Tajikistan, 2008

First of all, allow me to

congratulate Mr. D’Escoto Brockmann on his election

to the office of President of the General Assembly and

to express the hope that, under his leadership, the

General Assembly at its sixty-third session will achieve

its goals, the most important of which are the further

strengthening of the United Nations system for the

sake of peace and international security and addressing

the global issues that are becoming the challenges of

the twenty-first century.

This year, humankind has faced a number of

interrelated crises, including the energy, food, climate

and financial crises that have combined to cause a

general development crisis. The consequences of those

newly emerged challenges have had the most severe

impact on the social conditions of millions of people in

the developing countries and on States with transitional

economies, my country among them.

However, people have not lost their hope for a

more just and fruitful world. They pin their hopes on a

powerful and efficient United Nations capable of

mobilizing and focusing its resources on solutions to

the most urgent issues of the day. We believe that there

is an urgent need to efficiently develop dialogue and

cooperation among all the entities of this multipolar

world and to avoid applying double standards in

international relations. It is equally important not to

allow people of different races, religions, continents

and regions to be set against one another.

No single country in the world, not even the most

powerful, is capable of meeting single-handed the

challenges of our time, which range from climate

change to the necessary uncompromising fight against

international terrorism. Today more than ever before,

the new generation of global issues requires a

collective response and the United Nations, entrusted

with a broad mandate, is the only existing instrument

capable of addressing them.

One example of the new generation of global

issues is the human right to an adequate food supply.

The dramatic rise in the cost of food and energy has

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called into question the achievement of the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs). The food crisis has

affected the poorest populations in the most negative

way. In Tajikistan, 93 per cent of whose entire territory

is mountainous and only 7 per cent suitable for

agriculture, the food crisis has affected two thirds of all

households. Additional coordinated efforts and

efficient measures are called for if we are to avert a

further degradation of the situation of global food

security. In the present circumstances, the use of food

for biofuel production is inhumane and immoral.

Our hope is that donor States will undertake all

the necessary political, financial and economic

measures to prevent a worsening of the food crisis. If

they do not, millions more could suffer further

impoverishment. We also expect that official

international assistance will be increasingly allocated

to the development of agriculture and that artificially

created barriers in trade will eventually be removed.

It is quite obvious that the United Nations should

play the key role in addressing the food crisis and

related world agricultural policy. Tajikistan supports

the activities of the United Nations High-level Task

Force on the Global Food Security Crisis mandated to

design urgent response measures to the food crisis. The

efforts of the Task Force should also be focused on

assistance and on developing joint agreed long-term

approaches to ensuring food security throughout the

world. The High-Level Conference on World Food

Security in Rome and the resulting adoption of a

declaration were important steps in that direction.

Within the Food and Agriculture Organization, it

is necessary to revitalize activities in the transfer of

advanced technologies and seeds and in the provision

of financial and technical assistance to developing

countries. We call for enhanced support for the

assistance programmes being implemented through the

World Food Programme.

The lives of millions of men, women and children

on Earth depend on their ability to exercise their

human right to an adequate food supply. That issue

requires not protracted discussions, but resolute

practical action, since the food crisis, which deprives

human beings of their dignity, is no less of a threat than

terrorism itself. We believe that the world’s leading

countries should act more responsibly to mitigate the

consequences of the global energy, food, climate and

financial crises, particularly with regard to the poor

and developing States, which are most affected by the

devastating consequences of those phenomena.

Tajikistan, which has fertile soil and is rich in

water resources, can make its own contribution to the

resolution of that problem. More than 55 per cent of all

water resources in the Central Asia region originate in

Tajikistan. Not only is that amount of water sufficient

to meet the freshwater needs of agricultural irrigation

and related economic sectors in the region; it can also

serve as a major source for the generation of

ecologically sound electrical energy. Tajikistan’s

hydropower capacity, in particular, is estimated at

525 billion kilowatt-hours, and only 5 per cent of that

capacity is currently being utilized.

It is only by taking a comprehensive and mutually

beneficial approach to the use of hydropower and other

natural resources that the States of Central Asia can

ensure sustainable development in the region and help

to resolve its food and environmental problems,

notably through the efficient use of those resources.

Only mutually beneficial cooperation aimed at such

use can bring well-being to the peoples inhabiting that

vast region. We hope that our plans will be supported

by the Bretton Woods institutions and by United

Nations partners in the private sector.

I believe that we need to create an economic

mechanism for the transfer of water and energy

resources, which would serve the interests of both

upstream countries, which are rich in water resources,

and downstream countries, most of which are rich in

hydrocarbon raw materials.

The problem of climate change is already

affecting our region, in particular its water resources.

As a result of global warming, Tajikistan’s glaciers

have diminished in size by more than 30 per cent. That

has produced low water levels in our rivers over the

past three years, which in turn has caused grave social

and economic problems by triggering drought, a locust

invasion and other difficulties. Without the

implementation of hydropower projects, our country

will be unable to achieve the MDGs or arrive at

sustainable growth, as shown clearly last winter, when

weather of unprecedented severity revealed all the

difficulties of the transitional period. Next winter and

summer are expected to be even more challenging.

Obviously, water is an essential resource, because

it is needed not only to sustain human life, but also for

industrial purposes, environmental protection and the

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entire development process. Addressing urgent water-

related issues and promoting international cooperation

in meeting the water challenge are the goals of the

International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”,

2005-2015, which was initiated by the Republic of

Tajikistan. I invite Member States to designate

representatives to participate in the International

Freshwater Forum, to be held in Dushanbe in 2010, to

review the practical implementation of the

internationally agreed water agenda.

Despite the many water-related events held

throughout the world at various levels in recent years,

the issue of water remains urgent. For that reason, in

order to ensure that water issues are comprehensively

addressed and that efforts taken at the national,

regional and global levels are strengthened, the

Republic of Tajikistan proposes that a special session

of the General Assembly be convened to review

progress made in achieving the goals set for the Water

Decade and identify areas for further action.

Today, in addition to the general debate, a high-

level event on the Millennium Development Goals is

being held at United Nations Headquarters. My country

regards timely achievement of the MDGs as a priority

issue. The Government of Tajikistan has been

implementing its national development strategy up to

2015. The strategy, developed at the initiative of the

United Nations and with its direct involvement, reflects

a largely new approach to development. It takes into

account global experience in the area of development,

the implementation of similar strategic documents,

lessons drawn and conclusions reached during the

previous stages of the country’s development, current

realities and development prospects. However, I must

note that the federal financing of the country’s social

progress is limited by the growth rate of our economy.

It is obvious that, in many respects, achievement

of the MDGs depends on the approach taken by the

international community to the provision of assistance

to developing countries and the timely mobilization of

internal and external resources. In that respect,

Tajikistan associates itself with the appeals made to the

donor community to double its development assistance,

which is vital for the support of sustainable growth and

for the achievement of internationally agreed goals.

The proposal that debts accrued by developing

countries be relieved in exchange for the

implementation of national projects in the area of

sustainable development remains relevant. The soaring

costs and, in many cases, artificially inflated prices of

hydrocarbon raw materials and food have considerably

worsened and complicated the financial situation of

poor and developing countries. Even partial

cancellation of their debt would help, since it would

release funds that could be invested in education and

the entire social sector, environmental protection, the

fight against HIV/AIDS and other areas.

The forthcoming Follow-up International

Conference on Financing for Development to Review

the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, to be

held in Doha, will provide a good opportunity for the

further development of effective measures to provide

the resources needed to achieve the MDGs. Our hope is

that the Doha Conference will provide new impetus for

the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and

that it will enhance the spirit of global partnership and

solidarity.

The situation in Afghanistan, which has been

devastated by a long period of conflict and violence, is

a source of grave concern. Afghanistan needs not only

a larger military presence on its territory, but also

targeted economic, technical and humanitarian

assistance. Experience has shown that military action

against terrorist groups is often far less effective than

carefully thought-out non-violent political and

economic measures. We must, as a matter of urgency,

realistically consider involving other influential

regional actors, including the Shanghai Cooperation

Organization, in resolving the Afghan issue.

Strengthening international cooperation in the

fight against terrorism is inseparable from

counteracting the trade in illicit drugs. It is essential

that we assist the Government of Afghanistan in

destroying the technological and financing links of the

modern illicit-drug industry. Consolidated efforts to

that end will enhance the achievement of the goals set

out in the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism

Strategy and the Paris Declaration.

The global system of fighting terrorism,

transnational organized crime and illicit drug

trafficking which is currently being shaped cannot be

built without support from regional organizations. In

this regard, Tajikistan salutes the efforts of the United

Nations to expand its cooperation with relevant

regional organizations. These are powerful structures,

and involving them in addressing global issues will

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prevent modern challenges and threats from taking on

undesirable dimensions.

The United Nations and peacebuilding are

inseparable. We appreciate the devotion of those who

selflessly worked at the United Nations Tajikistan

Office of Peacebuilding and pay tribute to those who

lost their lives while performing their professional

duty. The settlement model for the inter-Tajik conflict,

involving assistance from the United Nations and

guarantor States, has been acknowledged as a unique

example of both peacebuilding and preventive

diplomacy.

We support the Secretary-General’s initiative to

reform the peacekeeping machinery, and we believe

that it is essential to continue providing the relevant

political, financial and logistical support to

peacekeepers in order to help them cope with their

difficult missions.

Tajikistan endorses the priority attention given by

the United Nations to enhancing the effectiveness of

assistance to countries that have endured internal

conflicts and supports the activities of the

Peacebuilding Commission, which is mandated to

contribute to ensuring coordination and enhancing the

effectiveness of international assistance to such

countries. In order to strengthen peace and stability,

countries that have suffered internal conflicts need not

only humanitarian assistance but also concrete help in

dealing with their economic and social problems, along

with support for their efforts to establish the foundation

that is essential for a transition to sustainable

development.

This year the international community celebrated

the 1,150th anniversary of the birth of Abuabdullohi

Rudaki, the founder of Tajik-Persian literature. The

essence of his moral philosophy can be described as

praise for such eternal spiritual values as kindness,

beauty, tolerance and mutual assistance. Centuries

later, the poetry of Rudaki continues to call for

strengthening friendship among nations and expanding

dialogue among civilizations; it sings a hymn to

humanism and harmony. As noted by the Secretary-

General,

“Rudaki’s timeless and profound writings provide

an inspiration for the Alliance of Civilizations,

our initiative to counter extremism and heal the

divisions that threaten our world”. (Press release

SG/SM/11646)

I am confident that the common human values

praised by Rudaki are in harmony with the objectives

pursued today by the United Nations worldwide. I am

very optimistic about our ability to make the world a

better place and to meet the aspirations and hopes of

our peoples.