Mexico, 2004

The

session of the General Assembly over which you will

preside, Sir, will be one of the most important in the

history of the United Nations. It will be a session

characterized by the necessary renewal of the United

Nations. The year 2005 will be decisive for the future

of multilateralism and of our global Organization.

The debate on Iraq and the spreading wave of

international terrorism have raised a series of questions

about the future of our collective security system. At

this session, the General Assembly has before it the

task of beginning an unprecedented reflection on the

changes our societies require of multilateral diplomacy.

Our efforts must result in new tools that will enable the

United Nations to find effective solutions to carry out

the lofty mission of tackling anew the tasks of

development, maintaining world peace and security,

promoting human rights and democracy and protecting

the environment — all under the rule of international

law.

As a result of recent debates, some have raised

their voices to assert that the international community

is fractured and even in conflict. It is curious that that

is happening at a time in the life of the world when

threats and challenges are more clearly shared by all

nations. The tasks that should unite us focus on the

fight against abject poverty, international terrorism,

organized crime syndicates, major epidemics, the

proliferation of arsenals of weapons of mass

destruction and the deterioration of the environment. In

order to put an end to those ills, concerted action and

commitment are required from all States. The reason is

obvious: the most complex threats we face do not have

any specific national origin, but they affect us all and

have ultimately worsened the quality of life in the

world and damaged the peace and well-being of our

citizens.

The United Nations was designed to put an end to

the scourge of wars between nations and to promote the

economic and social development of peoples. We face

phenomena of such magnitude and complexity that the

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delegates who attended the San Francisco

Conference — despite their outstanding talent and

vision — could not have anticipated at the time. The

diplomats of our generation have the obligation of

envisioning a second phase, inaugurating a new chapter

of collective action to eradicate these dangerous

modern-day evils.

In Mexico’s view, the goal to which we should

aspire is not to rebuild the Organization from scratch or

to discard the United Nations Charter, with its rich

heritage of agreements and concepts. It would not be

responsible to abandon such essential tools as

legitimate individual or collective self-defence, as set

out in Article 51, and the establishment of a collective

security system. The only viable, rational and

necessary approach is to update the multilateral system

of cooperation and understanding that we have built

together.

It was on the basis of those considerations that

President Vicente Fox of Mexico, when he addressed

the General Assembly last year, made a robust appeal

for comprehensive reform of the United Nations.

Furthermore, in many meetings that he has held since

then with other heads of State or Government, he has

expressed considerable interest in moving forward —

with the urgency that the situation requires — towards

strengthening and revitalizing the United Nations.

That is why we have undertaken an effort of

active coordination aimed at reforming the United

Nations and strengthening multilateralism. Mexico,

together with 14 other countries, has begun an effort of

joint reflection to analyse the various components of

reform and to devise a diplomatic strategy to guide the

steady progress of United Nations reform.

We envision reform with an evolutionary

approach that would enable the United Nations to

tackle the most delicate challenges and threats of each

historical cycle, drawing on the resources and strengths

of all Member States in order to overcome the most

disturbing international phenomena. That exercise

should begin to bear fruit in the next 18 months.

Two thousand and five will be an appropriate

year to promote this ambitious project: there will be a

convergence of events that will enable us to revitalize

multilateral dialogue and interaction. First, in

December 2004, we will receive the report and the

recommendations of the Secretary-General’s High-

level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which

will be of valuable assistance in guiding our

deliberations on reform of the system. It will be very

important that we examine those recommendations in

minute detail and that the General Assembly be the

central forum for discussing and adopting the new

mandates and changes that must be implemented in the

Organization. Likewise, next year we will have to

assess the progress made in implementing the

Millennium Declaration and the steps taken to follow

up the Monterrey Consensus on financing for

development.

That series of events in 2005 will give us an up-

to-date view of the state of the multilateral system and

of the issues that reform should address. With that

broad perspective, and so that we can live up to the

commitment and interest of all Member States, we will

need to ensure a balance between the security and

development agendas and their respective institutions

within the system. The General Assembly, the Security

Council and the Economic and Social Council must

work as part of an organic whole, not as entities that

are disconnected and sometimes even at odds in their

tasks, priorities and working methods.

The predominance of the Security Council has

resulted in growing disregard for the work of other

principal organs and has diminished their effectiveness.

This causes certain issues to be marginalized; then,

when they reach crisis level, they become matters for

which the Security Council becomes responsible. We

also must acknowledge that the overall process of

United Nations reform has been dominated — in fact,

paralysed — by the debate on restructuring the

Security Council.

Mexico believes that any Security Council reform

process should be governed by a set of common

objectives and criteria. After more than a decade of

work, we should ask ourselves why Security Council

reform has not succeeded. The debate has focused on

the number of seats, how they should be allocated to

each region and whether or not they should be

permanent seats. Mexico does not share that approach

because, paradoxically, the fundamental question that

has largely been ignored — which came to the fore

during the critical discussion on Iraq — is not how

many members there should be on the Security Council

and how many should be permanent; rather, it is what

kind of collective security system does the

international community need today, and what

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mechanisms should be used to face new challenges

and, above all, to prevent conflicts.

The Security Council must create conditions that

will prevent the emergence of conflicts, particularly

through building and consolidating national institutions

and upholding the rule of law and respect for human

rights. The Council should also enhance its capacity to

consistently identify situations likely to endanger peace

and security. As a logical outcome of such an analysis,

we can then identify the changes needed in the Security

Council.

Mexico acknowledges the contributions of

Member States to the cause of peace, all of them

necessary. Our Organization, based on the legal

equality of States, requires the commitment and

support of all its Members, through their involvement

in decision-making. The creation of new permanent

seats would lead to greater concentration of the

international decision-making process than is now the

case. We cannot ignore the fact that permanent

members of the Council already have more influence

than the rest of the membership. Mexico considers that

this should be restricted and not further increased.

Mexico supports collective decision-making as

the source of the legitimacy and effectiveness of our

actions in favour of peace and security. In that regard,

we favour a regionally equitable and balanced

enlargement of the number of elected members, based

on modalities determined within the regional groups.

That would stimulate wider participation in the

decision-making process and would ensure that more

countries, not fewer, can contribute their views in the

Council.

Thus, Mexico would support an increase in the

number of elected members and an extension of their

term of office, with the option of immediate re-election

for those States that have demonstrated, through their

performance, a strong commitment to the purposes of

the Organization. That would help us to create a

genuine mechanism for accountability, founded on

Article 24 of the Charter.

As part of this integral vision of reform, it is

crucial also to strengthen the role of the Economic and

Social Council, which supports the Security Council

and the General Assembly in the decision-making

process. Conflict prevention depends upon timely

attention to and action on problems that lead to a lack

of access to development. It is undeniable that peace

and security are anchored on the well-being of our

peoples. Therefore, we believe that the Economic and

Social Council should work as a coordinating body to

steer the financing of development and to articulate the

follow-up of commitments stemming from United

Nations summits and conferences on social and

economic development.

It is essential to have a more committed

involvement of the international financial institutions

in the development process. In that regard, the

Economic and Social Council should play a pivotal

role linking the Bretton Woods institutions, the World

Trade Organization (WTO), the private sector and civil

society.

Another issue that is worth our attention in the

reform process is the Commission on Human Rights,

which has essential responsibilities regarding universal

respect for individual rights and fundamental freedoms.

Mexico considers that the work of the Commission is

vital, although its procedural weakness in advancing its

objectives is clear. For this reason, its methods must be

urgently reformulated. Mexico is fostering regional

dialogue on this issue.

The ongoing effort in favour of United Nations

reform requires a vision of collective well-being and

enhanced political understanding, in order to prevent

“threats without a passport” from plunging the world

into a spiral of confrontation, violence and despair.

Here, we should recognize that the United Nations has

already taken some first steps in the right direction,

particularly in the fight against terrorism and the non-

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As part

of the reform, it will be necessary to carry these actions

further.

In this context, Mexico is ready to continue

working with the institutional structures of the

Organization, particularly the Counter-Terrorism

Committee and the non-proliferation machinery. We

will continue to promote the protection of human rights

and fundamental freedoms in the fight against

terrorism as the only way to guarantee the legitimacy

and efficacy of that fight. My country will also follow

closely the cooperation initiatives and regimes geared

to control the export of nuclear materials; and we will

stress the need to strengthen efforts in the urgent cause

of disarmament.

Other positive steps have been taken in recent

years to confront the grave challenges resulting from

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humanitarian crises and genocide. In this context,

Mexico concurs with the concept of the responsibility

to protect, in the sense that sovereignty entails a State’s

obligation towards its population, and that, when it

fails to fulfil it, the international community has the

duty to collectively assist in the protection of

individuals from serious human rights violations. In the

light of recent regrettable humanitarian tragedies, it is

of the utmost importance for the General Assembly to

discuss this concept thoroughly, in order to elaborate

guidelines for its practical application within the

Organization.

Bearing in mind the scope of the reform

challenge facing us, Mexico would favour the

convening of a general conference with the aim of

updating and strengthening our Organization. In

contrast to the consideration that has been given to

other issues of international relevance, such as trade,

population and the environment, we have not held any

open-ended rounds of negotiations in the last six

decades on issues pertaining to international politics

and the progressive development of diplomacy. The

changes that have taken place in the world in that

period demand a comprehensive exercise that should

encompass the renewal of our commitments, review of

collective security structures and their performance,

above all, promotion of economic development.

Throughout President Fox’s administration,

Mexico has clearly shown its commitment to the

strengthening of multilateralism. We have done so as

an elected member of the Security Council, as a

promoter of international conventions on topics such as

corruption, persons with disabilities and migrants, by

furthering initiatives to foster the equitable and

sustainable development of global areas and by hosting

high-level conferences such as the Monterrey

Conference on Financing for Development and the

Summit of the Americas.

Furthermore, as an unequivocal sign of our

interest, our concerns and our commitment, Mexico is

decisively promoting the revitalization of the

multilateral system through the Group of Friends for

the Reform of the United Nations.

It is in that constructive spirit that Mexico is

taking part in this session of the General Assembly. We

are certain that under your able leadership,

Mr. President, this session will be remembered as the

catalyst for one of the most important and dominant

chapters in the life of our Organization.