Peru, 2005

Allow

me first, Sir, to congratulate you on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixtieth

session.

I should like to avail myself of this opportunity to

express from the very bottom of the Peruvian heart our

sincere feeling of solidarity with the women and men

of the United States who have suffered as a result of

the natural disasters in Mississippi, Alabama and other

southern states. Their suffering is shared by us, just as

we would share suffering anywhere in the world. I am

sure that the faith and hope of the people of the United

States will enable them to overcome this tragedy.

A year ago in this forum (see A/59/PV.5) I spoke

of the need to face, with vision and realism, the new

challenges now facing us, the developing countries in

particular. On the one hand, our countries are

becoming part of the globalization of production, trade,

financial flows, the digital telecommunications

revolution, and the spread of values such as democracy

and human rights. At the same time, however, the

world is fragmented by an increase in social inequities,

the proliferation of civil wars, the collapse of States,

genocide, terrorism, transnational crime and

environmental degradation. These contradictory trends

of globalization on the one hand and fragmentation on

the other, call into question the governance within

States and within the international system, and

ultimately call into question international collective

security itself.

Peace and security and the stability of the global

system are not related only to political, military and

strategic issues. Peace and security also have social

and economic components. Poverty and exclusion

conspire against peace, security and democracy. Social

exclusion triggers violence and instability, renders

democracy fragile and leads to national and

international fragmentation.

That is why we must agree on action to confront

these contradictions. That is the main commitment that

we as States undertook at the recent High-level Plenary

Meeting on the Millennium Goals, and that is what the

United Nations and the multilateral system as a whole

must tackle next. That is why I am highlighting the two

main axes along which these commitments must

develop. I refer to security on the one hand and

development on the other.

While each country is responsible for its own

development, it must be recognized that development

encounters obstacles at the international level that call

for new partnerships and new forms of association.

These must go beyond the assistance-based paradigm

characterizing much so-called development assistance.

And, more important, they must overcome the

asymmetry that currently prevails in relations between

developed and developing countries.

On the one hand, developing countries are being

asked to commit to open their markets, to foreign

investment regimes and to reforming their public

administrations. We agree with all of that. But there is

no matching solid commitment that developed

countries will, as promised, allocate 0.7 per cent of

their gross national product (GNP) for cooperation.

Nor — even less — do we see obstacles to foreign

trade being dismantled.

The new partnership for development has to

overcome adverse factors for developing countries and

eliminate obstacles such as rigid intellectual property

standards, the speculative volatility of global capital,

the lack of foreign investment, subsidies, the debt

burden, and, above all, the absence of genuine special

and differential treatment in trade negotiations for

developing countries.

This is not only about receiving assistance to

reduce poverty; it is also about a new association for

development that will make it possible to generate

employment and create wealth. Implementing this new

partnership would fulfil Millennium Development Goal

8 and the commitments made in the Monterrey

Consensus. That is why it is necessary for the Doha

round to be completed next year. That is tremendously

important.

As the Millennium Declaration recognizes, a very

important cross-cutting element in the partnership for

development is assuring the sustainability of the

environment. As proof of our commitment, I was proud

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some days ago to deposit the instruments of ratification

of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic

Pollutants and the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior

Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous

Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, both

of which are intended to reduce the negative impact of

pollution.

As it carries out its development agenda, the

international system must strengthen collective security

to confront threats such as terrorism, nuclear

proliferation, and organized transnational crime. This

year again, we have been shaken by acts of terrorism

perpetuated all over the world. Peru suffered from, and

combated, terror for many long years, and expresses its

solidarity with the victims of these criminal acts. We

reiterate our firm condemnation of all acts of terrorism

and restate our commitment, through mutual

cooperation, to prevent, combat, punish and eradicate

terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Peru

appeals to the Assembly not to continue to delay the

adoption of a comprehensive counter-terrorism

convention.

For my Government, international peace and

security is a prime objective, and we have adopted the

following measures in that context. First, Peru is

promoting the limitation of defence spending at the

regional level in order to release resources for social

investment. The first decision I adopted on my

Government’s first day in office was to cut back

military expenditure in my country by 23 per cent in

order to allocate it to food, health, education and social

investments. Progress in this field has been significant;

there are agreements with Chile, Colombia and

Ecuador to craft and implement standardized

methodologies to reduce our military spending.

Secondly, Peru was an advocate of the creation of

the South American Zone of Peace and Cooperation

and the Andean Zone of Peace, which have been

recognized in Assembly resolutions 57/13 and 59/54,

respectively.

Thirdly, Peru participated actively in formulating

the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and

Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light

Weapons in All Its Aspects.

Fourthly, Peru is participating in peacekeeping

operations by providing troops, staff officers, military

observers and equipment. To increase our contribution

in this area, Peru has signed a memorandum of

understanding under the United Nations Stand-by

Arrangements System, which includes army, air force

and navy units. Currently, Peruvian Blue Helmets are

participating in peacekeeping operations in Eritrea-

Ethiopia, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, the Sudan

and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as

in Cyprus and Haiti. We cherish peace.

For all these reasons, Peru is a candidate for a

non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the

term 2006-2007 in the elections to be held during this

session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

I should like here to express Peru’s deep gratitude for

the majority support for our candidacy; we now enjoy

the widest possible support from Latin American and

Caribbean countries as well as from our brother

countries in Africa and Asia, the Arab League States

and countries of Europe and of Oceania. This generous

support encourages us and strengthens our commitment

to work with dedication and responsibility in the

Security Council. We are grateful for this opportunity

and the support offered by countries worldwide for our

candidature for a non-permanent seat on the Security

Council for 2006-2007.