At the outset, I
should like to congratulate the President on his election,
which testifies to the strong commitment of Africa to
the United Nations and to multilateralism. I also wish
to express my appreciation for the dedication to the
Assembly of his predecessor Ambassador John Ashe. I
reiterate my gratitude to the Secretary-General for his
leadership at the helm of our Organization and for his
relentless efforts in favour of peace in such a difficult
and complex time in international life. I commend him
also for convening the Climate Summit, which has
renewed political support for the achievement in 2015 of
a fair, universal and legally binding climate agreement.
Portugal, and the European Union as a whole, will
continue to work tirelessly and in an inclusive manner
towards the achievement of that goal.
During this session, we face the enormous challenge
of renewing and building upon the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), with a view to adopting
the post-2015 development agenda. The President may
count on the support and commitment of Portugal on that
and other issues and in the ongoing work of the General
Assembly, which is the first home of multilateralism
and of legitimate international collective action. The
commitment of Portugal to the United Nations, to the
Charter and to its principles and values is firm, resolute
and enduring.
At this Assembly session, Portugal is a candidate
for the Human Rights Council for the 2015-2017 term.
We hope to have the support of all members in the
upcoming election. If elected, Portugal will be serving
for the first time as a member of such an important
body.
Last April Portugal underwent its second Universal
Periodic Review by the Human Rights Council. Our
positive national human rights record was widely
acknowledged. Portugal has actively participated in
multilateral human rights forums, in particular in the
Human Rights Council, submitting annual resolutions
on the right to education and on economic, social and
cultural rights. We hope to be able to make an even
greater contribution to the Human Rights Council over
the coming three years, as we deeply believe in the
Council’s ability to strengthen the capacity of States to
comply with their human rights obligations.
In that context, Portugal has submitted a bold set of
pledges and commitments that will guide the discharge
of our mandate with the purpose of promoting and
protecting the universality, indivisibility, inalienability
and interdependence of all human rights — civil,
cultural, economic, political and social. Through our
actions during our last mandate in the Security Council,
in 2011 and 2012, we demonstrated that consistently
promoting and upholding human rights was a priority
for us. If elected to the Human Rights Council, Portugal
will engage in its work, fully committed to a strong,
independent and effective multilateral human rights
system. Portugal is in fact a party without reservations
to eight core United Nations human rights treaties and
all their optional protocols.
We continue to witness events that we expected to
see eradicated in the twenty-first century — large-scale
human rights violations, the deprivation of vast
populations of their most elementary dignity, and a
disregard for basic international principles such as the
territorial integrity and sovereignty of States. Today
the Charter of the United Nations remains as relevant
as it was 69 years ago. In order to deal with the crises
we face today we must base our search for fair, legal
and lasting solutions on the generous and ambitious
principles and norms of the Charter. The Charter
offers the necessary institutional mechanisms, but their
functioning and effectiveness depend on the political
will of all Members of the Organization.
Terrorist, extremist and radical groups deserve our
most vehement repudiation and condemnation. They
constitute, in the first instance, a threat to States and to
the populations of the territories in which they are based.
They also present a risk to regional and global peace,
security and stability. That menace requires concerted
and firm responses from the international community.
The self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) is a sinister example of that kind of criminal and
barbaric action. It must be fought and neutralized. The
Security Council summit and resolution 2178 (2014),
which it adopted on the worrying phenomenon of
foreign terrorist fighters, were important steps in that
direction.
The Middle East continues to require special
attention. In Iraq we have been witnessing inhumane
terrorist actions targeting defenceless populations,
victimizing mainly women, children and persons
belonging to ethnic and religious minorities. The
situation in Iraq cannot be disconnected from the
prolonged conflict in Syria, where the levels of violence
and suffering are, by their dimension and duration,
beyond words. All parties must assume responsibility
for finding a political transition to a democratic and
pluralistic society.
Once again we come to the Assembly without
progress in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The
expectations that we all shared here a year ago have been
dashed. The recurring cycle of hostilities must come
to an end. The conflict we saw in Gaza this summer
must not happen again. I wish to take this opportunity
to congratulate Egypt for brokering the ceasefire and to
recognize the efforts of other regional and international
partners, including the Secretary-General and United
States Secretary of State John Kerry.
There will be no lasting peace or stability in
the Middle East without a solution to that issue. I
reiterate my country’s support for a solution based on
United Nations resolutions, establishing a sovereign,
independent and viable Palestinian State, living side by
side with the State of Israel, whose legitimate security
concerns must be guaranteed.
The positive signs that we saw a year ago regarding
the Iranian nuclear programme were confirmed with
the signing of the Joint Plan of Action in Geneva. A
new political impetus is now needed. Portugal supports
and encourages the ongoing negotiations with a view to
a comprehensive agreement.
The events of 2010 and 2011 in Northern Africa
had an unprecedented political, economic and social
impact. The countries there are now confronted with
significant challenges with regard to the consolidation
of political reforms, sustainable economic growth and
security. Portugal is currently co-chairing the Western
Mediterranean Forum, also known as the 5+5 Dialogue,
which brings together 10 countries from the northern
and southern shores of the Mediterranean. We wish
to strengthen the contribution of that platform to the
enhancement of cooperation and confidence-building
among its countries.
Libya is an important partner in that Forum, and it
is with great concern that we see the deterioration of the
situation in that country. The international community
must give its assistance to the political transition
process, but it is paramount that all Libyan stakeholders
commit to an inclusive, genuine and fruitful national
dialogue.
In Europe, the Ukrainian crisis and the illegal
annexation of Crimea brought back tensions that we
thought were outdated. We welcome the ceasefire
agreement and appeal for its full implementation.
Portugal encourages the parties actively to seek a
lasting political solution that respects the sovereignty,
territorial integrity, unity and democracy in Ukraine.
Africa is a significant partner for Portugal.
African States are not only political partners but also,
increasingly, business and investment partners in a
relationship based on parity and mutual benefits, which
drive job creation and economic development. While
fully respecting Africa’s ownership, we also seek to
contribute to international efforts, notably those of
the United Nations, aimed at stabilizing conflicts or
preventing security risks in Africa. Therefore, Portugal
is participating in the United Nations Multidimensional
Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. We also stand
ready to engage in multinational efforts to strengthen
security in the Gulf of Guinea, and we are willing
to cooperate in the reinforcement of the maritime
capacities of the countries of the region.
In recent months we have received good news from
the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, a friendly country and
member of the Community of Portuguese-speaking
Countries (CPLP). The restoration of constitutional
order, the holding of free elections and the inauguration
of legitimate democratic institutions, two years after the
April 2012 coup d’état, are surely praiseworthy signs of
hope. The enormous socioeconomic difficulties and the
recurrent and severe political instability that Guinea-
Bissau has been suffering for a decade and a half did
not prevent the people from electing their new leaders
through free, transparent and orderly elections.
The opportunity to turn the page of history must
now be seized. The people of Guinea-Bissau and the
authorities are taking the right steps. Consolidating the
progress achieved requires support from the international
community. International partners can and must play a
decisive role in areas such as financial assistance and
building technical capacity, underpinning the priorities
identified by Guinea-Bissau. Further, we believe that a
stabilization force based on the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS) Mission in Guinea-
Bissau, possibly enlarged to incorporate new African
partners and mandated by the United Nations, would
be appropriate. Therefore we welcome the initiatives
supporting Guinea-Bissau undertaken by the United
Nations, together with, in particular, the African Union,
the CPLP, ECOWAS and the European Union.
At the Millennium Summit, Heads of State and
Government made the historic and inspiring decision
to adopt the Millennium Development Goals. We now
have the responsibility to accelerate the achievement
of those Goals while at the same time preparing
a new development agenda. Portugal is strongly
committed to the definition of that new agenda. We
need a transformative new global partnership that
mainstreams human rights and combats inequalities. It
should also promote peaceful, stable and just societies,
advancing also the important issues of population and
development. Universality and shared responsibility
are key concepts in that regard. But the universality of
the post-2015 agenda should not be synonymous with
insensitivity to the specificities of the least developed
and most vulnerable countries, such as small island
developing States.
New challenges such as climate change, illicit
trafficking, piracy and pandemics are major threats
in today’s world. The outbreak of Ebola in Western
African countries demands strong, combined efforts by
the international community to contain and eradicate
that plague. Portugal is participating in the current
urgent global effort, notably in Guinea and in the
framework of the United Nations operation.
Despite the efforts of previous Presidents, the
reform of the Security Council has not yet happened.
Portugal’s position on that subject is well known. In
spite of persistent differences of approach among the
membership, we must not give up. Together we must
find a solution, making the Security Council a body
more representative of today’s world. The seventieth
anniversary of the United Nations is an opportunity to
bring about Security Council reform.
Portugal is by tradition a seafaring nation and has
recently adopted a new national maritime strategy
focusing on blue growth. We actively support United
Nations efforts for the sustainable management of
the oceans and their resources, and we co-chair the
working group that will complete the first global report
of the marine environment. We advocate the adoption
of an international instrument, in the framework of
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,
on the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. In
June 2015 Portugal will organize a major international
event on oceans, the “Blue Week”, to promote debate
on maritime issues in all their dimensions. We look
forward to broad participation in that event.
The Portuguese language is the principal link that
brings together the States belonging to the Community
of Portuguese-speaking Countries. It is a vehicle for
global communication spoken by about 250 million
people in their everyday lives, in commerce, trade,
business, culture and social networks. It is also an
official or working language in various international
organizations, including specialized agencies of the
United Nations. The CPLP has the ambition of having
Portuguese as an official language of the United Nations.
The summit in Dili last July confirmed the vitality of
the CPLP. On that occasion Timor-Leste assumed the
presidency of the Community, thus lending a whole
new dimension and scope to the CPLP by having its
presidency located for the first time in Asia.
I would be remiss not to refer to the fact that on
20 November we will be celebrating the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child. Portugal is a party to that
instrument without reservations, as well as to its three
Optional Protocols. I take this opportunity to call for
the universal ratification of the Convention and its
Optional Protocols.
During this sixty-ninth session we will also have
before us a new draft resolution on establishing a
moratorium on the use of the death penalty. We hope
the draft resolution continues to enjoy significant and
increased support this year.
If we become a member of the United Nations
Human Rights Council as we hope, we will act in
accordance with the principles of cooperation and
dialogue. We will engage with all States and other
stakeholders in order to build bridges for the full
implementation of human rights norms and standards.
If we garner the trust of the Assembly, it will be a
privilege to work, as a Council member, with the new
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, to whom I reiterate our
full support. I also wish to pay a special tribute to the
former High Commissioner, Ms. Navi Pillay, for her
outstanding job, often accomplished in particularly
difficult circumstances.
I conclude with a reference to the First World
War, a tragic event mentioned at the very beginning
of the United Nations Charter when it affirms the
determination “to save succeeding generations from the
scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought
untold sorrow to mankind”. As we mark the centenary
of the First World War and prepare the celebration
of the seventieth anniversary of our Organization,
we must bear in mind and reflect carefully on those
words of the Charter. The President can count on
Portugal’s commitment to the purposes and principles
of the Charter in the pursuit of peace, development and
respect for all human rights.