Uruguay, 2010

Our

goals at the national level are goals we also want to see

achieved in the international community. They are

goals that the international community must tackle as

priorities. They include eradicating indigence and

reducing and eliminating poverty and its root causes, as

well as ensuring a dignified life and favourable

working conditions for all. We also want an

international system that is more democratic and

efficient. We want the issues that I have mentioned to

be resolved through cross-cutting policies. We can

work to promote democracy in every country of the

system, but we are badly off indeed if the law of the

strongest prevails in the overall system.

Uruguay will always take a moral and ethical

approach to every issue, whether with regard to the

environment, human rights or international security. In

every instance, the ultimate guide is the human person.

We must in the end, therefore, always rely on our

conscience. However, the functioning of the system is

crucial, for that is what generates social, territorial and

gender inequality.

At the outset, we welcome the election of the

Argentine Republic as Chair of the Group of 77 and

China. Argentina is a brotherly country that shares

common principles and values with us.

Uruguay, in keeping with its historical path and

traditions, reaffirms its commitment to the principles of

international law. I would like to underscore in

particular our firm support for the peaceful solution of

conflicts; the sovereign equality of States; the

principles of non-intervention and of the self-

determination of peoples; respect for human rights;

international socio-economic cooperation; and

multilateralism. The maximum expression of those

principles is to be found in this Organization.

I would also like to express our rejection of the

use or the threat of use of force, of terrorism and of all

types of violence, and of the application of coercive

measures in contravention of the Charter of the United

Nations, such as the economic, financial and trade

embargo against Cuba by the United States, which we

firmly reject. That unilateral measure is contrary, not

only to the Charter but also to international law and to

one of the most dearly held principles of my country’s

foreign policy, namely, the peaceful settlements of

disputes.

Uruguay is party to the principal international

conventions relating to the environment and

sustainable development. Thus, we have reaffirmed our

responsibility for the protection of the environment as

a human right and a fundamental component for

achieving truly sustainable development.

Uruguay has a long history of defending,

promoting and protecting human rights and

international humanitarian law. Those principles are a

central priority of the State, enshrined in the traditional

pillars of the Republic’s foreign policy, which

constitute the political and institutional foundations of

the country. We welcome the progress made this year

in Kampala, Uganda, which has led to the

strengthening of the regime established under the

Statute of the International Criminal Court. Uruguay is

among the countries that have subscribed to the widest

range of conventions in the area of human rights and

international humanitarian law.

Uruguay’s long-standing tradition of defending

those principles has allowed us to take a leading role

in, among other areas, the protection and promotion of

the rights of children. We believe it is vitally important

that we continue to focus our efforts to promote the

defence and protection of children and to ensure their

well-being.

We also reaffirm our full support for the

integration of a gender perspective into all policies and

programmes of the United Nations system. In that

respect, we welcome the adoption of the resolution

(resolution 64/289) on the coherence of the United

Nations system, which, in particular, created the new

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the

Empowerment of Women. We would also like to

express our satisfaction with the appointment of

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Ms. Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, as

Under-Secretary-General for UN Women. We are

confident that her experience will serve as a vital asset

for the new Entity.

Uruguay has a steadfast commitment to the cause

of peace and our country’s foreign policy bears

testimony to that fact. We have given decisive support

to all measures aimed at the elimination of nuclear

arms and other weapons of mass destruction. We have

also advocated the control and reduction of

conventional weapons. We underscore, once again, the

importance of the swift universal implementation of

these agreements.

Likewise, and without prejudice to the

reaffirmation of our hope to see a Nuclear Weapons

Convention, we believe that the entry into force of the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and a fissile

material cut-off treaty during the present year, would

constitute decisive steps in the consolidation and

deepening of the progress made in the area of

disarmament. We must not stop, because to stop is to

go backwards, and to go backwards is to expose

humanity to the horrendous and unacceptable risk of

nuclear holocaust.

It is our hope that, in 2012, a conference will be

held, without further delay or conditions, in which all

of the States of the Middle East will participate, with

the aim of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone,

free of all other weapons of mass destruction as well,

through freely agreed arrangements between the States

of the region, with the full support and commitment of

those States that possess nuclear weapons. Similarly,

Uruguay supports the Secretary-General’s five-point

initiative for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Uruguay actively participates in the United

Nations multilateral system of peacekeeping and

maintenance of international security, as well as in

efforts to defend human rights and uphold international

humanitarian law through peacekeeping operations,

based on our conviction that these are a solid testimony

to the collective commitment of the international

community as a whole. That commitment on the part of

my country can be seen both on the ground, through

our deployment of more than 2,500 Blue Helmets,

deployed principally in Haiti and the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, and in its work on the political

level here at Headquarters.

We recognize that the Security Council holds the

primary responsibility for the maintenance of

international peace and security. But we believe it is

extremely important to promote a closer relationship

between the Council and the General Assembly. The

greater the distance between them, the more difficult it

is for peacekeeping operations to achieve their

objectives and for their complex mandates to be

effectively implemented.

In this respect, the existing gap between the

complexity of the mandates and the resources available

poses a challenge that we must confront every day. We

are convinced that is of fundamental importance for us

to ensure that adequate consideration is given to the

allocation of the resources needed for the proper

functioning of those operations. The conditions offered

by the system also need to be updated, so that the

United Nations has at its disposal the equipment and

human resources that it needs. That subject affects

developing countries in particular, since it is they

which provide the large majority of the troops and thus

the viability of their participation in missions is at

stake.

The case of Haiti probably provides one of the

best illustrations of the need for a cross-cutting

political effort to lift a country out of a situation of

crisis and institutional and social stagnation.

Uruguay has never been indifferent to the

challenges that this brotherly country has had to

confront and continues to confront today. From 2004 to

date, we have deployed more than 10,000 military

personnel to the United Nations Stabilization Mission

in Haiti, who have faithfully carried out the mandate

approved by the Security Council for the stabilization

process in that country.

In its role as coordinator of the Group of Friends

of Haiti, Uruguay has for some years been advocating

for a mandate that, without neglecting the urgent

security needs, permits at the same time the

establishment of the conditions necessary for

strengthening the productive capacity of the country,

which was seriously affected by the earthquake of

12 January 2010.

In our view, greater emphasis should be placed on

providing teachers, doctors, engineers, agronomists,

experts in information technologies and volunteer

workers, who could contribute effectively to solving

the problems of the Haitian population. Investing in

7 10-55396

human resources in Haiti is of fundamental importance

for the future development of the country.

Over the past two years, there has been an open

process of restructuring the peacekeeping system,

which was necessary given the new reality that we are

facing. That process must be viewed as part of a larger

project of reform of the Organization, which, through

various initiatives, seeks to be more effective, to work

in a more coordinated manner and to enjoy greater

legitimacy.

Uruguay reiterates its adherence to that process

of reform of the United Nations. The process, begun

during the 2005 Summit, which gave rise to the creation

of two new structures within the Organization — the

Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding

Commission — should be brought to completion

through the consideration of various outstanding

topics, including the reform of the Security Council.

The current international reality is such that that body

needs to be more representative and democratic. We

must therefore take steps to effect its expansion, while

guarding against an extension of the historical

obstacles that run contrary to the principle of the

sovereign equality of States, such as the right of veto.

A very clear example of Uruguay’s commitment

to the United Nations reform process, which seeks to

establish greater effectiveness and coordination within

the system, is its direct participation in the “Delivering

as One” programme. Three years after the pilot

programme was launched in Uruguay, we have recently

completed the country evaluation and can affirm that

the design, implementation, follow-up and evaluation

of the process have contributed to the national

Government’s efforts to strengthen the coordination

among the various State bodies through a joint

programming exercise, which made possible greater

interaction between agencies, the Government and the

United Nations system.

Uruguay has formally expressed its aspiration to

occupy a seat as a non-permanent member of the

Security Council for the period 2016-2017. We are the

only candidate country in the region at the present

time. Since its accession to the United Nations as a

founding Member and despite having pursued a foreign

policy inspired by the same purposes, principles and

ideals enshrined in the United Nations Charter,

Uruguay has occupied a seat in the Security Council

only once, which was during the period 1965-1966.

Presenting one’s candidacy to the body in which

the international community has entrusted the current

global collective security system constitutes the most

demanding test of a State’s foreign policy. In the

present context, which is profoundly marked by

multiple global crises, it is imperative that we work

jointly towards building long-term strategies and

solutions that will lead us to more just and equitable

societies.

In that regard, the role of the United Nations in

international economic and financial governance is

fundamental in terms of democratizing decision-

making and ensuring equal participation in global

decisions that affect us all and directly impact strategic

planning in the short, medium and long term.

Coordinated, transparent and harmonious decision-

making is essential for achieving tangible results that

improve the living conditions and situation of the

world’s citizens. Our country deems it important to

promote dialogue in order to foster bridge-building

among the various decision-making forums.

We must be aware that without a healthy natural

environment, all other development efforts will have a

limited effect. In that context, the global phenomenon

of climate change is perhaps the most urgent and

dramatic challenge currently facing humanity. It poses

additional challenges to development and forces us to

urgently consider the need to implement measures to

adapt to and mitigate its adverse effects. Such

measures require changes in production methods and

seriously compromise the distribution of domestic

resources.

Achieving sustainable development that takes

into account the economic, social and environmental

dimensions is fundamental to ensuring long-term

results and a healthy environment for present and

future generations as well as sustained economic

growth. That goal is also a necessary precondition for

reducing disparities between the developed world and

the developing world, particularly in the quality of life,

income distribution and human development

indicators.

In closing, Uruguay would like to reaffirm the

imperative necessity of renewed political commitment

aimed at achieving an open and equitable multilateral

trade system based on clear rules that would permit all

countries to benefit from the potential provided by

international trade as the engine of development.

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Hunger eradication, food production and agricultural

trade are closely related and must be strengthened

through a predictable multilateral system that provides

guarantees to producers and ensures food availability

to the most vulnerable sectors. In that context, the

elimination of subsidies and other non-tariff barriers

that hinder access to markets is essential, as is a

successful conclusion of the Doha Round based on a

development perspective.