Spain, 2009

A little more than a year ago, we witnessed

with great concern the collapse of some of the largest

financial institutions of the world’s wealthiest

countries. That financial fissure precipitated a global

economic crisis which, despite the emerging signs of

recovery, all of us continue to experience. We faced the

stark reality that we lacked the necessary guidelines

and rules to prevent what was occurring in the global

financial system, even though it already was a global

system. Now, following the G-20 summits in

Washington and London, where we laid the

foundations to resolve the problems, it is up to the

Pittsburgh conference to finish the work.

Despite what has been said, this is not the first

globalization crisis. Instead, it is the first crisis of

global governance, that is to say, a crisis of an

insufficiently governed globalization. We have an

obligation to learn from this experience — certainly to

learn a lesson with regard to the financial and

economic crisis, but also about the other global

challenges that require both collective determination

and coordinated multilateral political efforts. For those

challenges are interrelated. We cannot aspire to

economic and social development unless countries and

peoples enjoy adequate peace and security. Conversely,

it will not be possible to build lasting peace and

security unless there is sustainable development.

That same willingness to take responsibility for

both problems and solutions, which has re-emerged

strongly in recent months, should ensure that we do not

fail in responding to the conflicts and threats

confronting world peace and security. That willingness

should also ensure that we do not fail in dealing with

extreme hunger and poverty; in effectively committing

ourselves to combating the effects of climate change;

or in tackling organized crime, terrorism and piracy.

We therefore have a great opportunity before us.

Here at the general debate, one year after the

beginning of the financial crisis that nearly engulfed

the well-being of developed countries and dashed the

hopes of many others, I would like to reiterate that

Spain is a country committed to multilateralism and the

need to continue to develop a system of global

governance — and that applies to every one of the

challenges to which I have just referred. But before

turning to those challenges, I should like to begin by

saying that multilateralism is not just a process for

taking decisions and resolving conflicts at the

international level. It is indeed that; but in order for

multilateralism to be effective and lasting, it must

above all include two fundamental elements.

First of all, multilateralism is intrinsically linked

with the faithful observance of democratic values,

human rights and effective equality between women

and men throughout the world. In that regard, I very

much welcome the last resolution adopted by the

General Assembly at the previous session, which will

make a single body responsible for all gender issues.

Today, however, standing firmly for democracy

elicits a single name: Honduras. Our Latin American

brothers in that country have in recent years seen the

strengthening of both democracy and the prospects for

the future. With the support of Spain and the

international community, they have now decided that

they are going to overcome the challenge before

Honduras. We will not accept an anti-democratic coup.

We will not accept it, and democracy must return to

Honduras.

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Secondly, but no less important, multilateralism

requires, if not a culture, an atmosphere of dialogue,

respect and acceptance between countries, regions and,

more broadly, civilizations. Five years ago, I addressed

the General Assembly for the first time to propose the

establishment of an alliance of civilizations focused on

promoting understanding and cooperation between

countries and peoples of different cultures and

religions, as well as on countering the forces that breed

extremism and endanger peace.

We cannot be satisfied solely at the fact that the

group of friends for that initiative has since grown to

over 100 members, or that there are now associated

networks of individuals and representatives of civil

society organizations who are ensuring the continued

existence of the project, or that the third forum of the

Alliance will be held next year in Rio de Janeiro. Nor

can we be satisfied at the fact that those developments

clearly illustrate the universality of the principles

underpinning the initiative. Respect for the diversity of

civilizations, cultures and traditions are crucial to the

effectiveness and sustainability of the multilateralism

that we wish to see strengthened on the basis of human

rights and the universal values that we share as

responsible members of the international community.

When I launched the Alliance of Civilizations

initiative from this very rostrum five years ago, it was

at a less favourable time than the present. Yesterday,

having heard statements by the President of the United

States of America and other international leaders, I

thought to myself that this effort has been worthwhile.

Today the Alliance is able to deploy its full potential in

order to promote the effective multilateralism we

desire. We are now able to build. The initiative was

worth it and — if I may put it this way — it was also

right that the United Nations made it its own through

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his predecessor,

Kofi Annan.

Spain is therefore pleased that the President of

the General Assembly has proposed that the debate at

this new session focus on “Effective responses to

global crises: strengthening multilateralism and

dialogue among civilizations for international peace,

security and development”. We must now take a new

step.

The Alliance of Civilizations, which sets out and

promotes those values throughout the entire United

Nations, should be a structural component of the main

bodies and all other entities of the Organization. The

time has come for the General Assembly to adopt a

resolution conferring that structural character on the

Alliance of Civilizations through a constitutive charter.

Spain will work with Turkey and the wider

membership of the Alliance’s group of friends in order

that such a resolution can be adopted by the end of this

fall. I am convinced that it will make a very positive

contribution to the work of such bodies as the Human

Rights Council, the Economic and Social Council and

even the Security Council. The dialogue among

civilizations should be the mother tongue of the United

Nations.

The new multilateralism has been essential for

taking significant steps forward in the area of

disarmament and arms control, such as prohibiting

anti-personnel landmines and cluster bombs.

Now, the world has the opportunity to take a

great step: abolishing nuclear weapons. President

Obama has had the courage to put that on the table, and

the United States and Russia — a country that is and

will remain key to Euro-Atlantic security — are

negotiating the largest cuts ever made to these arsenals.

We encourage them. We are hopeful about the initiative

to convene a special summit of the Security Council

devoted to the fight against nuclear proliferation.

Spain, a nation that renounced the development

and possession of nuclear weapons, fully shares that

objective and will support it with every means at our

disposal. We should immediately undertake to

strengthen the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT), whose Review Conference in

May 2010 will coincide with Spain’s presidency of the

European Union. I pledge to do everything possible, as

far as Spain and the European Union are concerned, to

ensure that this important conference has concrete

results that will enable us to advance the perspective of

a world free from nuclear weapons.

Let us continue to act with determination and

without discouragement to build and consolidate peace

in all areas and regions. My country is proud to have

been contributing to United Nations peacekeeping

missions for 20 years. Over those 20 years, we have

taken part in 22 missions comprising a total of more

than 100,000 troops.

Currently, we share the concern over the situation

in Afghanistan. I am sure, however, that the

international community will be able to find a

27 09-52320

solution — a solution that is not and cannot be purely

military. The shared conviction as to the strategic value

of the region and the internal solidarity among the

countries present there is stronger than ever and will be

decisive in the face of the difficulties before us.

I also wish to reiterate the need to persevere in

seeking formulas for peace in the Middle East because

of that conflict’s potential to spread and affect other

regional conflicts such as those just mentioned. The

world has an unresolved task: peace in the Middle

East, with two secure States — the State of Israel, but

also the State of Palestine, which the international

community must consider and recognize within a

reasonable period of time. Peace in the Middle East has

been and continues to be the first strategic priority for

the international community.

According to the most recent estimates, more

than 1 billion people throughout the world — nearly

one sixth of its total population — suffer hunger. We

must say this as often as possible: figures such as that,

reflecting unfathomable human suffering, assault our

consciences time and again as leaders of the

international community and as citizens. It is unjust

and unacceptable to proceed further into the twenty-

first century, as we are doing, with such a radical

imbalance in the living conditions of humanity. It is

unjust, unacceptable and also unsafe — a permanent

source of instability. It is not possible to aspire to a

secure world if the current levels of inequality and

poverty persist.

That is why our commitment to international

peace and security must go hand in hand with a

renewed effort to eradicate poverty, using our

leadership responsibly and with solidarity and avoiding

the temptation, in times of economic crisis, to lessen

our commitment to the world’s poorest and most

vulnerable.

The achievement of the Millennium Development

Goals must be a central aspect of the international

agenda. Five years before 2015, the Goals can still be

achieved, with sustained collective effort. At the next

session of the General Assembly, we must reach

specific agreements that will guarantee their

achievement.

I wish to strengthen the appeal for that urgent

joint effort by citing the commitment of my country

and its citizens. I refer in particular to Africa. The

twenty-first century should belong to a continent that

has been dispossessed for too long in the history of

humanity: the African continent. Spain has become the

seventh-largest international donor and the eighth-

largest United Nations contributor, and we have made a

clear commitment in the area of food security.

Over the past few years, we have raised

humanity’s awareness about the seriousness of the

effects of climate change. There is now sufficient

awareness about the need to combat climate change

and also about the opportunities it provides us to create

a new model of economic development — sustainable

development.

With climate change, the time for awareness-

raising is over and the time for commitments has

arrived. We do not need any more words; it is time for

action. We must take everyone’s circumstances into

account, but, if we are to make collective progress, we

must not delay. Although we have been able to see the

effects of the economic crisis, we still find it difficult

to react to the effects of a phenomenon much more

devastating for entire future generations. That is

paradoxical and incomprehensible — even more so

when we consider that to emerge from the economic

crisis means ensuring the only kind of growth possible:

sustainable growth.

We have 75 days before the Copenhagen summit

begins. They can be 75 days for the future or for

failure, 75 days for responsibility or for impotence,

75 days for agreement or for the useless defence of

selfish interests. Copenhagen should give two answers

to the world, regarding what and when: an ambitious

reduction of emissions — the what — and a horizon

that is near and defined — the when.

In order to attain those objectives, we also need

to think about how. We know that technological

research, innovation and development in the area of

energy assist in the fight against climate change. That

is why Spain has proposed that every State should

devote at least 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic

product to research, development and innovation in the

area of technology and energy. That is a reference

figure that, as in the area of development cooperation

policy, will help us determine a commitment before the

international community. My country also proposes to

promote, when we assume the European Union

presidency in the first half of 2010, the agreements that

we must all adopt at Copenhagen.

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Finally, only one year ago we were struck by a

financial crisis that shook every corner of the world.

Since then, all of us have suffered the effects of that

crisis, but we have also become aware of the need to

move ahead in building global governance and have

taken resolute steps in that direction. Let us continue

on that path, not just to continue fighting against the

crisis and for employment, but to overcome it together

and successfully address the other global challenges.

Let us use this time for clarity; let us take this

opportunity. Let us build a multilateralism that is

effective and responsible — above all, a

multilateralism of solidarity. Since 1945, there have

never been such favourable circumstances for

translating the desires of the founders of the United

Nations into the reality of the international order.

Those desires were intended for succeeding

generations. And we are the first generation that has

within its reach the ability to fulfil the old and

beautiful dream of a world governed by all. Let us do

so.