Ecuador, 2006

The

twenty-first century demands that the world develop a

new vision of the concept of international law and of

relations among peoples and States. A year ago,

Ecuador raised the need to move towards a new world

order built on three bases: the economy, international

law and biology. This need has become urgent. We

summon the planet to establish this new triad, which

must include biology.

Never before has there been so much wealth.

Poverty, however, continues to grow, and hunger and

misery take their toll of human lives each day. Life on

Earth is deteriorating. The harmonious continuity of

humanity is threatened, and the world — including the

developed countries — has not been able to find an

adequate answer. There are still vast areas of

sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia where

millions of human beings are on the brink of

extinction. Vast areas continue to require international

cooperation. While in Japan, Hong Kong and Iceland,

life expectancy at birth exceeds 80 years, in Botswana

and Lesotho it barely reaches 36 years. While in

Sweden, Singapore, Denmark, Iceland and Norway, the

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under-five mortality rate is below 4 per 1,000 live

births, in Sierra Leone, Niger and Liberia it exceeds

235 per 1,000 live births. We must guarantee greater

equity in health expenditure throughout the world in

order to overcome the huge gap between the few

dollars per capita invested in poor countries and the

thousands of dollars per capita that are invested in the

developed world.

Five years have passed since the Millennium

Development Goals were proclaimed, and very little

has been done to achieve them. The limited compliance

among the most highly developed countries to

contribute 0.7 per cent of gross national income to

progress in the poorest areas has had an adverse impact

on this situation.

Underdevelopment is a global problem; just like

the healthy continuity of our species, which is

threatened by economic, political and military

problems. The least developed countries lack resources

to improve education and culture — a requirement for

ensuring collective health. The growing burden of

foreign debt prevents our people from investing in their

development. Underdeveloped countries are still under

the yoke of external debt service, which continues to

absorb domestic savings and limits the possibilities for

social and productive investment.

Far from resolving the problem, successive debt

refinancing creates further links that lengthen the chain

shackling development and economic progress, and it

undermines the ethical foundation and the destiny of

humankind. That is why Ecuador supports the initiative

of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to create a group

of highly indebted lower- and middle-income countries

that together would work to find creative and long-

term solutions.

The neediest countries are marginalized from

investment in scientific research and medical

discoveries.

The phenomenon of migration has taken on

unprecedented dimensions. More than 200 million

people are refugees, living outside their countries of

origin. Migration causes families to break down and

results in cultural deterioration, hampering the

emergence of future healthy generations and adequate

care of the elderly in conditions of dignity.

Countries must assume binding commitments on

the defence of the human rights of migrants. To that

end, we welcome the High-level Dialogue on

International Migration and Development — a

multidimensional event that reflects the political

resolve of sending and receiving countries.

War affects the entire planet. Mortality rates

increase not only because of its direct victims, but also

because of the destruction of infrastructure. Ethnic and

religious problems, or economic aspirations, lead to

genocidal practices. World peace, respect for human

rights and respect among States are the principles that

led to the founding of the United Nations.

Transfixed, the world has witnessed bloodshed

and brutal acts of violence against peoples as a

consequence of the settlement of conflicts through the

use of weapons, and of the limited ability of the

international community within the United Nations to

find solutions within the framework of the law.

We support the resolution adopted by the Security

Council — and the efforts of the Secretary-General —

to ensure a commitment by all parties involved to

comply with the ceasefire and to withdraw their forces

to the borders established before the last confrontation.

The international community and the highest

multilateral bodies have been unable to find diplomatic

means of resolving such conflicts swiftly and

effectively. Thus there needs to be an improvement in

the structure of these bodies, including the United

Nations system itself.

The Security Council is no longer an expression

of a global balance. Today, it represents only itself. For

that reason, it must be reformed and democratized. It is

unacceptable that, at the dawn of the third millennium,

the lives of millions of human beings and of entire

populations hinge on the veto of one State or another

and on a unilateral geopolitical vision.

The concepts of war and peace are once again at

the heart of our reflection on global security and

survival. The security of the planet, of peoples, of

States and of nations will be sustainable only if it is

founded on health, on education, on development and

on peace.

Laying the foundations of genuine peace is the

greatest moral obligation of all of humankind. The

alternative is growing insecurity, fuelled by poverty,

illness, destitution and fear.

21 06-52885

The creation of the Peacebuilding Commission

and the inception of the Human Rights Council, of

which Ecuador is member, and the reforms that are

being launched in the Secretariat and in the

administrative bodies of the United Nations represent

significant steps forward, but they still fall short.

My country, Ecuador, believes that the reform of

the system includes strengthening the World Health

Organization, its leadership and its fight against

poverty and the environmental impact of poverty, in

the promotion of local, national and regional initiatives

aimed at implementing a fully decentralized global

health system. That will make possible enable the

development of health systems and models capable of

ensuring tangible benefits for all inhabitants of the

planet.

Universal health insurance is a valid strategy to

guarantee access to a comprehensive health-care

system among developing nations at the same level as

in developed countries. That would eliminate the

shameful asymmetry that is reflected in the unbalanced

health statistics that differentiate the various segments

of our populations.

In order to implement these and other important

health programmes, considerable financial resources

must be mobilized, which must flow from international

cooperation, but also from developing countries and

the so-called donor countries.

In this century, compliance with the Millennium

Goals is State policy for the Government of Ecuador.

For a multinational, pluricultural and multi-ethnic

country such as Ecuador, ensuring respect for human

rights means, above all, respect for the other; respect

for the development of indigenous peoples, with full

recognition of their diversity and of their need to be

integrated into the process of modernization, while

preserving their identity.

Ecuador welcomes the recent adoption by the

Human Rights Council of the Declaration on the Rights

of Indigenous Peoples and fully supports its adoption

by the Assembly.

We reaffirm our commitment to fight crimes of

the utmost gravity, such as trafficking in human beings

and the sexual exploitation of boys and girls. This year

we have strengthened our domestic legislation to

punish such crimes. The Government of Ecuador has

undertaken economic policy measures to recover

income from petroleum operations. That will enable us

to engage in sustainable and productive social

investment, thus improving living conditions for

underprivileged Ecuadorians. As a result of those

measures, for the first time in Ecuador, funds are

available for scientific and technological research to

promote knowledge so that we can be masters of our

own destiny.

Ecuador is committed to strengthening South-

South relations. We attach great importance to regional

integration, in particular through the Andean

Community of Nations and the Common Market of the

South, which are key actors in building the South

American Community of Nations to make progress

towards Latin American integration, hemispheric

integration and, ultimately, a globalization that has a

human face and is equitable for all.

Ecuador promotes all the conditions necessary to

reach trade agreements with all countries throughout

the world, based on principles that respect the

preservation of sensitive areas of national production,

ensure food security and protect biological diversity

and genetic data — that is to say, life.

Ecuador has consistently fought narco-trafficking

and related crimes. That is why we believe that we are

fully entitled to ask the United States Senate to renew

the Andean Trade Preference Act to encourage legal

production and exports.

Ecuador endorses the principles that guided the

establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

We hope that the obstacles faced by the Doha round

will be successfully overcome to ensure its full

validity, particularly with respect to the elimination of

export subsidies for agricultural products.

Our relations with Mexico, Central America and

the Caribbean are particularly important. At the same

time, we are seeking dynamic relationships with

countries of the Pacific rim and throughout the world.

Within the framework of the South American

Community of Nations, we are beginning to engage in

regional meetings with Arab and African countries to

strengthen political dialogue, cooperation and mutual

trade. Ecuador was greatly pleased to welcome

ministers for finance and related areas from Arab and

South American countries in order to jointly formulate

a strategy for strengthening our economic, trade and

investment relationships. With regard to African

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nations, my country will participate at the highest level

in the summit to be held in Nigeria this November.

Ecuador also attaches great importance to

political coordination mechanisms such as the Group

of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement, whose summit

was held recently.

To conclude, I wish to express my sincere thanks

to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his

outstanding work at the head of the Organization

despite the enormous difficulties he was obliged to

face, including those of a financial nature. The world is

confident that the new Secretary-General will be able

to continue that work and to implement the processes

of United Nations reform, with the commitment of all

its Members, particularly the most highly developed

countries.