Andorra, 2011

First of all, I

would like to avail myself of this opportunity to

congratulate Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his

well-deserved reappointment, and Mr. Nassir

Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his election as President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session.

It is with pride, a sense of responsibility and a

will for cooperation and proactivity that I address this

Hall in the name of the Principality of Andorra and the

Government that I have the honour to represent. The

United Nations and the system of international law that

emanates from it place all States on an equal footing.

That is especially important for States like Andorra,

small in terms of territorial dimension but large in

values and in history.

Recent years have been marked by a profound

crisis of multiple aspects — economic, social,

environmental and political — but most especially a

crisis of values. Now that we must all lay the

foundation for recovery, we need to be quite clear

about the values and principles on which we wish to

continue constructing the world. We do not need to go

much further than the founding spirit of the General

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Assembly, an institution in which all — large and

small, the wealthier and the less endowed — address

one another on equal terms to promote peace, liberty

and justice.

Just as the United Nations arose after a world war

that turned the world as it had existed until then upside

down, now again we have to be able to define the

moral and political bases of a new order. One priority

set by the United Nations is inclusive and sustainable

development. There can be no sustainability without

inclusion. And if the Assembly, which arose from the

debris of a devastating war, is to give a voice to all the

peoples of the planet, we have to be capable now of

ensuring that no one is excluded from the future that

we forge together.

We must take care that the economic recovery

from the recession does not further accentuate the

inequalities — understood as a lack of equity — that

already exist. Thus, just as international law protects

nations like ours that have no military potential, so too

economic growth must be especially attentive to the

more vulnerable in order to prevent the consequences

of the recession from falling systematically on them.

Thirty years ago, in 1981, the United Nations

held its first Conference on the Least Developed

Countries. The fourth Conference was held last spring,

attesting to the difficulty of achieving significant

changes to improve the weakness and vulnerability of

those States. Further, we observe with concern how,

against the background of the global recession, some of

the more developed countries often adopt protectionist

attitudes. On the conviction that a freer world is a more

just world, we also have to state that a more open and

less protectionist world leads to a more equitable

balance and improvements for the disadvantaged.

Andorra, with its small scale, secular stability and

seclusion among mountains, is dealing with the far-

reaching process of opening its economy. We also have

planned the construction of a model of inclusive

growth that leaves no one out — a model that cannot

be constructed by turning one’s back on the

international community or by being isolated from the

world.

I have been talking about economic opening, but

the opening to the world cannot be strictly economic,

and it is crystal clear that recovery from the crisis and a

new phase of growth will not come about solely as a

result of economic measures. The search for an

inclusive and sustainable balance must necessarily

involve addressing factors that are not strictly

economic but that do accentuate inequalities between

countries.

In that connection, we note the work done at the

2011 High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on

AIDS held in June and the Political Declaration on

HIV/AIDS (resolution 65/277) adopted by the

participating States, stating their intension to intensify

their efforts in the fight against this pandemic. In spite

of the advances achieved in recent years, HIV is a

symbol of how necessary it is for progress to reach

everyone equally. While in the more developed

countries AIDS has become a chronic illness

appropriately treated, in the more disadvantaged

areas — especially in sub-Saharan Africa — the

disease is still lethal, especially in the communities

with the fewest resources.

Above and beyond the increase of resources for

research and treatment and greater North-South

cooperation, I am convinced that the extension of

democracy and human rights is also a key factor in the

fight against a pandemic that overwhelms the poorest,

but that also hits peoples submerged in ignorance and

oppression.

With all of that, the extent of the commitments

made and the progress achieved by various States in

the fight against HIV should be a source of

satisfaction, since seldom has the international

community been capable of articulating a response so

rapid and unanimous when faced with a threat on this

scale. It would be wonderful if the same level of

awareness and commitment could be achieved in the

fight against non-communicable diseases, such as

cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Those

also — although perhaps not so clearly as in the case of

AIDS — are diseases that accentuate the inequalities

among countries. That principle was recognized in the

Political Declaration (resolution 66/2) of the High-

level Meeting of the General Assembly on the

prevention and control of non-communicable diseases

held recently.

Such successes cannot allow us to forget that one

of the most serious challenges facing the international

community and this Assembly, which is its highest

representation, is the fight against climate change. To

date, humankind was used to overcoming recessions

and times of crisis, entering a new phase of growth,

23 11-51398

without thinking of the negative external effects of that

growth. We now know that growth cannot be at any

price and that development must be sustainable in

economic terms, but also, and more particularly, in

environmental terms.

That is why the threat of climate change is as

great as or stronger than that of the global recession.

Some developed countries, in particular those that

survive on their own natural resources, are seriously

threatened by climate change. That may also be the

case for Andorra, which bases a good part of its

economic welfare on snow and mountain tourism. That

is why we will always support any initiative aiming at

greater awareness of the need to combat climate

change, and take steps to adapt to what is probably

already a reality. In that context, we should underscore

the entry into force in Andorra of the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change on 31 May.

We should never lose sight of the fact that the

main goal of the United Nations is to guarantee peace

and security in a context of freedom and respect for

human rights. Just as in the past, States emerged to

ensure the social peace and individual freedom of their

citizens, the United Nations also have their raison

d’être in the maintenance of peace and security and the

rule of international law.

Today, we speak of inclusive and sustainable

economic growth and of a new and profound awareness

of the threat of climate change. We cannot forget that

such issues are closely linked to the promotion of a

safer world. Growth that leaves more vulnerable

groups behind and that excludes the least developed

countries, added to the effects of climate change, leads

to a less safe and less stable world.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the

tragic attacks of 11 September here in New York, the

seat of United Nations Headquarters. As President

Obama recalled last Wednesday (see ), we

are today seeing the symbol of New York’s renewal

rise at ground zero, where 10 years ago there was an

open wound and twisted steel, a shattered heart in the

centre of the city.

This year, we close the first decade of the

millennium without having resolved the threat to the

security of our world, that is, international terrorism.

Despite progress on that front, the threat continues.

Terrorism arises from hatred and wickedness.

However, we must be aware that it dwells, in

particular, where there is a lack of economic prospects,

illiteracy, lack of culture, poverty, marginality —

where, in short, there is a lack of democracy.

That is why, in the promotion of a safer world,

our efforts will always be needed to combat all kinds

of discrimination. In that regard, I wish to underscore

the political declaration against racism, racial

discrimination and xenophobia and related intolerance

that was adopted at that time during the General

Assembly. It is also 10 years since the Durban

Declaration and Programme of Action. Today, as the

States represented here, we say that we cannot afford to

lower our guard since, in an increasingly globalized

and complex world, the threat of discrimination is

growing.

At the beginning of my statement, I spoke of the

need to continue building the world on the principles

and values that inspire this Assembly. Allow me now to

recall the spirit and the philosophy of the twenty-eighth

President of the United States, President Wilson, father

of the League of Nations, the precursor of today’s

United Nations. Wilson taught us that it was of little

use to be democrats at home if we were not capable of

exporting democracy beyond our borders, and that a

State that turned its back on countries still living under

oppression and in which the most fundamental rights

and freedoms were not respected could not presume to

be democratic.

That is why we must welcome with an especially

positive attitude what we have called the Arab Spring.

We sincerely hope that those movements for

democracy strengthen in the future. In that context, in

July, we supported South Sudan becoming the

193rd member of the United Nations. Today, we are

pleased at that reality and we most warmly welcome it.

A more democratic world is a more dynamic world, but

also safer because it is fairer. Most failures of security

in our world, as I said a moment ago, are fuelled by

injustice.

Likewise, with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian

conflict, we must keep encouraging dialogue and

mediation. The Palestinian people’s aspiration to have

a democratic and peaceful State is as legitimate as the

Israeli desire to obtain guarantees for its existence and

security. The final aim of a mutual recognition of two

States by two peoples, on the basis of the 1967 lines

with the agreed and equivalent exchanges, is now

under discussion.

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A possible intermediate step, in a shorter term, by

becoming an observer State could represent an element

of hope for the Palestinian people, provided that it is

not used for purposes that are incompatible with

continuing negotiations, but for the aforementioned

goal. Israel also must contribute to that spirit, avoiding

attitudes that could affect the final status.

Andorra is a country that has lived for more than

700 years without an army, without taking part in any

war and without internal conflicts. The perpetual peace

and permanent stability, of which we Andorrans are

proud, is not founded on an autocratic regime that

controls its people with an iron fist or on a whim

resulting from the deterrence of larger or more

powerful neighbours. No, the ultimate reason for a

peace and security maintained for more than seven

centuries has been the ongoing effort to respect

individual rights and freedoms and the rule of justice

and of fairness, and the existence of mechanisms of

solidarity, as was well demonstrated in the recent

universal periodic review.

Our democracy and our centuries-old

parliamentary system are not the fruit of peace and

stability, but the reverse. Peace, security and stability

are the fruits of democracy because, without

democracy, there is no possibility of peace or lasting

security either in Andorra or anywhere in the world.

From the position of humility that governs our

support for the United Nations, we wish to reaffirm

here the idea of commitment as a fundamental value

and the linchpin of our political action. That

commitment is understood as a deep belief not only in

peace and equal opportunities, but also as an

involvement in and shouldering of individual

responsibilities regarding a common project and, last

but not least, as a wish for dialogue and understanding.

On Wednesday, President Sarkozy stated in this

Assembly: “Let us choose the path of compromise,

which is neither renunciation nor repudiation, but

which allows us to move forward, step by step”

(). Andorra will continue to work towards

such a commitment within the Organization.