I wish to convey my heartfelt congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Csaba Korosi on his unanimous election as the President of the General Assembly at its seventy- seventh session and wish him every success in his work.
We have no doubt that the seventy-seventh session will play an important role in boosting the social and economic recovery of the countries of the world in the post-pandemic era, implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, combating climate change and desertification and determining ways to resolve international crises and conflicts through dialogue and peaceful means.
Last year we celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of Mongolia’s full-fledged membership in the United Nations. This year we are observing the thirtieth anniversary of Mongolia’s declaration of its territory as a nuclear-weapon-free zone and the twentieth anniversary of Mongolia’s participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations.
On behalf of my country and my people, it is therefore a great privilege for me to state from this rostrum that, during those six decades, Mongolia has been a responsible member of the United Nations, actively participating and cooperating in multilateral efforts within the international community, making tangible contributions to global peace and security and promoting the well-being and development of humankind.
The whole world is going through difficult ordeals and challenges, such as poverty, inequality, climate change, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and pandemic-related hurdles with regard to customs, transport and logistics, price increases and inflation, as well as geostrategic and geopolitical tensions.
According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, even in these difficult times, when the countries of the world were closing their borders and imposing restrictions and quarantines in order to protect the lives and health of their citizens from the COVID-19 pandemic, often triggering economic crises, global military expenditures continued to grow in 2021, reaching an all-time high of $2.1 trillion.
If that huge budget and funds spent on the military and armaments had been dedicated to the least developed and developing countries, how many millions of children’s futures would have been brighter, how many millions would have been lifted out of poverty, how many millions would have been freed from hunger and disease, how many millions would have had food and opportunities for education and employment and places to live? It is time for all of us to ponder and reflect upon what progress could have been achieved if that colossal sum of money had been spent on the pressing issues of combating global warming and climate change.
It is truly regrettable that the situation in the world is deteriorating and that mistrust and misunderstanding are deepening even though humankind has suffered enough in the twentieth century due to the scourge of the two World Wars, the Cold War divide, interreligious conflicts and terrorism, among other things. In today’s complex reality, we should therefore always strive to learn from the mistakes of the past, build mutual trust, understanding and respect and make every effort to resolve every misunderstanding, conflict or war by peaceful means and dialogue.
Eight centuries ago, our ancestor — the Great Genghis Khan — united all Mongolian dwellers, founded the great Mongolian State under the power of the eternal blue sky, put an end to the centuries-long wars and conflicts, brought peace to the West and East under the rule of justice and established the Pax Mongolica in the vast terrain of Eurasia.
Scholars and researchers around the world view the establishment of the Pax Mongolica as an important contribution of Mongols to world history and the advancement of humankind and emphasize that the Pax Mongolica played an important role in the development of free trade between countries, laid the foundation for diplomacy and exchange of envoys, as well as proclaimed the ideas of religious freedom and the rule of law without imposing one’s culture and religion on others.
The General Assembly resolution entitled “Eight hundred years of Mongolian statehood”, adopted in 2005, touted the contribution of Mongols to the history of humankind and recognized that “nomadic civilization influenced, inter alia, societies across Asia and Europe and, in turn, absorbed influences from both East and West in a true interchange of human values” (resolution 60/16, fifth preambular paragraph).
It further recognized “the important role played by a strong and persistent nomadic culture in the development of extensive trade networks and the creation of large administrative, cultural, religious and commercial centres” {ibid., sixth preambular paragraph).
Finally, it acknowledged the “ever-increasing significance and relevance of a culture of living in harmony with nature, which is inherent in nomadic civilization, in today’s world” {ibid., seventh preambular paragraph).
That indicates that the Pax Mongolica contained progressive ideas that would form the basis of the collective efforts of the international community to maintain peace and stability in the modern world. Therefore, we, the descendants of the founders of the Pax Mongolica, call on the international community to understand each other, cooperate and manage every conflict through peaceful dialogue so that our blue planet can be at peace and a “Pax Globalica” can be established. We further call on people of the world to combine efforts to achieve that noble goal.
Mongolia has consistently pursued a peace-loving, open, multipolar and independent foreign policy. During his official visit to Mongolia in August, Secretary- General Antonio Guterres used the phrase “a symbol of peace in a troubled world” — a clear recognition of that policy by the international community. Mongolia has actively participated in the promotion of international peace and security and in peacekeeping efforts and has put forward several proposals and initiatives. One notable example is the declaration of its territory as a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
In his statement at the opening of the tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, held in August, the Secretary-General warned that humankind is just “one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation”. In that connection, I urge not only States Parties to the treaty but all States Members of the United Nations to exert political will and courage to build a world free of nuclear weapons and to unite and work together wholeheartedly and faithfully for the sake of our Mother Earth, peace and future generations.
Mongolia believes that nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones are the best and most effective means of building a world free of nuclear weapons. We therefore consider that international recognition of Mongolia’s nuclear- weapon-free status is our tangible contribution and effort to this cause.
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Mongolia’s participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations. During that period, more than 20,000 Mongolian military personnel served in United Nations and other international peacekeeping operations in hotspots around the world.
Mongolia sent its first female officer to a United Nations peacekeeping operation in 2006, and now we are ranked among the top 20 of 120 countries in number of female peacekeepers contributed to United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Mongolia is firmly committed to the implementation of the resolution 1325 (2000), on women and peace and security, and to the call by the United Nations Department of Peace Operations to increase the number of women serving in the United Nations peacekeeping operations to 15 per cent by 2027. Within the framework of that objective, at my country’s initiative, we hosted an international conference on strengthening the role of women in peacekeeping, in June. The conference, which brought together female peacekeepers from more than 30 countries and representatives of international organizations, became a notable event for sharing
and exchanging knowledge, experience and lessons learned. We also put forward an initiative to host that conference every five years, and it is our hope that the relevant United Nations entities and troop-contributing countries will support that proposal.
At the same time, it is my pleasure to underscore that the United Nations and its leadership have greatly appreciated the genuine contributions of peace-loving Mongolia to United Nations peacekeeping operations and the sacred cause of strengthening international peace and security and have given full support to our proposals and initiatives.
Mongolia has consistently proposed the establishment of a dialogue mechanism with a view to contributing to peace and security in North-East Asia and to efforts of the international community to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. In that context, in 2013, Mongolia launched the initiative to organize the international conference “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security”. In June, we organized the seventh international conference of the “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security” and discussed a broad range of issues, including regional security, the power grid, green development, opportunities for humanitarian cooperation and the post-pandemic economic recovery. The results of the conference demonstrate that the significance of the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue initiative has grown, and it is transforming into an open and inclusive mechanism gathering Government officials and academia from countries in the subregion and beyond, as well as representatives of international organizations.
In the face of frequent natural disasters and communicable diseases, the creation of an integrated regional infrastructure for disaster risk reduction and humanitarian assistance is becoming one of the most pressing security issues in North-East Asia.
With that in mind, in 2018 Mongolia put forward an initiative to establish an integrated platform for disaster risk reduction for the North-East Asia region, and now we present a proposal to establish a regional humanitarian hub or warehouse based on the Ulaanbaatar International Airport-affiliated facilities. I am confident that those initiatives will be supported and assisted by other countries of the region, as well as by the United Nations system and specialized organizations.
Broad-scale economic restrictions and sanctions caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts have hit national economies hard. The global market prices for food, fuel, agricultural products, energy and raw materials have increased sharply like never before, causing fluctuation in the global economy and financial markets and creating major risks.
With the immediate support of the United Nations and its system organizations, as well as that of development partners, for Mongolia’s efforts to fight COVID-19, as of today 70 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated, domestic restrictions have been removed and borders have been opened.
Although we are going through an uneasy period, the Government of Mongolia is implementing the new recovery policy developed in harmony with the Sustainable Development Goals. The policy focuses on improving road, railway and border infrastructure; increasing energy sources; boosting industrialization, as well as urban and rural development; and enhancing public-private partnership and productivity.
Furthermore, despite tough times of the pandemic and new normal, Mongolia is making efforts to accelerate the digital transition and adopted a package of new laws on digital development. We introduced the e-Mongolia platform in order to streamline public-service delivery to citizens and entities, to reduce corruption and bureaucracy, to increase information security and to promote good governance. Moreover, we are working to expand and develop our multilateral cooperation in those fields at regional and international levels.
Mongolia fully supports the major initiatives put forward in the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda (A/75/982) and is sparing no effort to implement them alongside the Sustainable Development Goals, the national Vision-2050 long-term development policy and the New Recovery Policy.
We must not forget that the serious challenges we are facing, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification, land degradation, shortages of water resources and droughts, are still awaiting solutions.
Mongolia is one of the countries most affected by climate change. Therefore, with a view to combating climate change, desertification and dust storms and in order to increase forest and water resources, Mongolia launched the Billion Trees national movement in order to plant, grow and protect billions of trees. The Mongolian people, its Government and our development partners
welcomed that initiative, and now the Billion Trees national movement is being successfully implemented throughout the country. I am pleased to inform the Assembly that the Secretary-General has personally joined and supports the movement.
In addition, Mongolia reiterates its commitment to actively cooperate and make a real contribution to reducing the negative impact of climate change and protecting the environment at regional and international levels. In that context, it is my pleasure to inform the Assembly that Mongolia will be hosting the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in 2026.
Another issue that should be brought to the attention of the General Assembly is the scarcity of pastures, as the space for nomadic livestock is shrinking day by day, and nomadic civilization is facing the danger of extinction.
We Mongolians are a nomadic and pastoralist people. The lives of more than 200 million people who raise livestock and live in harmony with nature like we do are at risk now due to climate change, land degradation, desertification, drought and extreme winter events. In order to protect their interests, improve pasture management and use, preserve the ecosystem balance and provide global food security and supply, Mongolia initiated a General Assembly resolution proclaiming the year 2026 as International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (resolution 76/253), which was adopted on 15 March 2022.
We launched the Billion Trees national movement along with the national programmes Food Supply and Security and Healthy Mongolia in order to help attain the Sustainable Development Goals and create a healthy environment in which people can live a healthy life consuming healthy food. We highly appreciate the support and cooperation that the countries of the region and international organizations extended to those efforts.
Nowadays, with the drastic change in the international order and norms established after the Second World War, the importance of multilateralism and the role of the international community are evermore increasing. For that reason, we are of the view that it is important that every Member State take an active part in the process of United Nations reforms and constructively contribute to strengthening the position and role of the Organization. Mongolia is of the view that the key to reforming the United Nations is the reform of the Security Council, which bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Since 2009, Mongolia has been regularly participating in the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform, expressing its principled position.
Developments in recent years have shown that the General Assembly is the most important platform for discussing global peace, security, human rights and development issues. We therefore deem that strengthening the role of the General Assembly is important to ensure the balance of power among countries and highlight the voices of small and developing countries more vividly.
Lastly, I wish to call on Member States to support the United Nations quintet of change, outlined in the Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda, for a more effective United Nations 2.0. Let us collectively make efforts to ensure global peace, security, development and prosperity.
May the eternal blue sky bless us, humankind, forever.