Uruguay

Uruguay, one of the founding States of the United Nations, sees the fundamental principles of its foreign policy fully reflected in the Charter of this Organization. For that reason, we believe it important at the outset to reassert the validity of those principles in the present international context and to emphasize once again the traditional Uruguayan position of full respect for international law, support for multilateralism, peaceful settlement of disputes, sovereign equality of States, rejection of the use or threat of use of force, non-intervention in the internal affairs of other States, the self-determination of peoples, the promotion and protection of human rights and international economic and social cooperation. It is worth repeating that this list is not simply an inventory of good intentions, but of legal principles and fundamental values. Their enshrinement in the Charter of the United Nations gives them the status of international law, to whose validity and enforcement all States must conform. Furthermore, those principles are crucial guiding tools in a world that presents us today with major challenges. We, nations gathered here, have the moral and legal duty to find suitable solutions that will make peace and development the rule of coexistence for our peoples. As we all know, a severe food crisis is currently afflicting too many countries throughout the world. If a sustainable and lasting solution in to be found, we must address the structural factors influencing and causing the crisis. Correcting the distortions in the multilateral trade system, in particular in agricultural trade, is certainly a decisive element in ensuring a plentiful supply of food that will meet the needs of the entire population of the planet. Uruguay believes that, in addition to tackling this serious crisis with urgent measures, we must make progress towards a long-term solution. That inevitably means redoubling our efforts to strengthen the multilateral trade system and swiftly resuming the negotiations in the World Trade Organization. It is essential that we do so, particularly in the area of agriculture, in order to guarantee world food security and to avoid a reversion to protectionist practices that would only further aggravate the situation. The food crisis is not the only crisis affecting us, however; another major challenge facing the world economy is undoubtedly that of energy. Here, as with agriculture, Latin America requires the technological cooperation of developed countries. Likewise, when it comes to developing the production of alternative energy sources, such as bioenergy and biofuels, research and technical assistance are essential if we are to benefit from the opportunities provided by such production without affecting food security or the environment. The United Nations has a crucially important catalytic role in that regard. In addition, we cannot overlook the current financial crisis of the major developed countries, which demonstrates the global interconnectedness and interdependence among States. Although developing countries are certainly not the cause of the crisis, its effects afflict and punish the economies of emerging countries. 08-53129 30 With regard to the environment and sustainable development, Uruguay is a party to the major international conventions in that area. While we have emphasized the importance of international cooperation, we have also always emphasized the individual responsibility of every State to actively protect the environment in its own territory and waters, and have always valued the vigilant participation of civil society in that regard. That is why, while we receive significant investments that contribute to our industrial development, my country also exerts rigorous control over the environmental practices of the entities involved, applying internationally recognized standards and requiring the use of the most modern technologies available, with effective control over the environmental impact of those undertakings. The Uruguayan Government thus reaffirms its unwavering commitment to protecting the environment as a human right and as a fundamental component in the achievement of true sustainable development. Another major issue on the agenda of the General Assembly is the Millennium Development Goals agreed by Member States in September 2000, which Uruguay has fully endorsed. In that context, Uruguay has taken firm steps to achieve the Goals. We need only highlight, among other policies with a significant social content, the recent launching of our comprehensive national health system — aimed at transforming the health-care model by prioritizing primary health care and prevention in order to guarantee a basic right of all citizens — as part of the social inclusion policy that Uruguay is implementing. Given its strict adherence to international law, Uruguay is also firmly committed to consolidating international peace and security, as demonstrated by its status as one of the 10 major contributors of troops to United Nations peacekeeping operations and as the world’s largest contributor per capita in terms of troop numbers. Our country is currently participating in 16 United Nations peacekeeping missions deployed in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. Since we began to participate in peacekeeping missions, Uruguay has gained experience in matters related to reconstruction and peacebuilding in areas devastated by conflict, making great efforts to put an end to hostilities so that various societies and communities can agree on peace and achieve national reconciliation. However, as our international experience has taught us, peacekeeping, while essential, is not sufficient to return affected countries to institutional normalcy and an orderly and peaceful life. That is why the strong involvement of the international community is needed in peacekeeping efforts to effectively ensure the building of stable, democratic and prosperous societies through robust institutional mechanisms for resolving their conflicts. For that reason, Uruguay submitted its candidature to the Peacebuilding Commission in February 2007. We hope to be able to contribute to the attainment of those noble objectives in that forum. The cause of peace requires, in institutional terms, a strengthened and effective Organization. That brings us to the topic of the United Nations reform process. The negotiations in that regard have not proceeded with the scope and speed originally envisaged. Although the two recently established bodies, the Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, have been in existence for a few years, we have not yet been able to move on to Security Council reform — which is essential — and only a few timid steps have been taken in the process of reforming the Secretariat and the General Assembly. Uruguay reaffirms its support for the process of Security Council reform in the permanent and non-permanent membership categories. However, we will not support the creation of new members with the right of the veto, since we believe that the issue of extending the veto must not be included in the package to be agreed upon in the intergovernmental negotiations. Moreover, in keeping with its traditional position since the founding of the United Nations, our country disapproves of the right of veto, which is a privilege that runs counter to the full democratization of our Organization. In the area of reform, we also view the One United Nations pilot project in two ways. We see it first as an instrument through which reform of the operational activities of the United Nations system could be put into practice; and secondly, as a cooperative exercise in areas of priority identified by the Uruguayan Government in the context of a national development strategy based on sustained and sustainable economic growth with equity and social justice. However, we understand that the programme should adapt itself to specific national priorities and needs. That is why no single model is applicable to all 31 08-53129 pilot countries, given their inherent differences from one another. I also wish to refer to a topic of particular relevance for Uruguay — the situation of so-called middle-income countries. Those countries find themselves in a paradoxical situation. Although there are certain indicators of economic growth, negative circumstances that hinder sustainable and sustained growth in the medium- and long-terms have not been taken into account, nor has it been possible to prevent dramatic erosion of some of the progress made. In particular and with dramatic effect, the well-known clear vulnerability of the economies of developing countries in a globalized world economy subjects them to the effects of external crises with clear, direct consequences, such as rising poverty and inequity in income distribution, as well as strengthened migratory trends, to mention just some effects that Uruguay has experienced directly. Finally, in affirming its unwavering commitment to the fight against terrorism, Uruguay reiterates its rejection of all terrorist acts and vigorously condemns all attacks against civil populations and public infrastructure, the destruction of which adversely affects the civil population. Terrorism must be unequivocally condemned and cooperation between States must increase in order to ensure that such acts do not go unpunished. We must be careful, however. The fight against terrorism must always be waged based on the rule of law, and consequently in the strictest respect for the standards of international humanitarian and human rights law. The same applies to drug trafficking. Our country has continued its unrelenting fight against illegal drug trafficking. Our effort targets both supply and demand. Thanks to that policy and beyond our success in stamping out the illicit traffic in those substances, our country has been at the vanguard of our continent in terms of its policies to prevent consumption and treat those affected by drugs. Both terrorism and drug trafficking severely compromise the full enjoyment of human rights, the safeguarding of which has been one of the strategic policies of the current Government. We want respect for human rights to be more than routine rhetoric; it should enjoy full expression in the daily life of its citizens. On that basis, our country has prioritized strengthening legislation and the competent national bodies, and has sought to extend international human rights and to consolidate institutions that effectively protect and secure the international enjoyment of human rights and prevent their violation. In short, the protection of human rights is one of the central axes of the Republic’s foreign policy and is without a doubt Uruguay’s basic political institutional asset. As is evident, the effective protection of human rights calls for a strong jurisdictional body to guarantee its application. In that context, the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was a fundamental contribution to the progressive development of international law and an event of tremendous legal and political importance. In 2006, Uruguay enacted a national law pledging full cooperation with the ICC. Respectfully, we urge the international community as a whole to do the same in order to prevent genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity from going unpunished. In conclusion, I would like to stress that, with conflicts threatening peace and international security and taking into account the growing interdependence of States as a result of globalization, it is now crucial to emphatically reaffirm the relevance of the United Nations as the lead body and ultimate multilateral forum for finding appropriate solutions to today’s major global challenges. The pursuit of multilateralism therefore implies a search for collective responses to international conflicts and problems, in accordance with international law and in the framework of the principles of the United Nations Charter, which regulates peaceful coexistence between nations. Indeed, we must uphold the ideals that inspired the establishment of the Organization. That is a civilizing project that we cannot abandon as it represents unfinished business that we owe it to ourselves and to generations to come to complete.