First of all, I
would like to avail myself of this opportunity to
congratulate Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his
well-deserved reappointment, and Mr. Nassir
Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his election as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session.
It is with pride, a sense of responsibility and a
will for cooperation and proactivity that I address this
Hall in the name of the Principality of Andorra and the
Government that I have the honour to represent. The
United Nations and the system of international law that
emanates from it place all States on an equal footing.
That is especially important for States like Andorra,
small in terms of territorial dimension but large in
values and in history.
Recent years have been marked by a profound
crisis of multiple aspects — economic, social,
environmental and political — but most especially a
crisis of values. Now that we must all lay the
foundation for recovery, we need to be quite clear
about the values and principles on which we wish to
continue constructing the world. We do not need to go
much further than the founding spirit of the General
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Assembly, an institution in which all — large and
small, the wealthier and the less endowed — address
one another on equal terms to promote peace, liberty
and justice.
Just as the United Nations arose after a world war
that turned the world as it had existed until then upside
down, now again we have to be able to define the
moral and political bases of a new order. One priority
set by the United Nations is inclusive and sustainable
development. There can be no sustainability without
inclusion. And if the Assembly, which arose from the
debris of a devastating war, is to give a voice to all the
peoples of the planet, we have to be capable now of
ensuring that no one is excluded from the future that
we forge together.
We must take care that the economic recovery
from the recession does not further accentuate the
inequalities — understood as a lack of equity — that
already exist. Thus, just as international law protects
nations like ours that have no military potential, so too
economic growth must be especially attentive to the
more vulnerable in order to prevent the consequences
of the recession from falling systematically on them.
Thirty years ago, in 1981, the United Nations
held its first Conference on the Least Developed
Countries. The fourth Conference was held last spring,
attesting to the difficulty of achieving significant
changes to improve the weakness and vulnerability of
those States. Further, we observe with concern how,
against the background of the global recession, some of
the more developed countries often adopt protectionist
attitudes. On the conviction that a freer world is a more
just world, we also have to state that a more open and
less protectionist world leads to a more equitable
balance and improvements for the disadvantaged.
Andorra, with its small scale, secular stability and
seclusion among mountains, is dealing with the far-
reaching process of opening its economy. We also have
planned the construction of a model of inclusive
growth that leaves no one out — a model that cannot
be constructed by turning one’s back on the
international community or by being isolated from the
world.
I have been talking about economic opening, but
the opening to the world cannot be strictly economic,
and it is crystal clear that recovery from the crisis and a
new phase of growth will not come about solely as a
result of economic measures. The search for an
inclusive and sustainable balance must necessarily
involve addressing factors that are not strictly
economic but that do accentuate inequalities between
countries.
In that connection, we note the work done at the
2011 High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on
AIDS held in June and the Political Declaration on
HIV/AIDS (resolution 65/277) adopted by the
participating States, stating their intension to intensify
their efforts in the fight against this pandemic. In spite
of the advances achieved in recent years, HIV is a
symbol of how necessary it is for progress to reach
everyone equally. While in the more developed
countries AIDS has become a chronic illness
appropriately treated, in the more disadvantaged
areas — especially in sub-Saharan Africa — the
disease is still lethal, especially in the communities
with the fewest resources.
Above and beyond the increase of resources for
research and treatment and greater North-South
cooperation, I am convinced that the extension of
democracy and human rights is also a key factor in the
fight against a pandemic that overwhelms the poorest,
but that also hits peoples submerged in ignorance and
oppression.
With all of that, the extent of the commitments
made and the progress achieved by various States in
the fight against HIV should be a source of
satisfaction, since seldom has the international
community been capable of articulating a response so
rapid and unanimous when faced with a threat on this
scale. It would be wonderful if the same level of
awareness and commitment could be achieved in the
fight against non-communicable diseases, such as
cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Those
also — although perhaps not so clearly as in the case of
AIDS — are diseases that accentuate the inequalities
among countries. That principle was recognized in the
Political Declaration (resolution 66/2) of the High-
level Meeting of the General Assembly on the
prevention and control of non-communicable diseases
held recently.
Such successes cannot allow us to forget that one
of the most serious challenges facing the international
community and this Assembly, which is its highest
representation, is the fight against climate change. To
date, humankind was used to overcoming recessions
and times of crisis, entering a new phase of growth,
23 11-51398
without thinking of the negative external effects of that
growth. We now know that growth cannot be at any
price and that development must be sustainable in
economic terms, but also, and more particularly, in
environmental terms.
That is why the threat of climate change is as
great as or stronger than that of the global recession.
Some developed countries, in particular those that
survive on their own natural resources, are seriously
threatened by climate change. That may also be the
case for Andorra, which bases a good part of its
economic welfare on snow and mountain tourism. That
is why we will always support any initiative aiming at
greater awareness of the need to combat climate
change, and take steps to adapt to what is probably
already a reality. In that context, we should underscore
the entry into force in Andorra of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change on 31 May.
We should never lose sight of the fact that the
main goal of the United Nations is to guarantee peace
and security in a context of freedom and respect for
human rights. Just as in the past, States emerged to
ensure the social peace and individual freedom of their
citizens, the United Nations also have their raison
d’être in the maintenance of peace and security and the
rule of international law.
Today, we speak of inclusive and sustainable
economic growth and of a new and profound awareness
of the threat of climate change. We cannot forget that
such issues are closely linked to the promotion of a
safer world. Growth that leaves more vulnerable
groups behind and that excludes the least developed
countries, added to the effects of climate change, leads
to a less safe and less stable world.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the
tragic attacks of 11 September here in New York, the
seat of United Nations Headquarters. As President
Obama recalled last Wednesday (see ), we
are today seeing the symbol of New York’s renewal
rise at ground zero, where 10 years ago there was an
open wound and twisted steel, a shattered heart in the
centre of the city.
This year, we close the first decade of the
millennium without having resolved the threat to the
security of our world, that is, international terrorism.
Despite progress on that front, the threat continues.
Terrorism arises from hatred and wickedness.
However, we must be aware that it dwells, in
particular, where there is a lack of economic prospects,
illiteracy, lack of culture, poverty, marginality —
where, in short, there is a lack of democracy.
That is why, in the promotion of a safer world,
our efforts will always be needed to combat all kinds
of discrimination. In that regard, I wish to underscore
the political declaration against racism, racial
discrimination and xenophobia and related intolerance
that was adopted at that time during the General
Assembly. It is also 10 years since the Durban
Declaration and Programme of Action. Today, as the
States represented here, we say that we cannot afford to
lower our guard since, in an increasingly globalized
and complex world, the threat of discrimination is
growing.
At the beginning of my statement, I spoke of the
need to continue building the world on the principles
and values that inspire this Assembly. Allow me now to
recall the spirit and the philosophy of the twenty-eighth
President of the United States, President Wilson, father
of the League of Nations, the precursor of today’s
United Nations. Wilson taught us that it was of little
use to be democrats at home if we were not capable of
exporting democracy beyond our borders, and that a
State that turned its back on countries still living under
oppression and in which the most fundamental rights
and freedoms were not respected could not presume to
be democratic.
That is why we must welcome with an especially
positive attitude what we have called the Arab Spring.
We sincerely hope that those movements for
democracy strengthen in the future. In that context, in
July, we supported South Sudan becoming the
193rd member of the United Nations. Today, we are
pleased at that reality and we most warmly welcome it.
A more democratic world is a more dynamic world, but
also safer because it is fairer. Most failures of security
in our world, as I said a moment ago, are fuelled by
injustice.
Likewise, with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, we must keep encouraging dialogue and
mediation. The Palestinian people’s aspiration to have
a democratic and peaceful State is as legitimate as the
Israeli desire to obtain guarantees for its existence and
security. The final aim of a mutual recognition of two
States by two peoples, on the basis of the 1967 lines
with the agreed and equivalent exchanges, is now
under discussion.
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A possible intermediate step, in a shorter term, by
becoming an observer State could represent an element
of hope for the Palestinian people, provided that it is
not used for purposes that are incompatible with
continuing negotiations, but for the aforementioned
goal. Israel also must contribute to that spirit, avoiding
attitudes that could affect the final status.
Andorra is a country that has lived for more than
700 years without an army, without taking part in any
war and without internal conflicts. The perpetual peace
and permanent stability, of which we Andorrans are
proud, is not founded on an autocratic regime that
controls its people with an iron fist or on a whim
resulting from the deterrence of larger or more
powerful neighbours. No, the ultimate reason for a
peace and security maintained for more than seven
centuries has been the ongoing effort to respect
individual rights and freedoms and the rule of justice
and of fairness, and the existence of mechanisms of
solidarity, as was well demonstrated in the recent
universal periodic review.
Our democracy and our centuries-old
parliamentary system are not the fruit of peace and
stability, but the reverse. Peace, security and stability
are the fruits of democracy because, without
democracy, there is no possibility of peace or lasting
security either in Andorra or anywhere in the world.
From the position of humility that governs our
support for the United Nations, we wish to reaffirm
here the idea of commitment as a fundamental value
and the linchpin of our political action. That
commitment is understood as a deep belief not only in
peace and equal opportunities, but also as an
involvement in and shouldering of individual
responsibilities regarding a common project and, last
but not least, as a wish for dialogue and understanding.
On Wednesday, President Sarkozy stated in this
Assembly: “Let us choose the path of compromise,
which is neither renunciation nor repudiation, but
which allows us to move forward, step by step”
(). Andorra will continue to work towards
such a commitment within the Organization.