Bhutan, 2010

I would like to congratulate

you, Mr. President, on your election to the presidency

of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. We

are confident that with your vast academic and political

experience, you will provide the Assembly with the

necessary leadership in the year ahead. Allow me to

also commend your predecessor, His Excellency

Mr. Ali Treki, for his many initiatives and guidance in

steering the sixty-fourth session to a successful

conclusion.

My delegation welcomes your proposal on

“Reaffirming the central role of the United Nations in

global governance” as the theme for the general debate

of this session. That theme is most appropriate, as it

comes at a time when the world looks to the United

Nations for its stewardship in addressing the multiple

global crises, the devastating effects of climate change

and the issue of the maintenance of global peace and

security. The United Nations has long been recognized

as an indispensable global Organization due to its

mandate, and must continuously adapt itself to deal

with the challenges confronting the world so that its

pivotal role in global governance is maintained. No

other multilateral organization or intergovernmental

grouping, without the legitimacy of universal

membership, can hope to replace the centrality of the

United Nations in global affairs.

The vast majority of Members of the United

Nations are small States. The principle of sovereign

equality enshrined in the United Nations Charter

establishes that all States, regardless of size, wealth,

relative power, population or level of development, are

accorded equal opportunity to participate and

contribute to the work of the United Nations, its

principal organs and its high-level posts. That, in fact,

is the bedrock upon which this House was founded 64

years ago. It is a principle that must remain in the

forefront and help chart our course further as our

dialogue on United Nations reform continues.

How can we, as Members of the United Nations,

credibly espouse equity among nations and peoples if

we fail to practise it among ourselves? After 39 years

of membership, Bhutan continues to believe that the

United Nations still has room and a role for smaller

States, as equal partners in global affairs, including in

the maintenance of international peace and security.

For that reason, Bhutan is seeking membership in the

Security Council in a non-permanent seat for the term

2013 and 2014.

Last week at the High-level Plenary Meeting, our

heads of State and Government acknowledged the

plight of millions of people living in poverty and

agreed to recommit themselves to keeping their pledge

on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The

successful achievement of the MDGs by all Member

States will serve as a measure of the effectiveness of

the United Nations. The United Nations must therefore

continue to provide the necessary leadership to foster

renewed global partnership to enable the realization of

all the MDGs by 2015.

On 20 September, Bhutan’s Prime Minister

highlighted to this gathering the need to move beyond

conventional development practices (see A/65/PV.3).

He therefore proposed the inclusion of happiness as the

ninth Millennium Development Goal. My delegation is

hopeful that that proposal of my Prime Minister will

receive the support of the United Nations membership.

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My delegation is pleased to note that the reform

agenda initiated following the World Summit in 2005 is

beginning to yield results. In that regard, we welcome

the Assembly’s unanimous adoption of the resolution

on system-wide coherence (resolution 64/289) early in

July 2010, which, inter alia, established UN Women.

The creation of UN Women effectively consolidates all

the existing mandates and functions relating to women

and constitutes an important step in fulfilling the

commitments undertaken in the Fourth World

Conference on Women, held in Beijing. We are

confident that that entity will address the global issues

of gender equality and women’s empowerment with

great vigour.

Bhutan has long been convinced that no society

can be a happy one if it is not inclusive. Promoting the

conditions that will enable the pursuit of national

happiness by all our citizens, so that, regardless of

race, sex, language, religion, politics or other status,

they may enjoy a good quality of life in a progressive

and prosperous country is not only one of the

objectives of government, it is our moral obligation.

This spirit is further reaffirmed by our Constitution,

which guarantees the fundamental rights of all

Bhutanese, thus demonstrating that Bhutan is

committed to building an inclusive society, one that

enables all Bhutanese, including those with disabilities,

to lead fulfilling lives, to contribute and to participate

as full members of society. My Government was

therefore particularly pleased to sign the United

Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities on 21 September 2010.

We are also pleased to note that resolution 64/289

on system-wide coherence will contribute to the

enhancement of the operational activities of the United

Nations, making the funding system more systematic

and harmonizing the overall governance structure. This

would improve the capacity of the United Nations to

more effectively deliver assistance to countries, thus

strengthening its development pillar.

My delegation recognizes the important role of

the General Assembly in setting the global agenda and

dealing with many of the important issues confronting

the international community today. With each passing

year, the responsibilities entrusted to the General

Assembly, as the chief deliberative and policy-making

body of the United Nations, continue to grow, and we

believe that the authority of the General Assembly

must be simultaneously enhanced to assume the

growing mandate entrusted to it. We therefore

appreciate the progress made by the Ad Hoc Working

Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly,

where a number of key issues have been highlighted,

especially the strengthening of the Office of the

President of the General Assembly. We are confident

that, with the political determination of Member States,

those deliberations will result in a stronger United

Nations.

We are encouraged that, in the past year, the five

rounds of intergovernmental negotiations on the

question of equitable representation in and larger

membership of the Security Council and other matters

related to the Council, held under the chairmanship of

Ambassador Zahir Tanin of Afghanistan, is making

good progress. My delegation supports the expansion

of both the permanent and the non-permanent

membership of the Security Council to reflect the

contemporary realities and make it a more

representative body. We believe that India, Japan,

Germany and Brazil plus two countries from the

African continent, which have the capacity and

resources to shoulder the onerous responsibilities with

regard to the maintenance of international peace and

security, should be granted permanent membership.

Given the renewed commitment of the

international community to the MDGs with a view to

improving the lives of the people in the poorest

countries, it is most timely that the Fourth United

Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

should take place in 2011 in Turkey. We thank the

Government of Turkey for its generous offer and

assistance in hosting this important Conference. We

also appreciate the efforts of the United Nations Office

of the High Representative for the Least Developed

Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and

Small Island Developing States in coordinating

preparations for the Conference.

As we undertake preparations for this event, we

will look to you, Mr. President, for your support and

direction, so that the least developed countries (LDCs)

together with all our development partners cannot only

ensure a successful outcome, but also, more

importantly, give their people a chance for a better life.

We are confident that the Conference will build on the

successes of the Programme of Action for the Least

Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 and

adopt new measures and strategies for the development

of the LDCs in the next decade.

27 10-55396

As most fittingly described, the other defining

challenge of our time, namely, climate change, requires

the collective and coordinated effort of all nations, as

its devastating effects know no bounds. My country has

full faith in the leadership of the United Nations and

believes in the centrality of the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change in

addressing climate change. We are confident that the

ongoing negotiations will lead to a concrete,

comprehensive and equitable agreement at the

sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change in Cancún later this year, as envisaged under

the Bali Action Plan. Success will be essential in

Cancún for small and vulnerable countries such as my

own, which bears a heavier burden as the result of

climate change. We must have the necessary resources

for mitigation and adaptation.

With the severe threats and damaging effects

caused by climate change in South Asia, as recently

occurred in Pakistan, it was no coincidence that the

sixteenth Summit of the South Asian Association for

Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which Bhutan was

honoured to host in April this year, appropriately chose

climate change as its theme. In addition to adopting the

Thimphu Silver Jubilee Declaration, entitled “Towards

a Green and Happy South Asia”, the Summit also

adopted the Thimphu Statement on Climate Change.

The Statement outlines important initiatives to further

strengthen and intensify regional cooperation to

address the adverse impacts of climate change in South

Asia. One of the important outcomes of the Thimphu

Summit is the formulation of a common SAARC

statement on climate change, which Bhutan, as the

current SAARC Chair, will present at the forthcoming

Conference of the Parties in December in Cancún.

We are pleased to report that, as Bhutan

progresses into its third year as a democratic

constitutional monarchy, the foundations for a

sustainable and vibrant democracy are growing

stronger. The institutional arrangements for the three

branches of Government, as required under our

Constitution, are now complete and functioning with

the establishment of the Supreme Court earlier this

year. Likewise, all the constitutional bodies with

oversight functions have been firmly established, and

the media is performing its role as the fourth estate in

an atmosphere of freedom.

There is no doubt that, given the challenges

confronting our increasingly interdependent world, the

role of the United Nations is vital in addressing those

issues. In order to do so, the United Nations requires

the full support and commitment of the entire

membership. Only then will it be able to truly reaffirm

its central role in global governance. I therefore

conclude by assuring you, Mr. President, of my

delegation’s full support and cooperation, as you

embark on a year-long journey of further strengthening

this Organization.