At the outset, I would like
to congratulate Mr. John Ashe on his election as the
President of the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth
session. My delegation has full confidence that under
his able leadership the new session will draw to a
successful conclusion. The President can rest assured
of Cambodia’s full support and cooperation throughout
his presidency.
This year session’s theme, “The post-2015
development agenda: setting the stage,” is very
timely as we have less than 1,000 days to reach the
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. That
development agenda will be one of the most ambitious
projects undertaken by the United Nations, in which all
nations will be called upon to galvanize efforts to help
the world live up to its commitments to end poverty,
educate children, empower women and provide health
services for all.
While the overall picture is encouraging, we
must also recognize that the progress made towards
attaining the MDGs has been insufficient and uneven.
Poverty is still widespread, with more than one billion
people living in extreme poverty. High maternal and
child mortality rates are still seen in too many places
throughout the developing world. Most developing
countries still face many obstacles to the achievement
of all the MDGs within the allocated time frame
of 2015, owing to their vulnerability to the global
financial crisis, their debt burdens and the failure of
some developed countries to meet official development
assistance (ODA) commitments.
It is high time for donor countries to fulfil their
ODA pledges. In addition, debt relief is one of several
financial-assistance instruments which can enhance
the developing countries’ ability to eradicate poverty.
Furthermore, facilitating the transfer of technology
from the developed to the developing world plays
a critical role in helping countries to further their
development efforts and accelerate their economic
growth.
In the case of Cambodia, the MDGs are firmly
embedded as the cornerstone of the country’s
development policies and strategies. In a country
whose entire population once faced abject poverty
and hunger after emerging from war and genocide in
1979, the number of people living below the national
poverty line dropped steadily, reaching 19.8 per cent
in 2011. The country is well on track — if not ahead of
schedule — in terms of attaining its poverty-reduction
goal of 19.5 per cent. In fact, Cambodia received a
United Nations award for reducing hunger by half well
ahead of the MDG target. In general, my country is well
positioned to meet most of the Goals on schedule by the
end of 2015, thanks not only to the Government’s sound
approach and firm commitment but also to sustained
peace and political stability.
In adopting the MDGs, we acknowledged that
sustained and inclusive economic growth in developing
countries was a key requirement for eradicating
poverty and meeting the targets. In that context, my
delegation highly appreciates the far-sighted report of
the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-
2015 Development Agenda, which is entitled A New
Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform
Economies through Sustainable Development, and
which sets forth a universal agenda to eradicate extreme
poverty from our world by 2030 and to deliver on the
promise of sustainable development.
Cambodia believes that the post-2015 development
agenda should carry forward the spirit of the
Millennium Declaration in various ways: first, by
setting out a balanced integration of the economic,
social and environmental dimensions for sustainable
development; secondly, by aiming at the completion
of the work started under the MDGs, particularly
the goal of eradicating extreme poverty; thirdly, by
emphasizing inclusive, equitable and sustainable
development and economic growth aimed at effectively
addressing inequality and any associated factors; and,
fourthly, by focusing not only on the global dimension
of development, but also on its regional dimension,
while taking into account the particular challenges of
the least developed countries.
With regard to the nineteenth session of the
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held
in Warsaw in November, my country has high hopes
that the Conference will ratify the second commitment
period of the Kyoto Protocol by 2015. Cambodia
greatly appreciates the developed countries’ continued
commitment to providing funds and technology to help
developing nations tackle climate change, in accordance
with the United Nations principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities.
Global and regional peace and security are currently
threatened by conflicts, armed confrontation and
transnational organized crime, which take a heavy toll
on many development efforts. Against that backdrop,
Cambodia welcomes the signing of the Arms Trade
Treaty, the first ever international treaty to regulate the
trade of conventional weapons.
Another security issue is the presence of landmines
and other explosive remnants of war, which continue to
pose constant threats to human security and safety and
hinder national development. To counter those threats,
last year in Phnom Penh the leaders of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) decided to
establish the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center and
to base it in Cambodia.
For its part, Cambodia has spared no effort to address
the issue of landmines. To that end, it has established
demining and clearance of other unexploded ordnance
as an additional MDG of its own. Substantial progress
has been made in realizing that goal, as is demonstrated
by the sharp decline in the number of mine explosion
accidents in Cambodia, from over 300 cases in 2008
to 186 in 2012. As Chair of the Eleventh Meeting of
the States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, or Ottawa
Treaty, Cambodia made a strong commitment to work
towards a world free of landmines and unexploded
ordnance. Since 2006, Cambodia has contributed to
United Nations peacekeeping operations by sending
mine-clearance experts to a number of countries in
Africa and the Middle East, including the Sudan,
South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad and
Lebanon, and very soon to Mali.
On the situation in the Korean peninsula, we
welcome the positive developments between North
Korea and South Korea, which, I hope, will lead to a
significant improvement in inter-Korean relations and
the resumption of the Six-Party Talks. We encourage the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to comply fully
with its obligations to cease its nuclear programme, as
spelled out by the relevant Security Council resolutions.
My country reaffirms its support for the Palestinian
people’s just demand for a sovereign and independent
State of Palestine and for the two-State solution to the
Palestine-Israel conflict. We urge all parties to play a
constructive role in the efforts aimed at resuming peace
talks and to remove any obstacles standing in the way
of such resumption.
With regard to the Syrian situation, Cambodia
strongly condemns human rights violations and the
use of chemical weapons. My delegation fully supports
Security Council resolution 2118 (2013), adopted on
Friday with the aim of destroying Syria’s chemical
weapons.
My delegation also calls for an end to the unilateral
embargo on Cuba, which has caused the Cuban people
decades of untold suffering.
We are seriously concerned about the extensive
levels of sexual violence inflicted on innocent women
and children in armed conflicts around the world.
My country endorses the declaration of commitment
on ending sexual violence in conflict, issued on
24 September at a side event during the general debate.
Since the establishment of the United Nations, in
1945, the world situation has changed so dramatically that
there is an urgent need to strengthen global diplomacy.
In that context, the reform of the United Nations should
be comprehensive and include not only the Security
Council but also other organs, so as to maintain the
Organization’s relevance as a global governance
institution that can cope effectively with world reality.
The General Assembly should be empowered to play a
greater leading role in strengthening the wider United
Nations system, improving international governance
and enhancing multilateralism. At the same time,
the Economic and Social Council should also be
strengthened, so that it can effectively coordinate
international cooperation and efforts to tackle social
and economic challenges. Both the permanent and
non-permanent membership categories of the Security
Council should be expanded in an equitable manner,
so that the Council represents both developed and
developing countries. A comprehensive reform of the
Council to make it a body where real negotiations and
compromises can take place is acutely needed.