Mongolia, 2010

This session of the

General Assembly is taking place at a time when

certain signs of recovery are being observed in the

wake of the global economic and financial crisis, and

come on the heels of sharp spikes in food and energy

prices. Although the world is still grappling with the

effects of those multiple and interrelated crises, the call

of last week’s summit on the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) for intensified collective action gives

hope for optimism.

As the world plunged into the worst economic

crisis since the Great Depression, the best minds

around the globe sought clear answers as to what went

wrong and what needed to be rectified. Many argued

that the economic theories referred to as neoliberalism

or market fundamentalism, which have prevailed for

the past quarter century, were flawed. Their main

premise — based on the notion, for instance, that

markets are self-correcting and that regulation is

accordingly unnecessary — seems to have been proved

wrong.

The experience of countries and regions that have

achieved rapid growth and progress in poverty

reduction has shown that the State can deliberately

intervene in the economy and even correct market-

based incentives in such a way as to promote inclusive

growth and sustainable development. Hence, a new

concept of development is emerging that envisions a

reversal in the thinking on the roles of the State and the

market.

As a generator of the new and innovative ideas

and development notions that have changed the world

in the past, the United Nations is, in our view, the right

place to engage intimately in nurturing such

fundamental concepts, which could have a huge impact

on the development policies and prospects of its

Member States. That could prove to be an important

aspect of the deliberations that the President proposed

as the theme for this debate — “Reaffirming the central

role of the United Nations in global governance”.

It has been widely recognized that today’s global

challenges require global solutions. The underlying

principles and characteristics of the United Nations

make it an indispensable part of the evolving global

governance system. The United Nations is the world’s

most universal, legitimate and authoritative

organization and a political centre for global

cooperation. It represents a unique forum for

synthesizing solutions to global problems, ranging

from nuclear weapons to climate change, and

development to human rights. It is at the United

Nations that we see world leaders commit themselves

to making the world a safer, fairer, more prosperous

and greener place to live for this and future

generations.

Yet, it is a fact that there are challenges that have

found or are seeking to find solution outside the United

Nations. A legitimate question would be: why? There

may be many factors at play and many facets to cover

in finding an easy answer to that question. But what

has emerged as obvious from our deliberations is the

fact that, if the United Nations is to reaffirm its central

role in global governance, it will have to be efficient

and its reform vigorously pursued.

The revitalization of the General Assembly must

be further pursued so that our deliberations and

decisions have a more practical and meaningful impact

on the lives of the people in whose name we act here.

The role of the Economic and Social Council in global

economic decision-making must be enhanced. The

reform of the Security Council, aimed at making it

more representative of the world’s current reality, will

certainly be a critical boost to reaffirming the central

role of the United Nations in global governance.

Mongolia stands for a just and equitable enlargement

of the Security Council by increasing the number of

permanent and non-permanent seats and ensuring the

fair representation of developing and developed

countries alike.

Development, peace and security, and human

rights are the three main pillars of the United Nations.

Mongolia welcomes the revitalization of the United

Nations development agenda, as attested by the High-

level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the

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Millennium Development Goals last week and, most

importantly, by the vibrant international debate in the

lead-up to the summit. As a result, we are clearly in a

much better place today as regards world leaders’

commitment to intensifying the efforts towards the

achievement of the MDGs by 2015.

On our part, my Government recommitted itself,

at the Summit, to the acceleration of our efforts

towards poverty reduction, gender equality and

environmental sustainability, the three MDGs where

we are lagging behind. We have committed ourselves

to a multisectoral, participatory and people-centred

approach to the implementation of the MDGs, to

improved governance as a foundation for successful

development outcomes, and to better monitoring and

evaluation of our work as we move forward.

As we intensify our poverty reduction efforts at

home, we plan to focus more on issues of gender

equality and the empowerment of women as a critical

part of success. My Government is confident that the

newly created UN Women will be an important partner

in this endeavour. This year, Mongolia presented its

national voluntary presentation on gender equality and

the empowerment of women to the Economic and

Social Council and will proceed to improve the

legislative framework enabling women to realize more

fully their economical and political potential, have

better access to health services for themselves and their

children, and participate more visibly in democratic

governance.

Attending to the needs of the most vulnerable is

at the core of the United Nations development agenda.

As a landlocked developing country, Mongolia, along

with other fellow Members, strives to advocate the

interests of that group of countries. Despite the

progress in implementing the priorities of the Almaty

Programme of Action, the landlocked developing

countries continue to be marginalized from

international trade. They still experience higher costs

of moving goods across borders, which puts their

products at a competitive disadvantage and discourages

foreign investment.

With a view to maximizing our coordinated

efforts for the full and effective implementation of the

Almaty Programme of Action and the MDGs through

enhanced analytical capability and home-grown

research on our specific needs, Mongolia initiated the

establishment of the International Think Tank for the

Landlocked Developing Countries. I am delighted to

inform Member States today that the multilateral

agreement for that institution was endorsed by the

ministers for foreign affairs of the landlocked

developing countries last week at their ninth annual

meeting. I extend my Government’s sincere

appreciation to all stakeholders, including the

Secretary-General, the Office of the High

Representative for the Least Developed Countries,

Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island

Developing States, and our fellow members for their

unwavering support.

Climate change is another critical area for global

governance. Building on progress achieved in

Copenhagen in shaping a broad political consensus, it

is imperative now to invigorate global negotiations

under the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change in the lead-up to the sixteenth session

of the Conference of the Parties in Cancún later this

year.

The impact of climate change on Mongolia is

undeniable. In less than 20 years, more than 70 per

cent of our territory has been affected by

desertification. Hundreds of rivers, springs and lakes

have dried up, causing water shortages and biodiversity

loss. Yet, climate change adaptation and mitigation

techniques suitable for scaling up to meet the country’s

needs have yet to be fully identified and introduced.

The strategies and programmes in place have failed to

yield the desired results, and the emergence of mining

as a major industry has only heightened concerns over

the environment. The sustainable management of

natural resources and addressing the country’s

ecological vulnerability will therefore need our

sustained focus in the years ahead. Four issues —

enforcement, dedication, financing and development

cooperation — stand out as our priorities in addressing

these challenges.

Last month, my Government held a special

Cabinet meeting in the sands of the Gobi Desert.

Desertification is an issue of vital concern to more than

1 billion people in over 100 countries. Continued land

degradation, be it from climate change or unsustainable

agriculture, is a serious threat to the food security and,

ultimately, the human security of those affected.

Through the message sent from Gobi, my Government

expressed its firm resolve to effectively address

desertification within the framework of the United

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Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against

Desertification.

In 2010, we have seen renewed international

optimism with regard to the multilateral disarmament

agenda. This shift in climate was reinforced by the new

START agreement and the outcome of the Nuclear

Security Summit, both of which were welcomed by my

Government and reflected in the outcome of the

Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The

Conference agreed on forward-looking action plans

that impart much-needed momentum to the vision of a

world free of nuclear weapons. Mongolia welcomes

this outcome and is proud of the contribution it made

towards nuclear disarmament and nuclear

non-proliferation by declaring its territory to be

nuclear-weapon-free. This status is fully recognized by

the international community, as attested by the final

document of the NPT Review Conference.

Mongolia welcomes the increasing role of the

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in

contributing to freedom from fear and freedom from

want. The achievement of the MDGs will depend to

some extent on the contribution of nuclear applications

in such areas as nuclear energy, health care, and food

and environmental security. Mongolia is expanding its

cooperation with the Agency, especially in human

resource development and nuclear applications in

health and agriculture. Our 2009-2014 country

programme framework, signed last year with the

Agency, added the development of nuclear energy

infrastructure and the country’s uranium reserves as

priority areas of cooperation.

This year, Mongolia has been designated one of

the eight Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy

model demonstration site countries. This will help

Mongolia to most effectively address the increasing

cancer epidemic and to share its experience with other

developing countries. I would like, therefore, to take

this opportunity to express my Government’s gratitude

to IAEA and its Director General for their valuable

support.

Mongolia welcomes the second review of the

United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy,

which, while emphasizing national implementation,

stressed the importance of assisting Member States in

this task. Mongolia takes seriously its responsibility to

contribute to the global counter-terrorism endeavour

and is party to all anti-terrorism instruments. Last May,

we hosted, together with the United Nations, a

subregional workshop on the implementation of

Security Council resolution 1373 (2001). We firmly

believe in the vital importance of furthering

development, democracy and respect for human rights

in fighting terrorism and in building States’ capacities

to combat it.

Peacekeeping is an important tool for global

governance in the hands of the United Nations. Since

its inception, United Nations peacekeeping has

contributed to preventing and managing violent

conflicts and supporting nations in protecting and

building peace in a post-conflict environment. Over the

past decade, it has undertaken important reforms to

make peacekeeping stronger, more effective and

comparatively cost-efficient. Mongolia wishes to see

more coherent interaction between the peacekeeping

and peacebuilding efforts of the United Nations.

Over the past decade, Mongolia has taken

deliberate steps to enhance its participation in United

Nations peacekeeping missions. Mongolia now

participates in six United Nations-mandated

peacekeeping operations — including the most

challenging ones in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, Chad and Darfur — and stands ready to further

expand its participation.

In the recent past, Mongolia has been an active

participant in international activities aimed at

strengthening institutions and processes of democratic

governance, protecting human rights and promoting

democratic consolidation. The 1992 Constitution of

Mongolia guarantees the Mongolian people

fundamental freedoms and human rights. Mongolia is

party to all major international human rights

instruments. An independent National Human Rights

Commission was set up, and a national human rights

action programme adopted in 2003 is being

implemented. The programme is a main policy

document that aims at improving the capacity and

accountability of the authorities; enhancing the

participation of civil society, mass media and the

private sector; and encouraging public motivation for

strengthening human rights protections and combating

human rights violations. All in all, our efforts can be

summed up by affirming that political commitment to

the protection and promotion of human rights, along

with the setting of standards, is in place in Mongolia.

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However, as has been rightly said, no human

rights record is perfect. The implementation of human

rights commitments in my country is hampered largely

by two gaps, namely, a knowledge gap and a capacity

gap. Furthermore, emerging transboundary threats,

such as the spread of HIV and AIDS and other

infectious diseases, human trafficking, migration and

others, require an adequate collective response based

on effective regional and international cooperation.

Mongolia looks forward to constructive engagement

with the Human Rights Council as it prepares to

consider our national human rights report under the

Universal Periodic Review in early November this

year.

Direct civic engagement is essential to any type

of governance, at both the national and the

international levels. My Government endeavours to

actively engage civil society and communities in policy

development and implementation. We have a

partnership agreement with civil society and, through

our open Government website, citizens relay their

views and comments to assist in drafting policy papers

and laws prior to their consideration by the Cabinet.

Over the past two months, I have travelled

extensively across the country to see first hand the

development challenges being faced in the countryside

and to hear views at the grass-roots level. This kind of

direct interaction is essential to identifying people’s

immediate and long-term needs alike and to reflecting

their concerns in the Government’s activities. Earlier

this year, through the Mongolia Economic Forum, we

also had an extensive discussion on economic and

development issues with businesses, civil society and

media to set our priorities for the years ahead.

The President returned to the Chair.

To have people employed, educated and healthy —

in other words, human development — is at the heart

of the policies and activities of my Government.

Towards this end, my Government is pursuing policies

to accelerate inclusive economic growth through wide-

scale industrialization and by undertaking mega-projects

in mining and infrastructure development. National

wealth will be distributed to each and every citizen of

Mongolia through a newly established human

development fund in the form of regular allowances, as

well as through health care, education and housing

benefits.

Mongolia has the honour and privilege to assume

the chairmanship of the Community of Democracies

next year, and looks forward to a strong collaboration

with fellow members and other global stakeholders. In

conclusion, may I reiterate Mongolia’s strong

commitment to and support for the United Nations — a

strong, inclusive and open United Nations as the

guarantor of global governance.