General Assembly Session 63 meeting 5

The President

In accordance with the decision taken at its 2nd plenary meeting, on 19 September 2008, the General Assembly will hear a presentation by the Secretary-General of his annual report on the work of the Organization (A/63/1), under agenda item 100. I give the floor to the Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General

I welcome all participants to the opening of the general debate of the sixty-third session of the General Assembly. It is customary for the Secretary-General, on this occasion, to assess the state of the world and to present our vision for the coming year.

We all recognize the perils of our current moment time. We face a global financial crisis, a global energy crisis and a global food crisis. Trade talks have collapsed yet again. We have seen new outbreaks of war and violence and a new rhetoric of confrontation. Clearly, climate change threatens our planet ever more. We often say that global problems demand global solutions. And yet, today we also face a crisis of a different sort. Like those others, it knows no borders. It affects all nations. It complicates all other problems. I refer, here, to the challenge of global leadership.

We are on the eve of a great transition. Our world has changed more than we may realize. We see new centres of power and leadership in Asia, Latin America and across the newly developed world. The problems we face have grown much more complex. In that new world, our challenges are increasingly those of collaboration, rather than confrontation. Nations can no longer protect their interests or advance the well-being of their peoples without the partnership of other nations.

Yet, I worry. There is, today, a danger of losing sight of that new reality. I see a danger of nations looking more inward, rather than towards a shared future. I see a danger of retreating from the progress we have made, particularly in the realm of development and a more equitably sharing of the fruits of global growth. That is tragic, for at this time one thing is clear: we must do more, not less. We must do more to help our fellow human beings weather the gathering storm. Yes, global growth has raised billions of people out of poverty. However, if you are among the world's poor, you have never felt poverty so sharply. Yes, international law and justice have never been so widely embraced as on this sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

However, those living in nations where human rights are abused have never been so vulnerable. Yes, most of us live in peace and security. However, we see deepening violence in many nations that can least afford it: Afghanistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and Sudan, to name but a few. We can do something about it, and with strong global leadership, we will. (spoke in French)

I would like to speak to you, members of the Assembly, about the three pillars of development: human rights, peace and security. I say this candidly: the situation in the area of development is serious. In the course of last year, we watched, with the greatest concern, the skyrocketing of fuel prices, foodstuffs and commodities. The rich countries fear a recession, while the poorest ones no longer have anything to eat. That is why in two days, we shall hold a high-level event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We must raise awareness throughout the world and harness global action, with a particular focus on Africa. As you know, progress has been uneven. Not all promises have been kept, but we have made enough progress to know that achieving the MDGs is within our reach.

At the high-level event, I shall bring together a new coalition, made up of Governments, non-governmental organizations, and leaders of the private sector and religious and philanthropic groups.

We know that this is an effective formula. It has already worked for malaria, a scourge which kills one child every 30 seconds. Last year, I set up a new type of public-private partnership, which operates on the basis of a scientific strategy, marshals funds and is managed centrally at the global level. On Thursday, I will announce the results of new research which show that this partnership is a resounding success. The moment is drawing near when we can declare that malaria, one of the last scourges besetting humanity, has been eliminated.

At the present time, we are going to apply this new global partnership model to other MDGs. I will ask you, the members of the Assembly, to be both ambitious and specific. I will ask you to indicate what you intend to do and how you will do it to help us achieve our goals by 2015. And I propose that we hold, in 2010, a summit meeting on the Millennium Development Goals in order to review the follow-up on these new commitments. We have to take things in hand, starting today. We have to respond to this appeal, wherever we may be. We owe it to the poor of the Earth.

The Secretary-General

The United Nations is the champion of the most vulnerable. When disaster strikes, we act. We did so this year in Haiti and other Caribbean nations hit by hurricanes. We did so in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis; there, the challenge now is to push for political progress, including credible steps on human rights and democracy. We did so in South-East Asia, affected by severe flooding, and in the Horn of Africa, afflicted by drought, where 17 million need emergency help.

Since taking office, I have called for more strenuous action in Somalia. Must we wait and see more children die in the sand? We at the United Nations are leaders. We at the United Nations are duty-bound to do what compassion and human decency demand of us.

The global food crisis has not gone away. It may have faded from the daily headlines, but note this fact: last year, at this time, rice cost $330 a ton. Today, the price is $730. In a single year, the food staple that feeds half the world's population has more than doubled in price. People who used to buy rice by the bag now do so by the handful. Those who ate two meals a day now get by on one. The United Nations has led the world's response. Our United Nations High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis set forth solutions. We focused on getting seeds and fertilizer into the hands of small farmers. We aim to create a new green revolution in Africa. But the truth is that we lack new resources. The international community has not matched words with deeds.

The Secretary-General

We know that peace and security are under attack from all quarters. In countries such as Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Timor-Leste, members of peacekeeping operations, who number more than 100,000, are helping the local population overcome conflicts and restore peace. We cannot underestimate what the United Nations can accomplish thanks to its good offices, especially in the area of preventive diplomacy. The results are clear in Nepal and in Kenya, as well as, I hope, in Zimbabwe. In Cyprus, an island which has been long divided, the chances for reunification are genuine. In Georgia, the United Nations can help to defuse tension related to the recent conflict. In Côte d'Ivoire, we will help organize elections before the end of the year; these will represent an enormous step towards the renewal of democracy.

In Darfur, it remains difficult to meet deployment timelines. Crucial equipment and personnel are still not in place. I would be failing in my obligations if I did not stress how dangerous it is to act as if the United Nations can settle all of the complex problems of our time without enjoying the full support of its Member States. Without the necessary resources, mandates are meaningless.

The Secretary-General

The global financial crisis endangers all our work: in financing for development, social spending in rich nations and poor, the Millennium Development Goals. If ever there were a call to collective action -- a call for global leadership -- it is now.

At the Doha Review Conference later this year, we will have an opportunity to address the critical issues of international economic cooperation and development.

I urge all members to engage at the highest level.

We need to restore order to the international financial markets. We need a new understanding on business ethics and governance, with more compassion and less uncritical faith in the magic of markets. And we must think about how the world economic system should evolve to more fully reflect the changing realities of our time.

The Secretary-General

Other problems call for a firm hand on a global scale. I am thinking in particular of the fight against malaria and AIDS, and of reducing maternal and child mortality. I am thinking of terrorism as well as disarmament and non-proliferation, which are just as important as ever.

I note the progress that has been achieved in the Six-Party Talks regarding the Korean peninsula, and I urge that the agreements be implemented.

I ask Iran once again to comply with Security Council resolutions and to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

I am thinking, above all, of human rights. We must absolutely bring to life the principle that justice is a pillar of peace, security and development. We have to give effect to the responsibility to protect.

We understand that, in these areas, everything is not black and white. We admit that politics can be very complex and that it requires unending compromises. But crimes against humanity cannot remain unpunished. We have the means to combat impunity and must therefore do so.

Finally, I am thinking about the crucial problem of our time: climate change. Last December, in Bali, world leaders agreed on a road map for the period up to 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol will cease to guide us. We must regain our momentum. The first test will be in three months, in Poznan, in Poland. By then, we must arrive at a common idea of the form that a new global agreement on climate change might take. There are only 14 months before Copenhagen. I urge the Polish and Danish Governments, together with all the States Members of the United Nations, to deploy all their persuasive powers at the global level to help us to make progress on this literally existential question.

The Secretary-General

In closing, let me briefly return to the theme of my address to the General Assembly last year -- a stronger United Nations for a better world.

The foundation of all our work is accountability. The United Nations Secretariat, including myself, is accountable to you, the Member States. And that is why I push so hard and so strongly for United Nations reform. We need to change the United Nations culture. We need to become faster, more flexible, more effective and more modern.

In the coming weeks, I will ask the Member States to support my proposals for a new human resources framework. We need to replace our current system of contracts and conditions of service. It is dysfunctional. It is demoralizing. It discourages mobility between United Nations departments and the field. It promotes stagnation, rather than creativity. It undercuts our most precious resource -- the global, dedicated corps of international civil servants that is the backbone of the United Nations.

Whenever I travel, I go out of my way to meet these brave and committed men and women. They work in the most difficult circumstances, often at great personal sacrifice. I cannot fully express my admiration for them.

The time has come to invest more in our staff. And that is why I am promoting mobility matched with proper career training as a way to create new professional opportunities, in order to inject new flexibility and dynamism into the Organization.

Finally, let us also remember: you, the Member States, are accountable to each other, and to the Organization as well. You cannot continue to pass resolutions mandating ambitious peace operations without the necessary troops, money and materiel. We cannot send our brave United Nations staff around the world -- 25 of whom died this year -- without doing all we can to assure their security. We cannot reform this vital Organization without providing the required resources.

It takes leadership to honour our pledges and our promises in the face of fiscal constraints and political opposition. It takes leadership to commit our soldiers to a cause of peace in faraway places. It takes leadership to speak out for justice; to act on climate change despite powerful voices against one's leadership; to stand against protectionism and make trade concessions, even in our enlightened self-interest.

Yet that is why we are here. We have before us a great opportunity. We have ample reason to be optimistic. Today's uncertainties will pass. The challenges before us are our creation. Therefore we can solve them together. By acting wisely and responsibly, we will set the stage for a new era of global prosperity that is more widely and equitably shared.

I count on your leadership.

The President

I thank the Secretary-General for his presentation.

The President

It is a great honour for me to address this gathering at the opening of the general debate of this sixty-third session of the General Assembly.

The international situation at this time is far from satisfactory. In fact, the world is in even more serious trouble than it was 63 years ago when the United Nations was founded. Right now we are witnessing a confluence of large-scale, interrelated crises.

But crises do not necessarily turn into tragedies. We are living in a time of tremendous opportunities to introduce corrective measures in order to improve our way of doing things, of interacting with one another and with Mother Earth and the natural world in general.

If we are to seize the opportunities that these crises now offer, we must move beyond laments, speech-making and statements of good intentions and take concrete action based on a firm resolve to replace the individualism and selfishness of the dominant culture and replace it with human solidarity as the golden rule that guides our behaviour.

Our Organization has done many laudable things which, had the United Nations not existed, would surely not have been achieved. However, if we look at the Organization's progress in fulfilling the primary purposes for which it was founded, we must admit that in terms of eliminating war, achieving disarmament and ensuring international security, we have failed.

In signing the Charter of the United Nations, all of us undertook to uphold certain principles which, if they had truly been upheld by all Member States, would have placed the world in a much better position today to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

The world -- our world -- is ailing, and its illness is the one that Tolstoy described more than 100 years ago as the "mania of selfishness". Some say that this is irreversible -- that it is too late to do anything about it. I think this attitude is one of dangerous defeatism that will only paralyse us and guarantee that we keep sinking, until we drown in the morass of maniacal, suicidal selfishness in which we find ourselves.

More than half the world's people languish in hunger and poverty while at the same time more and more money is spent on weapons, wars, luxuries and totally superfluous and unnecessary things. We must resist the temptation to bury our heads in the sand in an attempt to deny reality. Let us be brave enough to acknowledge the vast inequities that exist in the world and within most of our countries, even in many of the most developed countries. These inequities are time bombs that will not simply go away if we ignore them.

In addition to the problem of hunger, poverty and high food prices, there are many other problems whose human origin can no longer be doubted. These include climate change, efforts to privatize water and the squandering of water as though it were an inexhaustible resource, the arms build-up, terrorism, human trafficking, the Palestine situation, problems related to humanitarian aid, gender inequality and children in especially difficult circumstances such as armed conflict or humanitarian disaster.

These are the most pressing problems that our world faces today. All of them are man-made, and all can be traced in large part to the lack of democracy at the United Nations. A small group of States takes decisions based on selfish motives, and the world's poor are the ones who suffer the consequences.

The decisions with the most serious consequences for the membership do not go through the General Assembly. In any event, the resolutions of the General Assembly -- that is, of the representatives of "we the peoples", in whose name our Organization was founded -- are regarded as mere recommendations that are casually ignored even though they represent the wishes of 95 per cent of the Organization's Members.

The current financial crisis, on top of the high cost of food and the humanitarian devastation caused by recurrent natural phenomena, will have very serious consequences that will impede significant progress -- if indeed any progress is made -- towards the targets established in the Millennium Development Goals, which are themselves insufficient. It is always the poor who pay the price for the unbridled greed and irresponsibility of the powerful.

The world has reached a point at which we have no alternative: either we love one another or we all perish; either we treat each other as brothers and sisters or we witness the beginning of the end of our human species. But if we choose the path of solidarity, recognizing each other as brothers and sisters, we will open up new horizons of life and hope for everyone.

This is what the peoples of the entire world, particularly the dispossessed of the Earth, hope to hear from this distinguished gathering of some 100 heads of State or Government. They want to hear a universal commitment to defending the United Nations, on the understanding that this entails respecting and defending the principles on which our Organization is based.

First among them is the principle of the sovereign equality of all Member States; second is the obligation of all Members to meet their Charter commitments. Failure to do so would be not only a serious breach of international commitments; it would amount to an attack on the United Nations and its ability to work effectively for peace.

The United Nations has officially proclaimed 2009 the International Year of Reconciliation. Starting today, we must begin to adopt that mindset. We should emerge from this general debate in a state of reconciliation, determined to stop treating each other arrogantly and to stop attacking each other. We must forgive those who might have caused us great pain and suffering but who are now pledged to refrain from attacking us again.

Forgiveness is never a sign of weakness. On the contrary, great spiritual strength is needed to forgive and to refuse to let memories of past abuses become obstacles to achieving the levels of unity and solidarity we need in order to build a new world -- in the conviction that a different world is possible.

In a moment I will have the great honour and privilege of inviting all delegations, one by one, to present, as representatives of the States Members of our Organization, their vision of how we should address the great challenges of the day and how we can achieve the unity we need in order to do so effectively.

The first representative on whom, with great pride and pleasure, I shall be calling to take the floor is a very dear friend of many years, President Lula of Brazil, the largest country in my extended homeland of Latin America and the Caribbean. Immediately afterwards, I shall have the great honour to call on our dear brother President Bush and to shake his hand. What he has to say to us will be of great importance for the world. After that, I shall call on our very dear brother President Sarkozy of France, who also currently holds the presidency of the European Union. Next will come the Presidents of the Philippines, Gabon, Bahrain, Liberia, Turkey, Argentina, Madagascar and Serbia, as well as the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, who is currently also Chairperson of the African Union.

I am sure that the spirit of our great brother and friend, the servant of God Julius Nyerere, will be with us, helping us to attain the noble objectives of this general debate.

These introductory remarks are from the heart and are meant as a kind of fraternal embrace of all members, without any exclusion -- to use a phrase of the Apostle Paul that has always been a favourite of mine, in caritate non ficta, "with unfeigned love".

Before giving the floor to the first speaker for this morning, I should like to remind members that the list of speakers for the general debate has been established on the agreed basis that statements will have a time limit of 15 minutes to enable all speakers to be heard at each meeting. Within that time frame, I would like to appeal to speakers to deliver their statements at a normal speed so that interpretation in the six official languages of the United Nations can be properly provided.

I should also like to draw the attention of members to the decision taken by the General Assembly at previous sessions, namely, that the practice of expressing congratulations within the General Assembly Hall after a speech has been delivered is strongly discouraged. In that connection, after delivering their statements, speakers are invited to exit the General Assembly Hall through room GA-200, located behind the podium, before returning to their seats.

May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to proceed in the same manner during the general debate at its sixty-third session?

The President

Finally, I should like to draw the attention of members to the fact that, during the general debate, official photographs of all speakers are taken by the Department of Public Information. Members interested in obtaining those photographs are requested to contact the Photo Library of the United Nations.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Da Silva (Brazil)

It is my great pleasure to greet my dear friend Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, President of the General Assembly. I wish you much success in your mission.

The present session of the General Assembly is being held at a particularly serious time. An often predicted economic and financial crisis is now today's harsh reality. Because of the responsibility of speculators, entire peoples are suffering anguish in the wake of successive financial disasters that threaten the world's economy. Indispensable interventions by State authorities have defied market fundamentalists and shown that this is a time for political decisions. Only decisive action by Governments -- particularly those of countries at the epicentre of the crisis -- will be able to rein in the disorder that has spread through the world's financial sector, with perverse effects on the daily lives of millions of people. The lack of rules favours adventurers and opportunists, to the detriment of real companies and workers.

The great Brazilian economist Celso Furtado said that we must not always allow speculators' profits to be privatized while their losses are invariably socialized. We must not allow the burden of the boundless greed of a few to be shouldered by all. The economy is too serious a matter to be left in the hands of speculators. Ethics must also apply to the economy.

A crisis of such magnitude will not be overcome through palliative measures. Mechanisms for both prevention and control are needed to ensure full transparency for international finance. Today's supranational economic institutions have neither the authority nor the workable instruments that they need to control the anarchy of speculation. We must rebuild them on entirely new foundations.

The global nature of this crisis means that the solutions we adopt must also be global and must be decided upon in legitimate and trusted multilateral forums, without coercion. The United Nations, as the world's largest multilateral arena, must call for a vigorous response to the weighty threats that we all face.

Yet there are other, equally serious matters facing the world today. One of them is the food crisis, which afflicts more than a billion human beings. The energy crisis is also growing worse every day, as will the risks to world trade if we fail to achieve an agreement at the Doha Round; another is the unrestrained degradation of the environment, which lies behind so many natural calamities whose victims are overwhelmingly the poor.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was expected to open up possibilities for building a world of peace, free from the stigmas of the cold war. However, it is sad to see other walls going up so quickly.

Many of those who preach the free circulation of commodities and capital continue to fight the free movement of men and women, using nationalistic and even racist arguments that evoke unpleasant memories and fears of times that we thought were behind us.

A supposedly "populist nationalism", which some forces seek to identify and criticize in the South, is being unabashedly promoted in the developed countries. The financial, food, energy, environmental and migration crises, to say nothing of threats to peace in several regions of the world, reveal that the multilateral system must be overhauled to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Gradually, countries are moving beyond old conformist alignments with traditional centres. That new attitude, however, does not imply a confrontational stance. Simply by using direct dialogue without intermediation by major powers, developing countries have stepped into new roles in designing a multipolar world, with examples such as India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA), the G-20, the summits between South America and Africa and between South America and the Arab countries and the BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russian Federation, India and China.

A new political, economic and trade geography is being built in today's world. While navigators in the past would look to the North Star, today we are trying to find our way by looking at multiple dimensions of our planet. Now we often find our North Star in the South. On my continent, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) was created last May, as the first treaty -- after 200 years of independence -- that brings together all South American countries. This new political union will coordinate the region's countries in terms of infrastructure, energy, social policies, complementary production mechanisms, finance and defence.

Meeting in Santiago, Chile, just over a week ago, the Presidents of South America demonstrated UNASUR's ability to respond quickly and effectively to complex situations, such as the one in our sister nation, Bolivia. We supported its legitimately-elected Government, its democratic institutions and its territorial integrity and we issued a call for dialogue as a path to peace and prosperity for the people of Bolivia.

Next December, in the state of Bahia, Brazil will host the first summit of all of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on integration and development. This will be a high-level meeting under no umbrella, based on Latin America's and the Caribbean's own perspectives. All these efforts in the multilateral sphere are complemented by my country's solidarity initiatives with poorer nations, particularly in Africa.

I also wish to emphasize our commitment to Haiti, where we command troops of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and are helping to restore peace. I reiterate my appeal for the solidarity of developed countries with Haiti, since implementation has fallen far short of the many promises.

The strength of values must prevail over the value of strength. Only legitimate and effective instruments can assure collective security. The United Nations has spent 15 years discussing the reform of its Security Council. Today's structure has been frozen for six decades and does not match the challenges of today's world. Its distorted form of representation stands between us and the multilateral world to which we aspire. Therefore, I am much encouraged by the General Assembly's decision to launch negotiations in the near future on the reform of the Security Council.

It is multilateralism that must also guide us toward solutions to the complex problems of global warming, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Brazil has not shirked its responsibilities. Our energy matrix is increasingly clean. Today's food and energy crises are deeply intertwined. The inflation of food prices is affected not only by climatic factors and speculation in agricultural commodities; it is also driven by rising oil prices which affect the prices of fertilizers and transportation. Attempts to tie high food prices to the distribution of biofuels do not stand up to an objective analysis of reality.

Brazil's experience demonstrates -- and this could be the case for countries similar to ours -- that sugar-cane ethanol and biodiesel production reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, create jobs, regenerate degraded land and are fully compatible with expanding food production. We wish to intensify all aspects of that discussion at the world conference on energy and biofuels which we will be holding in November 2008, in the city of Sao Paulo.

My obsession with the hunger problem explains my ongoing efforts, along with other world leaders, to reach a positive conclusion to the Doha Round. We are still pushing for an agreement to reduce scandalous farm subsidies in rich countries. A successful Doha Round will have a very positive impact on food production, particularly in developing and poor countries.

Four years ago, along with several world leaders, I launched the Action Against Hunger and Poverty here in New York. Our proposal, then and now, is to adopt innovative funding mechanisms. The International Drug Purchase Facility is one early result of that initiative, helping to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in several African countries. But it is not enough. We still have a long way to go if we want humanity to actually achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

In December 2008, we will commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, paying a tribute that will go far beyond mere formalities. That document expresses inalienable commitments that challenge us all. As Governments, we must do more than support the Declaration with rhetoric. We are called upon to fight for the values proclaimed six decades ago and to make them a reality in each country and around the world.

Today's Brazil is very different from what it was in 2003, when I became President of my country and stood for the first time before the General Assembly. Our Government and society have taken decisive steps to transform the lives of Brazilians, creating nearly 10 million formal jobs, distributing income and wealth, improving public services, lifting 9 million people out of extreme poverty, and bringing another 20 million into the middle class. All this has occurred in an environment of strong growth, economic stability, lower external vulnerability and, above all, a stronger democracy with the intense participation of our people.

In the year when we commemorate the one-hundredth birthday of the great Brazilian Josué de Castro -- the first Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and a pioneer in the studies concerning the problem of hunger in the world -- it is worthwhile to reread his warning: "It is no longer possible to sit back and let a region go hungry without the entire world suffering the consequences."

I am proud to state that Brazil is overcoming hunger and poverty. I reiterate the optimism that I expressed here five years ago. We are much greater than the crises that threaten us. We have the heart, the right-mindedness and the will to overcome any adversity. More than ever, that is the spirit of Brazilians.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly with now hear an address by the President of the United States of America.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Bush (United States)

I am pleased to be here to address the General Assembly. Sixty-three years ago, representatives from around the world gathered in San Francisco to complete the founding of the Charter of the United Nations. They met in the shadow of a devastating war, with grave new dangers on the horizon. They agreed on a historic pledge to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights and unite their strength to maintain international peace and security. That noble pledge has endured trying hours in United Nations history, and it still guides our work today.

Yet the ideals of the Charter are now facing a challenge as serious as any since the United Nations founding: a global movement of violent extremists. By deliberately murdering the innocent to advance their aims, those extremists defy the fundamental principles of international order. They show contempt for all who respect life and value human dignity. They reject the words of the Bible, the Koran, the Torah or any standard of conscience of morality. They imperil the values of justice and human rights that gave birth to the United Nations -- values that have fuelled an unprecedented expansion of freedom across the world.

To uphold the words of the Charter in the face of this challenge, every nation in this Hall has responsibilities. As sovereign States, we have an obligation to govern responsibly and solve problems before they spill across borders. We have an obligation to prevent our territory from being used as a sanctuary for terrorism, proliferation, human trafficking and organized crime. We have an obligation to respect the rights and respond to the needs of our people.

Multilateral organizations have responsibilities. For eight years, the nations in this Assembly have worked together to confront the extremist threat. We have witnessed successes and setbacks, and through it all a clear lesson has emerged. The United Nations and other multilateral organizations are needed more urgently than ever. To be successful, we must be focused, resolute and effective.

Instead of only adopting resolutions decrying terrorist acts after they occur, we must cooperate more closely to keep terrorist attacks from happening in the first place. Instead of treating all forms of Government as equally tolerable, we must actively challenge the conditions of tyranny and despair that allow terror and extremists to thrive. By acting together to meet the fundamental challenge of our time, we can lead towards a world that is more secure, more prosperous and more hopeful.

In the decades ahead, the United Nations and other multilateral organizations must continually confront terror. That mission requires clarity of vision. We must see the terrorists for what they are: ruthless extremists who exploit the desperate, subvert the tenets of a great religion and seek to impose their will on as many people as possible. Some suggest that those men would pose less of a threat if we would only leave them alone, yet their leaders make clear that no concession could ever satisfy their ambitions. Bringing the terrorists to justice does not create terrorism. It is the best way to protect our people.

Multilateral organizations must respond by taking an unequivocal moral stand against terrorism. No cause can justify the deliberate taking of innocent life, and the international community is nearing universal agreement on this truth. The vast majority of nations in this Assembly now agree that tactics like suicide bombing, hostage-taking and hijacking are never legitimate. The Security Council has adopted resolutions declaring terror unlawful and requiring all nations to crack down on terrorist financing. Earlier this month, the Secretary-General held a conference to highlight victims of terror, where he stated that terrorism can never be justified.

Other multilateral organizations have spoken clearly as well. The Group of 8 has declared that all terrorist acts are criminal and must be universally condemned. The Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference recently spoke out against suicide bombing, which he said runs counter to the teachings of Islam.

The message behind those statements is resolutely clear. Like slavery and piracy, terrorism has no place in the modern world. Around the globe, nations are turning those words into action. Members of the United Nations are sharing intelligence with one another, conducting joint operations and freezing terrorists' finances. While terrorists continue to carry out attacks like the terrible bombing in Islamabad last week, our joint actions have spared our citizens from many devastating blows.

The brutal nature of the extremists is increasingly clear and the coalition of nations confronting terrorists is growing stronger. Over the past seven years, Afghanistan and Iraq have been transformed from regimes that actively sponsor terror to democracies that fight terror. Libya has renounced its support for terror and its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Nations like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are actively pursuing the terrorists. A few nations, regimes like Syria and Iran, continue to sponsor terror, yet their numbers are growing fewer and they are growing more isolated from the world.

As the twenty-first century unfolds, some may be tempted to assume that the threat has receded. That would be comforting. It would be wrong. The terrorists believe time is on their side, so they have made waiting out civilized nations part of their strategy. We must not allow them to succeed. The nations of this body must stand united in the fight against terror. We must continue working to deny the terrorists refuge anywhere in the world, including ungoverned spaces. We must remain vigilant against proliferation by fully implementing the terms of resolution 1540 (2004) and enforcing sanctions against North Korea and Iran. We must not relent until our people are safe from this threat to civilization.

To uphold the Charter's promise of peace and security in the twenty-first century, we must also confront the ideology of the terrorists. At its core, the struggle against extremists is a battle of ideas. Terrorists envision a world in which religious freedom is denied, women are oppressed and all dissent is crushed. The nations represented in this Hall must present a more hopeful alternative -- a vision where people can speak freely, worship as they choose and pursue their dreams in liberty.

Advancing this vision of freedom serves our highest ideals, as expressed in the United Nations Charter's commitment to the dignity and worth of the human person. Advancing this vision also serves our security interests. History shows that when citizens have a voice in choosing their own leaders, they are less likely to search for meaning in radical ideologies, and when Governments respect the rights of their people, they are more likely to respect the rights of their neighbours.

For all these reasons, the nations of this body must challenge tyranny as vigorously as we challenge terror. Some question whether people in certain parts of the world actually desire freedom. This self-serving condescension has been disproved before our eyes. From the voting booths of Afghanistan, Iraq and Liberia to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Rose Revolution in Georgia, the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, we have seen people consistently make the courageous decision to demand their liberty.

For all the suggestions to the contrary, the truth is that, whenever and wherever people are given the choice, they choose freedom. Nations represented in this Hall have supported the efforts of dissidents, reformers and civil society advocates in newly free societies through the new United Nations Democracy Fund, and we appreciate those efforts. As young democracies around the world continue to make brave stands for liberty, multilateral organizations like the United Nations must continue to stand with them.

In Afghanistan, a determined people are working to overcome decades of tyranny and protect their newly free society. They have strong support from all 26 nations of the NATO alliance. I appreciate the United Nations decision this week to renew the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The United Nations also has an active civilian presence in Afghanistan, where experts are doing important work helping to improve education, facilitate humanitarian aid and protect human rights. We must continue to help the Afghan people defend their young democracy so that the Taliban does not return to power and Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for terror.

In Iraq, the fight has been difficult, yet daily life has improved dramatically over the past 20 months thanks to the courage of the Iraqi people, a determined coalition of nations and a surge of American troops. The United Nations has provided the mandate for multinational forces in Iraq through this December, and the United Nations is carrying out an ambitious strategy to strengthen Iraq's democracy, including helping Iraqis prepare for their next round of free elections. Whatever disagreements our nations have had on Iraq, we should all welcome this progress towards stability and peace and we should stand united in helping Iraq's democracy succeed.

We must stand united in our support of other young democracies, from the people of Lebanon struggling to maintain their hard-won independence to the people of the Palestinian territories, who deserve a free and peaceful State of their own. We must stand united in our support of the people of Georgia. The United Nations Charter sets forth the equal rights of nations large and small; Russia's invasion of Georgia was a violation of those rights. Young democracies around the world are watching to see how we respond to this test. The United States has worked with allies in such multilateral institutions as the European Union and NATO to uphold Georgia's territorial integrity and provide humanitarian relief. Our nations will continue to support Georgia's democracy.

In this Hall are representatives of Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Liberia, Iraq and other brave young democracies. We admire their courage, we honour their sacrifices, and we thank them for their inspiring example. We will continue to stand with all who stand for freedom. This noble goal is worthy of the United Nations and it should have the support of every member of this Assembly.

Extending the reach of political freedom is essential to prevailing in the great struggle of our time, but it is not enough. Many in this Hall have answered the call to help their brothers and sisters in need by working to alleviate hopelessness. Those efforts to improve the human condition honour the highest ideals of this institution. They also advance our security interests. The extremists find their most fertile recruiting grounds in societies trapped in chaos and despair -- places where people see no prospect of a better life. In the shadows of hopelessness, radicalism thrives. Eventually, that radicalism can boil over into violence, cross borders and take innocent lives across the world.

Overcoming hopelessness requires addressing its causes: poverty, disease and ignorance. Challenging these conditions is in the interest of every nation in this Hall, and democracies are particularly well positioned to carry out that work because we have experience responding to the needs of our own people. We are natural partners in helping other nations respond to the needs of theirs. Together, we must commit our resources and efforts to advancing education, health and prosperity.

Over the years, many nations have made well-intentioned efforts to promote these goals, but the success of these efforts must be measured by more than intentions. It must be measured by results. My nation is placing insistence on results at the heart of our foreign assistance programmes. We launched a new initiative, called the Millennium Challenge Account, which directs our help to countries that demonstrate their ability to produce results by governing justly, fighting corruption and pursuing market-based economic policies, as well as investing in their people. Every country and institution that provides foreign assistance, including the United Nations, will be more effective by showing faith in the people of the developing world and insisting on performance in return for aid.

Experience also shows that, to be effective, we must adopt a model of partnership, not paternalism. This approach is based on our conviction that people in the developing world have the capacity to improve their own lives and will rise to meet high expectations if we set them. America sought to apply this model in our Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Every nation that receives American support through this initiative develops its own plan for fighting HIV/AIDS and measures the results.

So far, these results are inspiring. Five years ago, 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS; today, that number is nearly 1.7 million. We are taking a similar approach to fighting malaria, and so far we have supported local efforts to protect more than 25 million Africans. Multilateral organizations have made bold commitments of their own to fight disease. The G-8 has pledged to match America's efforts on malaria and HIV/AIDS. Through the Global Fund, many countries are working to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Lives in the developing world depend on these programmes, and all who have made pledges to fight disease have an obligation to follow through on their commitments.

One of the most powerful engines of development and prosperity are trade and investment, which create new opportunities for entrepreneurs, help people rise out of poverty and reinforce such fundamental values as transparency and the rule of law. For all these reasons, many represented in this Hall have conducted free-trade agreements at the bilateral and regional levels.

The most effective step of all would be an agreement that tears down trade barriers at the global level. The recent impasse in the Doha round is disappointing, but that does not have to be the final word. I urge every nation to seize this opportunity to lift up economies around the world and reach a successful Doha agreement as soon as possible. Beyond Doha, our nations must renew our commitment to open economies and stand firm against economic isolationism. These objectives are being tested by turbulence in the global financial markets.

Our economies are more closely connected than ever before, and I know that many of you here are watching how the United States Government will address the problems in our financial system. In recent weeks we have taken bold steps to prevent a severe disruption of the American economy, which would have a devastating effect on other economies around the world. We promote stability in the markets by preventing the disorderly failure of major companies. The Federal Reserve has injected urgently needed liquidity into the system. Last week, I announced decisive action by the federal Government to address the root cause of much of the instability in our financial markets by purchasing illiquid assets that are weighing down balance sheets and restricting the flow of credit. I can assure the Assembly that my Administration and our Congress are working together to quickly pass legislation approving this strategy. And I am confident that we will act in the urgent time frame required.

The objectives I have laid out for multilateral institutions confronting terror, opposing tyranny and promoting effective development are difficult, but they are necessary tasks. To have maximum impact, multilateral institutions must take on challenging missions, and like all of us in this Hall they must work towards measurable goals, be accountable for their actions and hold true to their word.

In the twenty-first century, the world needs a competent and effective United Nations. This unique institution should build on its successes and improve its performance. Where there is inefficiency and corruption, that must be corrected. Where there are bloated bureaucracies, they must be streamlined. Where Members fail to uphold their obligations, there must be strong action -- for example, there should be an immediate review of the Human Rights Council, which has routinely protected violators of human rights. There should be a stronger effort to help the people of Burma live free of the repression they have suffered for too long. All nations, especially members of the Security Council, must act decisively to ensure that the Government of the Sudan upholds its commitment to address the violence in Darfur.

The United Nations is an Organization of extraordinary potential. As it rebuilds its Headquarters, it must also open the door to a new age of transparency, accountability and seriousness of purpose. With determination and clear purpose, the United Nations can be a powerful force for good as we head into the twenty-first century. It can affirm the great promise of its founding.

In the final days of the San Francisco Conference, the delegates negotiating the United Nations Charter received a visit from President Harry Truman. He acknowledged the enormous challenges they faced and said that success was possible only because of what he called an unshakable unity of determination. Today, the world is engaged in another period of great challenge, and by continuing to work together, that unshakable unity of determination will be ours. Together we can confront and defeat the evil of terrorism. Together we can secure the Almighty's gift of liberty and justice to millions who have not known it. Together we can build a world that is freer, safer and better for the generations who follow.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the United States of America for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the French Republic.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Sarkozy (France)

I bring you fraternal greetings from Europe -- Europe that is conscious of its responsibilities and wishes to act; Europe that is true to its values -- democracy and freedom; Europe that is loyal to its friends, but also Europe that wishes to speak to the whole world in service of dialogue and of peace.

At a time when the world is deeply troubled, I have come to tell you, on behalf of Europe, that in the midst of so many difficulties the international community has a political and moral responsibility that we must shoulder. Let us not forget that if we are gathered here today, it is because following one of the most terrible tragedies that humankind has ever known, there were men and women of good will who were determined that in the future no one could ever say, when faced with misfortune: "There is nothing we can do." That is why we are here, because those who went before us did not renounce their responsibility. Europe believes that today, our duty is to act and to refuse to submit.

We can wait no longer. We are beginning to gauge the tragic consequences of having already waited too long. We cannot wait to achieve peace, to end the tragedy in Darfur. We cannot wait to fight terrorism, to avert the food crisis that condemns so many human beings to die of hunger. We cannot wait to prepare for the post-petroleum world, to fight global warming, to save the oceans, to put an end to monetary, social and ecological dumping. We cannot wait to bring ethics to financial capitalism.

For too long we have all been resigned to being powerless. For too long we have retreated before the need to give to the globalized world institutions that will enable it to be regulated.

The world of the twenty-first century cannot be governed with the institutions of the twentieth century. We are a century behind. Let today's major Powers and the Powers of tomorrow unite to shoulder together the responsibilities their influence gives them in world affairs.

To all those who are hesitant, I wish to say that enlarging the Security Council and the G-8 is not just a matter of fairness, it is also a question of effectiveness. We can no longer wait to turn the G-8 into the G14 and to bring in China, India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil. Italy is proposing a major step in that direction at the next summit, which it will host, and Italy is right.

Let us act to make our international institutions are more representative, because if they are more representative they will be stronger, more effective and more respected. A new world is emerging not only through all our successes, but also through all the crises besetting the planet. However, we cannot receive that new world passively, we must build it.

Let us learn to manage together the most acute crises that no one, not even the most powerful among us, can resolve alone. I am convinced that it is the duty of the heads of State and Government of the countries most directly concerned to meet before the end of the year to examine together the lessons of the most serious financial crisis the world has experienced since that of the 1930s. Who would understand it if the world's major economies should fail to take the time to meet to discuss what we must do together and the lessons we must draw from what has happened?

Let us rebuild together a regulated capitalism, in which entire swathes of financial activity are not left to the sole judgement of market operators; in which banks do their job; which is to finance economic development rather than to fuel speculation; in which rules of prudence apply to all and serve to avert and soften shocks instead of exacerbating them; in which the credit agencies are controlled and punished when necessary; in which transparency of transactions replaces such opacity that today it is difficult to understand what is happening; and in which modes of remuneration do not drive people to take unreasonable risks. It is my duty to say that those who jeopardize people's savings should be punished and at last face up to their responsibilities. We will succeed in that on the condition that we work together.

In our globalized world, the fate of each is linked to that of all others. The negotiations on climate change, begun in Bali, will conclude in Copenhagen next year. Whatever our particular interests, we do not have the right to fail.

Europe will adopt an unprecedented raft of measures on energy and climate in December. Europe does not wish to teach lessons; it wishes to set an example. Europe also wishes to set the example by acting to bring about peace. It did so in Georgia. It did so with the Union for the Mediterranean. Because for over half a century Europe has undertaken to stop the endless cycle of war, vengeance and hate that has periodically taken it to the edge of the precipice, it does not want war. It does not want a war of civilizations. It does not want a war of religion. It does not want a cold war.

Europe wants peace, and because it wants peace it says to Russia that it wants links of solidarity with that country, that it wants to build a shared future, and that it wants to be Russia's partner. Why not build a continent-wide common economic space that would unite Russia and Europe? However, Europe also says to Russia with the same sincerity that it cannot compromise on the principle of the sovereignty and independence of States, their territorial integrity or respect for international law. Europe's message to all States is that it cannot accept the use of force to settle a dispute.

Europe says to Iran that it respects that country, that Iran has the right to civil nuclear energy and that it will explore all avenues of dialogue. However, it says to Iran with the same sincerity that it cannot accept a nuclear-armed Iran that would endanger the peace and stability of the whole region. Nor can Europe tolerate -- and I say this solemnly -- Iran calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.

Europe says to Israel that it is its friend and that it will let no one threaten its existence. Europe says to Israel that it will always be at its side in the fight against terrorism, but with the same sincerity says to telling Israel that there will be no peace until there is a viable Palestinian State with recognized borders.

Europe says to Afghanistan that it will continue to stand by it and that it will not permit barbarians allied with Al-Qaida again to take an entire people hostage and to turn an entire country into a terrorist base.

Europe says to Somalia that it will help it, with the support of the United Nations, to combat the scourge of piracy off its coasts. Until all States join together to establish a maritime police force, we cannot allow some hundreds of pirates to threaten the free passage of ships throughout the world.

Europe says to Africa that it is committed to co-development, that it wishes to be Africa's privileged partner, and that it has a common destiny with Africa and a profound sense of solidarity. Europe says to Africa that it has its place among the permanent members of the Security Council and in the enlarged G-8. How can one ever hope to settle the great issues of the world while ignoring Africa, South America or a large part of Asia? Europe believes in the African renaissance, which is under way and, first and foremost, is in the hands of the Africans, particularly those of African youth, which is the youth of the world.

Essentially, what brings us here together in this forum, where everyone must listen to the others and thereby show them a form of respect, is something more basic even than democracy. What brings us together is respect for the dignity of all just as they are, and for diversity of their opinions, cultures and beliefs. Human dignity is a universal value. What we must promote everywhere is respect for that diversity, which is the surest guarantor of peace and human fraternity and the surest antidote to intolerance, hatred, violence, obscurantism and fanaticism.

That is what Europe wants: peoples united in respect, understanding and solidarity; peoples united throughout the world working together for the great common cause of safeguarding of humanity. Time is at a premium; the world cannot wait.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the French Republic for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations Her Excellency Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines, and to invite her to address the Assembly.

President Macapagal-Arroyo (Philippines)

The developing world is at a tipping point. In the Philippines, we feel the pain of high prices of food, fuel and rice. Our people pursue the universal dream of a better life for themselves and their children: better education, better health care, higher wages, a dignified retirement. We are proving the value of a new paradigm for self-reliance through the use of, first, a targeted strategy with a set of precise prescriptions to ease our price challenges; secondly, food self-sufficiency and more energy independence; and thirdly, long-term reforms. This is a positive example that we wish to share with the rest of the world.

Our gains over the past seven years were hard-earned. We made tough and sometimes painful decisions to reset our economy: tax increases, banking reforms, a crackdown on smugglers and tough fiscal discipline, to name a few. Thankfully, these reforms have given us some running room to weather the first wave of global price shocks that reverberated across the world earlier this year.

It has not been easy, but Filipinos are tough and resilient. We have pulled together. We have been able to draw on additional revenues to provide targeted investments in food and fuel to keep our poor afloat until a better day. But we are also realistic and know that we cannot do it alone. We need a strong United Nations as never before. We need rigorous international cooperation as never before.

Economic uncertainty has moved like a tsunami around the globe, wiping away gains, erasing progress, not just here on Manhattan island, but also in the many islands of the Philippines. Just when we thought the worst had passed, the light at the end of the tunnel became an oncoming train hurtling forward with new shocks to the global financial system. The setbacks from these global shocks of the past year -- and of the past weeks -- are real and profound. It will take time and perseverance to put the pieces back together.

To address these global challenges, we must go on building bridges among allies around the globe in order to bring the rice to where it is needed to feed the people, to make investments to create jobs, and to keep the peace and maintain stability in the world.

It is therefore timely that the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has organized this year's agenda around the impact of the global economy on the poor. He deserves our highest praise for his quick and decisive action on the global food crisis. His Comprehensive Framework for Action, involving the United Nations, donor countries, civil society and the private sector, seeks to achieve food security through the right combination of policies, technologies and investments. This is a model of the United Nations in action.

Since the volatile global economic situation became apparent many months ago, in the Philippines we have increased and stabilized the supply of rice and delivered targeted subsidies to the poor. We have reached out to neighbours such as Viet Nam and others in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and elsewhere to ensure a stable supply and affordable prices. We have clamped down on price gouging and invested additional billions in planting and agricultural modernization.

We have increased our energy independence by 17 per cent through greater use of geothermal energy, biofuels and other renewable sources, and we expect to attain 60 per cent energy independence in two years. Biofuels have been cited as being a positive factor for clean energy. At the same time, they have also been cited as a negative factor that contributes to high food prices. We are pursuing a policy of using non-food biofuel sources planted on land unusable for food production purposes. We see this approach as a way for countries to seek a sustainable balance between food and energy needs.

For food self-sufficiency, our food baskets are North Luzon in our largest island and the southern island of Mindanao. Mindanao has fields of the highest productivity, yet also the majority of our poorest provinces. It is a sad irony that our food basket has some of the highest incidences of hunger in our nation.

The prime reason is the endless Mindanao conflict. Our archipelago of 7,000 islands has had its share of religious strife, ethnic tension and violence. For years, we have worked to achieve peace in Mindanao. Much progress was made until violent elements within the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) decided to take the law into their own hands. We will restart the dialogue when the area is secure, when our people are safe and when responsible elements in the MILF regain control.

There is no alternative to peace. I stand before the Assembly today to declare loud and clear that we are committed to the process of peace in Mindanao. We gratefully acknowledge here today the central role of so many friends and allies, including the United Nations; Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Libya, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and others in the Organization of the Islamic Conference; Australia, New Zealand, the United States and other bilateral partners supplying official development assistance; and the European Union and Sweden. All have played a big role in advancing peace and development in Mindanao.

We will refocus the peace talks from an approach that is centred on dialogue with rebels to one of authentic dialogue with the communities. The context of our engagement with all armed groups will subscribe to the United Nations-recognized principle of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. We maintain high hopes in interfaith dialogue as a means of building bridges rather than barriers between communities of different cultures and ethnicity. In furtherance of this effort, the Philippines will host the first-ever Special Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development in May next year. We will also cooperate with the Alliance of Civilizations.

We are also pleased that the Secretary-General will join us in Manila during the second Global Forum on Migration and Development. Our overseas Filipino workers are true global pioneers. There is no ship abroad that does not have a Filipino crew or a nation that does not have highly skilled Filipino workers. The movement of people from one country to another will surely increase as globalization continues to erase borders. This fact should be recognized as having implications for the growth and development of both sending and receiving countries.

In many troubled places of our world, the United Nations is the last great hope for peace and security. For this reason, the Philippines contributes one of the largest police contingents to United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Mr. President, your leadership is more vital than ever. The Philippines will fully support you as you lead our General Assembly for the coming year.

In conclusion, there are hundreds of millions of good people across this globe who are struggling as never before. We must hear their cry for help. It is within the collective power of the leaders at this United Nations General Assembly to fulfil the universal dream of better education, better health, food on the table and a dignified life.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of the Philippines for the statement she has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Amir of the State of Qatar.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

Sheikh Al-Thani (Qatar)

I should like at the outset to congratulate you, Su, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session. I wish you every success in your mission.

I should like also to thank your predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for all of his efforts in the previous session. I should further like to thank the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his efforts to promote and revitalize the role of the United Nations.

I need not remind anyone in this Hall, which holds such a high-level assembly, that the primary goal of this Organization and the fundamental purpose of its Charter is to achieve and maintain world peace.

The human experience replete with hopes and horrors reminds us all that world peace can only be achieved by a conscious, positive act and not through mere wishful thinking. We have sought to achieve peace through war in which the powerful tried to impose their will, as in the two notorious world wars of the twentieth century.

We have sought to find peace through entente between empires, as between Britain and France in 1904. We sought peace through coexistence between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1971. In all those attempts, either by war or by entente between Powers, by agreement between empires or by coexistence between blocs and doctrines, peace has remained elusive.

We have all come to realize through those long and exhausting experiences that achieving peace is a positive act that means more than just eliminating the threat of weapons. While it is true that humanity has not suffered a global war in the past 60 years, it is also true that peace in those last six decades has remained elusive. It has been a peace beset by conflicts on all continents and in all territories. We have also come to the conclusion that in a world where barriers of distance and time have come to evaporate, achieving peace means establishing and promoting economic and social justice among peoples. That is what constitutes positive peace.

If the purposes and principles of the Charter have established the political rights of nations on the basis of international law, the right of peoples to social justice must be based on the idea of development. In the past, the first generation of advocates and supporters of national liberation movements demanded what they called "positive neutrality", believing that they could thus distance themselves from the wars of the major powers. However, the realities of today's world require a different approach, for peace cannot be achieved through conflict between powers, agreement between empires, or coexistence among blocs, and not even through positive neutrality.

The alternative to those three options is our new choice, namely positive peace, an era of international law that ensures political rights and an era of development offering parallel and equal opportunities in one world, which cannot go into the future burdened by the injustices of politics or blinded by the darkness of underdevelopment.

Qatar is getting ready to host the follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development. My country looks forward to an international cooperation that offers the broadest base possible for political as well as social peace. We hope that participation the conference will be at the highest possible level. The goal is ambitious and the purpose is vital for the safety and peace of the one human global village.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Amir of the State of Qatar for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Liberia.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations Her Excellency Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, and to invite her to address the Assembly.

President Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia)

I am honoured to address the General Assembly on behalf of the Government and the people of Liberia, the second time I am doing so since I assumed office in 2006.

I congratulate you, Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, and your country, Nicaragua, on your election as President of this historic sixty-third session. There is no doubt that you will bring your vast experience to bear in guiding this session to a successful conclusion. You can rest assured of the full cooperation and support of the Liberian delegation.

Let me also seize this opportunity to pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim of the Republic of Macedonia, for the exemplary leadership he provided this body over the past year.

By the same token, I would like to commend the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his farsightedness and wisdom in carrying out his mandate. The Liberian people still recall with fondness his visit to Monrovia earlier this year, when they shared with him their respect and appreciation for the United Nations, which has provided exceptional support as a guarantor of the peace we now enjoy in our country after 14 years of war.

In our 161 years as the first independent republic in Africa, we navigated for nearly a century among the sharks of racism, colonialism, prejudice, human degradation and underdevelopment. We have experienced a war that killed nearly 8 per cent and displaced 40 per cent of our population, a war that destroyed our underdeveloped economy and inadequate infrastructure. Through it all, Liberia has come to appreciate the United Nations as a truly fundamental, relevant and important forum and instrument for world peace.

In its 63 years of existence, the United Nations has expanded in scope, form and content. It is, correctly, still primarily concerned with the promotion of international peace and security. On the basis of our experience as a founding Member, Liberia is committed to contributing to the redefinition of that international peace and security that it is very strongly linked to and demands the promotion of economic growth and sustained development, particularly food security, relief from the debt burden, globalization and fair trade.

We believe in a peace and security environment that combats HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and that promotes poverty eradication and human rights, especially the rights of women and children. We believe in the fight against international terrorism, drugs and other international crime, and we believe in disarmament, especially the elimination of nuclear weapons and the control of small arms and light weapons.

The history and experience of Liberia have taught us to have faith in the United Nations, which today maintains nearly 11,000 men and women from all over the world helping our country consolidate its newly won peace. We wish to thank the Security Council, which has correctly seen the necessity to renew the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). We particularly thank the resource-contributing countries, for, without them, we would never be able to save the lives we are saving and promote the development we are promoting.

Our history and experience have taught us to believe in regional peace and security and cooperation. Liberians still say, with passion: "Thank God for ECOMOG" -- the Monitoring Group of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) -- referring to the period of our war when young men and women from ECOWAS countries, led by Nigeria and including Senegal, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali and Benin, laid down their lives to save our country. Subsequently, a Nigerian-led military mission, the ECOWAS Mission in Liberia. provided the beachhead for the establishment of UNMIL. We shall always be grateful to ECOWAS, which is now dedicating itself to its prime objective of economic integration and development.

We also believe in our subregional entity, the Mano River Union, which comprises the countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone and now, Côte d'Ivoire, which joined us earlier this year. The Mano River basin, as is well known, had been the epicentre of the conflict system in West Africa since 1990. As the current Chair of the Union, I can say on behalf of my colleagues that the countries of that basin have declared never again to war and all forms of armed violence. The Mano River Union will henceforth be a net exporter of peace and all the dividends that come with peace in West Africa.

I am proud to say that Liberian history and experience have taught us never to shirk in our opposition to wars and the causes thereof, to man's inhumanity to man, to oppression, racism, human rights abuses, especially those against women and children, and abuses inflicted on the basis of race, creed and religion.

In doing so, we know that we may at times not be seen as following the party line, be it in Africa or on African issues, or the positions of some close allies. We continue to ask our friends to realize that we will be guided by our principles, history and experience to act in the best interest of our people and of the greater world community.

It is in this connection that we took a stand on the situation in Zimbabwe, because we had faith that the leaders of that wonderful and great country needed to know that fairness in elections and justice in political participation were the best ways to ensure durable peace. My Government wishes to thank the Zimbabwean leaders and their people for choosing the path of negotiation for the comprehensive agreement that has now been reached. We thank the leaders of the Southern African Development Community -- especially South African President Thabo Mbeki, for his role in facilitating the peace deal. May all Zimbabweans work to ensure full implementation of the agreement.

Over the past year, Africa has registered unprecedented economic growth and has experienced relative peace in many hitherto-turbulent regions and countries. Unfortunately, people in Somalia, in parts of the Sudan -- especially the Darfur region -- Chad, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries have yet to breathe the air of relief and peace. They need the concerted efforts and support of the United Nations for the African Union and subregional bodies to take the actions necessary for peace. Where there is evidence of non-cooperation and even aggression against peace forces, the world must move into gear under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.

As we have seen in Liberia and throughout the world, armed conflicts are exacerbated by easy access to small arms and light weapons. Thus, as part of the efforts for durable peace in conflict zones, we must put in place rigid measures to ensure effective control of such weapons. In that connection, my Government supports an arms trade treaty. We continue to champion the call for total and complete nuclear disarmament in order to prevent the world from annihilating itself.

Those fears are not unfounded if we imagine such weapons in the hands of a terrorist. But the threat of terrorism -- the senseless destruction of innocent lives and property -- oftentimes even defies the imagination. The world must unite to fight that scourge. No nation or person is protected against it. Those who feel angry enough to carry out such dastardly acts defeat their own purposes because they end up killing those who may be ready to let the world hear about their causes. They actually end up losing everything. We grieve with those who lost their loved ones during the terror attacks in Pakistan even while the world was meeting here.

While some plot evil deeds, there are those who are committed to working with Liberia and Africa and the rest of Africa to fight poverty and to promote positive, all-around international cooperation. We are grateful for the many avenues for cooperation that have been provided. We thank the United States for its African Growth and Opportunity Act, which aims to promote trade rather than aid; we thank the European Union for its Everything but Arms facility; we are grateful for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation; we thank the Japanese Government and its partners for leading the Tokyo International Conference on African Development; and we thank others to whom the continent is looking for new avenues for sustained development. We are pleased to note that our cooperation efforts have included intra-Africa and South-South endeavours, with great successes having been achieved so far.

Beyond Africa, my Government believes, with great interest, that a durable solution can be found to the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflict. Late last year, I had the opportunity to visit and hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders alike in Tel Aviv and Ramallah. I gathered from conversations and reports regarding other sustained efforts in search of peace that the solution of two States, with secure and recognizable borders and mutual recognition of each other, is the way forward. We must never give up working for a formal end to the conflict and for a durable peace for all in the region.

I should now like to report briefly on Liberia, the country for which, we dare say, the United Nations is most likely to receive its best-ever performance record. On 19 September 2006, approximately eight months after I had assumed the presidency of Liberia as the first woman to have been so elected in Africa, I addressed this body, laying out my vision for a country that had suffered near-total devastation -- a country that was the best example of a State that had nearly collapsed. At that time, I said that Liberia was back, moving forward on an irreversible path of peace and development.

Today, I have come to renew that pledge. I have come to report how much progress has been made in the light of what we inherited. It should be remembered that we inherited a situation in which nearly two thirds of Liberians lived below the poverty line, with an even higher poverty rate in rural areas. The economy collapsed, with gross domestic product falling 90 per cent from 1987 to 1995 -- one of the largest economic free-falls ever recorded in the world. Indicators in the areas of health, education, water, sanitation, food security and infrastructure were very poor and sometimes beyond measure.

My Government, with the support of international partners, began to take steps to move the whole country into gear. There was a need, first, for clear direction in the form of a national vision or agenda, formulated and contributed to by the people as their own; secondly, to restore the international reputation and creditworthiness of the country; and thirdly, to demonstrate the necessary leadership -- strong, committed and focused -- for the people.

The Government, in collaboration with civil society, undertook broad consultations with people in all parts of the country. That resulted in a framework for reducing poverty and making progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Our poverty reduction strategy for the period 2008-2011 is now in place, anchored on the pillars of consolidating peace and security, revitalizing the economy, strengthening governance and the rule of law, and rebuilding infrastructure and delivering basic services.

Clearly, those three years are not enough time to accomplish the daunting tasks laid out in our poverty reduction strategy; they are part of a process aimed at long-term development that will continue far beyond 2011. They are part of a process that must identify effective responses to the food and energy crises and to the as-yet-undetermined effects of climate change. However, the Liberian people are gaining confidence in the strategy, for they are seeing that our national security policy, supported by the United Nations, is now producing the desired results.

They also know that, starting at a low base, we saw growth of more than 9 per cent in 2007. Roads and buildings are sprouting up in many places; health clinics are reopening or being established where they did not exist before; agricultural production is increasing; and a huge external debt is well on the way to being cancelled, with exceptional support from our partners.

We believe that that is truly a success story for a country emerging from so much destruction in so short a period of time. But we owe it first to our people -- the Liberian people -- and, very strategically and importantly, to the international community, led by the United Nations. The presence of the United Nations Mission in Liberia has given hope to the people that they need not surrender to the threat to peace and development represented by the large percentage of unemployed youth who cannot be absorbed by an economy that is still too weak, despite its high level of growth.

I come from a continent where female leadership -- particularly a female head of State or Government -- is still unthinkable in some quarters. I have only a handful of female colleagues at the global level. To help sensitize and energize the world with regard to the reality of female leadership, my friend and colleague Ms. Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, and I are organizing an international colloquium on women's empowerment, leadership and development that will be held on International Women's Day in March 2009 in Monrovia. I believe that this will provide us with the opportunity to make special efforts in support of women who are desirous to seek elective public office and to encourage other women to seek such office.

President Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia)

As I conclude, let me thank the President for the great work he and his colleagues are doing for a world meant for succeeding generations. Let me also say unequivocally that not only is Liberia back, but we are lifted and we are blessed. We thank all who have contributed to this progress.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Liberia for the statement she has just made.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Turkey.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Gül (Turkey)

At the outset, I wish to extend our sincere congratulations to Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session. I would also like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-second session, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for his able leadership during his past term.

For Turkey, the United Nations Charter reflects the common aspirations and conscience of humanity. The United Nations provides a political and moral compass for our endeavours towards a just international order -- a better order that will prevent new conflicts, ensure that human rights are upheld and lead to more equitable and sustainable distribution of prosperity.

In this framework, we believe that the most pressing task before the international community is to bridge, as quickly as possible, the enormous gap between the wealthiest and the least fortunate. We have certainly made considerable progress in that direction, including towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals; however, our common fight against poverty, illiteracy, epidemic diseases, child mortality and climate change is still far from over. On the contrary, volatile fuel prices, the food crisis and the global economic slowdown have brought about an even more challenging development and security environment. Under such circumstances, the fight against terrorism, racism, xenophobia and all forms of religious discrimination and extremism takes on particular importance.

We must indeed remain extremely vigilant against the risk of further alienation between different cultures and religions. In that respect, we regard the Alliance of Civilizations initiative, which we cosponsored with Spain under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General, as an important instrument that can help us avoid such a dangerous track.

Turkey will continue to be a leading country in further advancing the goals of this initiative which enjoys worldwide backing, including from the European Union and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. We hope that the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations, which now consists of 14 international organizations and 76 countries representing different regions ranging from Latin America to Africa and Asia, will keep growing. In this vein, we look forward to hosting the second Forum meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul next April.

As I said, a top priority issue on our agenda is the need to address the problems of the developing world. There is no question that developing countries should get all the assistance they need to achieve sustainable development. They must be supported under a renewed global development agenda and through increased foreign investments and enhanced trade facilities. For its part, Turkey is trying to contribute to this endeavour, first and foremost through increased development assistance. Turkey also provides special facilities for development, health, education and agricultural projects in various parts of the world. As a result of such fast-growing aid programmes, Turkey is now recognized as an emerging donor country by the international community.

The United Nations Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries which Turkey hosted in Istanbul last year has clearly demonstrated our commitment to humanitarian and development assistance. We have now offered to host the Fourth Ministerial Conference. Similarly, the first-ever Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit held in Istanbul last month provided an important opportunity to explore new avenues of cooperation with the African continent.

Turkey is also committed to combating global warming, which has serious implications for the entire world, but more so for the developing countries. Driven by that conviction, we are taking active part in negotiations to shape our new global climate change agreement, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Turkey also pays special attention to the global water crisis. In that regard, we hope that the Fifth World Water Forum which we will host in Istanbul next March will inspire new thinking and concrete action on this important question.

If I may now turn to the political issues besetting our region, I am pleased to note that Turkey has been actively contributing to the advancement of peace by facilitating dialogue. We have also been working hard to build a sense of co-ownership of regional issues among our neighbours through a series of regional cooperation initiatives. Encouraged by its strong regional ties, Turkey has launched another initiative designed to prevent further conflict in the recently traumatized South Caucasus. In that regard, I believe that the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform proposed by Turkey could be an instrumental framework for building a climate of confidence in the region that will allow discussion of our common problems in a democratic setting.

In the light of impressions from my visits to our neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan and those of Prime Minister Erdoan to the Russian Federation and Georgia, all parties concerned seem receptive to the idea; we hope they will give it a chance to work. I sincerely believe that a positive perspective thus created will help to solve frozen conflicts, including occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, on the basis of respect for the principle of territorial integrity. No doubt, such a perspective will also help improve the bilateral ties between the countries of the region.

President Gül (Turkey)

It is also well past time to settle the conflicts of the Middle East, at the core of which lies the Palestinian question. Turkey actively supports all endeavours to bring about a lasting solution to that central problem and alleviate the plight of the Palestinian people. Turkey is also making every effort to help advance the Syrian and Lebanese tracks. One recent example is the indirect peace talks that Syria and Israel started under Turkey's auspices this past May in Istanbul.

In Iraq, too, Turkey stands firmly with the Iraqi people and Government. Besides our bilateral efforts, I am particularly pleased to see that the Neighbouring Countries process, which I initiated five years ago, is functioning well. If the international community's efforts are to succeed, the Iraqi people need to settle their differences through dialogue and compromise on controversial issues, among them the final status of Kirkuk.

Afghanistan is another country where Turkey is investing heavily in the future of a nation with which we have special historical ties. Turkey will continue to contribute to the security of the Afghan people and to their reconstruction efforts. We will also continue our initiatives to create an atmosphere conducive to regional ownership and cooperation, in particular between Pakistan and Afghanistan. That is equally vital for the common struggle against terrorism and for the stability of the region.

Finally, an urgent and peaceful settlement of the question of Iran's nuclear programme, in conformity with International Atomic Energy Agency norms and Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons obligations and respecting the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, remains high on Turkey's active diplomatic agenda.

I am convinced that would-be solutions to individual conflicts in the Middle East will be sustainable only if we adopt a comprehensive approach based on a positive vision for the future. That is why I invite all the parties to give serious consideration to the longstanding idea of collective arrangements for conflict prevention and resolution that would promote regional security and stability by building confidence, facilitating political dialogue and encouraging economic and cultural cooperation in the Middle East.

Turkey gives full backing to diplomatic efforts towards a political settlement in Cyprus. The solution lies in the establishment of a new partnership State composed of two constituent States of equal status. The process towards that goal should be based on the United Nations parameters of bi-zonality and the political equality of the two sides. We welcome and firmly support the comprehensive settlement negotiations recently started between the two leaders under the good offices of the Secretary-General.

At the same time, I believe that efforts to end the unfair isolation of the Turkish Cypriots who voted courageously in favour of the Comprehensive Settlement of the Cyprus Problem in 2004 -- a plan that was unfortunately rejected by the other side -- are long overdue.

Before concluding, I would like to stress the indispensable nature of the United Nations in resolving all those matters. Indeed, without an effective and functional world body, it is impossible to realize the hopes and expectations of our nations. That is why we attach the utmost importance to reforming and further strengthening the United Nations system as a whole. It is also why Turkey is constantly stepping up its engagement in and contributions to all aspects of the United Nations agenda, ranging from development and peacekeeping to human rights.

It is also with that sense of responsibility that Turkey has decided to put forth its candidature for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for 2009 and 2010. Turkey has not been represented in the Council for nearly half a century, and we believe that the main tenets of our foreign policy, together with our economic, social and cultural attributes, will allow us to bring added value to the work of the Council. I hope that the General Assembly, with its valuable support, will do us the honour of granting Turkey the opportunity to do so.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Turkey for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Argentine Republic.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations Her Excellency Ms. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of the Argentine Republic, and to invite her to address the Assembly.

President Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina)

As the first female head of State in the history of my country, I would like to address this Assembly by speaking first on the issue of human rights. Members know that, for my country, the policy of unrestricted respect for and promotion of human rights is one of our State policies.

In that context, I would like to urge that the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance -- which was so energetically promoted by our country and which I co-signed, as First Lady of the Argentine Republic, in Paris last year together with 73 other delegations -- be ratified by all countries that have signed it. Thus far, only four countries -- Argentina, Albania, Mexico and Honduras -- have ratified it. I know that the Republic of France will soon be ratifying it, but it is indispensable that we all strongly commit to ensuring that the inviolability of persons be one of the guiding principles for all States.

In this context, I would also like to put forward the Latin American Initiative for the Identification of Disappeared Persons. I would like to say that, together with the Guatemalan Foundation for Forensic Anthropology, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team, we are promoting this initiative to establish genetic identity banks to enable us to report precisely on violations of human rights and properly identify victims.

We deem invaluable the testimony of the women who are with us here at the Assembly today, members of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo -- the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo -- who envisioned the creation of this genetic information bank. They have been able to recover, from oblivion and disappearance, 95 of the 500 grandchildren who disappeared, children of those political prisoners who disappeared under the former dictatorship in Argentina.

The work of these women is living witness to how, even amidst adversity and against all that State terrorism -- not just in my country but in other republics -- has meant, it is possible to overcome death and fight for life. The recovery of these children shows how important -- how crucial -- it is to support this type of initiative and underlines the importance of the work that has been done to identify the victims of the Balkan wars and those of the 11 September attack on the World Trade Center.

In the fight against impunity, which is a State policy in the Republic of Argentina, we cannot fail to mention an issue that, for us, is undoubtedly another cornerstone of this inexhaustible struggle. My country, the Republic of Argentina, suffered two attacks, in 1992 and 1994: the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy and the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) building.

Last year, before this very Assembly, former President Kirchner asked INTERPOL to ratify the arrest warrants issued by my country's Ministry of Justice against Iranian citizens accused of participating in the AMIA building bombing. Days later, INTERPOL ratified them, and international arrest warrants were issued accordingly. I call upon the Islamic Republic of Iran, in compliance with international law, please to agree that the Argentine justice system can bring to trial in public, transparent courts, and with the full guarantees given by a democratic system, those citizens who stand accused.

Before all the countries of the world brought together in this Assembly, and with the conviction I have always held that innocence must be respected until an individual has been convicted and sentenced by a competent judge, I would like to affirm that, in my country, those citizens will have a fair and public trial with their full participation, with all the guarantees afforded by Argentine law and by the oversight of the international community. Given the gravity of these events, this would guarantee to the Islamic Republic of Iran that there would be fairness, truth and justice in that trial.

I would thus urge once again that, in compliance with international law and because ensuring access to justice is what truly shows how we respect truth, justice and freedom, this request from the Argentine justice system, accepted by INTERPOL, be respected. That would undoubtedly contribute to providing truth for all -- not just for Argentines, but for the entire international community -- at a time when truth and justice are elusive values internationally.

In this Hall, as we have been doing since 2003, I would also like to call for the reform of our multilateral bodies -- not only of the United Nations, which includes us all, but also of the multilateral financial institutions as well. That involves us all, and it is necessary to recreate a multilateralism which has been lost, leading to a far more insecure world. The Organization needs to be reformed, not just from the point of view of dogmatic approaches to the world, but to meet the real need of all States to ensure the functional, operational and results-oriented character of the activities and interventions of the Organization.

In this context, I would modestly like to put forward an example from our region, South America, of how we were recently able to demonstrate that multilateralism can be achieved, despite differences of approach and vision that different Governments in our region may have.

Here I am looking at the President Evo Morales -- the legitimate President of our sister Republic of Bolivia. I would like to say that, a few days ago, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) met in support of the democratic legitimacy of that country. In a concrete multilateral exercise, heads of State, who do not always share the same viewpoints or interests when we take decisions, were able to work unanimously to forge a resolution and plan of action to help our sister Republic of Bolivia, affected by those who do not respect the democratic will of the people freely expressed through elections.

That is not our only experience of multilateralism. Previously, at the meeting of the Rio Group in the Dominican Republic, at the time of the incident between the sister Republics of Ecuador and Colombia, heads of State intervened and were able to navigate a conflict which, on the basis of history, in other situations would surely have degenerated into an armed conflict between two sister countries.

What I want to say with this is that, for us, the exercise of multilateralism is not simply a hackneyed speech. It is a deeply-held conviction and a concrete and objective policy, showing results in what are normally called emerging regions, where we are capable of giving examples of multilateral collaboration in overcoming conflicts.

The other reform that we have always promoted is that of the multilateral credit institutions, but fundamentally the reform of an economic model that placed the generation of wealth at the centre of the fictional economy and of the world of finances. Recent days show that those matters, those positions, were not the result of an ideological bias or closed dogmas but of objective and timely observation of what was going on.

Today, we cannot speak of the "caipirinha effect" or the "tequila effect" or the "rice effect", or the effect that always showed that the crisis moved from the emerging countries towards the centre. Today, if we were to give it a name, we would have to say, perhaps, the "jazz effect", which moves from the centre of the first economy of the world and spreads to the rest of the world. That situation does not make us content or happy.

Quite the contrary, we consider this an historic opportunity to review behaviour and policies, because during the period of the Washington Consensus, we -- the countries of South America -- were told that the market would solve everything, that the State was not necessary, that State intervention was something for which groups that had not understood how the economy had developed were nostalgic. However, now we are seeing the most formidable State intervention in memory from exactly the place where we had been told that the State was not necessary, in the framework, moreover, of an incredible fiscal and trade deficit.

My country, the Argentine Republic -- which, if it continues to grow at the rates at which it has been growing since 2003, will this year be completing the largest economic growth cycle of its almost 200-year history -- has always up