The lofty aspirations of the Millennium Development Goals
guided our first steps into the era of the second
millennium and enabled us to realize, in part, the
priorities that we hold so dear. With this shared
experience, which is extraordinary in terms of what it
has made concrete, and aware of the new challenges
that have been imposed on us over the past 15 years,
we now have clear lessons on which to build the future
we want. We now know that peace and development are
inseparable.
The future to which we all aspire can be understood
on three levels, based on the three pillars of sustainable
development that command our attention equally. The
work we have started on defining the post-2015 era,
by its very nature and given the challenges it poses,
merits committed efforts by the entire international
community, which have already been undertaken.
Indeed, it requires a contribution by all States and all
parts of society, including the private sector, academia,
philanthropy and, obviously, non-governmental
organizations. It also must be, as a matter of ethics but
also to ensure its viability, inclusive, participatory and
based on good governance.
Those are therefore the bases for defining the post-
2015 era, despite the glaring paradoxes and the many
obstacles we unfortunately face. At a time when the
world is highly interdependent, its communications
technology performing as never before and its riches
abundant, inequalities continue to grow, and too many
of us remain marginalized and live in unacceptable
conditions.
Inevitable climate change, which is recognized as
the greatest challenge of our time, will decide the fate of
our planet and darkens our future prospects by already
threatening our present. Conflicts persist, while others
are born, and terrorist acts lead to a range of problems
that challenge traditional defence strategies. This past
year, existing and new conflicts have escalated towards
an unacceptable level. The Monegasque authorities can
only reiterate their commitment to the values of the
purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations and join the efforts of those who seek a peaceful
and political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine.
The use of chemical weapons in Syria and the assault
on civilian targets in Syria, Iraq, the Gaza Strip, South
Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic and Nigeria
have spread horror and are barbarous practices. They
are intolerable. That is why the Government of Monaco
condemned acts of abject violence by supporting the
adoption of Security Council resolution 2178 (2014) last
week, which establishes a new legislative and policy
framework to coordinate international efforts to fight
against the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters.
The Principality shares the grief of the French,
British and American peoples following the heinous
killings of their nationals who were held hostage. In
memory of those victims, His Serene Highness Prince
Albert II asked that flags at administrative buildings and
Monegasque public institutions be flown at half-mast.
Those who commit such heinous crimes in the name
of a religion they blaspheme annihilate the foundation
of our society by violating the rule of law and respect
for the standards that we have developed together. They
use communications networks and social networks,
which we might think would be used to spread harmony
and unity, to spread hatred and chaos. We have reason
to wonder about their motivations and the reasons that
make their appeal so convincing.
The response is obviously rooted in exclusion and
the marginalization of people who have not yet benefited
from what we call progress. It often involves young
people without prospects for the future. Therefore,
it is our responsibility to design inclusive social
integration policies, promoting education and youth
employment. Young people have never formed such a
large proportion of the world population — particularly
in developing countries. They must be an integral part
of the decision-making process in order to allow them
to realize their human potential.
We welcome, in that respect, the “Rights Up
Front” initiative of the Secretary-General, launched in
November 2013, whose primary objective is to make
sure that human rights violations do not become mass
crimes and to enable the Organization to act more
quickly by placing people at the heart of its strategies
and operational activities.
On the eve of the tenth anniversary of the 2005
Summit, and especially as memories of sinister
genocides come to mind, we must do a better job of
promoting the responsibility to protect. That is the
primary responsibility of every State, as we know, but
we also need to be able to help States for which capacity-
building is difficult. Prevention remains a fundamental
aspect of our Organization’s work. In that regard, the
involvement of regional and subregional organizations
is essential to the effective implementation of the
protection of populations from genocide, war crimes
and crimes against humanity. The promotion and
protection of human rights must be at the heart of our
policies. Prince Al-Hussein has our full confidence.
With his experience and his unwavering commitment
to peace and the rule of law, he can be the right United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for our
times.
Another aspect also deserves emphasis — the
delivery of humanitarian assistance in conflict zones.
It must not depend on the political context. The
politicization of humanitarian assistance should be
a priority item for discussion at the global summit in
2016.
In the light of the increasing number and persistence
of crisis areas, caused both by conflicts and by natural
disasters, whose frequency we now associate with the
rate of climate change, we must take into consideration
the needs of over 50 million people. The magnitude of
those needs justifies the new partnerships that have
been formed around organizations, local partners and
the private sector and individuals.
The unprecedented threat of the Ebola virus in West
Africa is testing our ability to respond in an effective
and coordinated manner. We support the establishment
by the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to counter the
large-scale threat Ebola poses to international peace
and security. In that regard, I wish to acknowledge the
commitment of the Principality of Monaco, which is
effectively contributing to that unprecedented struggle,
together with the World Health Organization and the
International Committee of the Red Cross. We share in
the grief of the victims and that of their families. We
are aware that the families’ tragedies are compounded
and their pain is made unbearable by the fact that they
are unable to take care of their loved ones or provide
proper funerals for those who die.
In these difficult times, we need to establish a new
post-2015 sustainable development paradigm. Universal,
inclusive, ambitious and concrete, it must accommodate
the pressures of a growing global population and the
urbanization that comes with it. It requires us to adapt
our methods of production, consumption and transport
and to opt for clean technologies. We need to define the
nature of the world we want to live in, with and for our
children. As I mentioned earlier, it is vital that the needs
of the most vulnerable be duly taken into consideration
and that economic independence for women and young
people be ensured. It is time for women to realize the
transformation that the Secretary-General announced
by breaking through the glass ceiling that for too long
has kept them from achieving their potential. Without
the full contribution of those who constitute 50 per cent
of humankind, sustainable development will not be
achieved.
The year 2015 will also mark the fifteenth
anniversary of the adoption of Security Council
resolution 1325 (2000), on women, peace and security.
We reiterate our call to end impunity for crimes related
to sexual and gender-based violence against women, as
well as all the abuse women suffer.
The undeniable success of the Climate Summit should
be measured not only by the commitments announced,
but also by the broad participation of the private sector,
foundations and civil society and by the sense of
ownership expressed by all the stakeholders concerned.
The Summit therefore succeeded in catalysing society
as a whole, thus ensuring that the political momentum
will be maintained in Lima and Paris. As the issue of
climate change cannot be separated from the question
of the oceans, the Prince’s Government will continue
to defend an objective of sustainable development
dedicated to healthy and productive oceans for all. The
Assembly may rest assured that Monaco will engage in
discussions, which will begin in January, and we will
continue, in both national and international policies, to
act as a responsible and unifying partner.