Peru, 2013

I

am pleased to congratulate you, Sir, on your election

as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-

eighth session, and to welcome the fact that this lofty

responsibility has been entrusted to a dear friend from

Antigua and Barbuda, a member of our community of

Latin American and Caribbean States. You can count

on the firm support of Peru in the execution of your

work.

At the outset, I wish to express our respect for and

solidarity with the people of Mexico and Pakistan,

who are suffering as a result of natural disasters. I also

wish to express the strong rejection and condemnation

of the Government and people of Peru of the terrorist

attack in Nairobi. We are relieved that this horrendous

attack has come to an end. We express our unwavering

solidarity with the families of the victims and with the

Government and people of Kenya at this difficult time.

The world is changing, the agenda is realigning,

new actors are emerging and new horizons are coming

into view for the future of humankind. All countries

and peoples are affected by such rapid transformation.

However, we note with concern that some fundamental

truths have not changed. Wars continue, mostly in new

forms, emerging from the shadows and exacting an

ever higher price from innocent populations.

Regarding the Syrian tragedy, we express our

solidarity with the Syrian people. Peru condemns

the use of chemical weapons as unacceptable in all

circumstances. It is an affront to humankind and a clear

violation of international law. The Syrian people deserve

an immediate solution to the bloody conflict ravaging

their country. We therefore urge all parties involved to

find a peaceful and negotiated solution that respects the

mechanisms for the settlement of disputes. We also call

on the Security Council to uphold its responsibility to

maintain international peace and security.

At the same time, inequality is becoming ever

more extreme. The gap marginalizing the poor from

the benefits of progress and development widens by the

day, robbing them of the rights enshrined in the Charter

of the United Nations.

It is crucial for us to strengthen, renew and

uphold our global commitment to developing peaceful

relations among peoples and to seeking solutions

that reject the use of force as means of solving our

problems. It is therefore particularly gratifying for Peru

and a source of genuine pride that we addressed our

maritime delimitation dispute with Chile in the most

constructive and cooperative way possible, through a

mutual commitment to abiding by and enforcing the

judgment to be rendered by the International Court of

Justice. This process will, I trust, transform the very

nature of our relationship into a profitable and enduring

coexistence for the future of our neighbouring peoples.

The rule of law and its principles in the conduct of

international affairs are therefore indispensable tools

for our conduct as members of the community of peoples

of the United Nations. However, the greatest threat to

international peace and security falls not in the realm

of relations between States, but transcends them and

may even use them as tools for shadowy schemes. We

are referring to terrorism, drug trafficking, organized

crime, mafias and corruption. All of these crimes pose

a genuine threat to life, progress and development,

affecting primarily the poorest, which means that such

crimes are increasingly becoming the main obstacle to

the realization of the goals of the United Nations.

The underlying problems remain the same. Peru

therefore welcomes the fundamentally important

theme you have chosen, Sir, for our discussions — the

development agenda for beyond 2015, which is the

deadline for achieving the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs).

Our country, happily, has made progress and

attained some of the best benchmarks for achievement.

Since 2000, according to United Nations Development

Programme indicators, we achieved certain goals early,

in particular in the fight against poverty and extreme

poverty, hunger, child mortality, and access to safe

drinking water. In 2000, more than half of Peruvians

lived in poverty; today, only a quarter of my countrymen

still face that situation. Our goal is to reduce those

living in poverty to one fifth of our population by the

end of my term, in 2016.

We have undertaken to realign the growth

model by focusing on inclusion. In those efforts, the

State is implementing a number of connected and

interdependent policies. It is worth underscoring the

unprecedented measure of devoting expenditure to the

poorest and most excluded through a range of social

programmes aimed at improving the living standards

of the population, enhancing education for children

and young people and promoting gender equality and

access to health services, paying particular attention to

those in vulnerable situations.

We are deeply concerned to note that the

environment is deteriorating, which is having an impact

on our security, in particular that of the most vulnerable.

This is happening even as we remain unable to agree on

measures to ensure our sustainable development.

The development agenda must also pay particular

attention to the empowerment of women and the

protection of vulnerable groups. Our Government

attaches particular importance to the rights of

indigenous peoples. We were the first in the world to

legislate and regulate the right to prior consultation on

measures directly affecting such groups in accordance

with Convention No. 169 of the International Labour

Organization.

We are equally concerned about the rights of migrants

and the opportunities for integrated development, to

which they contribute, fostering inter-cultural dialogue

and economic exchanges between their countries of

origin and their host countries. In that vein, we have

promoted the free movement of people and welcome the

initiative of the Government of Spain to promote visa-

free entry for Peruvian nationals into the Schengen

Area .

We therefore welcome the commitments contained

in the document “The future we want”, adopted at the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

held last year (resolution 66/288, annex). The process

proposed at that event to establish sustainable

development goals should converge with the post-2015

development agenda, leading to the greater capacity

of the Organization to contribute to solving urgent

problems and dealing with development challenges.

We urgently need to integrate the various separate

efforts. The United Nations should have a single,

comprehensive development agenda. But to do so, we

need to change the equation and place the fight for

equality and against inequality at the centre of our

efforts. Let us not make growth an end in itself; rather,

we should turn it into a tool. That is why in Peru we

believe that the right formula is “inclusion for growth.”

That is the direction Peru proposes for the post-2015

agenda.

Peru has made a quantum leap in its economy. We

are currently among the fastest-growing countries.

Responsible management of our economy has helped to

create 800,000 new jobs so far during my Administration

and has also helped to reduce unemployment by

7 per cent. We are gradually diversifying our economy.

Non-traditional exports account for one third of

our total exports — more than $11 billion dollars

today — and service exports account for $5 billion. We

are developing our immense potential for tourism.

The economic growth in recent years has been

extraordinary, and I must say it has been the result of

much effort, rigour and work, as well as democratic

continuity and perseverance. Peru has managed both

to avoid the worst effects of global instability and to

attract levels of investment flows that are unparalleled

in our country’s history. Our task is to strengthen

the foundations that have enabled such growth, in

particular by strengthening democracy, institutions,

the rule of law and security, building citizenship and

opening spaces for participation.

We have the means to do that, since we are a

country of entrepreneurs: 98 per cent of our businesses

are small or medium-sized. They employ 75 per cent

of the economically active population and contribute

42 per cent of the gross domestic product. Thanks

to our efforts, Peru is now considered an emerging,

middle-income country, with new middle classes and a

growing domestic consumption, and it is able to attract

long-term investments for large projects.

Thanks to that and to the extent that we have

strengthened our national capacities, we will be

able to encourage industrial policies geared towards

changing economic and social structures. For us,

industrialization is a national goal. In order to move in

that direction, in December Lima will host the fifteenth

General Conference of the United Nations Industrial

Development Organization.

Being centrally located on the map of South America

and having played a key role in Latin American history,

Peru views its region from the perspective of a country

that seeks consensus, both internal and external. Peru

is a country that perceives regional integration as an

effective way to improve the present and future of

our security and development. We Peruvians have an

overriding conviction that, on our own, we can move

forward rapidly, but together we can do that better and

reach farther.

Peru is part of the Pacific Alliance, along with

Mexico, Chile and Colombia. Together we are moving

towards integration with a strategic projection towards

the Asia-Pacific region and the world. In that region,

which is home to the most dynamic economies of the

twenty-first century, we are also part of the Asia-

Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum. We hosted the

Leaders’ Meeting in 2008 and will host it again in 2016.

We are also a member of the Union of South

American Nations, having recently completed our

term as pro-tempore president. We participate in the

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States,

which this year held its first summit with the Heads

of State and Government of the European Union.

We maintain our hemispheric roots through the

Organization of American States, and at the subregional

level, we are currently the pro-tempore president of the

Andean Community. We consider all those forums to be

complementary. We participate in them with a constant

call for integration, dialogue and consensus.

Peru is a reliable partner committed to global

causes. Our commitment to the values and principles

of the General Assembly brings us to point out the

need for reform. That is necessary in order to make the

United Nations system more legitimate, representative,

accountable and effective through the strengthening of

its principal organs, specialized agencies and various

organizations in the areas of security, development

and human rights. Peru shares the position held by a

large number of Member States on the need to reform

and expand the Security Council so as to reflect the

realities of the twenty-first century.

Our aspirations also entail more transparency

and accountability on the part of individual economic

actors and greater justice in the distribution of wealth.

With those objectives in mind, in 2014 Peru will host

the thirty-fifth session of the Economic Commission

for Latin America and the Caribbean and in 2016 the

fourteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development. We thereby hope to contribute so that the

Doha Round can be resumed, in the scope of the World

Trade Organization, with better prospects.

In many parts of our Latin America and in Peru,

republican States were weak from the start, concentrated

in the capital city. Their core problem has been therefore

that they have been unable to deal with the entire nation

and have focused perhaps on one third of the country.

It was impossible to build citizenship, since in practice

there were different categories of Peruvians: those who

received Government services and those who did not.

Our efforts must be directed at the creation of a

twenty-first-century State, a State that serves all,

not just a few. While this includes an eminently

ethical component, its basis is not restricted to that

important dimension. It also has profoundly practical

repercussions for society at large. We cannot forget that

a State that does not serve the entire population breeds

and exacerbates inequality. As long as such degrees of

inequality exist – and I will never tire of saying this -

any policy aimed at combating poverty will have only

relative effects.

For that reason, my Administration has worked not

only on economic growth but in all areas of growth. The

history of my country has seen other periods of growth,

but they proved to be unsustainable and benefited very

few. Economic growth is a means and not an end; it

is an indispensable tool, but it is not sufficient. Our

people, especially those who are most forgotten, cannot

wait indefinitely for growth without the State actively

promoting the extension of its benefits.

In addition, that will set in motion a virtuous circle

in which progress for our most vulnerable countrymen

and the development of a population free of extreme

poverty, with health care and education for all, will

create the conditions for even greater economic growth.

That is why we stress the new political concept of

simultaneous growth and redistribution. That is what

I mean when I stress the necessity of “including so as

to grow”.

Two years ago, less than two months into my term

as President of Peru, I stood before the Assembly to

emphasize my Government’s commitment to social

inclusion. I said then that we were working to turn

our economic growth into development and quality of

life for my countrymen. I also said that we intended to

hone our democracy so that it could solve the problems

and meet the needs of all. The country we want is a

prosperous one where all the Peruvians, women and

men, without any distinction, can enjoy the benefits of

growth in a dignified, safe and free manner. After two

years in office, I reaffirm what I said; our commitment

remains the same.