Allow
me first, Sir, to congratulate you on your election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixtieth
session.
I should like to avail myself of this opportunity to
express from the very bottom of the Peruvian heart our
sincere feeling of solidarity with the women and men
of the United States who have suffered as a result of
the natural disasters in Mississippi, Alabama and other
southern states. Their suffering is shared by us, just as
we would share suffering anywhere in the world. I am
sure that the faith and hope of the people of the United
States will enable them to overcome this tragedy.
A year ago in this forum (see A/59/PV.5) I spoke
of the need to face, with vision and realism, the new
challenges now facing us, the developing countries in
particular. On the one hand, our countries are
becoming part of the globalization of production, trade,
financial flows, the digital telecommunications
revolution, and the spread of values such as democracy
and human rights. At the same time, however, the
world is fragmented by an increase in social inequities,
the proliferation of civil wars, the collapse of States,
genocide, terrorism, transnational crime and
environmental degradation. These contradictory trends
of globalization on the one hand and fragmentation on
the other, call into question the governance within
States and within the international system, and
ultimately call into question international collective
security itself.
Peace and security and the stability of the global
system are not related only to political, military and
strategic issues. Peace and security also have social
and economic components. Poverty and exclusion
conspire against peace, security and democracy. Social
exclusion triggers violence and instability, renders
democracy fragile and leads to national and
international fragmentation.
That is why we must agree on action to confront
these contradictions. That is the main commitment that
we as States undertook at the recent High-level Plenary
Meeting on the Millennium Goals, and that is what the
United Nations and the multilateral system as a whole
must tackle next. That is why I am highlighting the two
main axes along which these commitments must
develop. I refer to security on the one hand and
development on the other.
While each country is responsible for its own
development, it must be recognized that development
encounters obstacles at the international level that call
for new partnerships and new forms of association.
These must go beyond the assistance-based paradigm
characterizing much so-called development assistance.
And, more important, they must overcome the
asymmetry that currently prevails in relations between
developed and developing countries.
On the one hand, developing countries are being
asked to commit to open their markets, to foreign
investment regimes and to reforming their public
administrations. We agree with all of that. But there is
no matching solid commitment that developed
countries will, as promised, allocate 0.7 per cent of
their gross national product (GNP) for cooperation.
Nor — even less — do we see obstacles to foreign
trade being dismantled.
The new partnership for development has to
overcome adverse factors for developing countries and
eliminate obstacles such as rigid intellectual property
standards, the speculative volatility of global capital,
the lack of foreign investment, subsidies, the debt
burden, and, above all, the absence of genuine special
and differential treatment in trade negotiations for
developing countries.
This is not only about receiving assistance to
reduce poverty; it is also about a new association for
development that will make it possible to generate
employment and create wealth. Implementing this new
partnership would fulfil Millennium Development Goal
8 and the commitments made in the Monterrey
Consensus. That is why it is necessary for the Doha
round to be completed next year. That is tremendously
important.
As the Millennium Declaration recognizes, a very
important cross-cutting element in the partnership for
development is assuring the sustainability of the
environment. As proof of our commitment, I was proud
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some days ago to deposit the instruments of ratification
of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants and the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior
Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, both
of which are intended to reduce the negative impact of
pollution.
As it carries out its development agenda, the
international system must strengthen collective security
to confront threats such as terrorism, nuclear
proliferation, and organized transnational crime. This
year again, we have been shaken by acts of terrorism
perpetuated all over the world. Peru suffered from, and
combated, terror for many long years, and expresses its
solidarity with the victims of these criminal acts. We
reiterate our firm condemnation of all acts of terrorism
and restate our commitment, through mutual
cooperation, to prevent, combat, punish and eradicate
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Peru
appeals to the Assembly not to continue to delay the
adoption of a comprehensive counter-terrorism
convention.
For my Government, international peace and
security is a prime objective, and we have adopted the
following measures in that context. First, Peru is
promoting the limitation of defence spending at the
regional level in order to release resources for social
investment. The first decision I adopted on my
Government’s first day in office was to cut back
military expenditure in my country by 23 per cent in
order to allocate it to food, health, education and social
investments. Progress in this field has been significant;
there are agreements with Chile, Colombia and
Ecuador to craft and implement standardized
methodologies to reduce our military spending.
Secondly, Peru was an advocate of the creation of
the South American Zone of Peace and Cooperation
and the Andean Zone of Peace, which have been
recognized in Assembly resolutions 57/13 and 59/54,
respectively.
Thirdly, Peru participated actively in formulating
the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and
Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light
Weapons in All Its Aspects.
Fourthly, Peru is participating in peacekeeping
operations by providing troops, staff officers, military
observers and equipment. To increase our contribution
in this area, Peru has signed a memorandum of
understanding under the United Nations Stand-by
Arrangements System, which includes army, air force
and navy units. Currently, Peruvian Blue Helmets are
participating in peacekeeping operations in Eritrea-
Ethiopia, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, the Sudan
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as
in Cyprus and Haiti. We cherish peace.
For all these reasons, Peru is a candidate for a
non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the
term 2006-2007 in the elections to be held during this
session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
I should like here to express Peru’s deep gratitude for
the majority support for our candidacy; we now enjoy
the widest possible support from Latin American and
Caribbean countries as well as from our brother
countries in Africa and Asia, the Arab League States
and countries of Europe and of Oceania. This generous
support encourages us and strengthens our commitment
to work with dedication and responsibility in the
Security Council. We are grateful for this opportunity
and the support offered by countries worldwide for our
candidature for a non-permanent seat on the Security
Council for 2006-2007.