Brazil, 2014

It is a great

satisfaction for Brazil, which has the honour and

privilege of opening this debate, to have as the President

of this session of the General Assembly a son of Africa.

As Brazilians we are united by ties of history, culture

and friendship with the African continent, whose

legacy was and always will be decisive for my country’s

national identity.

I open this general debate on the eve of elections

in Brazil that will determine the President of the

Republic, State governors and a significant portion of

our Congress. Those elections represent the celebration

of a democracy we achieved almost 30 years ago, after

two decades of dictatorial rule. Through democracy we

also advanced towards the country’s economic stability.

During the past 12 years in particular, we have

consolidated those achievements by building an

inclusive society based on equal opportunity. The great

transformation to which we are committed has resulted

in a modern economy and a more egalitarian society. At

the same time it has required strong civic participation,

respect for human rights and a sustainable vision of

development. Lastly, it has also required an engagement

on the world stage characterized by a multilateral

approach, respect for international law, the quest for

peace and a culture of solidarity.

A few days ago, the Food and Agriculture

Organization of the United Nations announced that

Brazil is no longer on the World Hunger Map. That

transformation is the result of economic policies that

have generated 21 million jobs, raised the minimum

wage and increased its purchasing power by 71 per cent

in the past 12 years. Those policies have also reduced

inequality. Since 2003, 36 million Brazilians have been

lifted out of extreme poverty, 22 million of them during

my Administration alone. Social policies and income-

transfer programmes, coordinated within our plan for a

Brazil without extreme poverty, have also contributed

to those results. On the health-care front, we have been

able to meet our target for reduced child mortality

before the deadline set by the Millennium Development

Goals.

We have also made access to basic primary and

middle-school education universally available, and we

are now pursuing the same goal for secondary education.

We are equally committed to enhancing the quality of

education by, inter alia, improving curriculums and

raising the profile of teachers. Vocational education

has made strides, with the creation of hundreds of new

schools and the professional training and development

of 8 million young people over the past four years.

There has been an unprecedented expansion of higher

education, with the establishment of new publicly

funded universities and of scholarships and financial

aid that has given 3 million students access to private

universities. Affirmative-action policies have enabled

poor, black and indigenous students to enrol in

universities on a massive scale.

Finally, our efforts to tackle the challenges

of building a knowledge-based society have led

to the creation of a programme known as Science

Without Borders, which has sent more than 100,000

undergraduate and graduate students to the world’s

best universities. Through a presidential initiative, our

National Congress has enacted legislation allocating

to education 75 per cent of the royalties earned from

pre-salt oil exploration and 50 per cent of the social

fund generated by pre-salt oil revenues, with 25 per

cent of pre-salt oil exploration royalties going to health

care. We will thus be able to transform finite resources

such as oil and gas into permanent assets — education,

science and technology, and innovation. That will be

our passport to the future.

We have not neglected fiscal discipline and

monetary stability, and we have striven to protect

Brazil from external volatility. We were thus able to

overcome the challenges arising from the major global

economic crisis, triggered in 2008 by the collapse of

Lehman Brothers, which subsequently developed into

national sovereign debt crises affecting many countries.

We resisted its worst consequences — unemployment,

wage depreciation, erosion of social rights and

stalled investment. We followed through with income

distribution by stimulating growth and employment and

maintaining our investment in infrastructure. Brazil

jumped from the thirteenth- to the seventh-largest

economy in the world. Our per capita income more than

tripled, and inequality fell sharply. In 2002, more than

half of Brazil’s population was poor or living below the

poverty line; today three out of every four Brazilians

are firmly in the middle-class and upper-income

ranges. During the economic crisis, when hundreds of

millions around the world were left unemployed, Brazil

created 12 million new jobs. In addition, we became

a primary destination for foreign investment, and we

resumed our investment in infrastructure through

strong partnerships with the private sector.

All of those gains have occurred within the context

of a sound fiscal environment. We have reduced our

net ratio of public debt to gross domestic product

(GDP) from about 60 per cent to 35 per cent. Our gross

external debt in relation to GDP fell from 42 per cent

to 14 per cent. Our international reserves increased

tenfold, making Brazil an international creditor. Our

annual inflation rate has also remained within the

maximum and minimum range fixed by our current

national targets.

Although we have managed to fend off the most

harmful consequences of the global crisis, we have

nonetheless been acutely affected by it in the past

few years, owing to the persistence all over the world

of substantial economic difficulties that have had a

negative effect on our growth. Here I would like to

reiterate what I said at the opening of last year’s general

debate (see A/68/PV.5). It is vital and urgent that we

restore the momentum of the global economy, which

should work to drive investment and international

trade and reduce inequalities between countries, and

not become a factor that ultimately slows economic

development and income distribution in society as a

whole.

Regarding international trade, there must be a

unanimous commitment to an action plan leading to the

conclusion of the Doha Round. It is also imperative that

we end the disparity between the growing importance

of developing countries to the global economy and their

insufficient representation and participation in the

decision-making processes of international financial

institutions such as the International Monetary

Fund and the World Bank. The delay in expanding

developing countries’ voting rights in those institutions

is unacceptable. The risk to those institutions is that

could lose their legitimacy and effectiveness.

In July Brazil had the pleasure of hosting the

sixth Summit of the BRICS countries, namely, Brazil,

Russia, India, China and South Africa. We welcomed

their leaders in a fraternal and fruitful meeting that

pointed to important possibilities for the future. We

signed agreements establishing a new development

bank and a contingent reserve arrangement. The bank

will cater to the infrastructure financing needs of the

BRICS and other developing countries. The contingent

reserve arrangement will protect them from financial

volatility. Each instrument will have a capital injection

of $100 billion.

The current generation of world leaders — our

generation — is also being called on to deal with significant

challenges to peace, collective security and the

environment. We have been unable either to solve old

disputes or to prevent new threats. It is impossible to

eliminate the underlying causes of conflict through the

use of force. That has been made clear by the persistence

of the Palestine question, the systematic massacre of

the Syrian people, the tragic national fragmentation of

Iraq, the serious insecurity in Libya, the conflicts in the

Sahel and the clashes in Ukraine. Instead of leading to

peace, every military intervention has worsened those

conflicts. We are witnessing the tragic proliferation

of civilian victims and humanitarian disasters. We

cannot allow such barbaric acts to increase and violate

our ethical, moral and civilizational values. Nor can

we remain indifferent to the spread of the Ebola virus

in West Africa. We therefore support the Secretary-

General’s proposal to establish a United Nations

Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Brazil is

solidly in favour of it.

The Security Council has had some difficulties

in promoting peaceful solutions to those conflicts.

To overcome such stalemates, a genuine reform of

the Council will be required, a process that has been

dragging on for quite some time. The coming seventieth

anniversary of the United Nations, in 2015, appears to

be an occasion conducive to achieving the progress

that the situation currently calls for. I am quite certain

that we all understand the serious risks arising from

paralysis and inaction in the Security Council. A more

representative and legitimate Security Council would

also be more effective.

I wish to underscore that we cannot possibly remain

indifferent to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, particularly

after the recent dramatic events in Gaza. We condemn

the disproportionate use of force that has strongly

victimized the civilian population, especially women

and children. The conflict must be properly resolved,

not precariously managed, as has been the case up to

now. Effective negotiations between the parties must

ultimately lead to a two-State solution with Palestine

and Israel living side by side in security within

internationally recognized borders.

Amid so many conflict situations, Latin America

and the Caribbean seek to face up to the main problem

that has marked our region for centuries. I am talking

about social inequality. Democratic roots have become

stronger, and the demand for more just, inclusive and

sustainable growth has grown ever stronger. Through

the Union of South American Nations, the Common

Market of the South, and the Community of Latin

American and Caribbean States, integration efforts

have made tremendous headway.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of

our times. To overcome that challenge, we need a sense

of urgency, political courage and a keen understanding

that actors have to contribute according to the

principles of equity and common but differentiated

responsibilities. The recent Climate Summit, which was

convened in a very timely manner by the Secretary-

General, further invigorated negotiations at the level of

the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change.

The Brazilian Government will strive to ensure

that the outcome of the negotiations will lead to a

balanced, fair and effective agreement. Brazil has been

doing its part to face up to the challenge of climate

change. In 2009, during the Copenhagen Conference,

we committed to a voluntary reduction of 36 to 39 per

cent of our projected emissions by 2020. Between 2010

and 2013, we avoided releasing into the atmosphere an

average of 650 million tons of carbon dioxide every

year. Throughout those years, we achieved the lowest

deforestation rates in our history. In the past decade,

we have reduced deforestation by 79 per cent, without

giving up our agenda of economic development and

social inclusion.

We have therefore shown that it is possible to

grow, to include, to preserve and to protect. Such an

achievement stems from the continuous and steadfast

commitment of the Brazilian Government, civil society

and other public and private stakeholders. We hope

that developed countries, which have not only the

legal but also a political obligation to lead by example,

will unequivocally and concretely demonstrate their

commitment to combat this problem that affects us all.

At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development in Rio de Janeiro, we were proud to set

the foundations for a new development agenda, based

on sustainable development goals applicable to both

developing and developed nations. It will be crucial

for us to identify the means of implementation that

correspond to the magnitude of the challenges that we

have committed ourselves to overcoming. We must be

ambitious when it comes to financing, cooperation,

national capacity-building and technology transfer,

especially to ensure that the least developed countries

benefit. Let me underscore, in that context, the need to

establish a mechanism for the development, transfer and

dissemination of clean, environmentally sustainable

technologies.

In addition to sustainable development and peace,

the international order that we seek to build must be

anchored on fundamental values. Among those values,

emphasis should be put on efforts to combat all forms

of discrimination and exclusion. We have a clear-cut

commitment to the empowerment of women in the

labour market, liberal professions, entrepreneurship,

political activity and access to education, among others.

My Administration has tirelessly fought violence

against women in all its forms. We consider the twenty-

first century to be the century of women.

By the same token, the promotion of racial equality

seeks to compensate Brazilians of African descent for

the consequences of the centuries of slavery to which

they were subjected. Today, those Brazilians account

for more than half of our population. We owe them our

rich and permanent legacy of cultural, religious and

human wealth and values. For us, racial miscegenation

is a matter of pride. Racism is not only a heinous and

extremely serious crime, but it is also a scourge that we

have not hesitated to fight, punish and eradicate.

The same commitment that we have had to combat

violence against women and African Brazilians, we

have also had against homophobia. My country’s

Supreme Court has recognized same-sex civil unions,

thereby ensuring them the full range of civil rights

arising therefrom. We firmly believe in the dignity of

all human beings and in the universal nature of their

fundamental rights. Those rights must be protected

from all double standards and all forms of politicization,

both domestically and internationally.

Yet another fundamental value is the respect for

public good. We all face a relentless fight against

corruption. History has shown that there is only one

correct and efficient way to tackle corruption; that is

by ending impunity, thereby strengthening institutions

that oversee, investigate and punish acts of corruption,

money-laundering and other financial crimes. That is

a responsibility incumbent upon each Government, a

responsibility that Brazil has fulfilled by strengthening

our institutions.

In Brazil, we have designed and built a Government

transparency portal website that gives citizens access

to all information on Government spending within 24

hours after monies are spent. We have also adopted

a law on access to information, which allows all

Brazilian citizens the right to access Government

data, except for that related to the country’s national

sovereignty. We have strengthened and given autonomy

to investigators as well as to those in charge of internal

Government controls. We have passed laws that punish

not only those who actively engage in corruption but

also those who passively agree with acts of corruption.

Strengthening those institutions is absolutely crucial

for strengthening open and democratic governance.

Brazil’s recent re-election to the Executive Committee

of the Open Government Partnership will also allow

us to contribute to promoting more transparent

Governments worldwide.

It is essential that measures be taken to effectively

protect human rights, not only in the real world but

also in the virtual world, as stated in resolution 68/167

on privacy in the digital age, adopted by the General

Assembly in the past year. Brazil and Germany

promoted an important discussion on the matter in

2013. We intend to deepen that discussion during this

sixty-ninth session. For our review of such matters, the

2013 annual report of the Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Human Rights, published in

May 2014, can provide significant inputs. In September

2013, I proposed from this rostrum (see A/68/PV.5) that

a civil framework be development for the governance

and use of the Internet, a framework based on the

principles of freedom of expression, privacy, network

neutrality and cultural diversity.

I am pleased to note that the international community

has, since then, mobilized its efforts to enhance the

current Internet governance architecture. Brazil’s

initiative to hold the Global Multistakeholder Meeting

on the Future of Internet Governance, NETmundial, in

São Paulo in April was an important step in the process.

The Meeting brought together stakeholders from

various regions of the world and from multiple sectors.

Discussions were held on the principles that should be

followed and the actions to be undertaken in order to

ensure that the Internet will continue to develop in an

open, democratic, free, multisectoral and multilateral

manner.

The United Nations and its Member States have

before them today challenges of great magnitude, which

should be the priorities of this session of the General

Assembly. The year 2015 must be a turning point. I am

certain that we will not shy away from fulfilling, with a

sense of courage and insight, our lofty responsibilities

to build an international order founded on the promotion

of peace, sustainable development, poverty eradication

and the reduction of inequality. Brazil stands ready and

is fully determined to contribute to that end.