At the outset, Sir, may I join
others in extending our heartfelt congratulations to
Mr. Sam Kutesa on his unanimous election as President
General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. Mr. Kutesa
can count on my delegation’s full support in the
discharge of his enormous responsibilities in steering
our work in the months ahead.
The world is faced with multiple crises — violent
conflicts in various parts of the world, terrorist activities
by extremist groups, unprecedented epidemics and
natural calamities. At this time of turmoil, we, as
a family of nations, must rally around this world
Organization as a centre of multilateralism, upholding
the Charter of the United Nations and the universal
principles of international law.
We need peace and development. We need to do
our utmost to implement the right of peoples to peace
as emphasized by the Declaration on the Right of
Peoples to Peace, adopted 30 years ago at the initiative
of Mongolia. We have consistently supported the
joint efforts of the international community against
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Mongolia
is a party to the majority of international counter-
terrorism instruments. The seemingly unthinkable
atrocities committed by the terrorist group called the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant pose alarming
threats to regional peace and security. The international
community must take resolute action to defeat these
threats comprehensively and in compliance with the
Charter of the United Nations.
Mongolia commends the Secretary-General’s
leadership in rallying international support and
establishing the United Nations Mission for Ebola
Emergency Response to ensure a rapid, effective and
coherent response to the Ebola crisis. We support the
Security Council and General Assembly resolutions to
that effect.
The situation in Ukraine should be resolved only
through political dialogue, without the use of force. The
current ceasefire needs to be made more sustainable; all
efforts towards finding a solution, including the Putin
plan outlined in Ulaanbaatar earlier this month, as well
as the Minsk protocol of 5 September and its follow-up
memorandum, should be taken into account.
Just 25 years ago, Mongolia chose its development
path, deciding to embrace the rule of law, democratic
governance, a market economy and an open society.
Although we are among the countries known as
the third wave of democratization, the transition to
democracy was in many respects unique in Mongolia.
We made a simultaneous transition to democracy and a
market economy. We made that transition peacefully. In
1990, democratic parliamentary elections were not only
the first of their kind in the region, but they were fully
free and fair. To ensure inclusive growth and citizens’
participation, a national policy on decentralization
through direct democracy was introduced. As a
result, citizens are now able to directly participate in
identifying development priorities and allocations and
monitoring local budgets.
To identify a long-term development pathway
and regain the confidence of investors, a number
of multi-stakeholder events have been held in
Mongolia — the Economic Forum, the Business
Summit and Discover Mongolia. In addition, new
laws, particularly on investment, investment funding
and petroleum, and budget transparency, have been
adopted.
At the international level, Mongolia served as
the Chair of the Fifth International Conference of
New or Restored Democracies and the Community of
Democracies. We currently chair the Freedom Online
Coalition. It is the first time that an Asian country
leads the Coalition. We support the Human Rights
Council’s decision that Internet freedom is a basic
human right. As a staunch advocate of democracy
and freedom, Mongolia will use its opportunity as
chair of the Coalition to promote, both nationally and
internationally, an Internet that is free and secure for
all.
To support emerging democracies, Mongolia has set
up an international cooperation fund. We have nothing
to preach, but we have experience and lessons learned.
We therefore shared with Kyrgyzstan our experience in
parliamentary democracy and legal reform, and we held
training sessions for Afghan diplomats and Myanmar
journalists.
Mongolia highly commends the Secretary-General’s
leadership in galvanizing and catalysing global action
on climate change. Climate change is not a challenge
for the future; it is a matter of urgent Permanent
Representativeiority today. Yesterday’s United Nations
Climate Change Summit 2014 offered world leaders a
unique opportunity to voice their commitments to cut
the emission gap and to pledge their commitment to the
two-degree scenario in the lead-up to the twenty-first
session of the Conference of the Parties to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate, to be held
in Paris next year.
But that pledge will remain a mere ambition if it
is not backed up by bold action and strong political
will. We are running out of time, but we cannot run
out of planet Earth. The time to act is now. Moreover,
the Green Climate Fund needs to be made fully
operational. If resources are actually transferred as
an incentive to countries that reduce their emission of
greenhouse gases, that will have a multiplier effect. No
one country is immune to climate change. Even my own
country, Mongolia, which has a centuries-old tradition
of living in harmony with nature, is experiencing its
disproportionate effect. Conscious of that reality,
Mongolia has recently adopted a green development
policy. We expressed our support for the statement on
carbon pricing, and for the New York Declaration on
Forests to combat deforestation.
This session of the General Assembly has the
important task of articulating the post-2015 development
agenda based on the legacy of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). In that regard, we look
forward to a synthesis report by the Secretary-General
Permanent Representativeior to the intergovernmental
negotiations for the sustainable development goals
(SDGs) during this General Assembly session. We
also welcome the outcome of the Open Working
Group on SDGs and commend its hard work over the
past 18 months. The United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development underscored the special
challenges facing the most vulnerable countries,
including landlocked developing countries (LLDCs).
However, we believe that the outcome document of the
Open Working Group could have better reflected the
special needs of landlocked developing countries. We
hope that the upcoming intergovernmental negotiations
will redress that situation.
In the run-up to the 10-year review of the Almaty
Programme of Action, in June 2014 we hosted a
high- level international workshop, “The World
Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation:
Implications for LLDCs.” We also joined the
Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Ports in order to
become involved in regional connectivity. Facilitation
of transit transportation, infrastructure development
and reduction of trade barriers were among the issues
discussed during the recent visits to Mongolia by
President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin. We
agreed to expand our cooperation in those areas. Those
agreements were reiterated at the first ever trilateral
summit that brought together Mongolia, China and
Russia on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation
Summit in Dushanbe earlier this month. The expansion
of our cooperation with those two neighbours augurs
well for regional trade and investment and paves the
way for enhanced economic collaboration with our
other neighbours.
Mongolia is redoubling its efforts to join the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation, to become a dialogue
partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
and to constructively engage in the East Asia Summit.
Last July we also signed an economic partnership
agreement with Japan. Strengthening peace and
stability in North-East Asia is one of our national
security Permanent Representativeiorities. We firmly
believe that dialogue and open discussions enhance
confidence among nations. Following up on the
Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security, we
have successfully hosted a series of fruitful platforms,
including a meeting of women parliamentarians, an
international research conference and a meeting of
mayors from cities in North-East Asian countries.
Stability on the Korean peninsula is crucial for
maintaining regional peace and security. We support
an early resumption of the Six-Party talks. As a country
with a declared nuclear-weapon-free status, Mongolia
firmly believes that the Korean Peninsula must be
nuclear-weapon-free.
In a time of major geopolitical change, the United
Nations system must reflect new economic and political
realities. We need to accelerate the reform process,
including the long-overdue expansion of Security
Council membership in both the permanent and the
non-permanent categories. The issue of the Council’s
working method is also important for all small States,
which make up a majority in the United Nations.
Out of 193 States Members, 105 belong to the
Forum of Small States. Of the 70 States that have never
been elected as members of the Security Council,
50 are small States, including my own country,
Mongolia. As a responsible member of the international
community, Mongolia has put forward its candidacy for
a non-permanent seat on the Security Council in the
elections to be held in 2022, and is seeking the valuable
support of its fellow members.
In conclusion, I would like to express my
confidence that this session of the General Assembly
will be able to deliver a common development strategy
beyond 2015, a strategy that will inspire and guide us
to work collectively towards a safer, more equitable and
prosperous future in the years to come.