I would like to convey my heartfelt congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid on his unanimous election as the President of the General Assembly and to wish him every success in the work of the seventy-sixth session. I pledge my delegation’s full support and cooperation to him in carrying out his responsibilities.
For the past two years, countries all over the world have suffered from the unforeseen plague of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and have endured difficult times together. On behalf of the people of Mongolia, I want to express my deepest condolences for the loss of 4.6 million lives worldwide from the coronavirus. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the doctors, medical personnel and front-line workers who are tirelessly serving to safeguard the precious lives and health of people in every corner of our planet. I also want to express my sincere appreciation to the United Nations system and its agencies for their tremendous role in combating the pandemic by uniting and assisting all Member States and providing them with information and guidance.
The pandemic has affected not just global health but every area of economic, social and political life, and it has become evident that human history will be divided into pre- and post-COVID-19 periods. We have learned a number of lessons. Mongolians have a saying that “Disease never bothers to knock”, which implies that diseases do not discriminate according to race, age, gender or wealth and highlights one of the precepts of Mongolian morality, which is the importance of caring for people in trouble and not ill-treating them. Rather than discriminating against one another, we should focus on combining our strengths and overcoming the perilous pandemic confronting humankind.
In some countries we have also seen protests and insurgencies against lockdowns and home-confinement orders. Mongolia, well known as an oasis of democracy in its region, has been closely observing the human rights issues that have emerged during the pandemic lockdown. The fact that Mongolia and many other Asian countries have been going through the COVID-19 crisis without substantial conflicts over human rights demonstrates the advantage that Asia’s communal cultures have over other, more individualistic ones. I firmly believe that respecting the cultures and values of others, as well as learning from each other’s successes and failures, will be vital if we are to collectively overcome the challenges that humankind may face in the future.
The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has placed an enormous strain on global health and on human resources, infrastructure and supply chains in particular. With the spread of COVID-19 infections continuing to linger, the realities of social injustice have been vividly revealed. The outbreak of the pandemic has also alerted modern nation-States to the fact that the existential importance of the health sector is just as significant as that of the defence sector. The realization is emerging that the concept of global development should involve not only green and accessible socioeconomic development but also major consideration of health and health diplomacy. There is a pressing need in the health sector to improve risk management, preparedness, investment, the promotion of public-private partnerships and the expedited application of cutting-edge technology and innovation. The countries of the world and the international community are focusing their collective efforts and mutual assistance on the vaccination process, which is considered the best protection against COVID-19. As of today, the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility, which seeks to ensure equitable access to
COVID-19 vaccines, has delivered 190 million vaccine doses to 138 countries, bringing invaluable support to low- and middle-income countries.
In Mongolia, 65 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with the support of other countries and Government procurement, in addition to the COVAX Facility. We have seen an overall decrease in the spread of the virus in Mongolia, although there has been an uptick in recent months. The Government has therefore started taking gradual steps to return to normal life by opening services, launching classroom training and increasing the number of international flights.
The pandemic has ruthlessly challenged the world’s economies and their liquidity and resilience. Estimates indicate that in 2020 the virus reduced global economic growth by 4.9 per cent and global trade fell by 5.3 per cent. However, the world’s economy is projected to see a recovery in 2021. Information technology was the main engine of social life during the pandemic and has firmly demonstrated its role and place in life in the twenty-first century. While the use of information technology was already deeply ingrained in economic, business and financial relations, during the pandemic we saw an expansion of remote diagnostics and treatment, e-learning and working from home that gave rise to new forms of labour organization.
In the past two years, we have learned that isolation from society and loneliness are more fraught with fear than the coronavirus itself at a time when humankind is increasingly in need of socialization. We have also seen that a lack of in-person communication among family members, friends, children, colleagues, States and nations has a negative impact on businesses, education, social behaviour and relations and mental health. It is worth pointing out that if we accept the challenges facing the world as opportunities to save resources, time and space, we will be able to adapt and recover faster in our new environment.
The monarchy in Mongolia was abolished as a result of the people’s revolution of 1921. We then adopted our first Constitution and proclaimed the Republic. However, our joining of the United Nations in 1961 served as an additional guarantee of our independence and sovereignty as we became a full-fledged member of the world community. We therefore consider that anniversary an important event in our national history and are commemorating it on a large scale. Mongolians view the United Nations as an organization that stands for peace and security, human rights, the development of nations in five continents, a faithful companion for the past 60 years and a reliable partner for many more than 60 years to come. Another Mongolian saying is that a person with friends lives in a wide space like a steppe, and a person without friends lives in a tight space like a palm. Today Mongolia has diplomatic relations with 193 countries of the world and has joined more than 70 international and intergovernmental organizations. We believe that Mongolia’s accession to more than 290 international treaties is a testament to our growing position, role and responsibilities in the international arena and in world affairs.
The United Nations system and its agencies have made a significant contribution to Mongolia’s development. We have cooperated productively in a number of specific areas, including strengthening democracy and good governance, improving the legal environment, ensuring human rights, reducing poverty, protecting maternal and child health and promoting environmental and sustainable development. On behalf of the people of Mongolia, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the United Nations and its agencies for providing multifaceted assistance and creating groups of donors and supporters through the challenging times that our country has faced, such as our social and economic transition in the 1990s, repeated winter disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the past 60 years, Mongolia has actively engaged in and contributed to achieving the objectives and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. My country has initiated and endorsed more than 90 General Assembly resolutions on 20 agenda items, including Disarmament Week, the Declaration on the Right to Peace, nuclear-weapon-free status, economic development, environmental protection, cooperatives, the situation of women in rural areas and literacy and education for democracy. In that regard, Mongolia declared its territory nuclear-weapon-free in 1992 and has been working actively in that regard ever since.
Furthermore, I would like to emphasize that we have been participating actively in United Nations peacekeeping operations since 2002; that the period from 2003 to 2012 was proclaimed the United Nations Literacy Decade at the initiative of Mongolia; and that the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries, the first-ever intergovernmental body of its kind, has been established in Ulaanbaatar.
As we continue to work to support the special needs and interests of landlocked developing countries based on the advantage of our geographic location, we are striving to develop into a “transit Mongolia” — a transit, trade and service hub connecting Asia and Europe. I would also like to take this opportunity to underscore that Mongolia is committed to participating in the economic integration of the Asia-Pacific region, for example by becoming a Dialogue Partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and joining the East Asia Summit and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.
The coronavirus pandemic has been the greatest disaster we have faced since the Second World War. Although 103 years have passed since the First World War, and 76 since the Second World War, we have not yet fully eliminated the dangers of war, and attempts to resolve issues by military means persist to this day. In today’s world, the horrendous phenomenon of war must therefore be completely eliminated from the future of humankind and concepts of human propriety. The role and relevance of ensuring that all conflicts and misunderstandings are resolved through peaceful means and dialogue alone, along with the promotion of preventive diplomacy, are on the rise.
There is a widespread misconception that our ancestor Genghis Khan was a vicious man who conquered many nations. However, world history and studies show that he was an adherent of diplomacy and a peacemaker with a true desire to establish borders without hostilities. His dream was realized through a solid peace that lasted for almost 200 years on the great chessboard of Eurasia, a period that world scholars call the pax Mongolica and that was a notable contribution to the development of humankind. We Mongolians have inherited that spirit of cherishing peace from our ancestors, and today Mongolia is internationally recognized as a peace-loving democratic nation.
In 1990 we were able to transition peacefully to a democratic system without a single bullet being fired. We have no territorial or border disputes with our neighbours, no religious or ethnic conflicts. Mongolia is pursuing a peaceful, open, independent and multi-pillar foreign policy. With a view to building an intellectual immunity to war in human beings, we are therefore proposing an initiative to observe 2 September — the day that the devastating Second World War, which involved more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries and took the lives of millions, ended — as the international day to commemorate humankind’s victory over war. We are confident that the countries and peoples of the world will support our initiative.
We are seeing emerging military, political and security-related issues and an increasing number of armed conflicts related to religion, cultural differences, economic competition or globalization, along with a growing flow of refugees and environmental degradation. The political and peacekeeping operations policy of the United Nations and its model and scope have been modified accordingly. We support efforts to increase peacekeepers’ roles and changes in requirements for them, as well as the aspiration to take immediate action with a compact force equipped with modern weapons, equipment and facilities in line with the operational situation of the mission concerned.
Since 2002, Mongolia has deployed nearly 20,000 Blue Helmets to 13 United Nations peacekeeping operations on three different continents and ranks high in the world in terms of the per capita deployment of peacekeepers and numbers of military personnel. Mongolia will seek to increase its participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations in future and is preparing to deploy a quick reaction force, a construction and engineering company and a level-2 hospital to United Nations missions. We are also pursuing a policy aimed at increasing the proportion of our peacekeepers who are women to 15 per cent, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security. In that regard, Mongolia will host an international conference on the participation of female peacekeepers in United Nations peacekeeping operations next year in Ulaanbaatar We call on the Department of Peace Operations and Member States for their support and cooperation in organizing the conference.
But while the pandemic and vaccination remain major concerns for the near future, we should not overlook the issues of future progress and sustainable development. In line with global development trends and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the State Great Khural of Mongolia adopted its Vision 2050, Mongolia’s long-term development policy.
Because of COVID-19, my country’s economy, which had been growing steadily for the three years prior to the pandemic, contracted by 4.5 per cent in 2020. Nevertheless, due to the gradual measures that the Government has taken to support the domestic economy and a favourable external economic environment,
Mongolia’s economy is expected to recover and grow by an average of 4.8 per cent in the period from 2021 to 2022. International financial organizations have emphasized that the budgetary and fiscal measures that the Government of Mongolia has taken to protect its economy from the pandemic are higher than those of some developed countries, considering its economic capacity. And major banking and financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have repeatedly highlighted the fact that Mongolia has been particularly effective in protecting incomes among its low- and middle-income populations and preventing them from falling into poverty.
Mongolia’s economy, which is dominated by agriculture and mining, remains vulnerable to many kinds of risk and disaster. In the aftermath of the pandemic, we are planning to focus on structural reforms, economic diversification, investment promotion and the maintenance of fiscal and financial stability to create environmentally friendly, sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Foreign direct investment will continue to play a key role in developing countries during and after the pandemic. Creating a favourable business environment and promoting foreign direct investment will remain a fundamental goal in terms of Mongolia’s economy. We look forward to working more actively with foreign and domestic investors and businesses than ever before on a mutually beneficial basis. In doing that, we will comply with the principles of respect for the environment and the protection of our traditional way of life from negative impacts.
We also attach great importance to intensifying governance reform at all levels of the public and private sectors and reducing corruption, including through an e-transition, which is the most realistic mechanism available for ensuring transparency, accountability, effective service and good governance. Mongolia aims to transfer at least 90 per cent of all of its public services to its integrated digital system, and will strive to become a so-called digital nation by 2024.
Climate change has had devastating effects in recent decades. A proper diagnosis of the causes is key to overcoming its harmful effects. One of the causes of adverse climate change is thoughtless human activity, the result of our own careless behaviour towards nature and the environment. Humans have largely debated about their ethical conduct towards one other rather than towards Mother Nature, which has led to the environmental and ecological disasters we are currently experiencing. During the pandemic lockdown, we witnessed certain signs of natural self-recovery, at least for a short time, including the quick recovery of the ozone layer, reduced air pollution, the purification of rivers and waters and revived fauna and flora. That shows how we need to change humankind’s behaviour and attitude towards nature and make tangible efforts to induce positive results, because the frequency and scope of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, droughts and dzuds are increasing every year, causing devastating damage in every corner of the world.
Since ancient times, we Mongolians have honoured the eternal blue sky as a father and the land as a mother. We have worshipped the surrounding mountains and waters with deep love and respect and been recharged by their vital energy. Our ancestors sedulously followed and sensitively explored nature’s patterns in a way that allowed them to process and use animal-derived products and food in ways that are friendly to both the environment and human health. We used the Earth’s blessings, such as trees, water, animal and other natural resources, only in accordance with our own and our households’ needs, thereby saving resources for future generations. That natural self-recovery reminds me of the nomadic know-how that leaves pastures fallow so that the land can rest. That wisdom from Mongolian herders offers the motherland an opportunity to rest for a while and to restore and revive itself. In our fight against climate change, let us draw lessons from traditional Mongolian nomadic civilization in treating and regarding nature respectfully and combining that with the achievements of modern science and technology, as well as best practices and traditional experiences from all over the world.
Desertification is threatening the livelihoods of more than 2 billion people around the world. The sandstorms originating in Mongolia are becoming a major problem for us. Currently, a large portion of Mongolian territory is affected by desertification or land degradation to some degree. The main reasons are an increase of 2.2°C in the mean temperature and a 7 per cent decline in annual precipitation levels over the past 80 years. The most efficient way to reverse desertification is to plant trees. We Mongolians consider planting trees, writing books and raising children to be the three superior deeds. We have therefore launched a campaign to plant billions of trees by 2030 in order to contribute to the global fight against climate change.
Climate change and the degradation of ecosystems pose a real threat to the future of humankind, irrespective of borders or ethnicity. Conscious of the critical turning point we find ourselves at, countries around the globe have decided to gather in Glasgow in November for the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. I urge my fellow leaders to increase and renew their respective contributions and pledges in relation to fostering green development, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and developing environmentally friendly societies and economies. The key approach to making a swift recovery from the damages of the pandemic and restoring our blue planet is through close cooperation and mutual understanding and assistance, as well as our commitment to continuing and stepping up our implementation of internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Last month, the summer Olympic Games, a symbol of peace and the unity of humankind, were held successfully in Tokyo, enabling athletes from five continents to gather together. Unlike the general debate last year, when Heads of State and Government spoke virtually, this time we are meeting in person here in the General Assembly Hall and are able to greet each other warmly. Those developments give us hope that the threat of the pandemic is slowing and that eventually we will overcome it. May the eternal blue sky bless all of humankind.