General Assembly Session 61 meeting 13

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Guatemala.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Oscar Berger Perdomo, President of the Republic of Guatemala, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Berger Perdomo (Guatemala)

In 2006, several important anniversaries coincide and provide a background for our debate. For the United Nations, 2006 represents a new opportunity to assess progress since the adoption six years ago of the package of commitments generally known as the Millennium Development Goals, which received renewed impetus during the 2005 World Summit. The outcome of that summit provides the main theme of our debate during this Assembly, as well as the guidelines for the reform of our Organization. For this great city, the site of the Headquarters of our Organization, 2006 marks the fifth anniversary of the tragic events of 11 September 2001, which altered history forever. For Guatemala, 2006 marks the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords that put an end to a bloody internal conflict lasting over four decades. For our Secretary-General, it marks the end of his 10-year term, which has had a highly positive result: a result that I want to acknowledge and for which I would like to thank him.

I will move on to address some of these substantial issues. But before doing so, I would like to state our appreciation of Mr. Jan Eliasson's stewardship and exceptional leadership of the previous session of this Assembly. At the same time, we welcome your election, Madam President, and have no doubt that you will bring us to a safe port.

I should like to allude very briefly to four matters: compliance with the Guatemalan Peace Accords, a process in which the United Nations participated very closely; follow-up of the 2005 World Summit, especially Millennium Goal 8, namely, to foster a global partnership for development; our views on certain aspects of United Nations reform; and our views on certain positive developments that affect international relations.

The brief time allotted to me does not allow me to go into detail, but it is undeniable that we have advanced substantially in the direction of giving concrete expression to the vision contained in the Peace Accords. More to the point, if we contrast today's Guatemala to that of 1996, we now have a society that is more plural, tolerant, deliberative and participative than in the past. Our representative democracy is taking root, after three free and transparent elections. The army is truly subordinated to the civil Government. Important progress has been achieved in strengthening a multi-ethnic and multilingual society. The State is committed to respecting of civil, political and human rights and to promoting greater participation of women in our society. Significant efforts have been in strengthening the administration of justice and consolidating the rule of law. The proportion of public expenditure assigned to the provision of social services has increased significantly in the past few years. We have assisted the victims of the conflict through a programme of reparation payments. We promote the National Front against Hunger as a priority of my Government. Likewise, we recently adopted a policy on rural development, which was prepared and will be implemented with the participation of entrepreneurs, peasants and trade unions.

At the same time, we recognize that much remains to be done. Human rights violations persist, often linked to an increase in crime, including organized crime. It is for this reason that we invited the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to open an office in Guatemala and to join us in strengthening our own capacity to defend and protect vulnerable groups. We have also invited the United Nations to support an initiative to establish a commission to investigate illicit and clandestine groups. Furthermore, we have promoted domestic legislation to combat the scourge of crime, including the recently promulgated law against organized crime.

The commitments contained in the Peace Accords entail serious budgetary implications. To address them, we recently sent to Congress, and Congress approved, an act to combat tax evasion. At the same time, we have forged a broad consensus on an agreed tax package that ensures the financing of future development through improvements in the allocation and administration of public expenditures and the collection of taxes.

My Government assigns priority to the recognition of the identity and rights of indigenous peoples. In this regard, we trust that the General Assembly will soon adopt the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which saw light in the Human Rights Council and which will contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

In summary, our Government Plan has embraced the Peace Accords and is committed nationally to complying with them. In 2005, a Framework Act on the Peace Accords was passed in order to strengthen the institutional aspects of the peace process. One of our goals is to achieve socio-economic development that is participatory and responds to the needs of the entire population.

This leads me to the second item, namely, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Indeed, a major part of our Government programme is entirely consistent with those goals, especially with regard to combating poverty and hunger and achieving universal primary education. Our policies, which emphasize rural development, take an approach that favours the poorest strata of our society. The efforts undertaken have been based mostly on domestic resources -- Government and civil society -- but we have also received support from the international community in the context of a genuine partnership.

The international community's respect for our priorities has grown, and it has increasingly adapted its methods to our budgetary procedures. From our country's point of view, significant progress has been achieved since the International Conference on Financing for Development was held in 2002. We have also noted a reversal, over the past four years, in the earlier trend towards declining official development assistance (ODA). It is hoped that the new trend of increasing ODA will persist and accelerate, especially in favour of the least developed countries.

In contrast to the relatively encouraging picture in the area of financing for development, it is a source of great concern that the negotiations of the Doha Development Round have been suspended. That is a serious setback for the global economy and especially for the chances of developing countries to improve their participation in international trade.

If the potential of the Development Round is not salvaged, which must include the dismantling of agricultural subsidies as well as other restrictive practices of trade in agricultural products that persist among the main developed economies, it will be difficult to continue referring to a global partnership for development as posited by the Millennium Development Goals. In that regard, it is urgently necessary to renew the negotiations of the Doha Round under the aegis of the World Trade Organization. On that subject, we also support the strengthening of South-South cooperation in all areas.

Moving on now to the third part of my remarks, we believe that the reforms undertaken at the United Nations since 2000, and in particular since the 2005 Summit, have been significant and headed in the right direction. We identify with the new Human Rights Council, of which we are a member, and support the fulfilment of its role in promoting and protecting human rights at the global level.

We also understand the considerable potential of the new Peacebuilding Commission to contribute to the joint work of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council for the benefit of countries now in post-conflict situations. We promote the revitalization and strengthening of the General Assembly as the only universal body with enough legitimacy to debate and adopt policies, as prescribed by the Charter and as agreed in the Millennium Declaration and at the 2005 Summit.

We reiterate our strong support for the Economic and Social Council as a meeting place to foster sustainable development. We especially applaud the decision to convene a high-level meeting on development cooperation every two years. We add our voices to all the others urging an end to the stalemate in the discussions on Security Council reform. The parameters of that debate are well known. For our part, we have historically favoured a moderate expansion in the number of non-permanent members, but more recently, we have signalled that we could support any formula that would be capable of bringing about a consensus, including the expansion of members in both categories. We also support a more representative, transparent and effective Council.

We are candidates for a non-permanent seat on the Council for the biennium 2007-2008, because we believe that our experience as a country that made the transition from conflict to peace and democracy provides us with insights that would contribute to the work of the Council. In addition, we are one of the few original signatories of the Charter that have not yet had the opportunity to serve in the work of that body. If elected to the Security Council, we commit ourselves to carrying out our responsibilities in a professional, responsible and dignified manner -- in the representation of our region -- and also to promote from within the reform of that crucial forum for assuring peace and stability in the world.

My country's foreign policy is in accordance with our national interests based on improved participation by Guatemala in the globalized world, as well as the strengthening of multilateralism and regional integration. We have promoted a deeper integration with our immediate neighbours in Central America, and important progress in the establishment of a customs union has been achieved. We, the five Central American countries, have also agreed on a free trade agreement with the United States of America, and in 2007, will begin negotiations on an association agreement with the European Union.

Moreover, my Government has endeavoured to deepen its bilateral relations with Belize, while at the same time seeking to find a definitive, just, equitable and honourable solution to the territorial dispute between our countries. Thus, on 7 September 2005, we signed, under the auspices of the Organization of American States, an Agreement on a Framework for Negotiations and Confidence-Building Measures, which covers a wide range of subjects and will bring us closer. One of the tangible results of that effort has been a free trade agreement signed just a few months ago.

Guatemala participated actively in the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development held in this same Hall less than a week ago. In that context, we emphasize that attention to the situation of Guatemalan migrants is another priority of my Government. An essential element of the public policy on that subject is full respect for the human rights of all migrants, an element which will only be fulfilled when all States become parties to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

My Government is working with the recipient countries, in particular with the United States of America, to promote comprehensive migration reform that would include mechanisms to manage the supply of workers in the countries of origin and the demand for workers in the recipient countries. That would help regularize the situation of emigrants, whose contribution to the well-being of their communities is substantial, and would make it possible to overcome the great vulnerability of our population.

We feel solidarity with other countries that have endured under conflict situations. This is why we have taken part in an increasing number of United Nations peacekeeping operations. We are proud of our presence, along with many other Latin American countries, in our neighbour Haiti, and we celebrate the democratically elected Government of President René Préval. We also have troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and military observers in six other countries in the African continent.

We deplore the violence that has affected several countries in the Middle East, in particular Lebanon. We call for a solution that will allow Israel and a sovereign Palestinian State to live in peace within safe borders in the wider context of a region that finds its own destiny in harmony and progress.

Given the importance of coordination among States of the region, Guatemala organized, from 11 to 13 September 2006, the first regional security meeting of Central America and the Dominican Republic, with the goal of achieving a consensus among the countries of the Central American group, as well as Mexico, Colombia, Belize and the Dominican Republic, to develop a comprehensive strategy and to counteract the main threats to the area, a consensus to unify the security policies and procedures already agreed and contained in multilateral regional and international agreements, treaties and conventions, as well as those adopted at summit meetings. We hope we can continue to count on the support of the international community and of the United Nations to organize three more meetings to complete the development of that strategy.

It is important to emphasize that Guatemala is organizing, jointly with Transparency International, the 12th International Anti-Corruption Conference, from 15 to 18 November this year. The theme for the conference will be "Towards a fairer world: Why is corruption still blocking the way?" This effort reflects my Government's firm commitment to fight the scourge of corruption that has corroded our institutions for many years and has prevented our citizens from making the transition to a more just country. On that note, you are all welcome, and we are eager to share our challenges, progress and difficulties in this common struggle.

Under your leadership, Madam President, at this session the General Assembly will have to address issues of great importance for humanity and for our Organization. Guatemala pledges to participate actively in the debates planned for this year. From this moment on, we offer you our full cooperation for the success of your presidency.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Guatemala for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Argentine Republic.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Néstor Carlos Kirchner, President of the Argentine Republic, and to invite him to address the General Assembly.

President Kirchner (Argentina)

I would like to congratulate you, Ms. Al-Khalifa, on your election as President of the General Assembly at this session, since I believe it is very significant that a woman has assumed that role, to promote gender equality, which is a goal both of my Government and of the United Nations.

On behalf of the Argentine Republic, we would also like to congratulate the President of the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, Mr. Jan Eliasson, for the work he carried out, and to renew our recognition of Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his role in action promoting peace, multilateralism and the fight against poverty.

We have come to the General Assembly in the firm belief that the revitalization of this forum of global representation is fundamental so that international law can be the instrument of rationality that will enable us to settle conflicts and combat the threats to peace.

The international conduct of the Argentine Republic is inspired by the values of representative democracy, respect for fundamental human rights and active defence of international peace and security. Those principles, shared by the vast majority of the Argentine people, guide our administration and are the basis of our foreign policy decisions.

In the field of human rights, in 2003, after more than two decades of sustained democratic rule in Argentina, we experienced a true paradigm shift. In response to the mandates of the whole of society, the three powers of the State adopted, within their respective purviews, concurrent decisions against impunity, preserving memory, truth and justice and securing reparations.

The annulment by Congress of the laws that accorded impunity for State-sponsored crimes of terrorism, the ruling that those laws and pardons granted by the courts in our country were unconstitutional, and the reopening of over a thousand court proceedings for crimes against humanity -- some of which have resulted in the conviction of those responsible -- constitute landmarks of that shift. It is our conviction that democracy is strengthened with the simultaneous fight against impunity and promotion of full respect for the rule of law, without calling for revenge.

With that experience, we have, since the beginning of the reform of the United Nations system, strongly supported incorporating human rights into the hierarchy so as to raise the institutional level of their treatment to that already given to development and to the maintenance of international peace and security. That determination led us to establish the Human Rights Council, in whose creation Argentina participated actively.

The first steps of that body have been positive, having approved the text of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. That is an instrument of great significance for our country, as it defines a crime against humanity from which Argentina suffered massively in the past, at a high cost to our society. We have among us here today a representative of an organization that was extremely involved with that issue -- one of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Mrs. Marta Vázquez, who is accompanying our delegation. We hope the General Assembly will adopt that very important instrument quickly, during this session.

Five years after the attacks that shocked this city and the world, we would like to firmly condemn the serious threat of global terrorism. Argentina considers all acts of terrorism against innocent civilians to be criminal and unjustifiable, and accepts no argument to justify such methods.

The Argentine people suffered two atrocious attacks in the 1990s against the Embassy of Israel and the headquarters of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina. We are still struggling, in spite of the time that has elapsed, to fully clarify the facts and punish the culprits. We believe that, in order to face this criminal threat successfully, we must carry out a sustained multilateral and legitimate response. Respect for human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee law is essential, as are international cooperation and legal assistance to effectively enforce the norms against terrorism.

If, in facing down global terrorism, we resort to a global violation of human rights, the only winner in this fight shall be terrorism. We will advance firmly in the fight against terrorism only if we frame it within respect for local laws and international norms and conventions. No complication can be an excuse for not combating terrorism within the law.

Peace is built and maintained by understanding the true concept of solidarity among nations from a wider perspective than the purely military or the predominantly unilateral. Nations big and small, rich and poor, will be markedly vulnerable if we fail to grasp that the fight against terrorism demands sustained multilateral, intelligent action firmly based in legitimacy, respect for fundamental rights, proportionality of response and the support of international public opinion.

We would like to express our concern regarding the hostilities on the border between Israel and Lebanon, resulting in hundreds of casualties, severe damage to the civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. The violence must stop. We need to address the causes at the heart of the crisis, avoid the disproportionate use of force, and understand that only negotiated political solutions can hold in the long term. Argentina will continue to support a fair solution to the Middle East problems within the framework of resolution 1701 (2006).

We must understand that the world will move closer to peace only insofar as it promotes equality and struggles to eradicate poverty and exclusion. That is true both for the global system and for each country nationally.

Argentina supports the building of societies that are fairer, more equitable and with a better distribution of the benefits of economic growth. We also believe that each country has the right to search for its own development model with no external conditionalities. We not only aspire to generate sustainable growth; we also want it to reach everyone. There must be harmonized growth that translates into a balanced income distribution, because we know that what is needed is not development for a mere few, but the development of the whole country.

In the region and in the Common Market of the South, we want an efficient instrument to address poverty and exclusion; we want the common good to prevail over sectarian interests and to overcome stagnation and the technology gap; and we want to define a sustainable and productive development model that valorizes our competitive advantages and fosters our vast wealth in human and material resources.

The economic situation of the Republic is very different from what it was when our Administration began. We are achieving true structural change. That includes uninterrupted growth at rates of between 8 and 9 per cent; the growing participation of investment in the gross domestic product; record local savings rates; the resurrection of local industry; a fiscal surplus at historic levels; a clear expansion of our industrial sales to the world; the systematic decrease of local and external public debt; the preventive accumulation of reserves; lesser external exposure; a marked drop in unemployment; a strengthening of the income of wage earners and retirees; and a significant fall of poverty and destitution levels.

With a prudent monetary policy, an orderly fiscal policy, a fiscal and commercial surplus, and a responsible management of indebtedness, we are increasingly reducing the vulnerability and uncertainty that characterized the Argentine economy in the past. Decent work, social inclusion, national production, internal consumption and sustained growth have allowed us to fulfil the goals of the Millennium Declaration, although there is still a long way to go to recover from the hell into which we had fallen.

We seek the integral sustainability of that process, not only in its macroeconomic aspects, but also guaranteeing social equity and a fairer distribution of income through the reduction of poverty and unemployment.

In implementing a national education plan with a strong federal emphasis that highlights the challenge of improving the quality of education, ensures the growing funding of the public sector, and interacts with the private sector, we seek also to achieve its strategic sustainability.

We cannot but point out that these achievements have not been supported by the International Monetary Fund, which has denied us any kind of aid, and, it must be said, that they are in many cases the result of ignoring or even contradicting its recommendations and conditionalities. We have sufficient empirical proof of the failure of international financial organizations in the promotion of development in less developed countries. In many cases, their conditionalities have actually had the opposite effect, hindering development.

The world has changed and those organizations have not. They still insist on jeopardizing advancement with their misguided interference. That is why we support, together with most countries, the reform of the international financial architecture to make it more effectual in assisting the progress of nations with fewer resources. In noting the reluctance of international financial organizations to effect any real change in their policies, we feel it necessary to endorse such change and to consider the creation of new international financial instruments that would allow us to fund development projects to fight poverty and hunger in the world and generate true options for progress.

Argentina is distressed to note the stagnation in the negotiations of the Doha Round for the development of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is imperative, within the current globalization process -- from which developing countries must profit -- to reach a successful and balanced result fully consistent with the mandate of the Doha Declaration. Thus, we reaffirm the need to reach a satisfactory result in agriculture in this WTO round, including a substantial reduction in domestic subsidies, the elimination of export subsidies and ample access to the markets of developed countries.

We are increasingly concerned to see the deterioration of the global environment. We affirm that there can be no double standards. The environment must be protected in developed and in developing countries, in rich countries and in poor, in the countries of the North and of the South, in the central and in the peripheral countries.

In developing their industries, the more industrialized countries have profited from a true environmental subsidy from the rest of the countries which today compromise, in their relative backwardness, a true world environmental reserve. That is why we cannot accept that those countries that have achieved greater development -- often at the expense of the degradation of the environment and by producing a severe global effect evident in climate change -- should seek to transfer to us the more contaminating part of their industrial processes.

There can be no reliable solutions without the concerted action of all countries of the world, insofar as the nature of the problem is of a global scale. It is unacceptable for the claims of the developing States to go unnoticed. It is imperative to take the path of solutions.

Our countries wish to receive investments and present profitable opportunities in the energy, transportation and infrastructure fields, and even in sensitive sectors. Therein lies a strong foundation for international collaboration, but we do not want investors to undertake activities in our countries that are prohibited in the industrialized countries just so that they can improve the profits of shareholders by creating the illusion of an allegedly less expensive product by raising the costs of environmental pollution, deteriorating health conditions and lowered life expectancy.

On a different subject, we attach high importance to our participation, together with other countries of the region, in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. In our view, beyond the progress achieved in the transition, the steady support and economic assistance of the international community will continue to be critical in the areas of security, the strengthening of institutions, the fostering of political dialogue, the protection of human rights, social inclusion, the promotion of the rule of law, the creation of administrative capacity and, above all, the promotion of economic and social development through concrete contributions.

We reiterate here our will to achieve peaceful nuclear development under the verification of international organizations. Argentina's commitment to disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, our adherence to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and our long-standing practice in the field are known to all.

In conclusion, I wish to recall that the question of the Malvinas Islands -- which includes the Malvinas, the South Georgias, the South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime area -- has been under consideration by the United Nations since 1965. The General Assembly and its Special Committee of 24 on Decolonization have defined this as a special case that differs from traditional colonial situations in that it involves a sovereignty dispute that must be resolved through bilateral negotiations between my country and the United Kingdom, in accordance with the provisions of resolution 2065 (XX) and other relevant resolutions.

We must stress that the Government of the United Kingdom persists in ignoring those General Assembly resolutions. Nonetheless, I would like to reaffirm once again my country's readiness to engage in constructive dialogue with the United Kingdom. We call upon the United Kingdom to promptly heed the request of the international community to resume negotiations.

In conclusion, we are firmly convinced that the basis exists for international cooperation that can help the world move towards peace. The tensions and difficulties besetting humanity must not prevent us from understanding the extent to which the authoritarian notion that military might can provide unilateral solutions to conflicts and threats is starting to recede. That mistaken belief has led only to failure and great suffering.

Only multilateral solutions, reached through the arduous process of negotiation, despite their limitations, can move us forward. In this context, the United Nations has a fundamental role to play in ensuring greater understanding among nations with a view to creating a safe, peaceful and fairer world in the years to come.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Argentine Republic for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Mugabe (Zimbabwe)

Let me begin my statement by echoing the sentiments of those who have congratulated you, Madam on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-first session, as well as of those who have expressed their appreciation for the manner in which your predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, successfully conducted the business of the sixtieth session. In the same vein, I should also like to congratulate the Republic of Montenegro on its admission to the United Nations family.

I also wish to pay special tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his vision and exemplary leadership of the United Nations over the past 10 years. We commend him for his tireless efforts to assist Member States in transforming the United Nations into a dynamic, relevant and effective instrument for meeting challenges that confront us as we try to make the world a better place for everyone.

The achievements of the Secretary-General, especially in the area of the promotion of peace and development -- notable among them the Millennium Summit in 2000 and the review Summit held last year -- will always be remembered as historic because of the important decisions that we made on both occasions. As he nears the end of his tenure of his high Office, we wish him the best in his future endeavours and hope that he will be available to serve the international community wherever he may be needed.

The theme for our debate this year -- implementation of the global partnership for development as a follow-up to the 2005 World Summit -- is very appropriate. We acknowledged last year that fighting poverty was a collective undertaking. Together, we recognized that mobilizing financial resources for development is central to a global partnership for development in support of the implementation of internationally agreed goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

For many years now, the international community has acknowledged the need for accelerated economic development in Africa. There have been many initiatives and programmes of action aimed at achieving that objective. Indeed, the history of the United Nations in the past three decades is littered with well-meaning initiatives, many of which unfortunately never made the transition from theory to practical implementation.

We have agreed on goals and set targets for ourselves in our quest to meet our economic and social development challenges. Given this impressive array of initiatives, it is curious and ironic that the aggregate economic performance of our countries has not made a difference in the lives of the majority of our people.

President Mugabe (Zimbabwe)

One explanation for our development predicament and the many failed initiatives is the wide gap between rhetoric and concrete action on the ground. We have on many occasions agreed on making available the means of implementing agreed goals. We have set targets for making those resources available. Yet, at the same time, we have witnessed some countries and groups taking concerted action, such as illegal economic sanctions, to frustrate our development efforts.

In the case of Zimbabwe, those countries have blocked balance of payments support and other types of assistance from the international financial institutions that they control. Following the heroic and successful efforts of the people of Zimbabwe to clear requisite arrears to the International Monetary Fund, those negative forces have manipulated decision-making at that institution so as to deny us any new support. They have even tried to restrict investment inflows, all on account of political differences between them and us.

Is it not a paradox that, while we are denied resources for development, funding is readily made available to support elements bent on subverting the democratically expressed will of the majority of our citizens and to unconstitutionally effect regime change? We condemn such interference in our domestic affairs. Let me repeat what I have said before: regime change in Zimbabwe -- as, indeed, in any other country -- is a right of the people of that country; it can never be a right of people of other countries. The golden key to regime change is in the hands of the people of Zimbabwe and is very well guarded. No one from Washington or London has the right to that key; it is our key and ours alone.

Let it also not be forgotten that those who want regime change are the very same people whom we fought yesterday. They represent British colonialism and imperialism. We spent many years in jail; I spent 11 years in jail. Then we went into exile in order to muster the military strength needed to overthrow colonialism. Many of our people died in the process. Many were killed by the British regime headed by Ian Smith. Finally, our people were victorious. On 18 April 1980, a representative of the royal family, Prince Charles, was sent to lower the British flag. I was there to hoist the flag of independence, which today represents the full sovereignty of the people of Zimbabwe, never again to be lost. Never again shall Zimbabwe become a colony.

And so, these manoeuvres and manipulations continue, and my Government is well aware of them and is well guarded. At every turn, we will take the steps necessary to protect our sovereignty, defend our people and defend our right to continue to ensure that that sovereignty reposes in the hands of the Zimbabwean people. From this rostrum, I want to warn that any attempt to change that mandate through unconstitutional means, by agents sent to undertake a process that we regard as illegal, will meet with the full wrath of the law.

It is for that reason that we welcome this debate, which seeks to address the yawning gap between agreed action plans and implementation, and between rhetoric and what actually happens on the ground. We fully acknowledge that national Governments shoulder the primary responsibility for implementing their development plans, including achieving the MDGs. However, it is absolutely necessary that our efforts at the national level -- including adopting and implementing correct and relevant programmes -- be supported, not hampered by a lack of international cooperation. This session, therefore, would be of great value if agreement were to be reached on financing for development, including the establishment of mechanisms to measure aid flows. Such financing, if it is to have a meaningful impact, should be adequate, predictable and consistent.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to cause untold havoc in Africa -- particularly Southern Africa -- owing to high levels of poverty, which make it difficult for the affected people to gain access to medication. Zimbabwe welcomes the continuing efforts by the international community of nations to find lasting solutions to the scourge of HIV/AIDS. We urge the donor community, in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, to assist in scaling up access to affordable essential drugs, particularly for developing countries.

The tendency to use assistance in the fight against HIV/AIDS as a reward for political compliance and malleability is one that the United Nations should condemn. Given the fact that the pandemic does not respect borders, the denial of assistance to countries on political grounds, through a self-serving and selective approach, will do more harm and weaken international efforts to fight the pandemic. For example, in my country, a Zimbabwean AIDS patient receives, on average, approximately $4 per year in international assistance, compared with an average of approximately $172 per year for other countries in the region. However, even against that background, my Government has registered some modest success in reducing the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate from approximately 29 per cent in 2000 to 18.1 percent in 2006, on the strength of its own resources and programmes.

While we do not dispute the inevitability of migration, the problem of the brain drain is of great concern to my Government and, indeed, to other developing countries. The brain drain has proved to be a handicap to sustainable development. If it is not addressed now, the chances that developing countries will achieve the MDGs by 2015 are minimal. While developing countries are losing skilled manpower through migration, the benefits associated with migrant remittances are far less than the cost of developing human resources and skills. We need to develop solutions that give due recognition and respect to the investments made by Governments in human resources and in developing the skills of citizens, as well as to the human rights of migrants.

While official development assistance is desirable, what developing countries need more is an open, rules-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system. If developing countries are to realize the full potential of international trade to enhance economic growth, it is essential that the main barriers to their exports be removed. In that regard, we are concerned that tariffs have remained high on goods -- such as textiles and farm products -- that are strategically important to developing economies. Much could be done with the right partnerships and with fair terms of trade. We share the view that the implementation of the development aspects of the Doha Work Programme will go a long way towards assisting developing countries to compete in this global village. It is therefore disturbing that there has been no progress in breaking the deadlock on the Doha Round of international trade negotiations. The failure of multilateral negotiations will give rise to bilateral arrangements that are inimical to fair trade. We cannot help but suspect that the breakdown was deliberately engineered in order to perpetuate the status quo that favours one group of countries at the expense of another.

The United Nations is uniquely placed to provide the framework for international cooperation. There is consensus that the United Nations should play a fundamental and central role in the promotion of international cooperation for development. In that regard, it is important that coherence and coordination be enhanced, as agreed in the 2005 World Summit Outcome. At the country level, the United Nations system should be effectively coordinated in order to support national efforts in poverty reduction and sustainable development.

While my Government applauds the United Nations continuing efforts to elaborate a convention on terrorism, we urge Member States to guard against a situation in which established international conventions are ignored and resolutions of the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies on that issue are disregarded. In our attempt to deal with the scourge of terrorism, it is also necessary to address the underlying causes of that phenomenon. To demonstrate its commitment to fighting terrorism, the Parliament of Zimbabwe has come up with the Suppression of Foreign and International Terrorism Bill, which seeks to fight foreign and international terrorism, as well as mercenary activities.

The recent developments in the Middle East are a cause of great concern. We condemn the disproportionate use of force by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon and the detention of elected Palestinian members of Parliament and ministers. We firmly reject the collective punishment of the Palestinian and Lebanese people and the intrusion into their territories in violation of international law. We call upon the international community, particularly the Security Council and the Quartet, to make every effort to ensure that the brokered ceasefire continues to hold.

It is sad that the Security Council dithered and failed to take timely action to stop the massacres and wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon, all because of the misguided national interests of one super-Power. The status quo in the Council, where a few powerful countries hold the world to ransom, is no longer tenable. There is therefore a strong case here for addressing the core issue of the democratization of international governance. Africa remains the only continent that does not have a permanent seat with veto power in the Security Council. That situation is unacceptable. It needs to be corrected and corrected now. The position of the African Union on that issue is very clear. Africa demands two permanent seats, complete with veto power -- if the veto power is to continue -- plus two additional non-permanent seats. We will not compromise on this matter until our concerns are adequately addressed.

Those who take objection to that are perhaps States that would want to remain in the position in which they are considered to be superior to everyone else. There cannot be superiority under the Charter of the United Nations, which recognizes the equality of nations. We are all equal under that Charter, and that principle has got to be recognized, but it would appear that some countries that have amassed military power over time consider themselves to be superior to all the others because they have that muscle of power. But the muscle of power is not the consideration that we take into account in judging the worth of nations. The Charter of the United Nations has got to be taken into account, and who knows whether the Goliath of today may tomorrow not be the same. Anyway, every Goliath has his own David.

In many parts of Africa, the dawn of an unprecedented era of peace and tranquillity has allowed us to refocus our attention and resources towards economic development. There can be no better time than now for the international community to augment our own efforts to bring home to our people the peace dividend we have so patiently waited for. We therefore call on the international community to renew its solidarity with Africa through tangible support in the form of increased resources, decisive debt relief, as well as new and additional financial resources for investment and growth.

Let me conclude by reiterating the fact that the future of the international community is best served by an international order that is based on strengthening multilateralism and thereby destroying the present unipolar system. It is our conviction that only through a multilateral approach can we achieve peace and development. For us to successfully tackle the challenges that we face, there is a need for more than just pious expressions of solidarity. Together as global partners in development, we can guarantee a prosperous future for generations to come. Such a partnership should be based on the principle of the sovereign equality of nations and on mutual benefit. That is the path we should strive to follow.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for the statement he has just made.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Leonel Fernández Reyna, President of the Dominican Republic.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Leonel Fernández Reyna, President of the Dominican Republic, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Fernández Reyna (Dominican Republic)

I am greatly honoured to congratulate Her Excellency Ms. Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa of Bahrain upon her election, the first woman from the Middle East, to preside over the work of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. She has the great responsibility to promote dialogue and harmony in the midst of the spread of conflict throughout the world. Likewise, we wish to pay tribute to the Secretary-General for his ten years at the head of this Organization and for his immense efforts to promote peacekeeping, security and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

In the interest of continuity in the pursuit of United Nations reform, so notably promoted by the Secretary-General, our country wishes to reiterate its conviction that any reform must provide for greater democratization. We recognize the unquestionable accomplishments achieved during this process, such as the creation of the Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding Commission. Notwithstanding, reform will be incomplete if it does not include reform of the Security Council, the body specifically responsible for taking political decisions within this Organization. It is our conviction that the Security Council must be expanded to make it more diverse and participatory, with the aim of ensuring more equitable regional representation and taking into account the regional and national interests that prevail in today's world. There is also a need for closer cooperation between the Security Council and other important United Nations bodies, such as the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.

One of the global issues of great concern to the Dominican Republic and other parts of the world is that of human security. We have observed with great consternation that there has recently been an erosion of domestic security in countries, leading to increased violence and criminality. That situation has, without a doubt, been fuelled by a combination of factors, among them drug trafficking, the illicit traffic of arms, the trafficking of persons and other criminal activities. In addressing this dramatic situation, which is driving some populations to desperation, the Dominican Republic remains vigilant in the continuous struggle and urges the international community to strengthen control and prevention mechanisms that are needed to meet these modern challenges that only increase fear and desperation among defenceless civilian populations.

Another issue of great importance for the progress and well-being of our countries is the relationship between migration and sustainable development, which constitutes the main item on the General Assembly's agenda. We believe that the phenomenon of migration is positively linked to the cause of development. However, there is an inherent contradiction in this modern, globalized world in that we promote the free flow of merchandise, capital and services, while we restrict the free flow of human labour.

Although each State exercises its sovereign right in implementing its migration policies, it is our conviction that the asymmetry currently existing between the free flow of production inputs and the restricted flow of persons will have to cease to exist over time. According to the conservative voices in the developed world, migration is a sort of invasion from the underdeveloped countries to the most developed countries. It is also considered to be an act of revenge for the territorial expropriation that took place in the colonial era and is seen as a threat to their current way of life.

This is a fallacy. Migration is not about the poor invading the developed countries, nor is it a threat to their current way of life. Frankly speaking, migration is one of the historical means used by human beings and to which they continue to resort to in order to achieve greater well-being, liberty and justice. As it will be impossible to do away with this phenomenon, we can only seek to control it in a legal and organized fashion, in a framework of respect for the human rights and dignity of all persons. In the meantime, many people could benefit from this situation, through remittances, the creation of networks of contacts and cooperation, capacity-building in human resources, technology transfer and diverse forms of collaboration and exchange.

In another regard, the serious events that recently took place in the Middle East have filled us with alarm and consternation. They are a dramatic reminder that tensions affecting the peace of entire regions still persist. As with other conflicts, the dispute between Israel and its neighbours can be resolved only through dialogue and the good offices of the United Nations, which recently achieved the cessation of hostilities between the two disputing parties. We are confident that a definitive peace will prevail in this region and allow the development of enhanced levels of understanding, tolerance, and co-existence among its inhabitants.

The Dominican Republic maintains its interest in participating in the promotion of peacebuilding and conflict resolution. We reiterate our deep commitment to the activities and objectives of the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). We consider them suitable for the advancement and dignity of all the women of the world and, in particular, the women of countries such as the Dominican Republic. As the host country, we warmly appreciate the support of Member States to INSTRAW.

The Dominican Republic is deeply committed to re-establishing stability in Haiti, and we applaud the recent decision of the Security Council to extend the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for six months. The Dominican Republic has special interest that there be an increase of international cooperation aimed at preserving the pace of the reconstruction process of this sister nation. With regard to our two countries, our warm relations are also expressed through the Dominican-Haitian Joint Commission, a forum which our Governments are reviving because we recognize it as the most appropriate mechanism for discussion and for reaching agreements on many topics of shared concern.

In conclusion, we wish to see the United Nations renew and strengthen itself with a view to playing a more active, dynamic and effective role -- one that would guarantee the realization of the values and principles enshrined in the San Francisco Charter, so as to ensure that peace on Earth will become the daily form of existence among human beings.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Dominican Republic for the statement he has just made.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Benin.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Boni Yayi, President of the Republic of Benin, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Yayi (Benin)

I am taking part personally in this session of the General Assembly in order to reiterate Benin's commitment to the noble purposes and principles of the United Nations, and to express the readiness of the Beninese delegation to cooperate and contribute, as best it can, to the success of these deliberations.

But first, allow me, to once again warmly congratulate Ms. Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa on her unanimous election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-first session, and to express our appreciation for the remarkable way in which she guided the work of the High-level Meeting on the midterm comprehensive global review of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010.

I also wish to pay tribute to the remarkable efforts of her predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden, who had the weighty task of leading the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, which was focused, essentially, on the implementation of the major decisions taken at the 2005 World Summit.

Allow me to pay a resounding tribute to my friend Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who over the past 10 years has wisely and skilfully led our Organization at a time of new challenges and threats created by changes unprecedented in the history of humanity.

My country, Benin, believes that the future Secretary-General should come from the continent of Asia. We hope that the new Secretary-General will be able to take the measures necessary to lead the Organization towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

I am pleased to note that the Assembly is already progressing in the preparation of this great endeavour: the promotion of development is the key issue for the general debate at the sixty-first session, focusing in accordance with Ms. Al-Khalifa's proposal, on the establishment of a global partnership for development. My country, the Republic of Benin, joins in this debate with the conviction that we will make significant progress in finding pragmatic ways of fulfilling the commitments that have been adopted on many occasions, for the promotion of economic and social development throughout the world.

The question of development is at the heart of the mission of the United Nations. In the Charter, Members proclaimed their belief in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small. They made the commitment to use international institutions in order to encourage economic and social progress for all people.

Hence, reform of the United Nations, if it is to be viable and effective, must also help ensure that our Organization can do better as a framework and an instrument for development through the promotion of the well-being of the poorest of our planet, ensuring the economic growth of the most vulnerable members of the community of nations, in particular the least developed countries.

Financing for development is a factor on which genuine partnership needs to be built between donor countries and developing countries. In this context, the Monterrey Consensus, as members know, continues to be relevant. It is good to note that some donor countries have achieved the objective of allocating 0.7 per cent of their gross national income to official development assistance (ODA) for developing countries, with 0.2 per cent earmarked for least developed countries. It is also important to encourage those who have already established a specific timetable for achieving those objectives. Given the inadequacy of official development assistance, it is important to examine new sources of financing for development activities, and some are already doing so. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the proposals that have been made by some countries, such as the French Republic and President Jacques Chirac.

Identifying new sources of financing thus deserves special attention. We are pleased that mobilizing the remittances of migrant workers can in some respects also contribute to development action. Nonetheless, it is important to facilitate those transfers so that they can effectively contribute to improving the living conditions of the beneficiary populations and their impact on poverty reduction can be maximized. But it should be stressed that the resources that come from remittances by migrant workers cannot be considered part of ODA and should not be included in ODA calculations.

We must also mobilize resources through microcredits for the poorest sectors. The support of the international community should contribute to strengthening microcredit systems, which could be extremely useful in the context of efforts to counteract unemployment among young people and to promote the empowerment of women in order to improve their living conditions and enhance their contribution to the national income of the countries concerned.

We must ensure the full insertion of developing countries, particularly the least advanced, into international trade so that they can be sure that, through that mechanism appropriate resources for financing their development are mobilized. Here we express our disappointment at the failure of the multilateral trade negotiations in the framework of the Doha Round. Among other reasons, they floundered because of the crucial question of agricultural subsidies, which are stifling the producers in developing countries. My country, Benin, will continue to work with other affected countries to ensure the abolition of those subsidies. or at least to get compensations equal to the harm we suffer.

In order to promote development, our countries are seeking to implement democratic reforms. However, as I said at the opening session of the meeting of the least developed countries, any democracy that does not go hand in hand with development is doomed to fail. Also, our efforts to promote development will not bear fruit if we do not succeed in maintaining peace in our own countries and throughout the world.

That is why in 2005 Benin, while it was on the Security Council, sought to contribute to the efforts to enhance the effectiveness of that body in preventing armed conflicts. We welcome the Secretary-General's prompt action through the inspired and wise recommendations he recently submitted on questions related to the prevention of conflicts. Resolving various conflicts enables the affected developing countries to resolutely get themselves back on the track of reconstruction and national development.

From this rostrum, my country pays tribute to the decisive action being taken by the United Nations in the area of peacekeeping, and we repeat that we are willing to contribute actively to it. The Government of Benin is ready to continue participating in peacekeeping operations in order to allow peoples affected by armed conflicts to overcome them and to create the conditions for stability that are necessary to ensure the reconstruction of their countries and their economic and social development.

For us in Benin, another word for peace is development. This is the message that I wished to bring, on behalf of the people of Benin and of the least developed countries, during this general debate.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Benin for the statement he has just made.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Kikwete (Tanzania)

Permit me to begin by congratulating Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa on her well deserved election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-first session. This is an important milestone on the gender agenda of the United Nations. I wish her great success and assure her of Tanzania's full support and cooperation as she discharges her duties.

I would also like to commend her predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson, for his able stewardship of the Assembly's sixtieth session. Under his leadership, Tanzania was privileged to co-chair, with Denmark, negotiations that led to the operationalization of the Peacebuilding Commission.

I stand before this Assembly as the fourth President of my country, Tanzania, following another successful democratic election last year. This is the third smooth transition of power in Tanzania. I took over from my eminent predecessor in office, His Excellency Benjamin William Mkapa, who has remained active both at home and abroad. He remains my useful and wise counsel, as does his predecessor His Excellency Ali Hassan Mwinyi. Among the many functions that former President Mkapa continues to discharge for our country and the human family as a whole is his membership in the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on System-Wide Coherence, which is an important task on our agenda for the reform of the United Nations.

Such was the success of the previous administration that I can only come before you with one central message -- a message of policy continuity, nationally, regionally and internationally.

We will continue the efforts of the previous administration to promote peace, stability and national unity. In addition, we shall redouble our efforts to uphold and strengthen good democratic governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and intensify the fight against corruption. We feel greatly honoured in this regard that the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption decided to hold its second global conference in Arusha in two days' time, in recognition and support of our efforts.

Tanzania also made impressive economic strides, making it one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. I intend to sustain and enhance that record with greater zeal, vigour and speed.

Similarly, Tanzania has emerged as one of the best-practice cases in terms of ownership of the development agenda and the harmonization and coordination of development assistance. I will advance this policy and practice during my tenure in the hope that it will contribute to the realization of the theme of this General Assembly: the implementation of a global partnership for development.

In view of this record, and given our political and macro-economic stability and political will, Tanzania is now well poised to accelerate the pace towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. For this to happen, however, we need international support to upgrade our infrastructure and build capacity for value-addition processes and human resource development. Fortunately, the framework for such international support already exists, for example through the Monterrey Consensus. I believe Tanzania has lived up to its commitment under the Global Compact for development. I now call upon our development partners to do likewise.

Cognizant of the role of the private sector as the engine of growth in Tanzania, we have implemented far-reaching policies and institutional reforms geared to creating an environment conducive to the thriving of private business.

The World Bank's "Doing Business 2007" report recognizes Tanzania as one of the top-ten best reforming countries in the world. That means that Tanzania has again fulfilled its commitments under the Global Compact. We therefore call upon our development partners to buttress our efforts and assist the private sector in responding positively.

The success of whatever we try to do nationally depends critically on a peaceful neighbourhood. For too long, Tanzania has suffered from the consequences of conflict and instability in the Great Lakes region, including hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees and the destruction of infrastructure and the environment, and in terms of time and resources deployed in facilitating conflict resolution. For this reason, Tanzania will continue to play its part in the quest for peace, security, stability and development in the Great Lakes region.

Significant progress has been achieved in the political and security situation in the Great Lakes region. We appreciate the support of the United Nations and other partners in the regional peace processes. Tanzania welcomes and commends the Government of Burundi and the Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu-Forces nationales de libération rebel group for finally signing the ceasefire agreement. We are humbled that we could be given an opportunity to make our contribution. We promise to continue to be useful in whatever way may be required.

Likewise, I commend the Government, the major political actors and the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for holding the long-awaited elections. We urge that the forthcoming second round of elections be conducted in a free, fair and peaceful manner. Tanzania, as Chair of the Southern African Development Community Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, will play its role in support of this process. As a friendly neighbour, we will endeavour to be as useful as is necessary.

Moreover, Tanzania, as current chair of the Initiative for Peace and Security in the Great Lakes Region, will continue to work closely with other members to ensure a successful Second International Conference on the Great Lakes Region later this year in Nairobi.

I wish to put on record our sincere gratitude to the Group of Friends of the Great Lakes Region for their support. I appeal to them and the international community to remain engaged with this process.

Peace seems to have eluded the world. Reports of wars and violent conflicts are headline news in most of our media. Unfortunately Africa, the poorest of the continents, has had an unfair share of conflict. Like other delegates, we express our concern for the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur, and call for continued engagement at the regional level and by the international community. Likewise, we are deeply concerned about the situation in Somalia, Côte d'Ivoire and elsewhere on the continent.

The continuing impasse on the issue of the Western Sahara is unfortunate. After 31 years, it is high time that the United Nations redouble its efforts to resolve this matter. The United Nations resolved the question of East Timor, which has a lot of similarities to that of the Saharans. The people of Western Sahara deserve no less from their United Nations. I believe it could be done if all parties played their part appropriately.

Turning to the situation in the Middle East, I am pleased to see the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon holding, and troop contributing countries responding positively in reinforcing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

The 34-day war in Lebanon took international attention away from the plight of the Palestinian people. The lack of progress towards a negotiated two-State solution and the decline in confidence in the peace process are worrying developments. We call upon the Quartet, and encourage bilateral and other multilateral initiatives, to revive the peace process laid down in the road map. A just, viable, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East can come only through negotiations, and no other way.

Tanzania welcomes and applauds the adoption by the General Assembly of a comprehensive Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288). It is our expectation that the differences that arose during the negotiations will not stand in the way of the Strategy's implementation. After experiencing a major terrorist attack on our soil in 1998, Tanzania has always repeated its resolve to cooperate with others to combat terrorism in all its manifestations. The threat of terrorism is global and complex; it demands our collective efforts and an adaptive strategy to contain it. Thank God we already have that strategy -- let us implement it.

Tanzania has always stood for the sovereign equality of nations and for the primacy of multilateralism in global governance and in addressing global issues. We have always cherished and stood for the central role of the United Nations in global affairs. We promise to continue to be faithful and responsible members of the United Nations. It is now our intention to participate more actively in United Nations peacekeeping missions and operations.

We have always believed that the United Nations of today has to reflect, in its structure, policies, programmes and activities, the realities of the world of today, not that of sixty years ago. The United Nations has to move with the changing times and aspirations of its membership. I want to reaffirm Tanzania's continued commitment to these urgent and legitimate demands. We are very much committed to the reform agenda of the United Nations, especially reform of the Security Council to make it more representative and more responsive to changing realities.

Tanzania's term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council will end in three months. I would like to thank all members for having accorded my country the honour of serving in that very important United Nations organ. We thank our fellow Council members for their cooperation and support during our term of office. As we prepare to leave the Council, we are gratified that we were able to organize a special Council meeting to discuss the situation in the Great Lakes region at which useful conclusions and decisions were made.

As we prepare to leave the Council, we are also gratified that we have taken note of the feeling in the Council of the need to reform that body. Let us pluck up courage and take the bull by the horns.

Allow me to pay special tribute to our outgoing, illustrious Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan -- a great internationalist and a great statesman. We congratulate him for a job well done and for his able leadership during a particularly difficult period for the world, for the United Nations and for him, personally. He will be remembered as one who challenged the Organization to live up to the true promise of multilateralism, through delivering collective security, pursuing fundamental human rights and the rule of law and promoting human development. We thank him and wish him the best of luck on his retirement. I hope that he will be given time to retire.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the United Republic of Tanzania for the statement he has just made.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Namibia.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Namibia, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Pohamba (Namibia)

I should like at the outset to congratulate Ms. Al-Khalifa on her well-deserved election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty first session. I am confident that, given her wisdom and experience, she will steer the proceedings of the Assembly successfully. I also express our profound appreciation to her predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson of Sweden, for his excellent work during the sixtieth session.

In the same vein, we salute the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, for his dedication and commitment to the work of the United Nations. My delegation would like to pay him special tribute for his distinguished leadership and remarkable contribution to the United Nations, taking into consideration his imminent departure at the end of a long, dedicated and brilliant career in the service of our Organization. Under his leadership, the United Nations has recorded significant achievements. He ably laid the foundation for Member States to make further progress, especially with regard to the reform of the United Nations. We will carry on with this task, bearing in mind his vision of sustained global cooperation among States. Allow me to wish him the very best in his future engagements.

We are gathered here to reaffirm our faith in the United Nations and to recommit ourselves to the purposes and principles of the Charter. Today, the world needs a stronger United Nations and effective multilateralism that reflects current realities. Only thus will humanity be able to respond in a timely manner and without hesitation to the global challenges that we face.

We fully support the comprehensive reform of the United Nations as proposed by the Secretary-General. The reforms should aim at strengthening the Organization and making it more efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of all its Members. We further attach great importance to strengthening the role and authority of the General Assembly as the main deliberative and policy-making body, whose relationship with other principal organs should be placed in a fitting context so as to ensure cooperation and respect for their roles as provided for in the Charter.

My Government believes that the reform of the Security Council, including its expansion, is essential. The African continent deserves to be fairly and equitably represented in the Council. That is not too much to ask.

During the World Summit in September last year, we reaffirmed our commitment to the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2), adopted more than six years ago. The Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1) reiterated our commitments to the implementation of the decisions made during previous conferences and summits. My Government appreciates the work done under the guidance and able leadership of former President Eliasson in the realization of the Summit decisions.

The fruits of those efforts are visible to us all, as they culminated in the inauguration of the Peacebuilding Commission, the creation of the Human Rights Council, the creation of the Central Emergency Response Fund and the establishment of the Ethics Office. We also welcome the accomplishments in the area of management reform. People around the world have high hopes that these newly created instruments will achieve the specific mandates set for them. We therefore encourage all Member States to continue, in an open and transparent manner, to finalize the review of the process.

Namibia attaches importance to the global development agenda. Thus we are concerned about the slow pace at which this essential matter is being handled and about the lack of adherence to the commitments in line with the Millennium Declaration. In this regard, I urge all fellow leaders to stand together in finding effective solutions to push back the ever-encroaching frontiers of poverty, hunger, disease and ignorance.

The African people know that they must take a lead in resolving problems and challenges on the continent. In those endeavours, they need to form effective partnerships with the international community. I therefore welcome the commitments made by the Group and Eight last year in Scotland to consider increasing development aid to Africa, to cancel the debt owed by the poorest countries and to promote universal access to antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS by the year 2010.

We reiterate our call for cooperation among the United Nations, its specialized agencies and the African Union and its subregional organizations dealing with economic and social development on the continent. We continue to emphasize the importance of the Economic and Social Council as a central intergovernmental body for promoting a more integrated approach to global peace and development.

Namibia welcomes the presidential and parliamentary elections recently held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which, most international observers agree, were conducted in a peaceful and transparent atmosphere. We urge the United Nations and the international community at large to continue to support the people of the Democratic Republic during this crucial democratic transition.

The situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan is cause for serious concern. The African Union, through the African Union Mission in Sudan and with the assistance of the international community, has made efforts to bring peace to that region under exceptionally hard conditions. We commend the African Union Special Envoy, Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, for his tireless efforts in bringing the parties to an agreement. We urge all the parties to respect their commitments.

We welcome the visit to the Sudan by the United Nations Security Council team in June this year and the recommendations they made. Namibia looks forward to an urgent and smooth transition from the African Union Mission to a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur in accordance with Security Council resolution 1706 (2006). We urge the Government of the Sudan and other parties concerned to accept this transition, which we believe will be in the best interest of the people of the Sudan in general and those of the Darfur region in particular.

I would like to join other countries around the world in expressing our concern about the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, which remains a menace to humanity. The proliferation of such weapons compromises peace and security. They also pose serious challenges to law enforcement agencies around the world.

We are concerned that the question of Western Sahara remains unresolved. The inalienable rights of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and independence must be upheld and respected, as stipulated in the relevant United Nations resolutions. We therefore call for the urgent implementation of all relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, with the aim of holding a free and fair referendum in Western Sahara.

Namibia is also deeply concerned about the ongoing suffering of the people of Palestine. We wish to reaffirm our full and unequivocal support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and national independence. In this context, we appeal to the United Nations to assume its full responsibility by implementing all its resolutions and decisions on Palestine, with immediate effect and without precondition.

Sadly, the people of Lebanon have once again been subjected to war and indiscriminate bombing, which have caused enormous suffering and the deaths of innocent people, including children and the elderly, as well as severe damage to and destruction of property and infrastructure. Against that background, we call for the immediate and unconditional implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) and appeal to the international community to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Lebanon in dealing with the resulting humanitarian crisis.

For many years now, the majority of Member States in this Assembly have expressed concern over the continuous economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba, which continues to cause severe hardships for the Cuban people. The Government of the Republic of Namibia upholds the principles of peaceful coexistence of nations and fair and open trade among nations. Thus, we call on all Member States, in conformity with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, for an immediate and unconditional lifting of the embargo against the Republic of Cuba, as called for in General Assembly resolution 60/12 and many previous resolutions.

In June 2006, the General Assembly convened a High-level Meeting on the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. That Meeting served as an important opportunity for Member States to assess progress and further strengthen and expand responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Before the High-level Meeting, the African Union had adopted an African Common Position at a special session in Abuja in May 2006. Namibia is fully committed to the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. We are, equally, grateful for the support for the call to mobilize resources and to forge a stronger partnership in confronting the pandemic. We stress the need for universal and affordable access to comprehensive service packages for all those infected.

In our ongoing efforts to reform and strengthen the United Nations, making it more effective and responsive to today's challenges -- poverty and hunger, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, civil wars and the war on terror -- we should place human lives and human dignity at the centre of all our efforts. The reform we have embarked upon should be seen as a process and should be undertaken in a spirit of mutual understanding and with a sense of collective ownership. Let us strive to re-energize the United Nations and make it an Organization that we can all be proud of, so that we can make planet Earth a common home for all humanity to live in peace, stability and prosperity.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Namibia for the statement he has just made.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Ecuador.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Alfredo Palacio, President of the Republic of Ecuador, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Palacio (Ecuador)

The twenty-first century demands that the world develop a new vision of the concept of international law and of relations among peoples and States. A year ago, Ecuador raised the need to move towards a new world order built on three bases: the economy, international law and biology. This need has become urgent. We summon the planet to establish this new triad, which must include biology.

Never before has there been so much wealth. Poverty, however, continues to grow, and hunger and misery take their toll of human lives each day. Life on Earth is deteriorating. The harmonious continuity of humanity is threatened, and the world -- including the developed countries -- has not been able to find an adequate answer. There are still vast areas of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia where millions of human beings are on the brink of extinction. Vast areas continue to require international cooperation. While in Japan, Hong Kong and Iceland, life expectancy at birth exceeds 80 years, in Botswana and Lesotho it barely reaches 36 years. While in Sweden, Singapore, Denmark, Iceland and Norway, the under-five mortality rate is below 4 per 1,000 live births, in Sierra Leone, Niger and Liberia it exceeds 235 per 1,000 live births. We must guarantee greater equity in health expenditure throughout the world in order to overcome the huge gap between the few dollars per capita invested in poor countries and the thousands of dollars per capita that are invested in the developed world.

Five years have passed since the Millennium Development Goals were proclaimed, and very little has been done to achieve them. The limited compliance among the most highly developed countries to contribute 0.7 per cent of gross national income to progress in the poorest areas has had an adverse impact on this situation.

Underdevelopment is a global problem; just like the healthy continuity of our species, which is threatened by economic, political and military problems. The least developed countries lack resources to improve education and culture -- a requirement for ensuring collective health. The growing burden of foreign debt prevents our people from investing in their development. Underdeveloped countries are still under the yoke of external debt service, which continues to absorb domestic savings and limits the possibilities for social and productive investment.

Far from resolving the problem, successive debt refinancing creates further links that lengthen the chain shackling development and economic progress, and it undermines the ethical foundation and the destiny of humankind. That is why Ecuador supports the initiative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to create a group of highly indebted lower- and middle-income countries that together would work to find creative and long-term solutions.

The neediest countries are marginalized from investment in scientific research and medical discoveries.

The phenomenon of migration has taken on unprecedented dimensions. More than 200 million people are refugees, living outside their countries of origin. Migration causes families to break down and results in cultural deterioration, hampering the emergence of future healthy generations and adequate care of the elderly in conditions of dignity.

Countries must assume binding commitments on the defence of the human rights of migrants. To that end, we welcome the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development -- a multidimensional event that reflects the political resolve of sending and receiving countries.

War affects the entire planet. Mortality rates increase not only because of its direct victims, but also because of the destruction of infrastructure. Ethnic and religious problems, or economic aspirations, lead to genocidal practices. World peace, respect for human rights and respect among States are the principles that led to the founding of the United Nations.

Transfixed, the world has witnessed bloodshed and brutal acts of violence against peoples as a consequence of the settlement of conflicts through the use of weapons, and of the limited ability of the international community within the United Nations to find solutions within the framework of the law.

We support the resolution adopted by the Security Council -- and the efforts of the Secretary-General -- to ensure a commitment by all parties involved to comply with the ceasefire and to withdraw their forces to the borders established before the last confrontation.

The international community and the highest multilateral bodies have been unable to find diplomatic means of resolving such conflicts swiftly and effectively. Thus there needs to be an improvement in the structure of these bodies, including the United Nations system itself.

The Security Council is no longer an expression of a global balance. Today, it represents only itself. For that reason, it must be reformed and democratized. It is unacceptable that, at the dawn of the third millennium, the lives of millions of human beings and of entire populations hinge on the veto of one State or another and on a unilateral geopolitical vision.

The concepts of war and peace are once again at the heart of our reflection on global security and survival. The security of the planet, of peoples, of States and of nations will be sustainable only if it is founded on health, on education, on development and on peace.

Laying the foundations of genuine peace is the greatest moral obligation of all of humankind. The alternative is growing insecurity, fuelled by poverty, illness, destitution and fear.

The creation of the Peacebuilding Commission and the inception of the Human Rights Council, of which Ecuador is member, and the reforms that are being launched in the Secretariat and in the administrative bodies of the United Nations represent significant steps forward, but they still fall short.

My country, Ecuador, believes that the reform of the system includes strengthening the World Health Organization, its leadership and its fight against poverty and the environmental impact of poverty, in the promotion of local, national and regional initiatives aimed at implementing a fully decentralized global health system. That will make possible enable the development of health systems and models capable of ensuring tangible benefits for all inhabitants of the planet.

Universal health insurance is a valid strategy to guarantee access to a comprehensive health-care system among developing nations at the same level as in developed countries. That would eliminate the shameful asymmetry that is reflected in the unbalanced health statistics that differentiate the various segments of our populations.

In order to implement these and other important health programmes, considerable financial resources must be mobilized, which must flow from international cooperation, but also from developing countries and the so-called donor countries.

In this century, compliance with the Millennium Goals is State policy for the Government of Ecuador. For a multinational, pluricultural and multi-ethnic country such as Ecuador, ensuring respect for human rights means, above all, respect for the other; respect for the development of indigenous peoples, with full recognition of their diversity and of their need to be integrated into the process of modernization, while preserving their identity.

Ecuador welcomes the recent adoption by the Human Rights Council of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and fully supports its adoption by the Assembly.

We reaffirm our commitment to fight crimes of the utmost gravity, such as trafficking in human beings and the sexual exploitation of boys and girls. This year we have strengthened our domestic legislation to punish such crimes. The Government of Ecuador has undertaken economic policy measures to recover income from petroleum operations. That will enable us to engage in sustainable and productive social investment, thus improving living conditions for underprivileged Ecuadorians. As a result of those measures, for the first time in Ecuador, funds are available for scientific and technological research to promote knowledge so that we can be masters of our own destiny.

Ecuador is committed to strengthening South-South relations. We attach great importance to regional integration, in particular through the Andean Community of Nations and the Common Market of the South, which are key actors in building the South American Community of Nations to make progress towards Latin American integration, hemispheric integration and, ultimately, a globalization that has a human face and is equitable for all.

Ecuador promotes all the conditions necessary to reach trade agreements with all countries throughout the world, based on principles that respect the preservation of sensitive areas of national production, ensure food security and protect biological diversity and genetic data -- that is to say, life.

Ecuador has consistently fought narco-trafficking and related crimes. That is why we believe that we are fully entitled to ask the United States Senate to renew the Andean Trade Preference Act to encourage legal production and exports.

Ecuador endorses the principles that guided the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO). We hope that the obstacles faced by the Doha round will be successfully overcome to ensure its full validity, particularly with respect to the elimination of export subsidies for agricultural products.

Our relations with Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are particularly important. At the same time, we are seeking dynamic relationships with countries of the Pacific rim and throughout the world.

Within the framework of the South American Community of Nations, we are beginning to engage in regional meetings with Arab and African countries to strengthen political dialogue, cooperation and mutual trade. Ecuador was greatly pleased to welcome ministers for finance and related areas from Arab and South American countries in order to jointly formulate a strategy for strengthening our economic, trade and investment relationships. With regard to African nations, my country will participate at the highest level in the summit to be held in Nigeria this November.

Ecuador also attaches great importance to political coordination mechanisms such as the Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement, whose summit was held recently.

To conclude, I wish to express my sincere thanks to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his outstanding work at the head of the Organization despite the enormous difficulties he was obliged to face, including those of a financial nature. The world is confident that the new Secretary-General will be able to continue that work and to implement the processes of United Nations reform, with the commitment of all its Members, particularly the most highly developed countries.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Ecuador for the statement he has just made.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea)

Equatorial Guinea is participating in the debates of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly in the firm conviction that this world Organization remains the only forum with the authority necessary to resolve any situation facing the international community. Attempting to usurp that authority is irrational; it means negating the universal principles of international law, which govern our world with justice and equity.

That is why, before addressing any of the issues on our agenda, I wish to pay a well-deserved tribute to His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General, and to His Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson, President of the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, for the arduous task that they accomplished in the face of the conflicts that have threatened the peace and stability of the planet during 2006.

We should also like to welcome the election of Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, Legal Adviser to the Royal Court of Bahrain, who will preside over the General Assembly at this session. We believe that her election is an implicit recognition of the seriousness, dedication and dynamism that characterize her country's quest for global equilibrium and its respect for the principles of international law, human freedom, the right of peoples to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty, mutual respect among nations, and international cooperation to promote development and respect for human rights.

This session opens at a time of uncertainty for humanity, due to the many conflicts and the increasing socio-political imbalance threatening the lives of millions of people throughout the world. Humanity today finds itself in a complex situation that raises several questions.

What is the current role of the United Nations, given the absence of priorities in its decision-making process? What has been gained since the end of the cold war? What kind of future can humanity hope for in a world of so-called globalization, governed by a political and economic system characterized by inequality and a lack of cooperation in eradicating poverty in the weakest nations? What kind of future is there for the developing countries when the gap in the acquisition of technology for development continues to grow, or when sprawling intelligence services are constantly devising plans to keep the world under the political dominance and economic influence of the most powerful nations?

Those and similar questions must be the focus of attention of politicians and this world body if we are to straighten this crooked path in international relations. Presently, there is no judge capable of adjudicating any international conflict equitably and impartially. From our point of view, the authority of the United Nations has been taken hostage by certain interests that are monopolizing the world. Nevertheless, I am convinced that we still have time to rescue the situation if we do not wish to see the international community completely derailed, because the results obtained to date are not satisfactory.

We must first democratize this world Organization by reinstating its rightful authority on the international scene. We must also set an objective value to the globalization of politics by adopting new, equitable political and economic strategies to protect the legitimate interests of the weakest States. If we do not, we must be prepared to endure a world crisis as a result of our inability to sustain the current pressures and jarring disparities among nations.

Many conferences held in various political, economic and social forums have identified a number of strategies to reduce the gap that separates us all, but such strategies have always been met with the complete indifference of those who are supposed to execute them.

We ought not be surprised, then, by the phenomenon of terrorism that threatens the world today, because, although its methods and destructive effects on humans are condemnable, it remains the recourse of the oppressed and a reaction of those who oppose prevailing injustices that have been denounced throughout the last quarter of a century.

The ongoing mass migration of peoples from the South to the North is another consequence of the huge imbalance caused by the present unjust international economic system. That migration will never cease if the North does not help the South to develop with programmes of support and solidarity.

We would like to see democracy, equity and solidarity in a more harmonious world become the rule that would enable international relations to function, especially those governed by the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization, the relationship between the European Union and the nations of the African, Caribbean and the Pacific, and all other economic relations between the North and the South.

Moreover, nature has endowed the world with immense natural resources that are perfectly sufficient to allow all to live in dignity. We do not have to resort to draconian rules of exchange that favour some and discriminate against others. Those who seek to monopolize resources that belong to humanity and who still believe in the larceny of the past, or rather in their own ability to perpetuate illegal exploitation by force, are the same people who today support and maintain vast mercenary organizations that fall upon the weaker nations in order to create internal political instabilities for their own selfish interests.

Indeed, my country has been a victim of such plotting because we own crude oil, the product that is today dividing and destroying the world. My country was able to avert a mercenary invasion on 6 March, 2004, that was organized by powerful countries that continue to dispute among themselves and to nurture ambitions to gain free control of the world's petroleum. Fortunately, our security services were alerted in time and were able to prevent the anticipated genocide. Those directly responsible for the attempted coup are serving time in prison, while the brains behind the whole thing are still at large and thumb their noses at justice.

Nevertheless, my Government does not believe that this natural resource belongs to us alone. My country benefits from barely 30 per cent of the proceeds from that exploitation, because, as we have explained time and again, due to an unjust system of exchange, the operating contracts give the lion's share of those profits to our partners of the North.

In that regard, I noted at the sixtieth session of the General Assembly that if the responsibility of transparency is to be borne equitably, there is a need to demand the same from the operators of the extracting industries and compliance with the contracts and regulations that guarantee equal benefits between the parties concerned.

To conclude, the message from Equatorial Guinea is that we must respond as human beings, because we still have time to make this planet Earth a better place for human beings. Therefore, let us turn our backs on greed, hegemonic ambition and the lack of sensitivity to the sight of such horror and misery that is rife in our world, so that we can respond to this system of injustice and inequality, and so that, as human beings, we will be able to join hands and face, with solidarity, intelligence and wisdom, the challenge to spare humanity from the scourges of war, poverty and underdevelopment.

The Acting President

(spoke in French): On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for the statement he has just made.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Albania.

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Alfred Moisiu, President of the Republic of Albania, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Moisiu (Albania)

I would like first of all to congratulate President Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa on her election to her high post and to assure her of Albania's full support throughout her mandate. I would also like to express our deep appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his continuous vision, leadership and efforts to revitalize and reform the United Nations.

This year, based on the 2005 Summit Document, Albania has undertaken concrete actions to promote the three main pillars, namely, development, security and human rights, in order to implement the ambitious United Nations agenda of reforms. We are filled with optimism at the positive results achieved by the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights Council and the Central Emergency Response Fund. Reform of the Secretariat and management also give us optimism and lead us to believe that the United Nations must continue these reforms in order to respond in the best possible way to new realities and challenges.

We reiterate our willingness and intent to work closely with all delegations and to reach as much agreement as possible by consensus in all significant aspects of the reforms and we believe that solid and inclusive management reform is needed for the strengthening of the United Nations in order to increase transparency and responsibility and achieve a more effective and efficient administration of resources. We support the efforts to reform the Economic and Social Council, while we also believe that reform in the Security Council will produce progress and results, thanks to the efforts and commitment of all member countries.

We welcome the High-level Meeting on International Migration and Development, because we believe that international migration that is supported by the right policies can bring major advantages to the development of the countries of origin and destination, in terms of respecting and guaranteeing the basic rights of migrants, while avoiding discrimination and double standards.

The United Nations role also continues to remain very important in the war against terrorism, especially in securing an effective, global and intensive response to this threat. We praise the recent consensual adoption of the Global Strategy against Terrorism. We also feel that the adoption of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism would represent a precious achievement furthering United Nations efforts to combat terrorism. Albania is collaborating very closely with all the United Nations bodies in the war against terrorism, and the visits of the Monitoring Team, established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1267 (1999), and the visit of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1540 (2004), demonstrate that Albania is fulfilling its obligations to prevent the activity and financing of terrorist groups at the national level.

We have supported Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) on the Israeli-Lebanon conflict, which provides for a peaceful solution of the issue and the sending of peacekeeping forces to that area. Albania has joined other countries in giving financial support to rebuild Lebanon.

The main orientation of Albania's foreign policy remains European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and that is why the efforts of the Albanian State and society are directed towards meeting European Union and NATO standards. A few days ago, the European Parliament ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement between Albania and the European Union, which places our country at the most important stage -- that of fulfilling the obligations that stem from the Agreement, and all Albanian political groups and the entire society are conscious of this. We all believe that actual membership in the European Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the prospective accession to the EU and NATO are part of the na