Mexico, 2009

Since the last session of the General

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Assembly, a number of crises have tested the

capabilities of multilateral institutions to face them

firmly and with unified purpose. The international

community has come to understand that only joint

action in which developing countries are full

participants can offer sustainable responses to these

emergencies. Fortunately, we see some positive signs

of economic growth in some places.

Nevertheless, insecurity and uncertainty prevail.

The insecurity results from the persistence of armed

conflicts, terrorism and transnational organized crime,

which threaten our achievements in sustainable human

development. The uncertainty is linked to the

negotiations that will lead to the United Nations

Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in

December. Global warming is now a threat to humanity

of incalculable proportions, to which we all contribute

and for which we all, without exception, are

responsible.

Contributing to sustainable human development

requires, first, conditions conducive to international

peace and security. As President Felipe Calderón

pointed out in the Security Council summit (see

S/PV.6191), nuclear proliferation and highly

insufficient legal access to peaceful uses for atomic

energy demand a renewed commitment to disarmament

and the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime.

I also echo the emphatic call, issued by global

civil society at the sixty-second Annual Conference of

the Department of Public Information for

Non-Governmental Organizations, held in Mexico City

this year, that we, the Governments of the world, fulfil

our responsibilities to attain our goal of a world free of

nuclear weapons.

The promotion and protection of human rights

constitute a universal ethical imperative and an

obligation that no government can renounce. The

progress attained in this field at the national level has

been possible thanks to my country’s close alignment

with the international system for the promotion and

protection of human rights, which has proved an

invaluable tool for promoting improvements in our

national structures.

It is clear that to attain full sustainable human

development we must tackle poverty and inequality,

fostering a development that ensures access for all

people to adequate food, health, education and

housing.

In response to the health emergency that Mexico

faced some months ago with the outbreak of influenza

A(H1N1), the World Health Organization gave its full

support to the timely, energetic and responsible actions

of my Government. This is proof that the United

Nations system is capable of mobilizing coordinated

action by States and avoiding unilateral measures that

are not appropriate in response to such emergencies.

We must continue to update our protocols for action.

For Mexico, meeting the Millennium Development

Goals is a State commitment. Our priority continues to

be the eradication of poverty. We must make the

necessary structural changes to reduce inequality and

attain prosperity for all. We must implement policies

that ensure that concrete action is taken based on the

Monterrey Consensus on financing for development,

that the Doha Round is successfully concluded and that

contributions by developed countries and multilateral

development banks to projects in countries with low

growth rates are increased.

It is imperative to address urgent needs such as

food security in order to reduce inequality and

strengthen the capacities enjoyed by our peoples. Food

security is the very foundation of development.

Therefore, we must ensure food security by eliminating

market distortions, boosting production through the use

of technology and improving productivity without

making sacrifices on the environmental agenda.

The recent Group of 20 Summit in Pittsburgh

demonstrated that the scale of the global financial

crisis requires a firm response, both in coordinating the

measures taken by individual countries to mitigate

impact in areas such as unemployment and in avoiding

protectionist measures. There is still much left to do,

but it is a fact that the timely intervention by the Group

of 20 allowed further resources to be channelled to the

international financial institutions and strengthened the

participation of developing countries in the decision-

making bodies within those institutions.

The United Nations must realize that we are

witnessing a reconfiguration of global economic

governance, and that policies must be adjusted to this

new reality. We require an Organization that is strong,

effective and efficient. The cuts that are being imposed

on all countries at home must also be reflected in

United Nations system budgets. If it remains passive,

alienated and conformist, our Organization risks losing

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its relevance as the premier universal and legitimate

forum for solving the major problems of humanity.

The challenges of global warming have made it

clear that the absence of economic incentives is one of

the main reasons that the commitments under the

Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change have not been fulfilled.

For this reason, Mexico has proposed, in the

preparatory negotiations for the Copenhagen

Conference, an innovative financing scheme, known as

the Green Fund, which would reward the efforts of

States that adopt policies aimed at reducing greenhouse

gas emissions, without jeopardizing their development

goals. The Green Fund fully responds to the principle

of common but differentiated responsibility. It is not

just another financial mechanism that obeys the

conventional criteria.

All countries must be able to receive financing,

but the scale of the contributions will result from a

combination of factors that take into account, among

other things, their level of development, the size of

their population and the volume of their emissions.

Least-developed countries will not be obliged to

contribute. This initiative of President Felipe Calderón

has received growing support from Member States,

which reinforces the will of my Government to

continue moving forward with all parties in the

negotiations prior to Copenhagen.

The negotiations aimed at achieving

comprehensive Security Council reform have made

significant progress through a process that has heard

debate on all aspects of reform and identified proposals

that can garner the broadest possible consensus. We

must continue negotiations towards compromise

solutions which would increase the representative

nature of the Council and translate into greater

accountability, without jeopardizing its effectiveness.

The world has undoubtedly changed since 1945,

and remains in a state of permanent mutation, as the

ongoing discussions on the international economic and

financial architecture demonstrate. It is absurd to argue

for static institutions in a world that is anything but

static.

As we presented our candidacy as a

non-permanent member of the Security Council for the

2009-2010 term, Mexico announced that it would seek

to foster closer communications between Member

States and the Security Council, something which is

essential if the Council is to accomplish its tasks. As

President of the Council during the month of April,

Mexico made progress in increasing the transparency

of that body by issuing information on a significant

number of the Council’s consultations. We will keep

working to enhance the effectiveness and legitimacy of

the Council in several ways. First, we will seek to

strengthen the work of the Council in preventing

international crises relating to massive human rights

violations and strengthening protection for the

thousands of internally displaced persons and refugees.

Secondly, we will seek to focus the Council’s attention

on preventing conflicts, and not just managing them,

by incorporating in its resolutions mandates that link

security with strengthened development aid and

humanitarian assistance. Thirdly, we wish to make

development assistance a fundamental strategy for

conflict prevention and reconstruction.

The situation in Honduras has made evident the

importance of continuing to improve our means in

preventing actions that suspend democracy and the rule

of law. We can celebrate the fact that the international

community responded unanimously to the forceful

interruption of constitutional order in Honduras and the

ousting of President José Manuel Zelaya. Mexico,

together with the majority of countries of the

hemisphere, has acted within regional mechanisms,

including the Rio Group, which we chair, to secure

President Zelaya’s return to office and that democratic

order is restored based on the initiative of President

Arias of Costa Rica. We issue an emphatic call to the

de facto authorities to continue the dialogue with the

commission established under the auspices of the

Organization of American States, to abstain from any

act that would endanger the inviolability of the

Embassy of Brazil, where President Zelaya is located

and to respect his physical safety and that of those who

are with him.

Let us work together for a world that is more

secure and more just, a world where in the words of the

great Octavio Paz, liberty can take root — a prosperous

world anchored by the rights and freedoms of

individuals.