Philippines

As we welcome our newest members, Switzerland and East Timor, we reaffirm our faith in the United Nations and in the principles of the Charter. Today, the United Nations faces more challenges and must respond to far more demands than were ever contemplated by its founders. Yet the Organization remains the single most important universal and viable forum for States to interact, for nations to work together and for countries to cooperate in preserving peace, in avoiding conflict and in promoting stability. We believe that Iraq took a step in the right direction when it agreed yesterday to the unconditional return of United Nations weapons inspectors. But the immediate challenge facing the Organization and our world is the looming confrontation that could be brought about by the need for Iraq to comply, totally and unconditionally, with the relevant Security Council resolutions. We credit the diplomatic skills and the sheer determination of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and of the members of the Arab League with this welcome development. We will, therefore, await clear proof of sincerity in action. But this is just a beginning. We believe that we are far from a true resolution of this issue. We must remain vigilant and must continue to have faith in the Security Council. The Philippines has full confidence in the Council process. We believe that the Council will act in accordance with the imperatives of world peace and security and that it will find the most expeditious and effective way to serve those imperatives. Consistent with its national interest, and in accordance with its Constitution, the Philippines is prepared to extend political, security and humanitarian assistance to the United States and to the international community in the pursuit of their most vital interest, which coincides with our own vital interests: to defeat terrorism. The case for compliance is compelling. The charges are highly credible and have serious implications for global security. The Security Council should give those charges the most urgent and profound consideration. The international community has put the onus on Iraq to comply with the relevant Council resolutions, especially with regard to the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. Yet we certainly live in a world of consequences that can be avoided. Poverty, intolerance and inequality provide the breeding ground for terrorism. But we need not make terrorism an unavoidable consequence of those factors. We have learned that in the one year since the shocking and tragic events of 11 September. In that short span of time, we have learned that terrorism cannot defeat us and that it cannot overcome our resolve to fight it, and we have learned the full 13 measure of the bravery of the men and women who stand on the front lines in the war against terror. In that short span of time, we have established new strategic partnerships and have retooled and rearmed existing strategic partnerships. Those partnerships are based on the belief that the world will never be secure unless terrorist lairs are exposed and destroyed and unless terrorist supporters are brought to justice. In the realm of what is just and what is fair, we know that globalization can contribute to the comprehensive and sustainable development of the developing world. Indeed, in some cases it has done so. But the gap between the rich and poor countries continues to widen. Let us again remind ourselves of the stark reality that 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day; 1.1 billion people lack access to safe and affordable drinking water; and 130 million school-age children, the majority of whom are girls, lack the means to stay in school. The uneven spread of opportunities for the creation of wealth, and the increasing income inequality within and between countries, have pushed larger numbers of people to the margins of existence. We in the Philippines are building an open economy. We are taking concrete measures to create an open trade and investment environment in our own country and in our region. We have adapted to the realities of globalization, fully aware of the concomitant risks, particularly those that impinge on the well-being of our vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. We firmly believe that, in general, developing countries accept the need for good governance in their public and corporate sectors. We are continuing our institutional reform, guided by our national priorities, requirements and capabilities. We are taking great pains to restructure our economy, often at high political cost. Capital is what developing countries lack most in their pursuit of sustainable development. The Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that an additional annual public investment of $24 billion must be made in poor countries in order to halve the number of hungry people by the United Nations millennium target date of 2015. Developing countries need more foreign direct investment, particularly in areas that will promote the sustainable use of the environment and sustained growth. We also need improved access to foreign markets. Many developing countries must also effectively compete in areas where their comparative advantage is great, such as agriculture. However, developing countries do not have the resources to match the subsidies that agricultural producers receive in rich countries, such as the 40 billion euros that European Union farmers receive each year or the additional $170 billion that United States farmers will receive over the next 10 years. We can only wonder what the liberating impact would be on development if the subsidies of 23 cents per dollar for farm goods in the United States or the 36 cents per dollar on farm goods in the European Union were instead invested in developing countries. We need to reverse the decline in official development assistance, which remains below the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product. But we should also not lose sight of the fact that, aside from increased funding sources for developing countries, the flip side of the development coin should be greater restraint, care and flexibility in the use of conditionalities. Enhanced and effective debt relief, including for middle-income countries, is also needed. Efforts to reform the international financial architecture and to strengthen the development dimension of the global trade and investment regime should be sustained. Globalization has provided more opportunities and greater choices for people who want to travel the world in search of a livelihood. Some 10 per cent of the people of the Philippines are outside its border. Their safety and welfare is of paramount importance to us, particularly in times of actual or potential conflict. The welfare of migrant workers should be placed higher on the United Nations agenda now, before the migrant issue turns into a serious humanitarian problem. We can start by becoming States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. It is also important for developed nations to support the important work of humanitarian assistance agencies like the International Organization for Migration. Despite the unprecedented wealth created in the last decade of the twentieth century, one out of every 14 five people lives on less than $1 a day. The 32 poorest African countries do not earn much more than the richest man on earth, the title unofficially bestowed upon Bill Gates, the Chairman of Microsoft, in the United States. Despite the grinding poverty in which billions of people live, the world spends incredible sums for military purposes for armies and weapons of mass annihilation. Those bent on fomenting hate and violence will find willing adherents, particularly among the helpless, and hopeless poor, the dispossessed and the disenfranchised. The hungry, the young people who do not go to school and those living in the margins of society can become easy prey to the siren songs of terrorists and the perpetrators of violence. Poverty alleviation and development are therefore key strategies in preventing conflict and fighting terrorism. Terrorism has become a major cause of violence and instability in our world. But this is not the only menace to our collective security. Organized crime, environmental degradation and contagious diseases continue to threaten international peace and security. The proliferation of conventional and non-conventional weapons, including small arms, is continuing. Civil wars and inter-State conflicts remain major causes of instability and underdevelopment. The United Nations must therefore continue to play its important peacekeeping and peacemaking role. Durable peace and progress with freedom can be achieved only through international partnerships and a renewed faith in the United Nations, which should guarantee meaningful participation by developing countries in global decision-making. The challenges of the world today potential and actual conflict, terrorism, violence, environmental degradation, organized crime and contagious diseases recognize no boundaries and affect all. In the eloquent language of the Philadelphia Declaration of the International Labour Organization, poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere'. That is the case because humanity and human destiny has become a seamless whole. No man is an island, and the bell tolls for us, too. This is the timeless vision of the United Nations, validated by all who have spoken here at the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly. It is a vision and a bond that should unite all nations as we face new dangers and the unmarked frontiers of our collective life on this small, endangered planet. Indeed, the United Nations continues to be the last best hope of mankind.