Honduras, 2012

As

always, it is an honour to participate in this Assembly

of the peoples of the world, which pursues the ongoing

struggle, among others, for the universal principles

upheld since 1948. It is here and at this time that we can

see that we are different, precisely in this Assembly,

which reflects the wealth of our diversity. It is here

where we work constantly to overcome our natural

differences, respond to our common problems and

strengthen the human family through agreed outcomes.

The international community must be consistent

in that objective. We must be partners and allies at all

times, ready to put forward initiatives, solutions and

reforms that strengthen the need for close cooperation

in the joint responsibility to protect not only the right

to that diversity, but also the right to demonstrate it and

to fully live it. All must participate in this forum, with

no sister nation excluded or not invited. We are called

upon to ensure the full recognition of each and every

one, with complete security for all.

In Honduras, for some years we have acknowledged

in all areas the need for a reform process that

ensures respect for people’s rights. Our first action,

in accordance with our national law, was to invite

regional and international organizations to come to

Honduras and see our proposals and our work. We

have set up a unit to investigate crimes against sexual

diversity — lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender —

under the Office of the Public Prosecutor. It focuses

its attention on vulnerable groups and on furthering

dialogue with the broader civil society.

On gender issues, the Honduran State has a policy

gender progamme, which is a technical and political

tool to help women achieve full equality and fairness.

My Government supports a 40-per-cent share of women

in elected posts in the 2013 electoral campaign and a

50-per cent participation in the following election in

2017. In April, the National Congress of the Republic

adopted a law against trafficking in persons. That is a

measure of compliance by the State of Honduras with

important recommendations on trafficking in persons

drawn up by international human rights bodies.

As we continue our fight for indigenous peoples,

another essential part of our national plan and vision

for the country is to put an end to the exclusion of such

peoples and those of African descent and to ensure their full and legitimate right to preserve their culture,

language, traditions and world view. I am accompanied

at this Assembly by a representation of all indigenous

peoples in Honduras. Last year, we held the first World

Summit for People of African Descent in Honduras.

Next year, we will hold a world summit on indigenous

peoples.

Today’s world presents a range of new threats to our

countries that are not traditional in form and that have

created new dynamics. I am referring to the activities

of transnational criminal organizations. According to

research centres that track illicit economic activity, it is

estimated that those groups now account for 10 per cent

of the global gross domestic product. Those activities

include money-laundering, bribes, drug trafficking,

counterfeit, piracy and illicit trafficking in persons and

weapons.

That astounding amount of financial resources

dangerously corrupts our societies and Governments. In

my view, it has become a threat to international security

that must be assessed, understood and fought against

by all members of the United Nations. My country and

our citizens are victims of the insatiable appetite for

drugs in developed countries and of the greed of the

producers and traffickers, who become rich on huge

profits stained with the blood of the innocent. Honduras

is neither a consumer or producer country. Moreover,

the traffickers come from the south and the north but

those who die are Honduran. The mothers who suffer

are Honduran, as are the orphans.

However, Honduras is not unaware of the problem.

Despite our limited economic resources, we are

facing such challenges with the necessary resolve

to find comprehensive and immediate solutions to

that situation. Our primary objective is to defend the

sovereignty and territorial integrity of our territory in

the face of the aggression of which we are victims. To

that end, by every means possible we must stop drugs

from entering our country and ensure a complete

prohibition of those that enter our national territory.

We have therefore updated the regulatory framework

and are reforming our institutions and security system.

As violence and crime threaten our young people,

we have launched prevention programmes that can

open up better horizons and opportunities. Legal

and institutional reform and the implementation of

programmes and projects to stop the violence have

started to yield results. The most recent figures of the independent Violence Watch in Honduras show that the

rate of homicides has fallen by 8.5 per cent this year.

That figure, added to the 10-per cent drop in the annual

increase just recorded, represents a total reduction in the

homicide rate of 18.5 per cent per 100,000 inhabitants.

However, it is not only up to us victims to make an

effort. As was made clear at the Summit of the Americas

and at the recent General Assembly of the Organization

of American States, combating organized crime, in

particular illicit drug trafficking and related criminal

activities, is a common, shared, but differentiated

responsibility.

At this great Assembly, I wish to underscore the

resolute cooperation of Colombia and Chile and the

recent memorandum of understanding signed between

Honduras and the United States of America. We

also welcome the most recent measures taken by the

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the issue of f light

bans.

With regard to Colombia, allow me to congratulate

its President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón and his

Government on his initiative to put an end to 50 years

of war among brothers. We commend the Fuerzas

Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia for their

receptiveness. We also welcome the cooperation of the

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Chile, Cuba and

Norway. We wish them every success and hope that

peace will return to that country.

I would also like to thank the United Nations Office

on Drugs and Crime for its full support and recognition

of the fact that we in Central America cannot face such

scourges alone. We must seek every mechanism and try

to be as creative as possible in dealing with that threat.

With greater respect for human rights and more

citizen security, we will have more and better education.

Honduras has therefore launched a significant reform

process. The National Congress has adopted laws to

bolster education and to ensure the participation of the

family and the community. Our focus and key objective

are to provide a sound foundation for our children and

our youth. We support the right of teachers to disagree

and, on occasion, to demonstrate, but the rights of

children and young people to the education that they

receive in their classrooms cannot be allowed to be

interrupted.

Look at what is happening to us, according to

UNICEF data. In Honduras, approximately 600 teaching days have been lost in State schools and colleges in the

past 10 years. That data is equivalent to three school

years of 200 days. That means that a boy or a girl who

has completed ninth grade in their studies has, in fact,

only received a sixth-grade education. Clearly, that is

a step backwards for society in general. According to

figures from the Department of Education, in 2009, 80

school days were lost, in 2010, 30 days and, in 2011,

40 days. All those days correspond to calls for massive

teacher walk-outs. According to a study of the National

Independent University of Honduras, the country’s

principal university, of the top 100 colleges, that

leading State college is ranked in seventeenth position.

What an injustice.

It is our poorest children and young people, those

who cannot afford private education, who go to State

schools. We are condemning them to remain victims of

the most serious exclusion. Those who most need them

are denied opportunities. Why do we not declare in this

Assembly of peoples that classrooms are sanctuaries of

education and must never be closed?

We must continue our efforts to ensure greater

access for the poor to the productive sectors of the

national economy. Rapid, fair and sustainable growth

is the true productive development of the country and,

along with education and health care, the best way to

reduce poverty and extreme poverty.

From the Office of the President and the First Lady,

who is here with me at the Assembly, among others,

we are working on a very important conditional cash

transfer programme. It currently reaches 30 per cent of

our poor families. That is an immediate and specific

response to social exclusion.

Our geographic location makes Honduras one of

the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Along

with our socio-economic characteristics, that compels

us, both nationally and regionally, to remain constantly

vigilant in order to respond to natural threats and

disasters. That is why we deem it key to participate in

all specialized forums, in particular the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development.

Today and now, in this Hall, Honduras reiterates

its commitment to the international community to the

comprehensive reform of the United Nations system.

That will help to strengthen the principle of universality

on the basis of just, fair and inclusive representation.

The challenge is for us all and our commitment is

universal. That is why we are gathered here now.