Kyrgyzstan, 2008

At

the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on

your election to the post of President of the General

Assembly and wish the work of the sixty-third session

every success under your guidance. I should like to

express deep gratitude to Srgjan Kerim for successfully

steering the work of the Assembly’s previous session.

Today, the role of the United Nations as the

universal international forum that can make an

important contribution to strengthening international

peace and security is seen as increasingly important.

The high-level plenary meeting on Africa’s

development needs and the high-level event on the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gave us every

reason to believe that joint efforts can generate

appropriate measures for existing crises and this

session of the General Assembly will serve as an

additional contribution towards achieving the MDGs.

In today’s conditions, when there are rapid

changes worldwide, enhancing the role of the United

Nations and the effectiveness of its work is

increasingly important. Further strengthening the

authority and potential of the Organization in the

present situation requires that we pursue reform of the

entire United Nations system, so that it can, above all,

act as the guarantor of international peace and security

and also effectively and flexibly respond to existing

problems.

For us, the most important issue is strengthening

the Security Council in the cause of preserving

international law and order and tranquillity. In

advocating expansion of Council membership and, the

enhancement of its working methods, the Kyrgyz

Republic believes that Council reform must be based

on the principles of universality, effectiveness and

equitable geographic representation.

For its part, the Kyrgyz Republic will continue to

contribute as much as it can to maintaining peace and

security. In that regard, we would like to reaffirm that

for the first time our country has put forth its

candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the Security

Council for the term 2012 and 2013. Realizing the true

breadth of responsibilities of members in that key body

of the United Nations, the Kyrgyz Republic will do its

utmost to address global problems.

The rapid changes taking place in the world have

not bypassed the Kyrgyz Republic. Such challenges as

climate change and the food and energy crises have

highlighted the extreme importance of collective

efforts, both regional and global. Such circumstances

clearly heighten the role of the United Nations and

other, regional organizations in consolidating efforts to

work out effective mechanisms for preventing and

responding to challenges and threats.

As is known, the water resources of Central Asia

come from the high alpine glaciers and snowfields in

Kyrgyzstan. However, at the beginning of this year we

were already encountering the consequences of

warming and of a period of water scarcity, which

negatively impacted the delivery of electricity to both

domestic and external markets. The environmental

situation is also aggravated by the fact that in our

country earthquakes, landslides and flooding have

recurred in recent years and in such conditions the fact

that our country has a considerable number of storage

sites for radioactive waste poses a serious threat not

only to national, but also to regional security.

As international experience demonstrates, peace

and security cannot be maintained without establishing

the elementary conditions that are necessary for a

decent existence. In order to achieve security and

development goals simultaneously, the international

community must pursue a more balanced policy.

Particular attention should consistently be given to

issues of law and order in society.

From this rostrum, I would like to thank all

United Nations Member countries for their unanimous

support for the initiative of the President of the Kyrgyz

Republic, Kurmanbek Bakiev, on declaring 20 February

as World Day of Social Justice. The pursuit of policies

of social justice is aimed at sustainable development of

the human potential and at enhancing the interaction of

States in order to eradicate poverty, achieve gender

balance and to address migration issues.

We are grateful to Member States for their

support at the previous Assembly session for resolution

62/196, on sustainable mountain development, under

which Bishkek will hold the second Global Mountain

Summit in October 2009 to assess the activities of the

international community with respect to sustainable

mountain development. I take this opportunity to

reiterate our invitation to interested countries to take

part in that international forum, and also to express the

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hope that Members will provide active support to that

initiative of the international community.

I would like to touch upon several issues that are

at the centre of attention for the delegation of the

Kyrgyz Republic. Most unfortunately, there are still

radioactive waste storage sites in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Properly maintaining them and preventing a regional

environmental disaster stand high on the agenda. We

are grateful to the United Nations Development

Programme, which has seriously paid attention to the

need to solve that problem. I am confident that at the

international forum on resolving issues of the storage

of uranium tailings, to be held in Bishkek this autumn,

the international community, under the United Nations

coordinating role, will take effective measures,

including financial and technical assistance, aimed at

ensuring their security.

We would also like to express firm support for

the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in

Central Asia, since that would contribute to

strengthening global and regional security. In that

regard, we hope to receive the broad support of the

international community for the related draft resolution

at this Assembly session.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the

international community is going through a complex

period. Member States must reaffirm their readiness to

seek practical solutions to the most pressing problems

of our time. The international community rightfully

expects that we all will work out effective measures to

strengthen the United Nations in order to find ways to

resolve the challenges of the new millennium.

Therefore, we need to do our utmost, so that the

current session of the General Assembly will be

remembered as a session of reform.