Brazil, 2003

Let my first

words before this world parliament be of confidence in

the human capacity to overcome challenges and to

move towards higher forms of partnership, both within

and among nations. On behalf of the Brazilian people, I

reaffirm our belief in the United Nations. Its role in

promoting peace and social justice remains

irreplaceable.

I pay tribute to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for

the leadership that he has shown in defence of a world

united through respect for international law and

solidarity among nations.

The Assembly convenes under the impact of the

brutal attack on the United Nations Mission in

Baghdad, which took the life of its head officer, the

High Commissioner for Human Rights, our compatriot

Sergio Vieira de Mello. Sergio's renowned competence

was nurtured by the only weapons in which he

believed: dialogue, persuasion and, above all, concern

for those who are most vulnerable. On behalf of the

United Nations, he showed a tolerant, peace-loving and

courageous humanism that mirrors Brazil's libertarian

soul. Sergio's sacrifice, and that of his colleagues, must

not be in vain. We can best honour his memory by

redoubling our efforts to protect human dignity

wherever it is threatened.

I warmly greet Mr. Julian Hunte, who was elected

President of the Assembly at a particularly grave

moment in the history of the United Nations. The

international community faces enormous political,

economic and social challenges requiring an

accelerated pace of reform. Only thus will our

collective decisions and actions be truly respected and

effective.

In my nine months as President of Brazil, I have

conferred with leaders of all continents, and I have

sensed in them a deep concern to defend and strengthen

multilateral institutions. The improvement of the

multilateral system is a necessary counterpart to

democratic practice within nations. Every nation that

practices democracy must strive to ensure that in

international affairs, decision-making is equally open,

transparent, legitimate and representative. The

tragedies that have befallen Iraq and the Middle East

can be overcome only within a multilateral

framework one in which the United Nations is given

a central role.

In Iraq, the prevailing climate of insecurity and

growing tension makes national reconstruction an even

more complex task. That impasse can be overcome

only under the leadership of the United Nations

leadership not only in re-establishing acceptable

security conditions, but also in guiding the political

process towards the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty as

soon as possible. We must not shy away from our

collective responsibilities. A war can perhaps be won

single-handedly, but peace lasting peace cannot

be secured without the support of all.

Two years later, the images of the barbaric attack

on 11 September still haunt us. There is a

commendable willingness today to adopt more

effective measures to deal with terrorism, with

weapons of mass destruction and with organized crime.

Unfortunately, there are also worrisome signs of an

attempt to discredit the Organization and even to divest

the United Nations of its political authority. Let there

be no ambiguity on this subject: no matter how

invaluable its humanitarian work, the United Nations

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was conceived to do more than simply to clear away

the rubble of conflicts that it was unable to prevent.

Our central task is to preserve people from the scourge

of war, to negotiate settlements inspired by the

principles and objectives of the San Francisco Charter.

Let us not place greater trust on military might than on

the institutions we created with the light of reason and

the vision of history.

Reform of the United Nations has become an

urgent task, given the present risks to the international

political order.

The Security Council must be fully empowered to

deal with crises and threats to peace. It must therefore

be equipped with the tools for effective action. Above

all, its decisions must seen as legitimate by the

community of nations as a whole. Its composition, in

particular as concerns permanent membership, cannot

remain unaltered almost 60 years later. It can no longer

ignore the changing world. More specifically, it must

take into account the emergence on the international

scene of developing countries. They have become

important actors that often exercise a critical role in

ensuring the pacific settlement of disputes.

Brazil believes that it has a useful contribution to

make. It seeks not to advance an exclusive conception

of international security, but rather to give expression

to the perceptions and aspirations of a region that today

is a hallmark of peaceful coexistence among its

members and that is a force for international stability.

Given the support we received in South America and

beyond, Brazil is encouraged to continue advocating

for a Security Council that better reflects contemporary

reality.

We also favour an Economic and Social Council

capable of bringing about a fair and just economic

order. It is crucial that the Economic and Social

Council regain the role bestowed upon it by the

founding fathers of the Organization. We wish to see

the Economic and Social Council cooperate actively

with the Security Council in preventing conflicts and in

nation building.

The General Assembly, in turn, must be

strengthened politically so as to focus on priority issues

and avoid duplication of effort. The General Assembly

has fulfilled a historically important role by convening

major conferences and other meetings on human rights,

the environment, population, women's rights, racial

discrimination, AIDS and social development.

However, the General Assembly should not hesitate to

assume its responsibilities for maintaining international

peace and security. Our Organization has shown that

there are legal and political alternatives to a veto-

induced paralysis and to actions lacking multilateral

endorsement.

Peace, security, development and social justice

are indivisible. Brazil has endeavoured to practice with

utmost consistency the principles for which it stands.

The new relationship we are forging with our South

American neighbours is founded on mutual respect,

friendship and cooperation.

We are moving beyond our shared history and

geography to create a unique sense of kinship and

partnership. In this context, our relationship with

Argentina remains crucial.

South America and Latin America are

increasingly seen as a region of peace, democracy and

development that aspires to become a new outpost for

growth in a stagnating world economy.

We are deepening the already significant ties with

traditional partners in North America and Europe,

but we also seek to widen and diversify our

international presence. Our relations with China and

the Russian Federation have revealed unexpected

complementarities.

We are proud to be the country with the second

largest population of African descent in the world. In

November, I will be travelling to five countries in

Southern Africa to foster economic, political, social

and cultural cooperation. With the same goal in mind,

we will also host a summit meeting between South

American countries and the member States of the

League of Arab States. With India and South Africa we

have established a trilateral forum for political

consultations and joint projects.

The protectionism practised by rich countries

unfairly penalizes efficient producers in developing

countries. Today this is the greatest obstacle to

launching a new era of economic and social progress.

Brazil and its partners in the G-22 maintained during

the World Trade Organization summit meeting at

Cancun that the crucial goal of effectively opening

markets is achievable through pragmatic and mutually

reinforcing negotiations that bring about an effective

opening of markets. I reaffirm our willingness to travel

along a path that converges towards solutions that

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benefit all countries, taking into account the interests

of developing countries.

We are entirely in favour of free trade as long as

we can all compete on a level playing field.

Liberalization should not require countries to abandon

the prerogative of formulating industrial, technological,

social and environmental policy. In Brazil we are

engaged in setting up a new framework that balances

economic stability and social inclusion. From that

standpoint, trade negotiations are not an end in

themselves, but rather a means to foster development

and overcome poverty. International trade should be a

tool not only for creating wealth, but also for its

distribution.

I reaffirm before this truly universal Assembly

the appeal I launched at the Davos and Porto Alegre

forums and at the Enlarged Summit of the G-8 at

Evian. We must wage both politically and

materially the only war from which we will all

emerge victorious: the war against hunger and extreme

poverty.

The eradication of hunger in the world is a moral

and political imperative. And we all know that it is

possible. What is truly required is political will.

I do not wish to dwell on indications of

barbarism. I would rather acknowledge ethical and

social progress, no matter how modest. Yet we cannot

dismiss the statistics that expose the terrible scourge of

extreme poverty and hunger in the world. Hunger today

touches a fourth of the world's population, including

300 million children. Daily, 24,000 people fall victim

to malnutrition-related diseases.

Nothing is more absurd or intolerable than the

pervasiveness of hunger in the twenty-first century, this

golden age of science and technology.

With each passing day, human intelligence

enlarges the horizons of the possible and achieves

prodigious feats. Yet, hunger persists and, what is

worse, it is spreading throughout various regions of the

planet.

The more we seem to approach the divine through

our creative abilities, the more humanity betrays its

aspirations through our inability to respect and protect

our fellow creatures. The more we celebrate God by

generating riches, the more we hurt our ideals by not

minimally sharing them.

What is the use of all our science and technology,

of all the abundance and luxury that it has generated, if

we do not put it to use, guaranteeing the most sacred of

rights: the right to life?

I recall the penetrating warning, made by Pope

Paul VI 36 years ago, but which is still surprisingly

relevant: The starving people of the world

dramatically address their plea to the wealthy'.

Hunger is an emergency, and it should be dealt

with as such. The eradication of hunger is a

civilizational challenge that requires that we seek a

shortcut to the future. Will we act to eliminate hunger

or will we forsake our credibility through omission?

We no longer have the right to allege that we were not

home when they knocked at our door asking for

solidarity. We have no right to say to the famished who

have waited for so long: come back next century. The

true path to peace is to fight hunger and extreme

poverty to the end, in a campaign of solidarity that

unites the planet rather than deepening the divisions

and the hatred that inflame people and sow terror.

Despite the failure of systems that favour the

generation of wealth without reducing extreme poverty,

many people still persist in their short-sightedness and

greed.

Since my inauguration as President of Brazil on 1

January, significant progress has been made on the

economic front. Stability is back and the groundwork

for a renewed cycle of sustained growth has been laid.

We will continue to work hard to balance public

accounts and to reduce external vulnerability. We will

spare no effort to increase exports, raise the savings

rate, attract foreign investment and start growing again.

Yet at the same time we must strive to cope with

the need for food, jobs, education and health services

for millions of Brazilians living below the poverty line.

We are committed to bringing about major social

reform in the country.

Hunger is the most dramatic and urgent

expression of a structural imbalance requiring

correction through integrated policies that foster full

citizenship. That is why I launched the zero hunger'

programme in Brazil. It seeks to eradicate hunger and

its root causes in the shortest possible time by

promoting major solidarity and wide-ranging

programmes bringing together Government, civil

society and the private sector. The results of those

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emergency and structural measures are already

benefiting 4 million individuals who were previously

denied the right to a daily meal. The goal of this

programme is to guarantee that no Brazilians will go

hungry.

The United Nations adopted the highly acclaimed

Millennium Development Goals. The Food and

Agriculture Organization has at its disposal outstanding

technical and social expertise. But we need to make a

qualitative leap in the global endeavour to fight hunger.

That is why I proposed setting up a global fund to fight

hunger and suggested means to make it operational.

Other proposals have been put forward as well, some

already integrated into existing United Nations

programmes.

What has been lacking until now is the

indispensable political will of us all, especially of those

countries in a position to contribute most. Creating new

funds is of no use if no resources are committed to

them. The Millennium Development Goals are very

worthy, but if we remain passive, if our collective

behaviour remains unchanged, those Goals may never

materialize, and the ensuing frustration will be

immense.

Now more than ever, good intentions must give

rise to concrete gestures. We must put commitments

into practice. We must practice what we preach with

audacity, good sense and our feet firmly on the ground,

yet boldly, and with new methods, solutions and

intense social participation.

For this reason, I am submitting a proposal for

consideration by the General Assembly to establish a

world committee within the United Nations itself to

fight hunger. It would be made up of heads of State or

Government from all continents with the purpose of

unifying and operationalizing proposals. We hope to

attract donations from developed and developing

countries according to their capacities, as well as from

large private enterprises and non-governmental

organizations.

My life experience and political history have

taught me to believe above all in the power of

dialogue. I will never forget Gandhi's invaluable lesson

that when out of violence something good appears to

result, this good is at best short-lived, while the evil

that it produces is enduring. Democratic dialogue is the

most efficient of all tools for change. With the same

determination that goes into my endeavours and those

of my partners to make Brazilian society more just and

humane, I will invest in the establishment of

international partnerships that foster equitable

development and a more peace-loving, tolerant and

unified world.

This century, so full of technological and material

promise, must not be allowed to slide into political and

spiritual decline. It is our obligation to mould, under

the reinvigorated leadership of the United Nations, an

international climate of peace and conciliation. True

peace will bloom from democracy, from respect for

international law, from the dismantling of deadly

weapons arsenals and, above all, from the final

eradication of hunger in the world.

We cannot afford to frustrate such high hopes.

The greatest and noblest challenge facing humanity is

precisely that of becoming more humane. It is time to

call peace by its true name: social justice. I am

convinced that together we shall be able to grasp this

historic opportunity to bring about justice.