On behalf of
the Government and the people of the Republic of San
Marino, I wish to congratulate Mr. d’Escoto
Brockmann on his appointment as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-third session. Please rest
assured that the Republic of San Marino is eager to
offer all its support for the success of this session.
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I would like to express our appreciation for the
excellent work carried out during the sixty-second
session of the General Assembly by the outgoing
President, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, in particular for the
commitment and determination he demonstrated while
presiding over the Assembly and promoting the United
Nations reform agenda.
I would also like to give special thanks to the
Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for the great
energy and dedication he has displayed in leading this
Organization and, in particular, for his admirable
commitment to the United Nations reform agenda and
his continuing vigilance and determination in the face
of emergencies and events of international political
importance.
Furthermore, I would like to express San
Marino’s appreciation for the consideration the
Secretary-General has shown to all United Nations
Member States, without distinction, including small
States, and for the attention he has paid to particularly
delicate and urgent issues, such as climate change and
the global food crisis.
The United Nations reform process is of
fundamental importance to world equilibrium and must
remain the focus of our efforts. We must not allow our
failure to reach agreement on United Nations reform to
lead to the decentralization and weakening of the
Organization’s pivotal role.
The key role played by the United Nations is of
the essence in present international conditions, marked
by wars and national conflict. In these early stages of
the twenty-first century, we are witnessing a series of
new conflicts ever more driven by economic interests
and clashes of civilizations, both ethnic and religious,
often within the same country.
More than 60 years ago, the signatory States of
the Charter of the United Nations assumed the shared
responsibility of maintaining international peace and
security. They undertook to work together to prevent
and remove threats to international security, to
suppress acts of aggression and to resolve, through
peaceful means, disputes within and between States
that could lead to war.
On the sixtieth anniversary of the creation of the
United Nations peacekeeping bodies, it is important to
remember the men and women who believe in those
ideals, who have dedicated themselves to the people of
the world, working tirelessly to promote peace and
stability worldwide in dangerous war-torn zones with
resolve, dedication and professionalism while always
remaining impartial and neutral.
However, in spite of all their work, we are still
far from attaining those goals and the United Nations
has not had a full impact on many international crises.
The reform of the United Nations in this context has
thus become even more essential. Reform would enable
the United Nations to have the necessary strength to
act, fully respecting the ideals and objectives that it set
itself at its founding.
The Republic of San Marino has always
supported the United Nations reform process and, in
particular, believes the process of the revitalization of
the General Assembly to be fundamental. Those
reforms are necessary to reaffirm the role of the
General Assembly as the most representative body of
the United Nations.
The Republic of San Marino believes that the
strengthening of the General Assembly is of even
greater significance for, as a profoundly democratic
body of the United Nations, it currently represents the
most important forum in which a small State can be
heard and bring its own contribution at the
international level.
Greater efficiency would make the General
Assembly more complementary in its relations with the
other main bodies of the United Nations, thus avoiding
any duplication of activities and establishing
mechanisms that would effectively implement the
provisions of resolutions adopted by the Assembly.
The process of democratization within the bodies
of the United Nations assumes fundamental importance
for a small State such as the Republic of San Marino.
Greater representation and democratization of the
Organization’s main bodies can guarantee States with
small territories and populations the possibility of
participating and having a larger role in the decision-
making process within multilateral bodies.
I am convinced that smaller States like San
Marino can contribute in a fundamental way to the
Organization precisely because they do not have
macroeconomic, military or geopolitical interests.
It is of parallel importance that small States
establish efficient forms of collaboration and
consultation in order to coordinate their actions so that
43 08-51851
their voices can be adequately heard within
international organizations.
In the framework of contacts with other small
European States, which are frequently renewed,
including on the occasion of our participation in the
work of the General Assembly, San Marino has
promoted a meeting with other small European States
with which it is already collaborating on specific
humanitarian projects, to consider other forms of
multilateral collaboration.
Having participated with a group of small States
in the financing of a UNICEF project for children
affected by HIV in Gabon, this year the Republic of
San Marino, in concert with the private sector, is taking
part in other UNICEF projects aimed, in particular, at
protecting the rights of disabled children.
Strong involvement in the protection of children’s
rights has characterized relations between San Marino
and UNICEF for many years. That commitment was
further expressed last December through the
participation of Their Excellencies the Captains Regent
at the commemorative plenary meeting of the General
Assembly on the follow-up to the outcome of the
special session on children, an event that lent further
impetus to the States’ activities and underscored the
need for their cooperation.
Population growth, climate change and the spread
of new diseases, as well as economic and financial
instability and armed conflicts, are seriously
threatening the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). In particular, the subject
of climate change has become a priority in the United
Nations agenda over the last two years because of its
impact on our habits and the future needs of all
countries without distinction. Those regions that are
most vulnerable due to their geographic position, as
well as developing countries, and small islands in
particular, are facing an even graver emergency
situation.
In addition, the global food crisis and rising
prices present a trend that is increasingly distressing.
The United Nations and the specialized agencies play a
central role in confronting those emergencies. In
particular, the Republic of San Marino would like to
express its full support to the High-Level Task Force
on the Global Food Security Crisis, established by the
Secretary-General last April with the precise objective
of coordinating all ongoing activities aimed at
stemming the crisis.
On the occasion of the opening of the fifty-
second session of the Commission on the Status of
Women, the Secretary-General announced the launch
of the campaign “Unite to End Violence Against
Women”. San Marino intends to work in support of that
campaign to protect the rights of women, which
parallels a commitment undertaken during its
chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe.
I would like to add that the campaign to combat
violence against women was also carried out at the
national level, where we tried to raise public awareness
of an issue too often ignored or underestimated.
Following that initiative, the Parliament of San Marino
recently adopted a new law: the Prevention and
Repression of Violence against Women and of Gender-
Based Violence. It is a decisive and innovative legal
instrument for our country that provides for, inter alia,
the introduction of preventive measures addressing
violence against women and gender-based violence, as
well as the protection of victims during criminal
proceedings.
The Republic of San Marino also pays particular
attention to the problems faced by persons with
disabilities and the protection of their rights. San
Marino has in fact already ratified the International
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the
Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities and its
Optional Protocol.
The Republic of San Marino is pleased to
celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
The Republic of San Marino has always been
committed to the promotion of the principles of
peaceful coexistence and the mutual respect between
individuals and peoples, in the knowledge that the
understanding of others and mutual respect are the
fundamental prerequisites of justice and peace. The
promotion of intercultural dialogue is a concrete tool
for attaining those values and for affirming one of the
guiding principles of the United Nations: peace
founded on justice and international cooperation.
San Marino is committed to and continues to
work towards the promotion of intercultural dialogue,
in particular in its religious dimension. At the regional
08-51851 44
level, in the context of its activities in the Council of
Europe, San Marino this year coordinated the Council’s
first meeting on the religious dimension of intercultural
dialogue, which was held on an experimental basis.
Representatives of member States of the Council of
Europe, religious leaders, experts and representatives
of civil society participated in the meeting. The
development of dialogue among and with religions at
all levels of society makes a fundamental contribution
to preventing tensions which may endanger the
peaceful coexistence of peoples, as stressed at the
high-level meeting on that subject promoted by the
United Nations.
In conclusion, I would like to wish the President
great success in his important task and to assure him of
our full support during the sixty-third session of the
General Assembly.