Exactly two years ago, during the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, we were in the first year of the pandemic. It was a year replete with uncertainty and fear, owing to the unexpected outbreak of a virus, the historic aftermath of which, even today, continues to affect us in terms of loss of life, serious health ramifications for our populations and damage to our economies. Since then, the international situation has not only failed to improve, but new sources of tension have emerged that have made it difficult to make progress in economic recovery and in addressing the significant social costs of the pandemic.
The military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation is unjustifiable. Our country has condemned it in the strongest terms as a clear violation of the principles on which we have built the Organization and that must be respected by all its members. It is imperative that the Russian Federation cease hostilities and withdraw from Ukraine as soon as possible. The parties to the conflict must work towards returning to the negotiating table to resolve their differences peacefully, as set out under the Charter of the United Nations.
In the meantime, the negative effects of the armed conflict are being felt in many spheres at the international level and are increasingly weighing on the daily lives of millions of people. The impact on international trade is fuelling recessionary trends in many countries. The shortage of agricultural products is seriously affecting least-developed importer countries, and the lack of access to world markets is leading to food insecurity in several regions of the world. Other countries are experiencing energy shortages or higher energy prices, which is having an impact on the living conditions of millions of people. At the same time, it has also created a new environmental threat.
Although its outcome did not meet everyone’s expectations, the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), held in Glasgow, in November 2021, saw the achievement of several promising results. Furthermore, it was clear that countries have not given up on the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The discussions at COP26, in Glasgow, will allow for further debate in other contexts in the near future. We hope that the high level of ambition will be maintained by all countries and that the promise to muster the financial resources necessary to support adaptation and mitigation measures against climate change will be kept. Otherwise, the international community will have missed another opportunity — perhaps its last — to address one of the greatest threats facing it. If we fail in that work, future generations will be justified in saying that we, who governed during this century, did not live up to shouldering our political responsibilities.
In that regard, I would like to renew Uruguay’s support for the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and our firm commitment to achieving its objectives and its concrete targets. That is the shared goal that we have set for ourselves, and we must make a greater effort to achieve it. In that context, as we face such significant challenges, “multilateralism” is not a hollow or meaningless word. It is therefore essential to strengthen the multilateral system, to which we all belong and which constitutes a common asset. International and regional mechanisms must be strengthened and improved to make them more effective and preventive.
The international community is today facing three major challenges: international peace and security; the environment; and global health. The multilateral system is essential to addressing those challenges, not only as an inspirational principle, but also as a key tool for making our work effective. In that regard, I would like to reaffirm once again our commitment to multilateralism.
Despite the interconnected shocks of2022, this year should also be seen as a milestone for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are already living in the decade of action, and it remains imperative that we translate words into the realization of the Goals. To that end, Uruguay submitted its fifth voluntary national review on the achievements and targets met by our country in 2021. The reviews clearly reaffirm my country’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to achieving the SDGs.
Uruguay is sparing no effort to create proactive public policies and improve the relevant indicators. Within the international system, there are persistent shortcomings that affect and weaken the work that has been done in pursuit of our countries’ economic and social development. Many times, the need to establish certain criteria in order to ensure international cooperation results in adverse, undesired and extremely negative outcomes. Many countries, including Uruguay, have been adversely affected by the archaic concept of development based on per capita income and resulting in a graduation process that, in practice, constitutes a punishment for countries on the path to development that have achieved a better redistribution of income.
States shoulder the primary responsibility to protect the human rights of their populations. We are deeply shocked to see that, in many parts of the world, the basic rights of millions of men, women and children are being flagrantly violated, which is made even worse when the perpetrators of such atrocities are their people’s own rulers, who misuse repressive mechanisms and violate their international obligations in this domain. That reality is all the more difficult to bear and disturbing, as we have such examples in our own region of Latin America and the Caribbean. There is no more appropriate forum than the General Assembly in which to reaffirm Uruguay’s humanist and humanitarian vocation and reiterate its continued and permanent commitment to the human rights agenda, while demanding that the international commitments undertaken by the members of the Organization be fully respected by all actors of the international community.
Similarly, we must ensure that efforts to address such sensitive issues in the relevant multilateral forums are carried out in an objective and non-politicized manner. In that regard, I would like to underscore Uruguay’s firm commitment to strengthening mechanisms dedicated to the protection of the rights of women, children, adolescents, the elderly, migrants, persons with disabilities and the members of the LGBTI community.
Migratory waves resulting from wars, internal conflicts and political and economic crises of various magnitudes have increased in recent years. Hotspots of regional instability, such as those resulting from the conflict in Ukraine, the civil war in Syria and events in Libya, Myanmar and Venezuela — in our own region — have caused an increase in the flow of people and families fleeing their homes and countries in search of security and relief. I would like to highlight the role of the International Criminal Court as a central mechanism of the international justice system and its relevance as a deterrent and means of punishment for the perpetrators of acts of genocide, mass atrocities and crimes against humanity.
With regard to the maintenance of international peace and security, and as it does every year, Uruguay renews its support for United Nations peacekeeping missions and operations. Our country has a long history of contributing to those missions, which began in the late 1940s, and has continuously deployed troops in various missions for more than 70 years. Uruguay was among the first 15 troop contributors to the United Nations system, and our main troop deployments are currently in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights. Uruguay is unwavering in its commitment to peace, international security and the protection of civilians. In line with the spirit and provisions of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), Uruguay officially submitted its national action plan on women and peace and security on 21 July.
Uruguay is one of the founding countries of the Organization and throughout its history has worked collaboratively to meet its goal of maintaining international peace and security. Uruguay does not believe that peace is possible in the world without the firm and serious commitment of the international community in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation.
The impasse and paralysis recently experienced in in the framework of the tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons must make us reflect upon this particular moment in the history of the United Nations. Uruguay has supported and will continue to support the United Nations disarmament agenda. It will therefore continue to tirelessly seek agreements to enable the disarmament architecture to function effectively and reliably.
Among the current factors responsible for insecurity at the international level, we must recall the growing influence of international organized crime, drug trafficking and international terrorism. As my country’s Government has made combating crime and drug trafficking one of its priorities in order to provide its citizens with a greater level of security, I reiterate Uruguay’s firm commitment to and cooperation in the fight against organized crime and terrorist activities at the regional and international levels.
Uruguay is committed to the cybersecurity agenda and combating cybercrime. The Organization shoulders a major responsibility in that area, and Uruguay actively participates in the relevant activities under way. In addition, Uruguay has formalized its request to the Council of Europe to accede to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the Budapest Convention, and thereby is ready to embrace the most modern legislation available to deal with cybercrime.
As we all know, the various activities of the Organization are numerous, timely and necessary, but as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has rightly said, we must combat the dysfunctionality that paralyses us. As leaders, we have an obligation to ensure that the Organization represents all citizens, including the voiceless and faceless, and is not perceived as an annual display of rhetoric for representatives and diplomats.
Democracy is not a perfect model and does not resolve all the world’s problems, but it is clearly the system of Government that best safeguards people’s greatest aspiration — their freedom. Democracy is the form of Government that uniquely represents and reflects the human condition itself, our expectations of spiritual and material betterment and the enjoyment of the right to choose. Democracy and the rule of law are necessarily interdependent elements and essential for ensuring that the social and political order of a country represents the genuine will of its citizens.
However, democracy and its principles and values are systematically under attack in many parts of the world. For Uruguay, the democratic system is part of its history and its best traditions. It is an identifying feature of our society. We are proud to be considered as a full-fledged democracy, but we are also aware of our responsibility as leaders to strengthen it every day and protect it from the many challenges it faces.
That democratic edifice, together with its values and guiding principles — our democracy and our rule of law — have enabled Uruguay’s voice to be not only heard but also respected in the international community. Those were, are and will remain the fundamental pillars on which my country’s contribution to the international order rests. On that basis, Uruguay renews its commitment to the international system of nations.