Spain, 2008

In a few weeks’ time, it will be 60 years

since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights. And here we find ourselves at the

midpoint in the application of our strategies for the

attainment of the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

bears witness to the determination to leave us a better

world than the one known by our fathers’ generation —

a generation that suffered, struggled, defeated

totalitarianism and condensed its aspirations for

freedom and prosperity in that text. The Millennium

Development Goals reflect the will, no less

determined, of our generation to confront extreme

poverty once and for all, so that we may leave to our

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children a world without millions of human beings

suffering from hunger and poverty on a daily basis.

Together, the observance of human rights and the

attainment of the Millennium Development Goals are

perhaps the most noble aspirations ever envisioned by

humanity, and the most devoted to the dignity of

individuals.

Just by that fact alone, we can say that, despite all

of the suffering deliberately caused by human beings

over the last decades, during that time we have learned

and we have made progress. We can feel satisfied that

we have identified and broadened the horizons of

human beings on our planet. We can feel satisfied by

that, but by no means should we be complacent.

There is no room for complacency because if we

look at the horizon for the MDGs, as we have for

human rights, the conclusion would be the same: the

results are still far from fulfilling our aspirations,

precisely because those aspirations retain all of their

value, and even grow in value, with the passage of

time.

Ten years ago, at the commemoration of the

fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, President Nelson

Mandela recalled that poverty is an offence against the

Declaration and is the result not of any force of nature,

but rather of the action or non-action by human beings,

in particular those in leadership positions in politics,

the economy and other areas of human activity.

Aware of that responsibility, eight years ago

Member States undertook the unique effort, in historic

terms, to alleviate poverty for millions of people

worldwide. I wish to make my opinion clear that we

have not progressed as we should have or as we

planned. However, the needs are the same or even

greater than they were when we agreed the Millennium

Development Goals eight years ago.

Mr. Tanin (Afghanistan), Vice-President, took the

Chair.

If we are to attain the Millennium Development

Goals by 2015, we cannot just sit back. We cannot

blame our failure to meet our obligations on the

economic situation. We cannot use any circumstance as

an excuse to avoid honouring our commitments. It is a

question not only of adhering to irreplaceable ethical

standards, but of making responsible efforts towards

stability and international equality.

We must also work urgently to establish a new

world financial order that would prevent the recurrence

of situations like that we are currently experiencing. It

is also urgent that we continue to fight with

determination against the hunger and poverty that

cause millions of people to suffer unacceptably and

continue to be a source of conflict and migratory

pressures that are difficult to control.

I am speaking on behalf of a country — Spain —

that is making great efforts of solidarity in its

cooperation policies. Over the past four years, Spain

has been the State with the highest increase in its

official development assistance; our goal is to reach

0.7 per cent of our gross national income by 2012.

Spanish society offers that commitment in response to

the current food crisis.

My country believes that the best way to reaffirm

the full value of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights and to keep 2015 firmly in view is to strengthen

the historical connotation of each. That connotation is

nothing less than the exaltation of human dignity as

both an impregnable wall against arbitrariness and

despotism and as a curb against extreme poverty.

A few weeks ago, on behalf of the Government of

Spain, I made a proposal that I would like to reiterate

today. The year 2015 should be designated as the year

of a universal moratorium on the death penalty. That

would be a first step towards its abolition. I call upon

representatives of countries that still include capital

punishment in their legal system to support the

measure and to participate in a process of reflection on

the meaning of that punishment inflicted by States. It

might seen utopian to aspire to achieve the full

enjoyment and universal recognition of human rights

and the eradication of extreme poverty in the course of

a single generation, but those goals are not utopian and

never will be. Utopias are often simply premature

truths. We must not delay or dismiss them with

resignation or blind selfishness. Moreover, it is only by

setting off down that road that we can work towards

the just, secure and cooperative international order that

we all wish to see.

The effects of the international financial crisis

that began one year ago are spreading throughout most

developed and less developed economies, and could

affect the achievement of the Millennium Development

Goals. There is a risk that the poorest countries will

end up suffering even more because of improper

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practices in the richer countries. The financial crisis

has conclusively demonstrated the need to reconsider

economic environments that are immune to regulation

and governmental supervision. We already know what

speculation in the crucible of deregulation can lead to.

Today, it is more important than ever to stress the role

of institutions and Government in rationalizing the

markets and their instrumentality in serving the real

needs of families, the well-being of individuals and

their education, health care and social cohesion.

At the national level, the State protects markets

from their own excesses. The global market lacks

similar institutions to develop control and supervision

functions. We need to revise the rules and institutions

of the world economy. We need a common vision for

the establishment of a new international financial legal

system. We have to learn from our mistakes, and do so

quickly and in a spirit of cooperation.

My Government would like to contribute actively

to forging that new international financial order. We

will promote and support an agreement that contains

definite commitments to supervision, transparency and

early warning by national institutions; ensures the

flexible capacity of those institutions to provide

liquidity and countercyclical reserves of capital to the

markets in moments of need; and strengthens the role

of international financial bodies.

Prosperity for our peoples is possible only if there

is international peace and security. Peace and security

will be possible only through effective multilateralism

based on respect for and the safeguarding of

international law. For my country, there is no other way

to imagine international order. Four years ago in this

very same Hall, I proposed an alliance of civilizations

with the objective of building bridges between

different cultures and breaking down the walls of

misunderstanding. Today, I am satisfied to note that the

initiative promoted by Spain and Turkey has been fully

endorsed by the United Nations, and enjoys the support

of a Group of Friends made up of 90 States and

international organizations.

The world can hope for peace only when dialogue

and understanding of basic values that respect diversity

are elevated above intolerance and fundamentalism.

Spain will continue to assert this conviction in all

forums where our contribution is or can be relevant —

including, first and foremost, at the United Nations. We

will do so not only because it is the best way to stress

the key desires of Spanish society, but also because we

want to shoulder our responsibility for bringing about

the just, secure, caring international order in which we

believe.

The capacity for human progress cannot be

questioned. The thirst for discovery and innovation, the

desire to go beyond ourselves, opens the door for

meeting human needs every day in all areas. It is a

question of placing this immense creative force in the

service of those values on which human dignity is

based, eliminating arbitrariness, injustice and all forms

of discrimination, starting with those that women have

so unfairly endured throughout history. We cannot

stop; we cannot give up.

In the United Nations, with a rational attitude,

with the hope engendered by our common values, we

can launch an era of world prosperity and unity. For

that, we need coordination, not unilateral action.

Development must be sustainable and not uncontrolled.

We need permanent political dialogue. We should not

give in to old temptations or new cold wars. We have

to eradicate extreme poverty and denounce the

selfishness of the richest. We need the United Nations.

We need all men and women to know that their dignity

is dependent on the dignity of their peers.

Above all, hundreds of millions of people in

Africa, Latin America and Asia need us: that must be

the basic purpose of our endeavours. Spain is

committed to those endeavours and will fulfil its

historic duty to eradicate extreme poverty around the

world. This generation can do it; this generation must

do it.