination and success. At the regional level, Indonesia has participated in several initiatives focusing on various areas of counter-terrorism. Through ASEAN, we have a strong and highly coordinated approach involving various counter-terrorism programmes, as well as the ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism. We believe that the Convention will fully supplement and support the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy, especially in the area of human rights, and address the issue of conditions conducive to terrorism. The promotion and protection of human rights is one of our Government’s basic pillars. We continue to support the work of human rights institutions. In the light of this, we welcome the progress made by the United Nations during the year in review. We share the view that not only are these rights universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, but that development cannot take place if human rights are imperilled. Social advancement and stability can be guaranteed only if they are planted in the fertile soil of human rights. In that regard, we are pleased to be able to participate in United Nations efforts to strengthen and enhance the effective functioning of the human rights treaty system. Indonesia is pleased that 2012 was designated the Year of Prevention. Without doubt, recent events in the Middle East and North Africa have underlined the importance of the concept of the responsibility to protect in guiding countries that have to deal with preventing and responding to such events. Those providing humanitarian assistance should continue to uphold the principles of neutrality, humanity, impartiality and respect for the sovereignty of the countries in question. All international humanitarian assistance should be organized around the principle that the countries affected have primary responsibility. It is therefore essential to strengthen the capacity and resources of national and local Governments to coordinate and deliver humanitarian assistance, including in disaster risk management and mitigation. We welcome the continuing role of the Central Emergency Response Fund, which last year stood at $465 million. However, funding must continue to be sustainable and predictable, and accountability for the use of funds should be improved through greater transparency and evidence of results delivered, among other things. The work of the United Nations in promoting effectiveness and efficiency in disaster risk reduction should be enhanced through continuing dialogue and improved coordination with its partners at the global, regional, national and local levels. In New York in March, Indonesia, together with Australia, Peru and Norway, formed the Group of Friends for Disaster Risk Reduction as an open-ended informal mechanism aimed at discussing and promoting awareness of disaster risk reduction, including the post-2015 Hyogo Framework for Action. Given the magnitude of the challenges confronting us, strengthened cooperation and partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations are enormously important in helping us to address them. In that connection, we would like to emphasize that the adoption of the Joint Declaration on the Comprehensive Partnership between ASEAN and the United Nations, at the fourth ASEAN-United Nations Summit in Bali in November 2011, showcases the concerted efforts of both organizations in teaming up to that end. Indonesia appreciates the work of the Secretariat, particularly that of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, which has assumed the duty of organizing numerous ocean and law of the sea meetings. To that extent, we encourage stronger support to the Division to facilitate the provision of excellent service. In the spirit of friendship and open dialogue, we will be able to move forward with the agenda before us at the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly. In that regard, you can count on the cooperation and support of my delegation.

The Argentine Republic wishes to express its thanks to the Secretary-General for his presentation of the report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). We agree with the Secretary-General that the pillars of the Organization’s work are becoming increasingly interrelated. In that sense, we welcome the efforts to improve the coordination of all activities, particularly the identification of the five areas in which cooperation with Member States will allow better execution of the mandates. Sustainable development calls for integrating aspects of economic growth, social development and environmental protection. It also needs to be inclusive. The paradigm of sustainable development must be based on the fundamental principles that all States have accepted, particularly the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. That principle was reaffirmed last June at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. For my country, that principle has been an integral part of environmental negotiations for over two decades, and rightly so. The obligations of each country in economic, social and environmental areas worldwide must match its development, its specific circumstances and its different historical responsibilities for environmental deterioration. Another fundamental principle in the context of the intersection of the three pillars of sustainable development is the full sovereignty of each country over its natural resources. Argentina maintains that there is no single development model applicable to each and every nation. But we believe that growth must be accompanied by social inclusion and must permit the creation of decent work, which allows those who have the least to regain their dignity. We are not in favour of single models, neither our own nor those of others, when it comes to implementing each country’s policies for sustainable development. We are willing to work within the General Assembly in an inclusive and transparent fashion to move forward in the achievement of sustainable development goals. It is necessary for the process we launch to be strongly rooted in the principles that have guided us since 1992, to be invigorated by scientific and technological knowledge and advances, and, above all else, to have the means it requires for its implementation. We must also consider together how to make future sustainable development goals compatible with the Millennium Development Goals, adopted 12 years ago. Turning to the idea of the green economy, Argentina will not accept any proposal that would result in green protectionism, nor will we accept the promotion of policies that constitute disguised restrictions on international trade or arbitrary and unjustifiable discrimination. We do not believe that the green economy should replace the paradigm of sustainable development. For that reason, it will only be possible to conceive of the green economy as another tool for sustainable development — a tool that includes the necessary means of implementation and that each country will be able to use in a sovereign fashion, taking into account its political needs and national priorities, as agreed in the outcome document “The future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex). We agree with the Secretary-General that in recent years, conflicts have become more complex. The response of the United Nations must be appropriate to the circumstances. It must help prevent conflict through the various methods for peaceful settlement of disputes provided for in Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations, using force only exceptionally and as a last resort. We welcome the decision of the President of the Assembly to devote the topic for this general debate and the theme for the current session to a concept which my country holds dear — the peaceful settlement of disputes. We reaffirm Argentina’s unshakeable commitment to that concept. We will encourage other States to adopt similar positions. We highlight the fundamental importance of respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights, not only for development but to put an end to the violence that threatens international peace and security. We believe that it is right to include human rights policy in United Nations peacekeeping operations and political missions. We are certain that this will contribute to the effective execution of the Organization’s mandates and strengthen the link between peacekeeping operations and respect for those very important rights. Argentina leads a worldwide campaign to promote and universalize the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Our country was the first in Latin America and the second in the world to ratify the Convention. We welcome the first session of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the signing in Geneva in February 2012 of the third Optional Protocol to United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, which Argentina signed last July. Argentina agrees with the Secretary-General in highlighting the important contribution of the International Criminal Court to the fight against impunity. The Court is the first permanent international criminal tribunal, and 2012 marks the tenth anniversary of its establishment. Also this year, the Court delivered its first decision, sentencing Thomas Lubanga for recruiting children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We emphasize the importance of addressing at the United Nations the issue of the financing of referrals made by the Security Council to the Court. We also stress the importance of cooperation by all States, both parties and non-parties to the Rome Statute, with the Court, especially with regard to arrest warrants. For more than a decade, there has been international acknowledgement of the need for multilaterally negotiated standards that introduce predictability in the transfers of conventional weapons and that require those exchanges to be carried out in accordance with the principles of international law. Such a need stems from various reasons, among which we underscore the unlawful use of arms, given the norms of international humanitarian and human rights law, and the risk of their diversion to terrorist or criminal groups. In that regard, Argentina believes that it is important to complete the work of the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty as soon as possible and to adopt a treaty within the framework of the United Nations. With regard to strengthening the Organization, Argentina supports all measures to improve its administrative management as long as they come under the mechanisms provided for in the budget and are strategic and in line with the relevant General Assembly resolutions. Likewise, regarding the management of human resources, we will closely consider the Secretariat’s proposals, taking into account the importance of adequately protecting the rights of staff and their contractual position. With respect to those issues, we believe that close consultation among Member States is key to the success of any reform process.

The delegation of Belarus notes the businesslike and constructive nature of the Secretary-General’s report (A/67/1). We share the view of the Secretary- General that the main task facing us as the international community is to lay the foundations for sustainable development. Belarus reaffirms its commitment to the decisions of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and is ready to contribute to multilateral efforts to implement those decisions. First and foremost, that applies to issues such as drawing up sustainable development objectives, strengthening the Economic and Social Council, technology transfers and technical cooperation in various fields, including energy. It is important not to reverse the sustainable development achievements made to date because of the global economic crisis. On the post-2015 development agenda, we must provide for steps that will make the achievements of Member States in various development fields irreversible. Cooperation and development must be built on full compliance with the principle of respect for the interests of all Member States. Only in that way will the international community be able to achieve a prosperous world that is free of poverty, disease, anachronistic protectionist measures and unilateral economic sanctions. We believe that the United Nations is not making sufficient use of factors conducive to promoting a global economic recovery. In that context, we draw attention to middle-income countries as one such element. Planned and targeted assistance to such countries will increase the number of donor States and will clearly show least developed countries the possibilities for multilateral cooperation once they have achieved a new level of development. We place particular hope in the upcoming four- yearly comprehensive policy review of operational development activities within the United Nations system. In our opinion, that review must lead to a system of targeted measures seeking to ensure sustainable development for all States that receive United Nations assistance. We are concerned about the decreasing share of resources for the programme activities of United Nations operational bodies. That has a negative impact on the predictability and coordination of their work. In that regard, we believe that the efforts of the United Nations system to stabilize financing for development must be stepped up by increasing the number of donors and public-private partnerships. The United Nations role in ensuring sustainable development cannot overlook supporting young people. That will help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the post-2015 development agenda. We welcome the efforts of the United Nations in establishing and implementing projects to support young people, in particular the most vulnerable groups. In that respect, Belarus welcomes the Secretary-General’s new global initiative on education so as to invest in the next generation. We also call for the support of talented young people to be more actively included in United Nations programmes in order to help educate a new kind of future leader and manager. We are impressed by the Secretary-General’s drive to introduce a new system of talent management in the Secretariat. The links between development and the maintenance of peace and security are clear. Belarus shares the report’s concern about the lack of progress on resolving disarmament and non-proliferation issues. We support the rapid launch of substantive work by the Conference on Disarmament. Its progress will depend on the political will of a group of leading States and of the five nuclear Powers. Belarus supports the drafting of a new international instrument to resolve issues related to the uncontrolled proliferation of conventional arms. We share the concerns of the Secretary-General over the failure of negotiations at the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty. Continued negotiations as part of the arms trade treaty should serve as an additional catalyst for the efforts of the international community to solve the urgent issue of the proliferation of conventional arms. Belarus underscores the importance of the rule of law as the key to conflict prevention, peacebuilding, conflict settlement and the maintenance of peace and security. The recent High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on that issue and its outcome document (resolution 67/1) are very significant. We believe that any initiative concerning conflict prevention and the prevention of loss of human lives that is submitted for consideration must ensure strict compliance with the principles of the rule of law. We underscore the need for all States to agree on the modalities for such initiatives before their practical implementation. Belarus supports continued effective cooperation on combating terrorism at all levels within the United Nations system. We underscore the importance of strengthening the legal framework for countering terrorism and of establishing an effective and non-selective system for the provision of technical assistance for State capacity-building and to help States meet their commitments. Belarus values the Secretary-General’s commitment to combating violence against women and children, including victims of human trafficking. We note with satisfaction that the United Nations plays an increasingly visible role in the global fight against human trafficking and that it promotes the forging of constructive dialogue and cooperation among Member States, the United Nations system, agencies and international organizations in order to counter that modern form of slavery. We urge support for the initiative of the Group of Friends United against Human Trafficking on the convening of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly in 2013 to assess the implementation of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (resolution 64/293). The reform of the Organization is more urgent than ever. Without it, we will not have an effective toolkit for the prevention of global crises. We urge the Secretary- General to continue to provide valuable assistance to Member States in their efforts to revitalize the General Assembly, to strengthen and enhance the transparency of the Security Council and to expand its membership, and to reform and strengthen the role of the Economic and Social Council. We believe that the reform of the Organization’s principal organs should be coordinated and comprehensive. That will ensure the harmony and effectiveness of the United Nations system. The Secretary-General rightly notes in his report that the success of our common efforts to uphold the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter depends on our ability to implement a meaningful agenda. Belarus hopes that a constructive spirit, marked by respect for the positions of States and their approaches to resolving current issues, will prevail at this General Assembly session. We trust that such a spirit will enable us to find effective responses to today’s threats and challenges.

We thank the Secretary-General for the presentation of his annual report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). The issues addressed by the Secretary-General in his report are multiple and essential. Cuba attaches great importance to the future establishment of the post-2015 development agenda. That process should be distinguished by its deeply intergovernmental, transparent and inclusive nature, under the auspices of the General Assembly. The process should critically analyse the reasons for the failure to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and to establish a development agenda that responds to the needs and strategies of the countries of the South that are the beneficiaries of international cooperation. Initiatives to improve the functioning of the United Nations system for development, both at Headquarters and in the field, should be based on agreement among Member States and be accountable to them. Similarly, they should respect the nature and functions of each institution and ensure the alignment of their activities with the national priorities and strategies for development of each country. We must be very cautious when participating in or following up on exclusionary agendas and processes that have not been agreed upon in the framework of the United Nations but that nevertheless affect the central role of the United Nations and the General Assembly in taking the most important international decisions. Furthermore, we wish to draw the Assembly’s attention to the plethora of initiatives that have been presented as intended to reform the United Nations but that have had unsatisfactory results or simply have not produced any essential change. Before continuing to make new proposals for change and reform, the current processes must come to a close and their impact must be assessed. In that context, we welcome the reorientation of the enterprise resource planning project (Umoja) after the institutional crisis that almost paralysed the costly update of the Organization’s information technology resources. We hope that the new management of the project will bring it to a successful conclusion. Also, we must hope that the conclusion of ongoing construction projects, such as the Capital Master Plan, will come to an end before we start new ones. We welcome the dialogue of the Secretariat with Member States, which is essential in addressing the reforms and administrative and budgetary processes of the Organization. In that context, the accountability of the Secretariat at all levels is of great importance. Resolution 66/257 is clear about the requirements to renew accountability by the Secretariat. We have expressed our concerns at some reports made by the Group of 77 and China, which indicate what appear to be duplications of functions. Allow me to highlight the launch of the intergovernmental process to strengthen and improve the effective functioning of the system of human rights treaty bodies, which occurred at the last session of the General Assembly. We have supported the process since its inception. A few weeks ago, it concluded its first cycle of consultations, and negotiations will continue throughout the current session. With regard to human rights, we are concerned over the ongoing imbalance in the way they are dealt with within the United Nations system. Economic, social and cultural rights continue to be sidelined. Furthermore, we deplore the increasingly extended exploitation of the issue of human rights in the Human Rights Council and other settings of the United Nations to politicize, cherry-pick and manipulate opinion against certain developing countries, while systematic violations of human rights that take place in other countries, in particular developed countries, are ignored. In the same vein, the incursion by the Security Council into issues that are clearly within the jurisdiction of other bodies of the United Nations system is also of concern, especially their increasing linkage to human rights issues mandated to the Human Rights Council and the Third Committee. Concepts such as the responsibility to protect, human security and preventive diplomacy, inter alia, which are not clearly defined or intergovernmentally agreed, cannot be used as a pretext for interfering in the internal affairs of States, the violation of their sovereignty, military invasion or to promote regime change from the outside. With regard to regional arrangements, we believe that their role should be in full accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter. They cannot substitute for the role of the Organization, or ignore the strict application of the basic principles of peacekeeping operations. The main responsibility for maintaining international peace and security lies within the United Nations. The General Assembly has the primary responsibility for formulating and assessing concepts and policies on peacekeeping operations. In that regard, we believe that any directive or doctrinal document drawn up by the Secretariat that has an impact on the way in which Member States participate in peacekeeping operations should be previously agreed upon through a process of intergovernmental negotiating. The interaction of host countries of peacekeeping operations with the troop-contributing countries, the Secretariat and the Security Council must continue to be strengthened. Host countries and the troop-contributing countries, in most cases, are not guaranteed truly active participation in all stages of the decision-making process for peacekeeping operations. We also believe that there should be broader coordination between the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and the Fifth Committee. One of the major challenges that we continue to face is that of reforming the United Nations so that it can continue to serve the interests of all nations on an equal footing. We cannot allow reform to turn our Organization into an instrument which acts in the interests and on the whims of a few rich and powerful countries. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba indicated at the recently concluded general debate, “it is urgent to save the United Nations and subject it to deep-seated reform, so as to put it at the service of all, equally sovereign States and free it from the arbitrariness and double standards of a handful of industrialized and powerful countries. “International law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations should be resolutely enforced; the key role of the General Assembly should be restored; and a democratic, transparent and truly representative Security Council should be relaunched” (A/67/PV.19, p. 10). We cannot speak of the true reform of the Organization as long as there is no real reform of the Security Council. This year showed that the process of intergovernmental negotiations for the reform of the Council is at a stalemate. We urgently need a truly equitable and representative Security Council that acts on behalf of all and within its mandate under the Charter, without usurping, as it does with increasing frequency, the functions and prerogatives of other bodies of the system. There are still more than 20,000 nuclear weapons in the world, and more than 7,000 of them are ready for immediate deployment — and they are far more powerful than those that wreaked terror and death on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Completely banning and eliminating all nuclear weapons continues to be an urgent unfulfilled duty. Those are some of the elements that we wanted to to raise in connection with the item before us. We will expand on our ideas in discussions in the Committees. Serious challenges lie ahead of us. The world needs the United Nations and unified action on our part more than ever. Cuba will continue to work tirelessly for a better world for everyone.

As we start our work for this session, we are guided by our leaders who, in the general debate, shared their perspectives on the global challenges that we face, the opportunities that we must seize and the collective action that we must mobilize for our common good, peace and prosperity. They clearly reaffirmed and acknowledged that the United Nations was the key to the success of that endeavour. The central role of the United Nations is evident from the annual report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). We thank the Secretary-General for his report, which provides a useful overview of the range of activities of the United Nations in the three pillars of work — peace and security, development and human rights. The United Nations has indeed a demanding agenda. I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the energy and strong leadership that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has brought to our work. We support his efforts to adjust and realign the Organization’s structures to enable it to effectively tackle the contemporary threats and challenges. We also commend his commitment to building bridges and bringing the membership together in the pursuit of our shared goals and objectives. Pakistan supports the activities of the United Nations. We have contributed to the collective efforts of the United Nations constructively and consistently. I assure the President of the Assembly and the Secretary- General that Pakistan will always be in the forefront of support for the United Nations. Faltering economic growth is leading to growing unemployment across the globe. The sovereign debt crisis runs the risk of spreading to other economies. The United Nations system must come together in forging a response to the ongoing economic crisis. It is not enough to seek solutions in exclusive gatherings. We need an inclusive United Nations development agenda that is in sync with the imperatives of poverty eradication, green economic growth and sustainable development. That should remain an overarching priority. We are pleased to note the thrust of the report on progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, that progress has been uneven. As we move towards 2015 and beyond, it is critical for the United Nations system as a whole to keep in mind the lessons learned from the implementation of the MDGs. We also need to ensure that new processes, including the elaboration of the sustainable development goals, will build on the MDGs. Pakistan remains committed to accelerating progress on achieving the MDGs. We would like the United Nations system to help Pakistan navigate through its own challenges. To that end, we would also invite the high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda to undertake a special review of the circumstances that countries like my own are facing in achieving the MDGs. Pakistan supports the Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative. We would, in fact, like to benefit from the initiative and to work with the Secretary-General’s Office and Mr. Kandeh Yumkella of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to develop a plan of action for Pakistan. Pakistan welcomes the agreement reached at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (resolution 66/288, annex). Notwithstanding the difficulties, we succeeded in laying a solid basis for achieving “The future we want”. As the Secretary- General’s report correctly points out, the international community must deal with that challenge head-on, particularly when it comes to arresting and halting the negative trends in climate change. Even though Pakistan is closely engaged in negotiating the future legal framework by 2015, we do not think that efforts at addressing climate change must come to a halt until the time we manage to reach that agreement. Such an approach, as apparently suggested by some major polluters, would be disastrous for vulnerable developing countries. We agree with the Secretary-General that the Organization will not be able to meet the demands and expectations in regard to the maintenance of international peace and security without the necessary resources and equitable global burden sharing. Over the years, Pakistan has provided concrete support for the work of the United Nations and for achieving success on international peace and security as a leading contributor of personnel to United Nations peacekeeping missions, particularly in Africa. Currently, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council serving for the seventh time, Pakistan will continue to play its constructive role in consolidating the successes achieved in many situations and addressing the challenges that remain in so many others. We are particularly conscious of the urgency of the situations in Syria and Mali. We take this opportunity to call for a renewed political commitment to United Nations peacekeeping and for the provision of adequate and timely resources. The long-overdue issue of troop-cost reimbursement must also be updated as a matter of priority. I should also emphasize that the adjustment of the size and mandates of missions must be done carefully and correspond to the specific requirements and trajectories in different situations. We must also utilize the true potential of the Peacebuilding Commission. We appreciate the continued involvement and oversight of the United Nations in Jammu and Kashmir through its peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan. We believe that the peaceful settlement of long-standing disputes, as those of Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir, will help promote international peace and stability and enhance the prestige and sanctity of the United Nations. Pakistan has an unwavering commitment to Africa. From our support to the continent’s struggle for decolonization, to our cooperation and assistance in capacity-building, to our participation in peacekeeping, we have all along stood with Africa. We commend Africa’s own leadership and initiatives in addressing its challenges and will continue to support all international efforts for peace and development on the continent. Disarmament and non-proliferation are mutually reinforcing processes, which must be pursued in tandem while respecting the right to equal security for all States. In seeking ways to overcome the deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament, it is imperative to acknowledge and address the underlying security concerns of all States. Pakistan will continue to support the international community’s efforts geared towards nuclear safety and nuclear security. We reiterate our call for the convening of a special session of the General Assembly to craft a new consensus on the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda and machinery. Pakistan is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights. More than ever before, it has become essential to avoid selectivity and to genuinely promote all human rights — civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development. We appreciate the coordination role played by the United Nations in humanitarian assistance, of which Pakistan itself has been a major beneficiary. We take note of the launch of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Transformative Agenda, which tackles the challenges and lessons learned from the humanitarian responses to Haiti and Pakistan. An inclusive and consultative approach remains critical for effective humanitarian work. We are cognizant of the increasing threat to peace and security posed by organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorism. The funding and fuelling of terrorism through illicit drug trafficking has emerged as a major problem. Pakistan will hold a regional conference later this year to develop a unified approach to stamp out the drug trade. International counter-terrorism efforts will require continued cooperation and coordination among Member States. At the same time, the role of the United Nations will remain crucial and it will need to be adequately prepared for the challenge. Our objective of international harmony will be best served by promoting understanding among religions and civilizations. The recent deliberate incidents of defamation of Islam and our Prophet — peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him — remind us of the need to discourage and combat such acts. We appreciate the Secretary-General’s forthright stance on those incidents. As President Zardari said in this address to the General Assembly: “Although we can never condone violence, the international community must not remain a silent observer and should criminalize such acts, which destroy the peace of the world and endanger global security by abusing the freedom of expression. Pakistan asks that the United Nations immediately address this matter of great alarm and concern and bridge the widening rift in order to enable the comity of nations to be one again.” (A/67/PV.7, p. 23) The common good lies in pursuing policies and actions that will make us all stakeholders in each other’s futures. Cooperation, not confrontation, is the answer to the many problems that we face. The United Nations is the best mechanism to promote cooperative multilateralism. It is in our collective interest to adapt, equip, reform and strengthen the United Nations to play its role effectively. We remain committed to achieving this objective with the support and consensus of all Member States.

I am privileged to address the General Assembly today. Allow me to begin by congratulating Mr. Vuk Jeremić on assuming the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. The annual report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/67/1) covers the wide spectrum of issues that inform the activities of the United Nations. It underscores the global and interdependent nature of the challenges we face. It shines a spotlight on the unfinished agenda of development and reform. It points to the turbulent times we live in. It reinforces our conviction that the need of the hour is genuine multilateralism. The sociopolitical upheaval in West Asia and North Africa since last year has unleashed profound change and transition with which the region is still coming to terms. India is very concerned at the escalating situation in Syria. We support United Nations efforts to find a solution to the crisis through dialogue and an inclusive, Syrian-led political process. It is a matter of regret that the question of Palestine remains unresolved, and we support the Palestinians’ request for enhanced status at the United Nations. India firmly supports the aspirations of the Palestinian people to achieve a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognized borders side by side and at peace with Israel. Even as we approach the 2015 finish line for the Millennium Development Goals, there is already haste to look to the post-2015 agenda. The quest for poverty eradication and sustainable development remains as salient as ever. Significant roadblocks still stand in the way of food and energy security, health and education for much of the developing world. Countries are only tentatively emerging from the shadow of the worst economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression. The magnitude of the challenge is driven home by the fact that more than a billion people worldwide continue to languish in extreme poverty and hunger. One thing is abundantly clear — unmet development priorities must be well integrated into the post-2015 framework. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development handed us a robust agenda on sustainable development. We must now train our energies on the best way to implement it in an intergovernmental setting. As we embark on a process of framing sustainable development goals, crucial issues — such as that of resource mobilization, be it through official development assistance, technology transfer, trade or foreign direct investment — must find appropriate priority and be enshrined in the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and equity. On climate change, India will work with others to design a comprehensive, equitable and balanced outcome at the upcoming eighteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Doha, Qatar. We ourselves are currently hosting the eleventh Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Our expectation is that all parties will work for a strong development-oriented outcome and for the early implementation of the Nagoya Protocol to ensure the equitable sharing of the benefits of biodiversity. In so far as our development partnership initiatives go, we are resolved to carry forward and expand our multifaceted and vibrant cooperation with Africa, including through the framework of the India-Africa Forum Summit. Similarly, we will continue to build on our commitments for enhanced cooperation with least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, within the rubric of South-South cooperation. The international community has long acknowledged the ever-present and pervasive threat posed by terrorism. No country, city or region is immune from this global scourge. And yet, regrettably, we have failed by continuing to procrastinate in concluding a comprehensive convention on international terrorism. It is high time that Member States summoned the necessary political will to agree on such a convention as a sound legal framework for the fight against terrorism. We need concerted global action. Such action should be predicated on zero tolerance towards terrorism and aimed at systematically dismantling its infrastructure. India has a proud and time-tested association with United Nations peacekeeping dating back to its very inception. We have contributed over 130,000 personnel so far to this flagship endeavour of the United Nations. As peacekeeping moves forward, we must remain mindful of the challenges of operating in increasingly complex environments. Particular attention should be paid to ensuring that complex mandates are matched by adequate resources so as to get the job done safely and effectively. In this process, it is of the utmost importance that there be real, effective and continuous consultation with troop-contributing countries in framing and implementing mandates. It is also not lost on us that, if it is to be enduringly successful, peacekeeping must be seamlessly dovetailed with peacebuilding efforts. The United Nations needs to pay better attention to evolving a cogent and coherent peacebuilding framework that takes into account the capacities at hand and the complexities on the ground. I should like to make one final remark regarding the Secretary-General’s internal reform efforts. We have taken note of the initiatives to modernize and reform the Secretariat, including through large-scale business transformation projects such as the new enterprise resource planning system, Umoja; the International Public Sector Accounting Standards; and the Capital Master Plan. While each involves considerable investment, we see them as important drivers in modernizing the United Nations. Nevertheless, it is our deep-rooted conviction that the relevance of the United Nations ultimately hinges on more fundamental reform of its governance architecture, which is frozen in another era that perpetuates the rights of the haves of the mid-1940s. It is only through such governance reform that the United Nations can truly invigorate action on issues of pressing global concern, be they peace and security, climate change, development or all human rights. Let me therefore conclude by raising something that inexplicably is not mentioned in the Secretary-General’s report. That is the important issue of Security Council reform, on which intergovernmental negotiations have seen much movement and a clear affirmation by an overwhelming majority of the Member States for expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories. We regard the omission of the progress made in the intergovernmental negotiations on the issue as a significant drawback of the Secretary-General’s report. We hope to see it corrected in future reports. In terms of the process itself, India looks forward to capitalizing on the momentum generated so far to see real, fruitful and productive negotiations in the current session of the General Assembly on that important reform.

The Chinese delegation welcomes Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). Today, the world is undergoing important and profound changes. Multipolarity, economic globalization and the spread of information technology in society are all developing in depth. All countries are interconnected and more interdependent than ever before. Peace, development and cooperation are the general wishes shared and pursued tirelessly by the peoples of all countries. At the same time, the deep impact of international economic and fi nancial crises are far from over. The recovery of the world economy faces risks, which calls into question the on-time realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The international security situation is complex. Regional hotspot issues keep on emerging here and there. Turbulence in West Asia and North Africa persists. The prospect for nuclear non-proliferation remains grim. Both traditional and non-traditional security problems are interwoven. In the past year, in the face of multifaceted threats and challenges, the United Nations has been actively promoting multilateral cooperation and has played an important role in promoting economic growth and sustainable development, safeguarding international peace and security, promoting and protecting human rights, coordinating international humanitarian assistance, combating terrorism, and promoting disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation. The next five-year programme of action proposed by the Secretary-General has also made initial progress. I would like to take the opportunity to express our appreciation for his diligent work in the past year. It is necessary for the United Nations to continue to play a coordinating role in development. As economic globalization is deepening, the interests of Member States are further integrated. We need to expand areas of cooperation and improve the mechanisms for that purpose in the interest of a balanced, generally beneficial and win-win development of economic globalization. We need to further promote the development of developing countries and narrow the gap between North and South so that the benefit of development can be shared by all peoples in the world. At present, we need to earnestly implement the outcome and consensus reached at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and promote progress in international cooperation for sustainable development. To actively implement the MDGs, the United Nations needs to explore the formulation of a post-2015 international development agenda. The Organization should take development and the eradication of poverty as its core objectives and engage in open, transparent and democratic intergovernmental consultations. It should also allow civil society, the private sector and others to play an active role. To effectively respond to complex and varied security threats and challenges, it is necessary to fully explore the core role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security. In international relations, Member States should continue to steadfastly adhere to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the basic norms governing international relations. State sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be violated, and the post-Second World War international order cannot be challenged. Member States also need to respect the solemn principles of equality and non-interference in internal affairs and should espect countries’ rights to autonomously choose their social systems and approaches to development. The United Nations should advocate and promote a culture of peace and support the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, including through dialogue and negotiations. Terrorism is a common thread facing the international community. China opposes all forms of terrorism. In fighting terrorism, it is necessary to renounce double standards. It is a noble goal to protect human rights and to protect innocent civilians from harm, but no State may forcibly pursue change in the name of humanitarian intervention. We should respect diversity in the world. The international community should further advocate dialogue, exchanges, mutual respect and equal coexistence among different civilizations and religions. In the face of those new developments, it is the general expectation of the international community that the United Nations should play a greater role in maintaining world peace, promoting common development and strengthening international cooperation. China supports the Organization’s efforts to carry out necessary and sound reforms so as to improve its authority and efficiency and to better perform the mandates entrusted to it by the Charter. United Nations reforms should give developing countries a greater say in international affairs and help the Organization play a bigger role in coordinating international efforts to respond to the new global threats and challenges. It is necessary to proceed in a balanced way with reforms in areas of security, development and human rights. It is especially necessary to promote positive results in the area of development and to provide necessary safeguards for development in terms of mechanisms and resources. China has always advocated, supported and practised multilateralism and has supported the core role of the United Nations in international affairs. China will continue to actively participate in all areas of United Nations work, to safeguard the authority of the United Nations and to firmly support the purposes and principles of the Charter, ensuring that in its work the Organization pays greater attention to the interests of developing countries so that it can make an even greater contribution to building lasting peace, common prosperity and world harmony.

I wish to thank Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon for his comprehensive report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). It describes the activities of the United Nations during a period in which the world’s demands on and expectations of the United Nations remain very high. In facing today’s most pressing global challenges, strengthening multilateralism must be at the forefront of our plans and actions. We must all endeavour to revitalize the work of the General Assembly through concrete initiatives. The Security Council must be reformed and expanded to reflect the current political realities and to allow for greater participation by developing countries, including as permanent members. Allow me make a few comments on specific issues. As we approach 2015, we must accelerate our efforts towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The international community must make good on its commitments on the transfer of technology and the sharing of good practices, knowledge and experience, and on support for national capacity-building, especially for countries that are lagging behind. At the same time, we must start work on the post- 2015 development agenda. We are confident that the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel of Eminent Persons will provide an important input for Member States to deepen and broaden the set of development goals in a manner that reflects the most pressing challenges faced by the international community and that helps to build the strong international partnership and cooperation framework and the financial and political support needed to achieve those goals. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) was a crucial milestone on the road towards sustainable development. The agreement that we reached in Rio reinforced multilateralism. I wish to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Secretary-General and all United Nations staff for their unwavering support and for their close collaboration, which made Rio+20 the largest and most inclusive conference in the history of the United Nations. The outcome of Rio+20 (resolution 66/288, annex) reaffirmed our collective commitment to sustainable development and launched a series of essential processes to make that goal a reality. The development of sustainable development goals will require our cooperative efforts. The goals must be consistent with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and must allow for flexibility in order to accommodate the specificities and priorities of developing countries. Equally important are the mandates for the establishment of the high-level political forum, the intergovernmental process on options for an effective strategy for financing sustainable development, and the facilitation mechanism that promotes the development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies. We must pursue them in earnest. With regard to peace and security, political instability and emerging conflicts continue to pose a serious threat to regional and international security in many parts of the world. United Nations peacekeeping operations continue to be one of the most crucial aspects of the Organization’s work for millions of people around the world. We strongly support the continued partnership among the troop- and police-contributing countries, the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Secretariat to make peacekeeping more effective. Progress must be achieved in bringing peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities together, in improving the interaction of United Nations missions with the local population and in enhancing the protection of civilians. One challenge of particular importance today is how to address the complex problems of security and development in ways that are distinct yet mutually reinforcing. With regard to the development of Africa, the continent remains a key priority of the Organization’s work. Brazil continues to be an engaged partner of African countries in their endeavour to maintain peace, to protect human rights, to promote economic growth and to achieve sustainable development. We are following with great interest the increasing collaboration between the United Nations and African institutions, such as the African Union and regional organizations. We are also confident that the Organization can play a decisive role in advocating for enhanced cooperation with the African continent in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. Human rights is a basic pillar of the United Nations and a central part of its work. Brazil’s commitment to the promotion of the rights of the human person is unwavering. The United Nations must strive to operate in a non-selective and constructive manner, while maintaining the capacity to address situations of particular concern. With regard to the responsibility to protect, we emphasize the importance of prevention. Whenever forceful collective action is contemplated, after exhausting all non-coercive measures, there is a need to promote responsibility while protecting as a necessary complement to the responsibility to protect. Regarding strengthening the Organization, Brazil supports efforts to make the United Nations more effective, efficient and responsive to the needs of Member States. In that regard, we look forward to the consideration by the Fifth Committee of the Secretary- General’s proposals in the areas of administrative reform and change management. We welcome a process of transparent and open communication between Member States and the Secretariat. That is key to ensuring successful reforms. We also highlight the importance of improving the transparency of the budgetary process, particularly with regard to voluntary contributions. The Secretary-General has stated that human resources management, in particular mobility, is a priority for the Organization. We agree with him. It is essential that the Organization have access to a talented, multi-skilled, motivated and diverse workforce. In that regard, Brazil will engage constructively in the discussions on the Secretary-General’s proposals for mobility, with due regard for the need for equitable geographic representation in the Secretariat. Brazil will continue to be actively and constructively engaged in the work of the Organization.

At the outset, allow me to express once again my delegation’s congratulations to Mr. Jeremić on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. My delegation also wishes to thank the Secretary- General for his comprehensive report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1). The report describes the progress that the Organization has made over the past year on the eight long-term global priorities identified by Member States. As illustrated in the report, the global political, economic and social situation is moving faster and requires a rapid response. The problems that we face today are simply too complex to be solved by Governments alone. They require collective, coordinated, enhanced cooperation and a more participatory decision-making process. In that regard, we welcome the Secretary-General’s plan to develop a comprehensive proposal that seeks to harness the power of partnership. First, on the issue of peacekeeping, we strongly support intensified strengthening of United Nations strategic and operational collaboration with regional organizations such as the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the Economic Community of West African States with respect to peacekeeping operations. In that regard, I wish to reaffirm Ethiopia’s commitment, as the largest African troop-contributing country to United Nations peacekeeping efforts, to continue working together with the United Nations and the African Union to realize peace and security in Africa and elsewhere. Secondly, we commend the Secretary-General’s continued commitment to Africa. Despite the considerable progress achieved in the past 10 years, Africa continues to face significant challenges in the area of peace and security, as well as socioeconomic development. Hence, there is a need for concerted action by the international community to contribute towards alleviating the development challenges of Africa. Obviously, Africa has been negatively affected by the global economic situation. No part of the world is immune to the consequences of the global economic downturn, and for obvious reasons, the least developed countries, the majority of whom are African, are affected. Despite those factors, we have made much progress in the past decades. We are on track on many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In fact, our achievements regarding Goal 1, on poverty alleviation, Goal 2, on universal primary education, and Goal 3, on gender equality and women’s empowerment, are encouraging. During the three years remaining to achieve the MDGs, Ethiopia will continue its commitment to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by continuing to improve the productivity and output of smallholder agriculture and to enhance the income of the rural population. Ethiopia’s resource allocation has been guided by the Government’s pro-poor growth policy, whereby the lion’s share of available resources is allocated for spending on the poor. In 2011, the share of pro-poor spending stood above 13 per cent of gross domestic product. Thirdly, climate change is a global phenomenon that will continue to affect Ethiopia’s efforts to achieve the MDGs and its vision of sustained long- term growth and development to eradicate poverty. Clearly, the international community must tackle the difficult task of reconciling the challenge of mitigating and adapting to climate change while supporting the growth priorities of developing countries. To do so, it must mobilize financial and technological resources far beyond historical levels, especially for the least developed countries. According to the Secretary-General’s report, climate change is already having an impact on people. Extreme weather events have increased in frequency and intensity. In 2011, globally, some 106 million people were hit by floods and 60 million were affected by drought. In that regard, I would like to express Ethiopia’s commitment to working with Member States to secure resources and a global binding agreement commensurate with the threat and impact of climate change by 2015, as agreed in Durban. Fourthly, in the area of human rights, I fully agree with the comments just made by the representative of Brazil. The Human Rights Council must operate in a non-selective and constructive manner, especially through the universal periodic review, while maintaining the capacity to address situations of particular concern. In our view, human rights are most effectively ensured by dialogue and cooperation. Ethiopia is now prepared to engage directly in the process through membership in the Human Rights Council, for which we seek the support of the United Nations membership during the election in November. The continuing terrorist attacks remind us that terrorism remains one of the most serious threats to all States and peoples. No cause or grievance can justify an act of terrorism. The third biennial review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy concluded in June with an agreement to develop national and regional strategy implementation plans that enhance capacity-building efforts, including the Integrated Assistance for Countering Terrorism Initiative. The General Assembly should keep up the momentum and make every effort to reach an agreement on the comprehensive convention on international terrorism. I would like to conclude by thanking the Secretary- General and the staff of the United Nations for a job well done, both at Headquarters and in the field.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela salutes Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon and thanks him for presenting his annual report on the work of the Organization (A/67/1) to the General Assembly. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to peace, justice, solidarity and development. We are convinced that the full realization of those objectives requires unrestricted respect for international law, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Throughout its history, the United Nations has recorded important achievements in the area of the peaceful settlement of disputes. However, its record is not free of failures or limitations. Those can be attributed to lack of agreement among Member States, especially in relation to the actions of hegemonic Powers that have tried to impose their agendas to the detriment of the sovereignty, self-determination and collective interests of peoples and Governments that do not support neoliberalism and seek a life in the concert of the United Nations The role of the United Nations in the search for peaceful settlements of disputes that affect international peace and security must be framed within the purposes and principles of the Charter that are expressed in non-interference in the internal affairs of States, the sovereign equality of States, non-use of force or threat of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, and respect for sovereignty. The creation of favourable economic and social conditions is fundamental to settling disputes, which are generated by poverty, social exclusion and racism — powerful breeding grounds for crises with repercussions for international peace and security. But it is also evident that those countries where social justice and the eradication of hunger and poverty are taking shape or are progressively prevailing are being harassed, intimidated, blasphemed and manipulated for not being examples of the injustices that capitalism creates with its brutal and neoliberal methods. That has been the case of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela condemns the threat of or use of force to resolve disputes. It therefore categorically rejects military interventions carried out by the imperial Powers and their allies. Venezuela is concerned about the role of the Security Council with regard to the unilateral use of force under the pretext of legitimate defence and, more recently, under the misnomer “responsibility to protect”, in clear violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Syria, as was Libya, is the object of meddling by the imperial Powers and their allies, who support — through training, financing, political support and weapons — armed groups that have been compromised by committing acts of violence that have caused the deaths of thousands of civilians. The Venezuelan Government highlights the need to encourage dialogue between the parties to the conflict and reach a resolution to the conflict that is agreed between the parties themselves, free from foreign interference. This will create a stable climate conducive to the strengthening of democracy and the political reforms encouraged by President Al-Assad. The new global reality presents new challenges to the common goal of building a new international order under the auspices of the United Nations that is multipolar, fair and equitable and characterized by consensual and inclusive multilateralism. Developing countries find themselves facing a serious social, economic and political crisis and a new offensive on the part of imperial Powers, which are trying to undermine the foundation of solidarity between peoples and attempting once again to impose their strategic interests, undermining our aspirations to peace, justice, development, solidarity and cooperation. Humankind faces a complex and dynamic situation in which the political and economic elites of the world refuse to set aside their selfish, partial views at a time when the reality of issues that involve the destiny of peoples must be addressed in a comprehensive manner and in a spirit of dialogue and solidarity. The economic and political realities of our times have demonstrated that the global crisis of capitalism is structural in nature and calls for a radical change in the unfair economic and financial order. The Bretton Woods institutions have failed, as evidenced by the crisis in Europe and other countries of the North. The situation calls for the building of a new financial architecture on the basis of inclusive multilateralism that expresses the interests of all the peoples of the world. We believe that the United Nations must promote a model of sustainable development based on such values as solidarity, justice, social inclusion, equality, respect for human rights and civic participation. There must be respect for the diversity of systems and approaches. Each State has a sovereign right to implement these in order to achieve its objectives in terms of development, prosperity and the well-being of its people. In a world that is increasingly interrelated, this right is crucial in relations and cooperation among States in the pursuit of a peaceful, prosperous world. Venezuela supports initiatives on dialogue and coexistence between civilizations and religions as important elements to support international efforts to promote dialogue and diversity on the basis of justice, brotherhood and equality. Such efforts must oppose any attempt to impose monoculturalism or specific political, economic, social, legal or cultural development models; instead, they should promote dialogue between civilizations, the culture of peace and interfaith dialogues that will contribute to peace, security, stability and development. We also support the promotion of a culture of peace based on the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, non-interference in the internal affairs of States, the right to self-determination of peoples under foreign occupation and colonial domination, the prevention of violence, the promotion of non-violence, strict adherence to the principles of international relations enshrined in the United Nations Charter, and the full exercise of the right to development. In that respect, the establishment of a culture of peace in the world is unquestionably related to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. At least 2.5 billion people survive on less than €2 a day, 854 million go hungry, 144 million children of school age do not go to school, 11 million children under 5 years of age die every year, 2.4 billion people have no access to safe drinking water, and 3 million die of HIV/AIDS every year. When we take into account the impact of war and social conflicts in some areas of the world and the alarming effects of climate change, floods, earthquakes, forest fires and so on, it is impossible to speak of peace in the world. Reform of the United Nations, especially its main organs, is a pending task that must be addressed in order to strengthen the Organization. The General Assembly must be revitalized in accordance with the functions given to it by the Charter in terms of peace and security, sustainable development, human rights and international cooperation, taking its democratic, representative and universal nature into account. We also believe that the Security Council must be reformed in order to make it more democratic, transparent and legitimate, in line with the reality of current times. The anachronistic right of veto must be eliminated and the principle of the sovereign equality of States upheld. Countries of the developing world in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia must be added as new permanent members. The Economic and Social Council must fulfil its tasks as the main policy coordination body in the economic and social areas, in accordance with the tasks assigned to it by the Charter at its establishment.

I now call on the observer of the Observer State of the Holy See. Archbishop Chullikatt (Holy See): As the Secretary-General notes in his report (A/67/1), it was 70 years ago that world leaders united to adopt the purposes and principles that continue to guide this institution. These principles were valid then, and they remain compelling today. While the succeeding years since the founding of the Organization have seen progress in many areas of its mandate, still today too many long for a world free of war, where legal systems are just, where everyone’s life is respected, protected and defended, where Governments and other institutions affecting the international order are held accountable, and where basic health and nutrition are an expected right rather than an elusive dream. The United Nations continues to face a number of additional challenges in fulfilling its mandate, but at the heart of these challenges is the need to foster trust — trust between nations, trust within society, and trust that those in positions of power will carry out their mandate in a way that promotes the common good for all of society rather than only to advance self- seeking interests. Today, this trust remains elusive and, rather than working together to restore such trust, we increasingly see major decisions on issues such as international security, disarmament, protection of the environment, international financial governance, international trade, population, health care, food security and human rights being made in venues in which those in power can more easily dictate the terms of the agreement rather than in an organization, such as the United Nations, where all States in the family of nations have a say in how best to achieve the common good. While this increasing trend makes short-term agreements easier to achieve, it makes long-term global development, peace and security, and the other noble responsibilities of the United Nations more difficult to achieve. It is therefore imperative that all actors, whether they be States, civil society organizations or religious institutions, renew their commitment to fostering greater trust among one another and recommit themselves to working together to address the challenges of our time so that the authentic objectives of this institution may be fulfilled. As the Assembly prepares for the post-2015 development agenda, the Holy See looks forward to working with delegations to ensure that the proposed sustainable development goals are capable of addressing the challenges of the world in a manner that places the human person at the centre of concern, rather than viewing the person as an obstacle to development. That model must recognize that the aim of development is not simply economic growth, but a true growth of the entire human person in all its dimensions, including its intellectual, spiritual or physical development. In addition, we must recognize that in order to foster a human-centred development model, we must work to ensure that this labour is done in a manner that respects the relationship between humankind and the environment and our role as responsible stewards of creation. That relationship requires recognition that care for the environment, human prosperity and development are not mutually exclusive concepts. Rather, responsible concern for the environment requires recognition that all members of society have a responsibility to be good stewards of our planet so that we can fulfil our accountability to each other and succeeding generations. When human rights are not based on their natural moral and ethical foundation, they can become a tool not for the liberation of peoples, but for suppressing discussion about rights and what they constitute, and the promotion of so-called human rights that promote the taking of life itself. That tragic consequence can be seen in many regions of the world and in some organizations, where the right to life of the unborn or the lives of the elderly or the disabled are seen not as a paramount and inviolable right to be safeguarded, but rather as a secondary right that must be subjugated to other so-called human rights that are not based on the natural moral law. To respect the right to life from the moment of conception to natural death is not an infringement of rights, but rather the fulfilment of our promise as leaders of nations to recognize the inherent dignity of all members of the human family, no matter how young, or how frail, or how helpless. Likewise, the right to religious freedom remains elusive in many parts of the world. In many corners of the globe, the very practice or profession of one’s faith is deemed unwelcome, illegal or blasphemous. Even in the great democracies of the world, we see today that this first freedom is under attack. The right to religious freedom encompasses not only the right to hold one’s faith in private, but also the freedom to preach, to educate, to evangelize and to contribute to the political and social discourse in order to achieve the common good. That public profession of an individual’s faith should not be seen as a danger to democratic governance or as a violation of a public safety that requires limitation; rather, it must be understood and accepted as a welcome addition to the debates that foster vibrant and healthy Governments and societies which claim or desire to be equal members of the international order. Therefore, it is imperative that leaders of this institution and its Member States make every effort to ensure that human rights are applied and interpreted in a way that fosters trust within society and within this institution. Efforts to radically redefine or reinterpret human rights using a reductionist and relativist notion of humankind or by relying on ambiguous terminology will lead in the end to a breakdown in trust in those bodies mandated to upholding human rights. Such attempts, moreover, foster distrust between nations and result in a world where basic human rights and fundamental freedoms are challenged rather than protected. In order to respect those rights, the United Nations and its membership must work collectively to recommit themselves to the visions set out in the Charter and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so as to reaffirm the transcendent dignity of the human person, not in theory or as a secondary factor, but rather as the foundation upon which true and genuine respect for human rights, development and lasting peace and security can take root. In conclusion, this institution was founded in large part on the belief that fostering greater trust between nations will lead to a more prosperous and peaceful world. Let us join in unambiguous concert to promote that trust so that, together, we will fulfil our duty to achieve the objectives for which this great Organization was established.

We have heard the last speaker in the debate on this item. I shall now give the floor to those representatives who wish to speak in exercise of the right of reply. May I remind members that statements in exercise of the right of reply are limited to 10 minutes for the first intervention, and to five minutes for the second intervention, and should be made by delegations from their seats.

I am taking the floor to exercise India’s right of reply. The representative of Pakistan has regrettably made a gratuitous reference, totally out of context, to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India. Such remarks deserve to be rejected in their entirety.

With reference to what we have heard just now, I think “gratuitous” is a rather favoured word with the Indian delegation and it is something that we hear every time Kashmir is mentioned. Suffice it to say that vocabulary cannot be a substitute for truth. If that were the case, Noah Webster would be a prophet. I will just confine myself to giving the advice that we should not tackle important, long- standing, festering issues like that of Kashmir by just trying to cast them aside with such casual remarks.

I am taking the floor again to exercise our second right of reply in response to the untenable references made once again by the representative of Pakistan about the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is and has always been an integral part of India. We reject those remarks, which have no place in this Assembly.

Lest repetition create the illusion of veracity, I would just like to draw the attention of the Assembly to the exchanges we have had with the Indian delegation previously on this subject during the ongoing sixty-seventh session of the Assembly, which would bring out the truth of the matter. Again, I do not wish to further dignify these mechanical retorts on an issue of such grave international importance, as underlined by various resolutions of the Security Council, which remain unimplemented to this day.

May I take it that the General Assembly takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization, contained in document A/67/1?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 106.