As you, Sir,
assume the presidency of the General Assembly at this
sixty-fourth session, my delegation wishes you all the
best in your endeavours and looks forward to working
with you to address the many challenges facing the
global community.
Every year, anticipation surrounds the General
Assembly in the hope that Governments will be able to
find points of agreement on the persisting problems
that afflict humankind and to adopt a common
direction for resolving them in a peaceful manner for
the well-being of all. Understandably, the deliberations
of the preceding session of the General Assembly were
dominated by preoccupation with the world financial
and economic crisis. It is only fitting that this year
delegations have been asked to focus on the theme
“Effective responses to global crises: strengthening
multilateralism and dialogue among civilizations for
international peace, security and development”.
In view of a political and cultural dialogue
oriented towards the harmonious evolving of the world
economy and of international relations, we would do
well to revisit the Preamble of the Charter of the
United Nations, where it affirms that “We the peoples
of the United Nations determined … to reaffirm faith
in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth
of the human person, in the equal rights of men and
women and of nations large and small”.
The various world crises that have intertwined in
the past months bring to the discussion presuppositions
of thought and principles of individual, social and
international behaviour that extend well beyond the
financial or economic fields. The idea of producing
resources and assets — which is the economy — and
strategically managing them — which is politics —
without seeking together with the same actions to carry
out also the good — which is ethics — has been proven
to be a naive or cynical and fatal delusion. The more
solid and profound contribution that the General
Assembly must make to the solution of international
problems lies in promoting the principles contained in
the Preamble and in Article 1 of the Charter of this
Organization in a manner that such high human and
spiritual values serve to renovate the international
order from within, where the real crisis lies.
A first element of truth is found precisely in the
phrase “We the peoples of the United Nations”. The
theme of peace and development, in fact, coincides
with that of the relational inclusion of all peoples in the
unique community of the human family that is
constructed in solidarity. Evident in the various Group
of Eight, Group of 20, regional and international
meetings, held in parallel with the work of the
preceding General Assembly, was the necessity to give
legitimacy to the political commitments assumed and
to confront them with the thoughts and needs of the
entire international community so that the solutions
devised would reflect the points of view and the
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expectations of the populations of all continents. That
is why efficacious modes must be found to connect the
decisions of the various groupings of countries to those
of the United Nations, where every nation, with its
political and economic weight, can legitimately explain
itself in a situation of equality with others.
It is in that context of truth and sincerity that the
recent appeal of Pope Benedict XVI can be seen in
perspective. As he notes in his encyclical “Charity in
Truth”, in the face of the unrelenting growth of global
interdependence there is a strongly felt need, even in
the midst of a global recession, for an urgent reform of
the United Nations, and likewise of economic
institutions and international finance, so that the
concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth.
Such reform is urgent in order to find innovative ways
of implementing the principles of the responsibility to
protect and of giving poorer nations an effective voice
in shared decision-making.
Admittedly, building the United Nations as a true
centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the
attainment of those common ends is an extremely
difficult task. The more the interdependence of peoples
increases, the more the necessity of the United Nations
becomes evident. The need to have an organization
capable of responding to the obstacles and increasing
complexity of the relations between peoples and
nations thus becomes paramount.
As we consider the nature of development and the
role of donor and recipient countries, we must always
remember that true development necessarily involves
an integral respect for human life, which cannot be
disconnected from the development of peoples.
Unfortunately, in some parts of the world today,
development aid seems to be tied rather to the recipient
countries’ willingness to adopt programmes that
discourage demographic growth by methods and
practices disrespectful of human rights and dignity.
In that regard, it is both cynical and unfortunate
that frequent attempts continue to be made to export
such a mentality to developing countries, as if it were a
form of cultural progress or advancement. Yet such a
practice is by its nature not one of reciprocity but
imposition, and to predicate the decision to give
development aid on the acceptance of such policies
constitutes an abuse of power.
Every human being has the right to good
governance, that is, the right to participate in all social
actions, at the national and international level, whether
directly or indirectly, as a guarantee for all persons a
free and dignified life. At the same time, it is an
essential part of that dignity that everyone takes
responsibility for his actions and actively respects the
dignity of others.
Rights always exist inseparably from
responsibilities and duties. This applies to individual
men and women and, by analogy, to States, whose true
progress and affirmation depends on their capacity to
establish and maintain responsible relations with other
States and to express a shared responsibility for world
problems.
The implementation of the principle of the
responsibility to protect, as formulated at the 2005
World Summit and approved by the unanimous
consensus of all United Nations Member States,
becomes a touchstone of the two enunciated principles
of truth in international relations and of global
governance.
The recognition of the core objective and
indispensability of the dignity of every man and
woman ensures that Governments always undertake
with every means at their disposal to prevent and
combat crimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing and any
other crimes against humanity. Thus, by recognizing
their interconnected responsibility to protect States will
realize the importance of accepting the collaboration of
the international community as a means of fulfilling
their role of providing responsible sovereignty.
The mechanisms of the United Nations for
addressing common security and the prevention of
conflicts were developed in response to the threat of
total war and nuclear destruction in the second half of
the last century, and for this reason alone they deserve
perennial historical remembrance. Moreover, the work
of peacekeepers have stabilized and ended innumerable
local conflicts and have made related reconstruction
possible.
Nevertheless, it is well known that the number of
conflicts that the United Nations has not been able to
resolve remains high and that many of them have
become occasions of serious crimes against humanity.
That is why the acceptance of the principle of the
responsibility to protect and of the underlying truths
that guide responsible sovereignty can be the catalyst
for the reform of the mechanisms, procedures and
representativeness of the Security Council.
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In this context, my delegation would like to recall
here the Honduran people, who continue to suffer
frustration and hardship from the already too long
political upheaval. Once more, the Holy See urges the
parties concerned to make every effort to find a prompt
solution in view of the good of the people of Honduras.
This session of the General Assembly began with
the special Summit on Climate Change, and in
December there will be the Copenhagen Climate
Conference. The protection of the environment
continues to be at the forefront of multilateral
activities, because it involves, in consistent form, the
destiny of all the nations and the future of every
individual man and woman.
Recognition of the double truths of
interdependence and personal dignity also requires that
environmental issues are taken as a moral imperative
and translated into legal rules, capable of protecting
our planet and ensuring future generations a healthy
and safe environment.
In closing, I would like to say that in these
changing times the international community — “we,
the peoples” — has the unique chance and
responsibility to ensure full implementation of the
United Nations Charter and thus greater peace and
understanding among nations.