Mexico, 2007

Permit me to express to you, Sir, my delegation’s warm

congratulations on your election to the presidency of

the General Assembly at its sixty-second session. We

are convinced that you will be able to skilfully guide

our efforts to attain the common objectives that we

have set for the session. I should also like to express

Mexico’s gratitude for the excellent work of your

predecessor, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa.

Likewise, I wish to express my gratitude to

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the work

accomplished on major items on our agenda during the

first months of his mandate. I also wish to congratulate

him on the high-level event on climate change, held

last week, which undoubtedly helped to raise

awareness about an issue that deserves priority

attention.

At a time when the international community is

facing many challenges that test our capacity to fulfil

the purposes enshrined in the Charter of the United

Nations, it is essential to strengthen and make effective

use of multilateral institutions. In that connection, the

Organization must daily reaffirm itself as the

indisputable centre for coexistence among States and

the guarantor of compliance with international law.

Mexico, as a founding Member of this pre-eminent

universal forum, takes this opportunity to reaffirm its

firm and decisive commitment to multilateralism.

We are living in a complex world situation

characterized by armed conflicts of various sorts,

including inter-ethnic conflicts that are not confined by

borders; the commission of terrorist acts; the

destabilizing activities of transnational organized

crime; the proliferation of the arms race in all its

aspects; and environmental degradation, situations of

abject poverty, social exclusion and discrimination and

pandemics affecting broad sectors of the world

population. That is why, more than ever before, we

need an Organization capable of meeting the needs of

women and men throughout the world. In that context,

we must think about the role of the United Nations.

Mexico sees three fundamental approaches for

harmonizing relations among States and addressing the

great challenges of our time: shared responsibility in

the face of globalization, the promotion of human

security for development and the responsibility to

cooperate in the multilateral arena.

Every State is responsible, to its own society and

to the international community, for guaranteeing the

rule of law and the full enjoyment of human rights,

promoting development, protecting the environment

and countering new threats to security in order to

provide the best possible living conditions for its

people. The actions of the Government of Mexico at

the internal level are based on those pillars so as to

guarantee the rule of law throughout the national

territory, given the onslaught of organized crime, and

to reaffirm the authority of the State in the full exercise

of its responsibilities.

The security of the population is not limited to

the physical protection of individuals. That is why

human security must be understood as a broad and

integral concept that can meet the needs of society as a

whole. It is a concept that includes elements ranging

from strict respect for human rights and fundamental

freedoms to adequate preparation of the population to

deal with natural disasters or pandemics.

Mindful of the value of the individual, the

Government of Mexico bases its activities on the quest

for sustainable human development, which means

seeking to promote the comprehensive development of

individuals in all aspects social, economic, political,

cultural, human and environmental and to do it in

such a way as to ensure that future generations have

opportunities to achieve well-being.

Within the framework of multilateral institutions,

States have freely shouldered the obligation to

cooperate with others in addressing all problems in

areas such as, inter alia, combating drug trafficking and

terrorism and preserving the environment, in which

internal efforts alone are insufficient and concerted

action is required.

Shared responsibility in the face of globalization,

promoting human security for development and the

responsibility to cooperate in the multilateral arena are

among the main concerns of our Organization. A good

example of this is climate change. As the

Secretary-General himself has indicated, climate

change is among the most serious, complex and

multifaceted threats confronting the world. Mexico

favours the multilateral climate change regime

developed within the United Nations as an ideal

framework for shaping commitments to be adopted in

the near future. The United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol

are the appropriate areas for negotiation.

Emerging and developing countries must consider

the fact that the costs of inaction of passivity in the

face of climate change will be to the detriment of their

own development efforts. We in Mexico have

understood this. The national development plan 2007-

2012 includes actions related to environmental

sustainability, with two specific objectives: reducing

emissions of greenhouse gases and promoting measures

to adapt to the effects of climate change. The inaction

of others must not be a pretext for failing to do our

part. We are convinced that shared but differentiated

responsibilities must motivate all countries to take

action to the best of their abilities and that developed

countries, without exception, must contribute

substantially to the collective effort in the

technological and financial sphere.

Mexico believes that we must break away from

the limitations of the Clean Development Mechanism

of the Kyoto Protocol, whereby the achievement of

developed countries’ goals depends on their

geographical location. What we need are positive

incentives to supplement, not replace, the national

efforts of developing countries. It is urgent that such

incentives reward the efforts of beneficiary countries

that make such efforts in their own interests.

Accordingly, those that do more should receive greater

support.

In recent years, the international community has

had to face a series of challenges in the fight against

terrorism. One of those challenges has been to

guarantee the maintenance of international peace and

security in the face of terrorism’s evil effects without

renouncing the universal and absolute values of human

rights. That is an essential condition for civilized

coexistence within and beyond our borders.

The United Nations has determined, in a number

of commitments, that measures adopted by States to

combat terrorism and to protect their citizens and

provide adequate security for them must respect

obligations undertaken in accordance with international

law, in particular human rights norms, the rights of

refugees and international humanitarian law.

Promoting and protecting human rights is one of

the highest priorities for the Government of Mexico.

We, the international community, have the

responsibility to ensure universal and indivisible

respect for human rights for all, regardless of the

circumstances. Today, the situation in Myanmar

demands our attention.

The creation of the Human Rights Council and

the adoption of the institutional reform package, which

includes the establishment of a universal periodic

review mechanism, have marked a watershed in

building a more just and equitable international system

for human rights. Double standards in this area can no

longer exist. With objectivity and in a spirit of

cooperation, we must promote the evaluation of human

rights in all Member States without any distinction.

That effort strengthens the essential role of the

Organization in developing international norms to

protect human rights and represents the most solid

foundation for achieving the well-being of our peoples.

In that regard, we welcome the recent adoption of

the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities and the United Nations Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Mexico remains open to

scrutiny by treaty bodies and to special procedures on

human rights, which have played an essential role in

identifying the challenges our country still faces.

Given the multidimensional nature of

international migration, Mexico believes that our

Organization is the most fitting forum for dealing with

these problems, on the basis of the principle of shared

responsibility and of strengthening cooperation among

States directly affected by that phenomenon. The issue

of migration can in no way be limited solely to its State

security aspects. We must have a comprehensive

understanding based on respect for the human rights of

all migrants, regardless of their legal status, taking into

account the economic, social and cultural implications

of the phenomenon.

We say this from our own experience. Mexico is

a country of origin, transit and destination for

migrants. For that reason, in addition to recognizing

our own responsibility domestically, we must adopt

effective measures to strengthen the international

framework for the protection of migrants. The

International Convention on the Protection of the

Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their

Families is, without a doubt, a valuable reference

point. While we recognize the need to cooperate in that

area, Mexico is shouldering its own responsibility to

create conditions so that our compatriots are able to

find more and better opportunities within our country.

That is why the Government of President Felipe

Calderón is taking action on a number of fronts to

promote public and private investment in order to

develop programmes to create more jobs; to increase

access to secondary and post-secondary education; to

guarantee access to medical services, including in the

most isolated and marginalized areas of the country; to

ensure social security coverage; and to reduce

inequality among our citizens.

It is clear that the success of our development

policies requires a favourable international economic

environment and cooperation among States. The United

Nations is playing an essential role in providing

technical assistance and monitoring the implementation

of commitments undertaken by the international

community at the major conferences, summits and

forums sponsored by the Organization.

Seven years from the date set for the achievement

of the Millennium Development Goals, we note with

concern that while significant progress has been

achieved in some areas of the world, in other areas

there are still delays and even steps backward. We

recognize that each country is responsible for its own

development. However, national efforts must be

accompanied by international action based on the

global alliance forged at the International Conference

on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey,

Mexico. That will ensure complementarity between

national strategies and the development of the world

economy. Mexico hopes that the Economic and Social

Council’s new Development Cooperation Forum and

the international review conference on the Monterrey

Consensus to be held in Doha in 2008 will be steps in

that direction.

International security requires renewed

commitments. Although there has been a numerical

reduction in nuclear arsenals since the end of the cold

war, it is disturbing to see the growing sophistication

of related technology. Unfortunately, that points to a

new phase in the arms race. Mexico is convinced that

the only guarantee against the use of nuclear weapons

is a progressive reduction aimed at their complete

elimination and the certainty that they will never be

produced again. As one of the initial steps for

achieving nuclear disarmament, the Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty must enter into force as soon

as possible. Mexico also believes that the vital

strengthening of the non-proliferation regime requires

the fulfilment of obligations undertaken by all States,

nuclear and non-nuclear, under the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), with a

view to its universalization. If no progress is achieved

on non-proliferation or disarmament, fear, mistrust and

greater insecurity will prevail. In this regard, the NPT

review conference to be held in 2010 is a new

opportunity for safeguarding and strengthening these

objectives.

We welcome the agreements recently reached

with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We

are convinced that the ongoing controversy over

nuclear matters in the case of the Islamic Republic of

Iran must be resolved through diplomacy and strict

compliance with commitments undertaken within the

framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Mexico supports the resolution of conflicts in

various regions through dialogue, negotiations and full

respect for international law. That is particularly true in

dealing with the most critical items on the United

Nations agenda.

We are following with particular attention recent

developments on various aspects of the situation in the

Middle East and their impact on international stability.

We support efforts aimed at a new peace process

between Israel and Palestine, convinced that a final

solution can be achieved only through negotiation

between the parties with the active support of the

international community. We hope that in the very near

future the State of Israel and a politically and

economically viable Palestinian State can coexist

within secure and internationally recognized borders,

in accordance with the relevant Security Council

resolutions.

If multilateralism has returned, it is now up to

States to show the political will necessary to promote

concrete reform, ranging from adjusting the Security

Council to meet the needs of our time to ensuring

greater coherence in action to promote sustainable

development. The response to the institutional crisis of

recent years does not lie in alternative mechanisms or

unilateral or partial approaches, but rather, we must

give the Organization the necessary tools to carry out

its responsibilities effectively.

Mexico believes that expanding the Security

Council is an unavoidable necessity in order to make

that body more representative. In this regard, my

Government favours increasing the number of

non-permanent members, with the possibility of being

re-elected in order to promote accountability. We

believe that any other formula will highlight existing

inequalities.

Mexico is the tenth largest contributor to this

Organization and a country loyal to the cause of the

United Nations. We are committed to its reform and

ready to shoulder greater responsibilities on the

international scene. In line with this vision, Mexico has

submitted its candidacy for a non-permanent seat on

the Security Council for the 2009-2010 period.

The Government of Mexico has expressed its

political will to constructively participate in the work

of the Council in the areas of maintaining international

peace and security and dealing with questions on the

world agenda that are within the purview of the

Council.

On this basis, Mexico reaffirms its determination

to actively contribute to building a more secure,

democratic and equitable international society.