I bring greetings from the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — and from all Mexicans — to the General Assembly.
Mexico welcomes the fact that the General Assembly has managed to meet, despite the health situation, because it is only through shared collective action that we will be able to address the formidable challenges we face. The pandemic has highlighted the need for a strong and effective multilateral system, and we believe it is unacceptable that the spaces where the most fundamental solidarity among States is found are closed. Instead, we are faced with greater misinformation, denial of scientific evidence and xenophobic withdrawal of entire sectors of our societies. This unprecedented crisis cannot be overcome by unilateral or isolated actions, but through renewed cooperation and genuine international solidarity.
From the outset, Mexico has raised the need to ensure equitable and universal access to medicines, vaccines and other medical supplies. We do so again with a sense of urgency, because, while 33 per cent of the world’s population in high-income countries has already had at least one dose of vaccine, only 1.4 per cent of people in low-income countries has had access to a vaccine. I repeat: 33 per cent of rich countries’ population already have been vaccinated, while only 1.4 per cent of poor countries have had access to a vaccine.
We must push for vaccines to be considered as global public goods. This means, first of all, recognizing the competence of the World Health Organization (WHO) as a certifying authority for vaccines. The existing discrimination or differentiation in the recognition of vaccines jeopardizes the economic recovery and effectiveness of mechanisms such as the COVAX facility. For this reason, Mexico presented a proposal in the Group of Twenty (G-20) for the entire international community to recognize vaccines approved by the WHO, without conditions of any kind. Now is the time to give our full support to the highest international health authority. Mexico will contribute to the process of reforming the international health system to prevent and respond in a timely manner to future pandemics and other health emergencies.
In accordance with our capabilities and considering the significant progress of the vaccination programme implemented nationally by the Government of President Lopez Obrador, Mexico has been consistent with the foregoing and donated vaccines to such sister countries in Latin America and the Caribbean as Belize, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Jamaica, Honduras and Paraguay. In addition, we are working with Argentina to provide and facilitate the production of vaccines in Latin America to supply vaccines to more than 17 countries.
Global warming is the other great challenge of this time. Mexico submitted its updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) at the end of 2020, reiterating its support for the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as its interest in working in partnership with the international community. Mexico’s NDC not only contains mitigation commitments, but it also has
a strong adaptation component that recognizes the country’s vulnerability to climate change impacts and the urgency of building resilience to them.
Mexican adaptation measures therefore include both nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches. For example, the “Sowing Life” programme promoted by the Mexican Government is one of the most extensive reforestation programmes in the world. So far, 700 million trees have been planted, which not only combats environmental degradation, but also helps to generate decent employment opportunities and re-establishes the social fabric.
Mexico congratulates Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on his appointment for a second term and on his report “Our Common Agenda” (A/75/982). I wish to place on record Mexico’s support for some of the changes suggested in the report that coincide with our vision of how to revitalize the United Nations.
Rebuilding our societies affected by the wide range of crises of the last 20 years depends on the ability to relaunch solidarity among States. This is a new social contract based on the obligations we have undertaken in favour of all human rights. In this context, we support identifying measures complementary to the traditional indicators of gross domestic product to assess a country’s degree of development.
With regard to Security Council reform, Mexico will continue to be a constructive actor in making that body more representative, democratic, transparent and efficient. The intended creation of new permanent seats is contrary to the sovereign equality of States and to the essential principles of democracy. A reform that increases only non-permanent seats, with long-term mandates and the possibility of immediate re-election, is feasible and would represent a fundamental change in the functioning of the body entrusted with the maintenance of international peace and security.
Given the frequent paralysis of the Security Council in fulfilling its responsibility in conflicts, especially when mass atrocities are committed, Mexico, together with France, has proposed regulating the veto rights of the five permanent members. More than 100 States support us in this initiative, which we will continue to promote.
During our current mandate as a member of the Security Council, Mexico has acted in a manner consistent with its foreign policy principles. We have promoted, above all, the protection of civilians, humanitarian access without constraints, unrestricted compliance with international humanitarian law and the effective participation of women in peace processes. We have sought to reduce human suffering and put people at the centre of Security Council actions in situations as diverse as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Tigray and Yemen, to name but a few.
We will continue to draw the international community’s attention to the irresponsible arms trade and trafficking and the link to the increase in violence, homicides and the commission of high-impact crimes that affect the security of citizens and limit their possibilities for development. We hope that the Council can take steps to bring about stricter control of small arms and light weapons, as these are the fuel that drive the world’s conflicts.
As the President pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Mexico has promoted the unity and solidarity of our region. Two years after we took up this important responsibility, CELAC has demonstrated its relevance in defining joint courses of action. It is a platform for amplifying the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean in multilateral forums. We are honoured to have received in our country last week more than 30 delegations composed of Heads of State, Ministers and other high authorities of the countries that comprise CELAC, demonstrating the strength of our region’s most important mechanism for dialogue and political coordination.
Mexico welcomes the launch of the negotiation and dialogue process, facilitated by Norway, between the Government of Venezuela and the Plataforma Unitaria de Venezuela, whose meetings were held in our country. We believe that it is through dialogue and negotiation that a solution for the future of Venezuela will be found by the Venezuelan people themselves.
Similarly, and in view of the severe economic and health crisis at the global level, an end to the economic blockade against Cuba cannot be postponed. Instead of unilateral measures, we must implement measures of solidarity and mutual support to boost economic growth and development.
To date, the economic and social recovery from the crisis generated by the coronavirus disease pandemic has been characterized by inequality. Mexico supports measures for the least developed countries to benefit
from such multilateral support mechanisms for debt relief as the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative. However, it should be noted that middle-income countries also require support mechanisms of this nature. These countries, including Mexico, account for 75 per cent of the world’s population and are home to 62 per cent of the world’s poor. Accordingly, we call on the international financial institutions, international banks, the private sector and all relevant actors to promote measures that prevent our countries from incurring unsustainable levels of debt and which direct their scarce resources towards socioeconomic recovery from the crisis.
Mexico reaffirms its commitment to the respect, protection and promotion of human rights, including economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, especially for vulnerable groups or those that have been historically discriminated against, with particular attention being given to the gender perspective. My country will continue to combat hate speech, discrimination, xenophobia, racism, other related forms of intolerance, as well as violent extremism in any of its manifestations, including white supremacism.
We are committed to the objectives of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees. Migration is not a noisome phenomenon. On the contrary, all our societies have, at some point in their historical development, benefited from the contribution of migrants. It is everyone’s responsibility to respect and uphold the human rights of all people, regardless of their migration status.
In order for there to be safe, orderly and regular migration flows, international cooperation is crucial for communities of origin, transit and destination to develop their capacities without having to resort to emigration. Mexico is a country with a long tradition of solidarity and support for people in need of assistance for humanitarian reasons. That is why we have granted international protection to hundreds of extremely vulnerable people from Afghanistan, particularly women and girls, as well as to more than 18,000 migrants of Haitian origin from Brazil and Chile and more than 70,000 people from Central America and other countries around the world.
The Feminist Foreign Policy adopted by my country in 2020 is in line with our goal of promoting a more equitable, just and egalitarian society. This is why we have exchanged good practices on the issue with other countries that already have a similar foreign policy, which in turn led to the formation of the Global Partner Network for Feminist Foreign Policy.
The Generation Equality Forum, co-chaired by Mexico and France, with the support of UN-Women and working in alliance with civil society and youth organizations, has provided a great opportunity to motivate all sectors around transformative actions for the full enjoyment of the human rights of women and girls. Peace is possible only if women and girls actively participate. Mexico also co-chairs with Ireland the Security Council’s Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security and has promoted the mainstreaming of gender and human rights in the Council’s work.
Mexico was at the founding of the United Nations 76 years ago and remains committed to its principles and to the Charter that gave birth to the Organization. It is up to the generation of which we are a part to make the adjustments that these times call for and that our peoples demand.