Uruguay, 2003

Uruguay believes in the United Nations, has faith in the

United Nations, will support the Organization and will

continue to contribute to it, as it has been doing since it

became one of its founding Members. It is comforting

to note that, at this time of crisis for the Organization,

virtually all the participants in this debate have

expressed this same sentiment.

Some six decades ago, the United Nations was

created to promote and regulate multilateral

cooperation, by which the international community

agreed to address and resolve common problems. The

structure of the Organization, the functioning of its

organs, and the rights and obligations of its Members,

as formulated in the San Francisco Charter, all

reflected the international political reality of that time.

But, over the course of more than half a century,

there have been profound changes in the structure of

international society. Its actors have multiplied and

become more diverse and there have been new and

more dangerous manifestations of violence. New

threats to peace that were not foreseen by the drafters

of the Charter occur with increasing frequency. At the

same time, there has been an intensification of certain

growing trends that seriously affect the well-being of

humanity, such as the degradation of the environment,

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the depletion of natural resources, epidemics and the

contrast between consumer societies and societies that

live in extreme poverty.

In recent years, and in particular during this

general debate, special emphasis has been placed on

the need to reform and revitalize the United Nations in

order to adapt it to current realities. Uruguay shares

this position, not only because it considers that this

Organization has not been completely effective in its

handling of some recent crises, but because it

understands that the scale of the changes in the world

today justifies the search for ways of adapting the

institution.

Although it is true that the system of collective

security established by the San Francisco Charter has

not always been able to respond to crises effectively, in

numerous cases multilateral action by the United

Nations has succeeded in restoring peace in many

regions and countries, contributed to the consolidation

of democracy, and accelerated the reconstruction of

affected countries. There are many more cases in which

the Organization, through its various organs, has

exercised positive and decisive control over crises and

conflicts, thus preventing the situation from becoming

worse and ensuring a peaceful solution.

The process of reform, which is indispensable

and cannot be delayed, should in our view be based on

the following premises.

The first is to preserve intact the purposes and

principles of the Organization, as enshrined in the

Charter of San Francisco. After all, if we all gather

here every year as the United Nations, it is because our

nations are united around the values and ideals

enshrined in the Charter and shared by all mankind,

whose permanent and universal validity transcends the

vicissitudes and accidents of history.

The second premise is that the reform process

should be aimed principally at strengthening

multilateral action, because never before has the need

to cooperate and act together to deal with international

problems been so great. Common global responses are

needed to the proliferation and diversification of

international actors; the fact that the world is getting

smaller and more and more interdependent, due to the

increase in trade and the extraordinary development of

information and communication technologies; and

above all the globalization of threats to peace, security

and the well-being of our peoples. To use the words

employed by the Secretary-General in this Assembly

two weeks ago, Uruguay believes in “collective

answers to our common problems and challenges”

(A/58/PV.7).

Two years ago, the international community,

through the United Nations organs, offered a fine

example of solidarity by taking effective multilateral

action in reaction to international terrorism, which

threatens Governments, peoples, ideologies, religions

and above all human reason, imbued with such

elementary values as tolerance, compassion, solidarity

and respect for human rights.

The attack on the headquarters of the United

Nations in Baghdad — for which we wish again to

express our most sincere condolences to the Secretary-

General — is but another example of the barbarity and

fanaticism that we can successfully fight only if we

work together. With this attack, terrorism has given us

a raw example of its destructive universality. The

deaths of Special Representative Sergio Vieira de

Mello and of other colleagues is emblematic of the

tragedy suffered.

Just as in the fight against poverty, terrorism

cannot be defeated as a conventional enemy would be

with a victorious battle. The eradication of terrorism is

an ongoing objective whose achievement requires time,

patience and perseverance. Only through a joint

approach and multilateral action directed above all at

the roots of terrorism — not only at its atrocious

manifestations — will it be possible to reduce and

hopefully to eliminate this perverse and ubiquitous

enemy and at the very least ensure its total rejection.

Uruguay, which is party to most international

anti-terrorism instruments, attaches priority to the

conclusion of a general convention against

international terrorism. In this respect, we wish to

express our satisfaction to the Secretary-General for

having chosen transnational organized crime and

terrorism as an item in the signing and accession

ceremony for treaties promoted by the Organization on

the occasion of this general debate.

The third premise to which my country subscribes

is that we must not forget that the United Nations has

for years now been engaged in a process of self-

criticism and self-reform based on the idea that

strengthening an institution means strengthening its

organs. Reforms are being implemented in three of the

main organs of the Organization. The modalities of

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each one of the respective processes differ. In the

Security Council, we are pursuing reform of its

membership to make it more representative and to

strengthen its democratic character. In the General

Assembly, we are pursuing its revitalization so that its

decisions can regain the authority they had in the past.

In the Secretariat, the purpose of change is to enhance

its effectiveness, an objective towards which the

Secretary-General is working strenuously. These three

processes are closely linked to each other but, despite

this close link, we believe that they must continue to be

pursued, as is now being done, separately, each one in

its respective forum.

For Uruguay, one of the most important aspects

of these reforms is the strengthening of the General

Assembly, over which you, Sir, are presiding with such

dignity and whose decisions are the most genuine

manifestations of the will of the international

community. Recent reforms are aimed at making this

organ more effective, but more profound changes are

required in order to restore the authority which the

Charter grants it and which the Assembly has exerted

in the past. We believe that there is still a great deal of

room for reform. Obsolete structures and procedures

remain. We also need to re-examine and evaluate the

organization, conduct and outcome of the annual

session that brings us all here together every year,

including the idea of concentrating the negotiation of

dozens of resolutions into a few weeks. Uruguay will

support far-reaching measures to revitalize the

Assembly. A better relationship between the different

organs is no doubt another of the necessary areas for

reform.

The fourth and final premise is that the efforts to

reform our institutions must be complemented by

equally vigorous efforts to change our own conduct as

Members of the United Nations. When we agreed to

become Members of this Organization, we freely

agreed to fulfil in good faith the international

obligations arising from the numerous treaties,

conventions and other instruments that have resulted

from the comprehensive legislative work accomplished

by this Assembly, United Nations agencies and other

international organizations and conferences.

However, the provisions of many of these

instruments are not being implemented. At times, in a

misguided defence of sovereignty, common

expectations are thwarted in order to satisfy national

interests that frequently are not of decisive importance.

Protection of the environment and the law of the sea

are good, but not the only examples of areas in which a

sharp contrast can be seen between the extensive

legislation that exists and the degree of

implementation. Consequently, year after year, the

competent international agencies and organizations and

scientific authorities report the ongoing deterioration of

the general environment, the abusive exploitation of

natural resources, pollution of the seas and reduction or

extinction of marine species.

The question of the fulfilment of obligations

assumed is the weak link in the chain of

multilateralism. We must seek ways of ensuring respect

for international obligations. Over the long term, the

satisfaction of common interests is the best way of

satisfying the national interest.

Without prejudice to this profession of faith in the

United Nations, Uruguay, a country of Latin America,

is actively participating in the Organization of

American States and in the inter-American system in

general. Uruguay is also fully committed to regional

integration processes, in particular to the Common

Market of the South. We see in these mechanisms a

promising avenue to help overcome the difficulties that

result from our status as a developing country emerging

from the most serious economic crisis of its history and

trying to overcome the obstacles preventing it from

achieving insertion into the global economy, such as,

for example, the huge subsidies that the industrialized

countries grant to their agricultural producers.

In this connection, finally, we cannot but mention

the recent ministerial conference of the World Trade

Organization, held in Cancún, whose lack of progress,

in our opinion, is a negative signal to a world that is

demanding fairer and more balanced rules, especially

for countries such as Uruguay, whose economies rely

primarily on the production of agricultural goods. We

are hopeful that renewed impetus in the negotiations

will permit us to achieve positive results in the coming

weeks and months in Geneva, to the benefit of the less

developed countries and the very future of international

trade.

I close my statement conveying my country’s

satisfaction and pride in seeing you, Sir, the Minister

for Foreign Affairs of Saint Lucia, a friendly country of

our region, presiding over this Assembly. I wish you

every success in your work.