Since the last session of the General
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Assembly, a number of crises have tested the
capabilities of multilateral institutions to face them
firmly and with unified purpose. The international
community has come to understand that only joint
action in which developing countries are full
participants can offer sustainable responses to these
emergencies. Fortunately, we see some positive signs
of economic growth in some places.
Nevertheless, insecurity and uncertainty prevail.
The insecurity results from the persistence of armed
conflicts, terrorism and transnational organized crime,
which threaten our achievements in sustainable human
development. The uncertainty is linked to the
negotiations that will lead to the United Nations
Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in
December. Global warming is now a threat to humanity
of incalculable proportions, to which we all contribute
and for which we all, without exception, are
responsible.
Contributing to sustainable human development
requires, first, conditions conducive to international
peace and security. As President Felipe Calderón
pointed out in the Security Council summit (see
S/PV.6191), nuclear proliferation and highly
insufficient legal access to peaceful uses for atomic
energy demand a renewed commitment to disarmament
and the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime.
I also echo the emphatic call, issued by global
civil society at the sixty-second Annual Conference of
the Department of Public Information for
Non-Governmental Organizations, held in Mexico City
this year, that we, the Governments of the world, fulfil
our responsibilities to attain our goal of a world free of
nuclear weapons.
The promotion and protection of human rights
constitute a universal ethical imperative and an
obligation that no government can renounce. The
progress attained in this field at the national level has
been possible thanks to my country’s close alignment
with the international system for the promotion and
protection of human rights, which has proved an
invaluable tool for promoting improvements in our
national structures.
It is clear that to attain full sustainable human
development we must tackle poverty and inequality,
fostering a development that ensures access for all
people to adequate food, health, education and
housing.
In response to the health emergency that Mexico
faced some months ago with the outbreak of influenza
A(H1N1), the World Health Organization gave its full
support to the timely, energetic and responsible actions
of my Government. This is proof that the United
Nations system is capable of mobilizing coordinated
action by States and avoiding unilateral measures that
are not appropriate in response to such emergencies.
We must continue to update our protocols for action.
For Mexico, meeting the Millennium Development
Goals is a State commitment. Our priority continues to
be the eradication of poverty. We must make the
necessary structural changes to reduce inequality and
attain prosperity for all. We must implement policies
that ensure that concrete action is taken based on the
Monterrey Consensus on financing for development,
that the Doha Round is successfully concluded and that
contributions by developed countries and multilateral
development banks to projects in countries with low
growth rates are increased.
It is imperative to address urgent needs such as
food security in order to reduce inequality and
strengthen the capacities enjoyed by our peoples. Food
security is the very foundation of development.
Therefore, we must ensure food security by eliminating
market distortions, boosting production through the use
of technology and improving productivity without
making sacrifices on the environmental agenda.
The recent Group of 20 Summit in Pittsburgh
demonstrated that the scale of the global financial
crisis requires a firm response, both in coordinating the
measures taken by individual countries to mitigate
impact in areas such as unemployment and in avoiding
protectionist measures. There is still much left to do,
but it is a fact that the timely intervention by the Group
of 20 allowed further resources to be channelled to the
international financial institutions and strengthened the
participation of developing countries in the decision-
making bodies within those institutions.
The United Nations must realize that we are
witnessing a reconfiguration of global economic
governance, and that policies must be adjusted to this
new reality. We require an Organization that is strong,
effective and efficient. The cuts that are being imposed
on all countries at home must also be reflected in
United Nations system budgets. If it remains passive,
alienated and conformist, our Organization risks losing
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its relevance as the premier universal and legitimate
forum for solving the major problems of humanity.
The challenges of global warming have made it
clear that the absence of economic incentives is one of
the main reasons that the commitments under the
Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change have not been fulfilled.
For this reason, Mexico has proposed, in the
preparatory negotiations for the Copenhagen
Conference, an innovative financing scheme, known as
the Green Fund, which would reward the efforts of
States that adopt policies aimed at reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, without jeopardizing their development
goals. The Green Fund fully responds to the principle
of common but differentiated responsibility. It is not
just another financial mechanism that obeys the
conventional criteria.
All countries must be able to receive financing,
but the scale of the contributions will result from a
combination of factors that take into account, among
other things, their level of development, the size of
their population and the volume of their emissions.
Least-developed countries will not be obliged to
contribute. This initiative of President Felipe Calderón
has received growing support from Member States,
which reinforces the will of my Government to
continue moving forward with all parties in the
negotiations prior to Copenhagen.
The negotiations aimed at achieving
comprehensive Security Council reform have made
significant progress through a process that has heard
debate on all aspects of reform and identified proposals
that can garner the broadest possible consensus. We
must continue negotiations towards compromise
solutions which would increase the representative
nature of the Council and translate into greater
accountability, without jeopardizing its effectiveness.
The world has undoubtedly changed since 1945,
and remains in a state of permanent mutation, as the
ongoing discussions on the international economic and
financial architecture demonstrate. It is absurd to argue
for static institutions in a world that is anything but
static.
As we presented our candidacy as a
non-permanent member of the Security Council for the
2009-2010 term, Mexico announced that it would seek
to foster closer communications between Member
States and the Security Council, something which is
essential if the Council is to accomplish its tasks. As
President of the Council during the month of April,
Mexico made progress in increasing the transparency
of that body by issuing information on a significant
number of the Council’s consultations. We will keep
working to enhance the effectiveness and legitimacy of
the Council in several ways. First, we will seek to
strengthen the work of the Council in preventing
international crises relating to massive human rights
violations and strengthening protection for the
thousands of internally displaced persons and refugees.
Secondly, we will seek to focus the Council’s attention
on preventing conflicts, and not just managing them,
by incorporating in its resolutions mandates that link
security with strengthened development aid and
humanitarian assistance. Thirdly, we wish to make
development assistance a fundamental strategy for
conflict prevention and reconstruction.
The situation in Honduras has made evident the
importance of continuing to improve our means in
preventing actions that suspend democracy and the rule
of law. We can celebrate the fact that the international
community responded unanimously to the forceful
interruption of constitutional order in Honduras and the
ousting of President José Manuel Zelaya. Mexico,
together with the majority of countries of the
hemisphere, has acted within regional mechanisms,
including the Rio Group, which we chair, to secure
President Zelaya’s return to office and that democratic
order is restored based on the initiative of President
Arias of Costa Rica. We issue an emphatic call to the
de facto authorities to continue the dialogue with the
commission established under the auspices of the
Organization of American States, to abstain from any
act that would endanger the inviolability of the
Embassy of Brazil, where President Zelaya is located
and to respect his physical safety and that of those who
are with him.
Let us work together for a world that is more
secure and more just, a world where in the words of the
great Octavio Paz, liberty can take root — a prosperous
world anchored by the rights and freedoms of
individuals.