It is a great
satisfaction for Brazil, which has the honour and
privilege of opening this debate, to have as the President
of this session of the General Assembly a son of Africa.
As Brazilians we are united by ties of history, culture
and friendship with the African continent, whose
legacy was and always will be decisive for my country’s
national identity.
I open this general debate on the eve of elections
in Brazil that will determine the President of the
Republic, State governors and a significant portion of
our Congress. Those elections represent the celebration
of a democracy we achieved almost 30 years ago, after
two decades of dictatorial rule. Through democracy we
also advanced towards the country’s economic stability.
During the past 12 years in particular, we have
consolidated those achievements by building an
inclusive society based on equal opportunity. The great
transformation to which we are committed has resulted
in a modern economy and a more egalitarian society. At
the same time it has required strong civic participation,
respect for human rights and a sustainable vision of
development. Lastly, it has also required an engagement
on the world stage characterized by a multilateral
approach, respect for international law, the quest for
peace and a culture of solidarity.
A few days ago, the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations announced that
Brazil is no longer on the World Hunger Map. That
transformation is the result of economic policies that
have generated 21 million jobs, raised the minimum
wage and increased its purchasing power by 71 per cent
in the past 12 years. Those policies have also reduced
inequality. Since 2003, 36 million Brazilians have been
lifted out of extreme poverty, 22 million of them during
my Administration alone. Social policies and income-
transfer programmes, coordinated within our plan for a
Brazil without extreme poverty, have also contributed
to those results. On the health-care front, we have been
able to meet our target for reduced child mortality
before the deadline set by the Millennium Development
Goals.
We have also made access to basic primary and
middle-school education universally available, and we
are now pursuing the same goal for secondary education.
We are equally committed to enhancing the quality of
education by, inter alia, improving curriculums and
raising the profile of teachers. Vocational education
has made strides, with the creation of hundreds of new
schools and the professional training and development
of 8 million young people over the past four years.
There has been an unprecedented expansion of higher
education, with the establishment of new publicly
funded universities and of scholarships and financial
aid that has given 3 million students access to private
universities. Affirmative-action policies have enabled
poor, black and indigenous students to enrol in
universities on a massive scale.
Finally, our efforts to tackle the challenges
of building a knowledge-based society have led
to the creation of a programme known as Science
Without Borders, which has sent more than 100,000
undergraduate and graduate students to the world’s
best universities. Through a presidential initiative, our
National Congress has enacted legislation allocating
to education 75 per cent of the royalties earned from
pre-salt oil exploration and 50 per cent of the social
fund generated by pre-salt oil revenues, with 25 per
cent of pre-salt oil exploration royalties going to health
care. We will thus be able to transform finite resources
such as oil and gas into permanent assets — education,
science and technology, and innovation. That will be
our passport to the future.
We have not neglected fiscal discipline and
monetary stability, and we have striven to protect
Brazil from external volatility. We were thus able to
overcome the challenges arising from the major global
economic crisis, triggered in 2008 by the collapse of
Lehman Brothers, which subsequently developed into
national sovereign debt crises affecting many countries.
We resisted its worst consequences — unemployment,
wage depreciation, erosion of social rights and
stalled investment. We followed through with income
distribution by stimulating growth and employment and
maintaining our investment in infrastructure. Brazil
jumped from the thirteenth- to the seventh-largest
economy in the world. Our per capita income more than
tripled, and inequality fell sharply. In 2002, more than
half of Brazil’s population was poor or living below the
poverty line; today three out of every four Brazilians
are firmly in the middle-class and upper-income
ranges. During the economic crisis, when hundreds of
millions around the world were left unemployed, Brazil
created 12 million new jobs. In addition, we became
a primary destination for foreign investment, and we
resumed our investment in infrastructure through
strong partnerships with the private sector.
All of those gains have occurred within the context
of a sound fiscal environment. We have reduced our
net ratio of public debt to gross domestic product
(GDP) from about 60 per cent to 35 per cent. Our gross
external debt in relation to GDP fell from 42 per cent
to 14 per cent. Our international reserves increased
tenfold, making Brazil an international creditor. Our
annual inflation rate has also remained within the
maximum and minimum range fixed by our current
national targets.
Although we have managed to fend off the most
harmful consequences of the global crisis, we have
nonetheless been acutely affected by it in the past
few years, owing to the persistence all over the world
of substantial economic difficulties that have had a
negative effect on our growth. Here I would like to
reiterate what I said at the opening of last year’s general
debate (see A/68/PV.5). It is vital and urgent that we
restore the momentum of the global economy, which
should work to drive investment and international
trade and reduce inequalities between countries, and
not become a factor that ultimately slows economic
development and income distribution in society as a
whole.
Regarding international trade, there must be a
unanimous commitment to an action plan leading to the
conclusion of the Doha Round. It is also imperative that
we end the disparity between the growing importance
of developing countries to the global economy and their
insufficient representation and participation in the
decision-making processes of international financial
institutions such as the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank. The delay in expanding
developing countries’ voting rights in those institutions
is unacceptable. The risk to those institutions is that
could lose their legitimacy and effectiveness.
In July Brazil had the pleasure of hosting the
sixth Summit of the BRICS countries, namely, Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa. We welcomed
their leaders in a fraternal and fruitful meeting that
pointed to important possibilities for the future. We
signed agreements establishing a new development
bank and a contingent reserve arrangement. The bank
will cater to the infrastructure financing needs of the
BRICS and other developing countries. The contingent
reserve arrangement will protect them from financial
volatility. Each instrument will have a capital injection
of $100 billion.
The current generation of world leaders — our
generation — is also being called on to deal with significant
challenges to peace, collective security and the
environment. We have been unable either to solve old
disputes or to prevent new threats. It is impossible to
eliminate the underlying causes of conflict through the
use of force. That has been made clear by the persistence
of the Palestine question, the systematic massacre of
the Syrian people, the tragic national fragmentation of
Iraq, the serious insecurity in Libya, the conflicts in the
Sahel and the clashes in Ukraine. Instead of leading to
peace, every military intervention has worsened those
conflicts. We are witnessing the tragic proliferation
of civilian victims and humanitarian disasters. We
cannot allow such barbaric acts to increase and violate
our ethical, moral and civilizational values. Nor can
we remain indifferent to the spread of the Ebola virus
in West Africa. We therefore support the Secretary-
General’s proposal to establish a United Nations
Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Brazil is
solidly in favour of it.
The Security Council has had some difficulties
in promoting peaceful solutions to those conflicts.
To overcome such stalemates, a genuine reform of
the Council will be required, a process that has been
dragging on for quite some time. The coming seventieth
anniversary of the United Nations, in 2015, appears to
be an occasion conducive to achieving the progress
that the situation currently calls for. I am quite certain
that we all understand the serious risks arising from
paralysis and inaction in the Security Council. A more
representative and legitimate Security Council would
also be more effective.
I wish to underscore that we cannot possibly remain
indifferent to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, particularly
after the recent dramatic events in Gaza. We condemn
the disproportionate use of force that has strongly
victimized the civilian population, especially women
and children. The conflict must be properly resolved,
not precariously managed, as has been the case up to
now. Effective negotiations between the parties must
ultimately lead to a two-State solution with Palestine
and Israel living side by side in security within
internationally recognized borders.
Amid so many conflict situations, Latin America
and the Caribbean seek to face up to the main problem
that has marked our region for centuries. I am talking
about social inequality. Democratic roots have become
stronger, and the demand for more just, inclusive and
sustainable growth has grown ever stronger. Through
the Union of South American Nations, the Common
Market of the South, and the Community of Latin
American and Caribbean States, integration efforts
have made tremendous headway.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of
our times. To overcome that challenge, we need a sense
of urgency, political courage and a keen understanding
that actors have to contribute according to the
principles of equity and common but differentiated
responsibilities. The recent Climate Summit, which was
convened in a very timely manner by the Secretary-
General, further invigorated negotiations at the level of
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change.
The Brazilian Government will strive to ensure
that the outcome of the negotiations will lead to a
balanced, fair and effective agreement. Brazil has been
doing its part to face up to the challenge of climate
change. In 2009, during the Copenhagen Conference,
we committed to a voluntary reduction of 36 to 39 per
cent of our projected emissions by 2020. Between 2010
and 2013, we avoided releasing into the atmosphere an
average of 650 million tons of carbon dioxide every
year. Throughout those years, we achieved the lowest
deforestation rates in our history. In the past decade,
we have reduced deforestation by 79 per cent, without
giving up our agenda of economic development and
social inclusion.
We have therefore shown that it is possible to
grow, to include, to preserve and to protect. Such an
achievement stems from the continuous and steadfast
commitment of the Brazilian Government, civil society
and other public and private stakeholders. We hope
that developed countries, which have not only the
legal but also a political obligation to lead by example,
will unequivocally and concretely demonstrate their
commitment to combat this problem that affects us all.
At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development in Rio de Janeiro, we were proud to set
the foundations for a new development agenda, based
on sustainable development goals applicable to both
developing and developed nations. It will be crucial
for us to identify the means of implementation that
correspond to the magnitude of the challenges that we
have committed ourselves to overcoming. We must be
ambitious when it comes to financing, cooperation,
national capacity-building and technology transfer,
especially to ensure that the least developed countries
benefit. Let me underscore, in that context, the need to
establish a mechanism for the development, transfer and
dissemination of clean, environmentally sustainable
technologies.
In addition to sustainable development and peace,
the international order that we seek to build must be
anchored on fundamental values. Among those values,
emphasis should be put on efforts to combat all forms
of discrimination and exclusion. We have a clear-cut
commitment to the empowerment of women in the
labour market, liberal professions, entrepreneurship,
political activity and access to education, among others.
My Administration has tirelessly fought violence
against women in all its forms. We consider the twenty-
first century to be the century of women.
By the same token, the promotion of racial equality
seeks to compensate Brazilians of African descent for
the consequences of the centuries of slavery to which
they were subjected. Today, those Brazilians account
for more than half of our population. We owe them our
rich and permanent legacy of cultural, religious and
human wealth and values. For us, racial miscegenation
is a matter of pride. Racism is not only a heinous and
extremely serious crime, but it is also a scourge that we
have not hesitated to fight, punish and eradicate.
The same commitment that we have had to combat
violence against women and African Brazilians, we
have also had against homophobia. My country’s
Supreme Court has recognized same-sex civil unions,
thereby ensuring them the full range of civil rights
arising therefrom. We firmly believe in the dignity of
all human beings and in the universal nature of their
fundamental rights. Those rights must be protected
from all double standards and all forms of politicization,
both domestically and internationally.
Yet another fundamental value is the respect for
public good. We all face a relentless fight against
corruption. History has shown that there is only one
correct and efficient way to tackle corruption; that is
by ending impunity, thereby strengthening institutions
that oversee, investigate and punish acts of corruption,
money-laundering and other financial crimes. That is
a responsibility incumbent upon each Government, a
responsibility that Brazil has fulfilled by strengthening
our institutions.
In Brazil, we have designed and built a Government
transparency portal website that gives citizens access
to all information on Government spending within 24
hours after monies are spent. We have also adopted
a law on access to information, which allows all
Brazilian citizens the right to access Government
data, except for that related to the country’s national
sovereignty. We have strengthened and given autonomy
to investigators as well as to those in charge of internal
Government controls. We have passed laws that punish
not only those who actively engage in corruption but
also those who passively agree with acts of corruption.
Strengthening those institutions is absolutely crucial
for strengthening open and democratic governance.
Brazil’s recent re-election to the Executive Committee
of the Open Government Partnership will also allow
us to contribute to promoting more transparent
Governments worldwide.
It is essential that measures be taken to effectively
protect human rights, not only in the real world but
also in the virtual world, as stated in resolution 68/167
on privacy in the digital age, adopted by the General
Assembly in the past year. Brazil and Germany
promoted an important discussion on the matter in
2013. We intend to deepen that discussion during this
sixty-ninth session. For our review of such matters, the
2013 annual report of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights, published in
May 2014, can provide significant inputs. In September
2013, I proposed from this rostrum (see A/68/PV.5) that
a civil framework be development for the governance
and use of the Internet, a framework based on the
principles of freedom of expression, privacy, network
neutrality and cultural diversity.
I am pleased to note that the international community
has, since then, mobilized its efforts to enhance the
current Internet governance architecture. Brazil’s
initiative to hold the Global Multistakeholder Meeting
on the Future of Internet Governance, NETmundial, in
São Paulo in April was an important step in the process.
The Meeting brought together stakeholders from
various regions of the world and from multiple sectors.
Discussions were held on the principles that should be
followed and the actions to be undertaken in order to
ensure that the Internet will continue to develop in an
open, democratic, free, multisectoral and multilateral
manner.
The United Nations and its Member States have
before them today challenges of great magnitude, which
should be the priorities of this session of the General
Assembly. The year 2015 must be a turning point. I am
certain that we will not shy away from fulfilling, with a
sense of courage and insight, our lofty responsibilities
to build an international order founded on the promotion
of peace, sustainable development, poverty eradication
and the reduction of inequality. Brazil stands ready and
is fully determined to contribute to that end.