Andorra

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to begin by congratulating His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid on his election as President of this General Assembly and His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres on his reappointment for a second term as Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), this great assembly of all peoples and for all peoples, whose main objective is to build a system of values and a code of conduct based on multilateralism and cooperation. We wish you every success in this new period that we hope will be largely marked by economic and social recovery that is more human and more sustainable and anchored in the conviction that solidarity must be the foundation of our actions. I would also like to thank His Excellency Mr. Volkan Bozkir, who has tirelessly maintained the activity of the Assembly throughout the 75th session. The year 2020 will be a year that will be remembered in our modern history, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis has shaken the pillars of our societies and had repercussions in almost all areas. Today, more than ever, we are aware that our present can change course and our future can be challenged irreparably and without warning. The pandemic has cruelly reminded us of our fragility and our lack of preparedness in the face of a crisis of such magnitude. The Declaration on the occasion of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations underlined the fact that our world remains far from realizing the goals set out by the founders of this great organization. The United Nations was built upon the ashes of the deadliest conflict in history to send a message of peace to the world, overcome the challenges of the world and provide an institutional framework to that end. It has made great strides in such crucial areas as human rights, poverty eradication, building democratic institutions, the fight against climate change, sustainable development and the protection of the most vulnerable people in armed conflicts. Unfortunately, we continue to have a long way to go. This year, the rich countries have once again asserted their privileged position: we have enjoyed rapid access to vaccines and have hoarded millions of doses, which has once again increased inequalities. The world is once again witnessing entire families fleeing their home countries in search of a better future, humanitarian crises worsening, the planet sounding the alarm that the point of no return on climate change will soon be reached and the wholesale backsliding on women’s rights. Mr. President, Let me congratulate you on the appropriateness of the theme of this 76th General Assembly: “the presidency of hope”. Hope. Indeed, all is not lost. We must continue our efforts and plan and propose a response that will allow for the recovery of the countries most ravaged by the pandemic — a response based on more sustainable and inclusive development that leaves no one behind so that everyone can live their lives in peace, with dignity and on an equal footing. You are urging us to cooperate, pool our multilateral efforts and do so with respect for the founding values of the United Nations in a spirit of inclusion. On 20 and 21 April, Andorra hosted the 27th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, under the theme, entitled “Innovation for sustainable development — Goal 2030”, at which my country — a country with a population of 78,000 — addressed a community of 670 million people. We had the opportunity to highlight the essential role of multilateralism, especially in the face of challenges, such as the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, as no country or State, no matter how powerful, can meet a challenge of such magnitude without the participation of the international community at large. Throughout the past few months, we have seen that the hope of curbing the COVID-19 epidemic lies with vaccines. Vaccines are the most powerful tool at our disposal to fight the pandemic, but they will be ineffective if the entire global population cannot benefit from them. That is why the collaboration that exists among public institutions, the private sector, universities and research centres must also be focused on the delivery of vaccines. That is the call I made on 21 April. It is unacceptable that such disparity in vaccination rates between developed and developing countries remains. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned us that such an attitude will lead to a disastrous moral failure because the pandemic will continue so long as the solution is only partially implemented. There is still time to avoid such a situation. We must promote more effective systems, such as the COVAX Facility to which Andorra is honoured to contribute so as to ensure timely universal access to vaccines. The climate emergency is the other great challenge that we must consider from an inclusive point of view. There is no turning back. It is too late to rectify our environmental mistakes, but it is not too late to stop making more. The next decade will be fundamental for the future of our planet. The COP26 to be held next November in Glasgow will be the last opportunity for the most powerful economies to transform their commitments into reality and achieve carbon neutrality. Andorra welcomes in a positive light the two high-level meetings that will be held within the framework of the 76th United Nations General Assembly. The Food Systems Summit, which Andorra will attend, could not be timelier. Agricultural production, distribution and income, as well as consumption patterns, have very serious consequences for human beings and the environment. Making amends with nature and the planet is possible if we adopt an approach that combines healthy food, traditional knowledge and science in order to innovate and conserve the only resource we have and that we must learn to share sustainably — the planet. Andorra has taken part in the global call to make SDG 2 (to end hunger) an imminent reality. According to the report on food insecurity by the FAO and other agencies, world hunger and child obesity are increasing. Those seemingly opposite trends must compel us reflect on the urgent need to reform food production and consumption systems in order to achieve more sustainable and healthier models and consumption patterns. To that end, I welcome the role of the FAO and the World Food Programme, which are contributing to meeting SDG 2, which should be met as soon as possible. We are facing an exercise in rebuilding in several areas: health care, the economy, the environment and migration. Our modes of working, movement and consumption have been challenged in and of themselves. The question remains as to whether we want to return to the normality that we lost. Let us take the opportunities that this great organization, the United Nations, provides us for resolving that issue so that multilateralism will become the path to follow and find solutions for all our citizens. The United Nations has at its disposal the mechanisms to move forward, identify and analyse imbalances, injustices and the most vulnerable populations and articulate the solutions that States can provide. We must insist on the pillar of human rights, which must guide us in all our actions. Andorra therefore supports the Secretary-General’s proposal to convene a summit of the future. The preservation of peace and security is the raison d’etre of this organization. It is one of its founding pillars. But I note with concern the worsening humanitarian crises, including the increase in poverty, the ever-more frequent and devastating occurrence of natural disasters and the reduction in international aid. Some of these catastrophic situations have been ongoing for years. The United Nations has mechanisms, such as peacekeeping operations, to alleviate the impact of such situations, but prevention, which is multidimensional, must be the main objective of our action, as well as the protection of the most vulnerable, inclusion and equality. We have entered the 76th session. In the Declaration adopted on the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, we reaffirmed our confidence in this organization and multilateralism. We know that we must act together and proactively and that we must take on new challenges, such as digital cooperation so that no one is left behind and the inclusion of young people, who are the vectors of change. Ladies and gentlemen, let us make no mistake. The future of better prepared generations is in our hands. Their life experience and maturity depend largely on the consequences of our action and inaction. We cannot fail them once again. Education is a human right that, since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, has been acknowledged in SDG 4 and as one of the main catalysts for sustainable development, poverty eradication, and conflict prevention. By empowering people and communities and providing quality education, SDG 4 is the best way to transform societies and protect your planet When we invest in girls and women’s education; when they participate in every facet of life; and when our actions are inclusive, the conditions are right for creating change and economic and social progress for the benefit of all. Equality and gender balance require the active participation of women not only so that they can have access to decision-making spaces, but also so that their voices can be meaningfully considered, regardless of their situation or condition. New relationships must be established to end patriarchal patterns, which are genuine obstacles for half of the world’s population. The empowerment of women, which has made strides, cannot be allowed to stop or backslide because of the pandemic. I would like to commend the work of UN-Women and congratulate its new Executive Director, Ambassador Sima Sami Bahous. Andorra is staying the course, as it has firmly committed itself in recent years to promoting policies related to gender equality. That commitment is reflected in its legislation, which sets out a pioneering and ambitious system to promote gender equality and the fight against discrimination. Mr. President, Andorra has been part of the international community since 1993. It is a country with a small territory and population. But Andorra must not, and has never, used that as a pretext to shirk in responding to or shouldering national and international responsibilities and overcoming related challenges. In 2013, the highest-level representative of the UN visited Andorra on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of our membership in the United Nations. The Secretary-General of the UN, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, underscored, “the dignity of the Andorran people. The pride in [its] story ... singularity ... and solidarity”. He asked the Andorrans to go even further. We heard him, and we have committed ourselves to that path. We are part of this community, and we must all assume the same responsibility. It is in this spirit that, as we live in a mountain environment, we are addressing the climate crisis. Last August, every media source echoed the conclusions of the latest report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned of the serious consequences of climate change and global warming. As I mentioned earlier, the countdown has begun. In terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation, Andorra has committed itself to the terms of the Paris Agreement and is investing in renewable energy production and carbon taxation to reduce its emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. We are at the forefront of a critical project which promotes biodiversity through a national strategy, and we want to become the first country to be designated as a biosphere reserve through our model of balance between development and sustainability. We are sparing no effort to achieve the energy transition and promote renewable energies. We are reducing our energy dependency and subsidizing programmes for energy efficiency in buildings and electromobility. The imminent entry into force of the carbon tax has also enabled us to significantly lower the cost of public transport. We will soon adopt circular economy legislation that will enable us to move from a linear economy to a more efficient economic model that will optimize the use of natural resources, reduce environmental impact and will allow for the use of products and natural resources to be maintained for as long as possible, thereby preventing emissions and material losses. Excellencies, Andorra’s measures to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have always focused on guaranteeing the health of people and safeguarding its health-care system. I thank our neighbouring countries, France, Spain and Portugal, for their solidarity in distributing vaccines, as well as the supply mechanisms of the European Union and the WHO, through the COVAX Facility, thanks to which Andorra has been able to administer full vaccine doses to almost 75 per cent of its population over 16 years of age. The COVID -19 epidemic has had a significant impact on the Andorran economy. Andorra is a country that highly depends on the tourism sector. The Government has supported families, workers and businesses. As a result of the pandemic, we have ramped up some of the initiatives we had already undertaken, and we have promoted new ones to rethink tourism as a sustainable economic vector and open our economy to new sectors. We are committed to recovery, which will allow us to create stability, growth and the diversification of our economy, create new jobs and redirect public spending to the sectors with the greatest multiplier effect, with a special focus on policies for health, sustainability, science, innovation and human capital. The COVID-19 epidemic has tested us as a society. It has taught us that the present and the future require less individualism, selfishness and confrontation and more cooperation, resilience, empathy and solidarity. No country or community has been able to tackle this pandemic without an approach based on solidarity. Owing to its calling and nature, Andorra is unable to leave anyone behind. Andorra will do its utmost to contribute, together with all of you, to transforming the world in accordance with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. With this message reiterating our clear commitment to multilateralism and the United Nations, we begin this 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. I thank you all.