UN Celebrates 70th Anniversary
Below is a report by Adriano José Timossi on the outcomes of the General Debate of the General Assembly 70th session and with excerpts of some of the speeches at the UNGA.
By Adriano José Timossi
After a weekend of high diplomatic activity in New York at the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, leaders of the 193 members of the United Nations reconvened again on 28 September to 3 October for their traditional annual General Debate of the 70th session of the General Assembly.
The theme this year was “The United Nations at 70 – the road ahead for peace, security and human rights”. The session reviewed achievements of the UN in its first 70 years and debated on pressing issues of the global agenda.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his opening statement hailed the important achievement made over the weekend with the endorsement of the 2030 Agenda including 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs. He called world leaders to build on the momentum with a robust agreement on climate change. Facing the threat of the risk of temperatures rising above the 2°C threshold, the UN Secretary General called upon the international community to work in synergy and urged developed countries to meet the agreed goal of $100 billion per year by 2020 on climate financing and also, reminded them on their commitments with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the renewed pledge by developed countries to invest 0.7 per cent of the gross national income in official development assistance (ODA).
The UN Secretary General also spoke on the global humanitarian catastrophe which is taking place with proportions “not seen in one generation”. Today there are over 100 million people requiring immediate humanitarian assistance and 60 million people living outside their homes or their countries. Referring to the trillions in wasteful military spending, he questioned world leaders: “Why is it easier to find the money to destroy people and the planet than it is to protect them?”. While commending Europe for their efforts in providing asylum he also encouraged the old continent to do more. “After the Second World War, it was Europe seeking the world’s assistance,” he recalled in addressing the current refugee and migration crisis.
Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th session of the General Assembly, said that eradicating poverty in all its forms is only possible with a much more complex transformation of the entire global economy, the environment and social structures. “We cannot rely only on the traditional growth model of the past fifteen or the past seventy years,” he said, adding that inequality in income, wealth, access to resources and to quality education and health must be overcome. Each and every person has a legitimate demand for a decent life he said. People in developed countries could not continue to consume and produce in the manner to which they were accustomed.
Developing countries’ leaders reaffirm their strong support for multilateralism and call for a more robust UN that can help to fight global injustice and inequality
Several leaders of the South countries have used the UN General Assembly to denounce the unfairness of the current injustices of the international economic and political system which have contributed to spread poverty, raising inequality and destabilization with peace and development turning into a dream so far not achieved for many people in the developing countries and, ironically, now also a problem of developed country nations despite all their resources. They made a strong call for a new era in which the principles enshrined in the Charter of the UN signed in June 1945 can be truly implemented so that a more equal and inclusive society and a more balanced and peaceful international order can be achieved. Terrorism and climate change were identified as two key emerging threats also largely addressed by the leaders.
One significant event was the raising of the Palestinian flag in front of a large crowd of diplomats, for the first time in the history of the UN Headquarters in New York. An overwhelming majority of world leaders from South and North have expressed their solidarity and support for the establishment of the State of Palestine in peaceful coexistence with Israel and denouncing the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank systems created under an era of global dominance by developed countries and the colonial system were also at the centre of attention of developing country leaders as the economic and financial crisis, which begun in 2008 in the United States, is still an issue and now impacts severely many in the south. The decision making process in economic and financial issues is unbalanced and most of the promised reforms are yet to be implemented. Their policies led to great crises in the south and as result new south led architectures of economic and finance governance are now emerging and will serve as an alternative to north dominated structures as well as to push them for long awaited reforms.
Extracts from South leaders’ speeches in the GA 70th session
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, traditionally the first speaker in the General Debate, congratulated the UN for its achievements over the past 70 years recognizing that there have been progress and setbacks for the organization. “The decolonization process has shown notable evolution, as can be seen from the composition of this Assembly. The UN has broadened its initiatives, incorporating the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, in other words, issues related to the environment, poverty eradication, social development and access to quality services. Matters such as urban challenges and gender and race issues have become a priority”. President Rousseff also recognized that despite achievements the organization “had not had the same success in addressing collective security”. She warned about the proliferation of regional conflicts — “some with destructive potential”.
As the host nation of the Rio 92 and Rio+20 summits, the latter leading to the process which culminated in the sustainable development goals, Ms. Rousseff called for global solidarity, and “determination from each one of us and a commitment to confront climate change, overcome poverty and generate opportunities”. She called upon leaders to strengthen the Climate Convention, while fully implementing its provisions and respecting its principles. “The obligations to be undertaken must be ambitious – including with regard to financial and technological support to developing countries and small islands in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,” she said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said that seventy years ago, the earlier generation of mankind, with vision and foresight, established the United Nations. This universal and most representative and authoritative international organization has carried mankind’s hope for a new future and ushered in a new era of cooperation. It was a pioneering initiative never undertaken before. Xi Jinping said that “History is a mirror. Only by drawing lessons from history can the world avoid repeating past calamity. We should view history with awe and human conscience. The past cannot be changed, but the future can be shaped”. He made a strong call for equal partnership and mutual understanding among nations. The Cold War mentality should be abandoned.
The Chinese leader also added that “the 2008 international financial crisis has taught us that allowing capital to blindly pursue profit can only create a crisis and that global prosperity cannot be built on the shaky foundation of a market without moral constraints. The growing gap between rich and poor is both unsustainable and unfair. It is important for us to use both the invisible hand and the visible hand to form synergy between market forces and government function and strive to achieve both efficiency and fairness”. China announced the decision to establish a 10-year, US$1 billion China-UN peace and development fund to support the work of the United Nations, to advance multilateral cooperation and contribute more to world peace and development.
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran and current chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, a group of over 100 developing countries established in 1961, acknowledged the role of all the negotiators, the leaders and the heads of state and government of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Germany, China and Iran in achieving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the six world powers that was immediately turned into an international instrument with the ratification of the United Nations Security Council.
The JCPOA sets a strong precedent where, for the first time, two sides, rather than negotiating peace after war, engaged in dialogue and understanding before the eruption of conflict, the Iranian leader said. Referring to the sanctions imposed against his country in the past decades, the leader said that “though, we protest the adoption of unfair resolutions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the imposition of sanctions against the Iranian nation and government as a result of misunderstandings and sometimes overt hostilities of some countries, however, we believe, as an old Iranian saying goes, “the sooner you stop harm, the more benefit you will reap”. Today is the very day that harm is stopped”, Rouhani said.
The Iranian leader also said that the nuclear deal, an example of “victory over war”, should herald a new era with sustainable peace and stability in the region.
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, current Chairman of the G77 and China, said that the UN Charter “embodied, through its principles and objectives, the aspirations of the oppressed people world-wide”. President Zuma also acknowledged the role of the UN General Assembly in the past 70 years. “Rooted in the principle of sovereign equality, UNGA is the most representative international institution and organ of the United Nations”. Over the past 70 years, the General Assembly remained central to the provision of support to the disadvantaged, marginalised, occupied, colonised and oppressed peoples of the world, he said, and remembered its role in support of the South African struggle for liberation internationally when it declared apartheid as a crime against humanity.
The South African President called for an independent and impartial Human Rights Council mechanism for the entrenchment of a human rights culture throughout the world. “It should avoid the pitfalls of its predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights, which was beset by politicisation and was caught up in the divide between developed and developing countries,” he said. As a strong voice representing the interests of the African continent in global and regional affairs, President Zuma also emphasised that the “UN Security Council must take into account the views of the African Continent and its sub-regional organisations when dealing with conflicts in Africa in future”.
As the host nation of the climate conference in Durban which led to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, President Zuma stated that South Africa has a special interest and a commitment to the success of the UNFCCC’s Paris conference. However for that to happen, the continent requires the fulfilment of all three parts of the Durban Mandate; namely:
(i) the closing of the current ambition gap in the pre-2020 period through the honouring of existing legal obligations by developed countries and enhanced action,
(ii) the entry into force of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and,
(iii) the adoption of a new agreement for the post-2020 period in Paris that contains all the essential elements, including the means of implementation, loss and damage and response measures.
President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, said that recently Egypt and the world witnessed the inauguration of the New Suez Canal, an achievement that will have a major impact on a number of economic fields, such as transportation, trade and services. It is also a statement of the determination of its people to overcome obstacles. The Middle East and the world at large are confronted with a perilous danger and are in dire need of a model that presents new prospects for our youth, providing them with opportunities for a brighter future. They must be shown that, with diligent work, they can participate in crafting this future. He announced Egypt’s intention to launch, in coordination with the UN, and with wide participation by the youth of all nations, an initiative labeled: “Hope and Action for a New Direction”.
He said the increasing plight of refugees fleeing from destructive armed conflicts reaffirms the need to work towards resolving these conflicts and confronting the scourge of terrorism, a major aggravating factor. It also necessitates creating channels for legal immigration and facilitating transportation as well as linking international migration and development. Egypt hosts ever increasing numbers of refugees. Egypt hopes that solutions to this crisis will be found, whether in the short-run to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of refugees, or in the long-run through overcoming the fundamental causes of this crisis.
President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, currently president pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) created by the 33 nations of the region, said that the UN was born from the ashes of WWII to maintain international peace and security. In the 21st century, 70 years after, peace must be all about the presence of justice, dignity and development. Correa quoted Mahatma Gandhi, who said that “poverty is the worst form of violence.”
President Correa highlighted that CELAC has declared the region a zone of peace but that outrageous opulence of a few, next to the most intolerable poverty, are also daily bullets against human dignity. The 164 million people in Latin America living in poverty, 68 million of whom remain in extreme poverty, are still waiting for justice, freedom and real democracy, which should not only be reduced to holding elections regularly. Overcoming poverty is the major imperial moral for the planet, and for the first time in the history of mankind, poverty is not the result of lack of resources or natural factors but of unfair and exclusionary systems, the result of perverse structures of power.
The Ecuadorian President also said that it is believed sometimes that environmental services do not have costs but the reality is that it can be very costly. Only by compensating for the consumption of environmental services are we able not to have the need of having financing for development. He also said that conservation in poor countries will not be possible in the absence of clear and direct improvement in the standards of living of their population. As Pope Francis said in his encyclical, “a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach”. He denounced the environmental disaster in the Ecuadorian Amazon caused by contamination by oil company Texaco (later sold to Chevron). Correa called upon leaders of the world to adopt a binding treaty to sanction companies that violated human rights and damaged the environment.
Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela and the incoming chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that 70 years after the birth of the UN, the people of the planet are still suffering from the scourge of inequality, poverty, looting, exploitation, which are the true causes of all wars we have known.
From the bipolar world of confrontation, we went to an unipolar world of impositions. The time has come to build a multipolar world, a multicenter world, a world without hegemony, a world of equals, a world that acknowledges the specific weight of the new emerging centers of political, economic, cultural and human power, a world that acknowledges the new regionalisms that increasingly strengthen in the various regions of the world, a world that can consolidate a new way and enforce the inspiring text of the UN Charter that guarantees the right to human existence, to self-determination, to independence and to life for all peoples.
Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, emphasized that it was important to take deep stock of the political, social, cultural and environmental achievements of the United Nations since its founding. He said that 70 years on, wars and invasions continued caused by ambitions of certain regions and nations, and the policy of keeping capital in the hands of the few. “We are convinced that capitalism is not the solution for humanity,” he said and emphasised that the principle of “living well” – living in solidarity and complementarity, at one with Mother Earth – is the key for humanity. Morales said that living well means ensuring that basic services and natural resources belonged to all people, not private companies. “This is how we freed ourselves economically,” Morales stated. As many leaders spoke before him in the UNGA tribute on peace, he was emphatic in saying that there is no peace without social justice, a reasoning made by numerous South leaders in the debate of the UNGA 70th session. Some governments claimed to be spending billions of dollars to save Mother Earth, but they were really spending those billions on military aims which would ultimately lead to the destruction of the planet.
Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs of India, said that 70 years ago the foundation of the United Nations was laid on the western shores of this country through the San Francisco Charter. India was one of the countries which signed the Charter although we were not independent at that time. We got our independence two years later. When the United Nations was established, a rather diminutive looking man with the powerful weapon of non-violence was writing out the final act in a struggle that would become a symbol of hope for the colonized and the oppressed everywhere. She also emphasized the exemplar role played by India on peacekeeping operations and the need for a more democratic representation in the UN Security Council as the prerequisite for preserving the centrality and legitimacy of the UN as the custodian of global peace and security.
The United Nations has been successful in preventing a third world war, in assisting decolonization and dismantling apartheid, in combating global epidemics and reducing global hunger, and in promoting democracy and human rights. Yet, when we ask ourselves whether we have been able to prevent conflicts taking place in several parts of the world, the answer is no. If we ask whether we were able to find permanent solution to these conflicts, the answer is no. If we ask whether we were able to show the path of peace to a world which is going on the way of violence, the answer is no. On these parameters, the United Nations appears as an ineffective institution in the area of international peace and security. It has failed to effectively address the new challenges to international peace and security.
“Even as we counter the menace of terrorism, we must acknowledge that real social and economic progress remains a critical goal. The elimination of basic human want leads almost invariably to more peaceful societies, as is evidenced by a map of the conflicts that engulf parts of the world” she stated.
The Minister referred to the COP in Paris, where the world expects us to deliver an ambitious and credible agreement on climate change. We have a duty for common action but in doing so we must keep in mind the larger historical contribution of some and the differentiated responsibility of others. If today Mahatma Gandhi was among us, he would ask if we have used the resources of the planet for our needs or for our greed? Also if adapting our lifestyle choices and reducing extravagant consumption would help us correct the course. For this reason, the agreement in Paris needs to be comprehensive and equitable, while delivering concrete action. Developing countries can do more if they are enabled in their efforts with the provision of finance, technology transfer and capacity building support from developed countries. India has always been and is a willing partner in global efforts towards this goal. “We will play our due role in reaching a meaningful, equitable and effective agreement in Paris,” she said.
Indonesia’s Vice President, Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, said that notwithstanding the achievements of the UN we must not be complacent: indeed, there are still numerous challenges confronting us. As we speak, there are still numerous armed conflicts around the world. The suffering of the Palestinian people is still taking place, while the realization of a two-state solution is still elusive. The recent conflict in Gaza has caused over two thousand human casualties, displacing more than five thousand people. Sectarian conflicts, including the threat of ISIS, continue to threaten political stability and cause a multitude of humanitarian crises in the Middle East, especially in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and elsewhere. Violent conflicts have not only torn countries and nations apart, but in Syria, ISIS has also destroyed remnants of a great ancient civilization that is our shared historical legacy. “We ask: has the United Nations done enough when faced with these unfolding and recurrent tragedies?”
We are also witnessing the worst year for human displacement and irregular migration since World War II due to political crises, sectarian conflicts and other humanitarian crises globally. In the past weeks we have seen a flood of refugees fleeing from the violence in Syria, where well over one hundred thousand people have been killed, to seek a safe haven in Europe, despite the dangers and hardships they have to endure on the way. We also ask, does the United Nations have sufficient political will to face these issues? Meanwhile, economic disparity, poverty and global inequality continue to haunt us. Even today, more than 800 million people around the globe are suffering from severe undernourishment.
The rich nations, comprising a mere 20 percent of the world’s population, consume 70 percent of the world’s resources. In many parts of the world, women, children, youth, persons with disability, the elderly, people living in conflicts and emergency situations remain marginalized and untouched by the progress of development. 20 years after the first Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, we have yet to produce a universal agreement on climate change. In the context of trade, we have yet to see progress and concrete results from the Doha Development Agenda to support a rules-based, open and equitable multilateral trading system.
Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia, said that despite that we are in a world of nation states, new conflicts and threats imperilling our peace and security do not recognise borders. Non-state actors, such as the so-called Islamic State, threaten to destroy sovereign states, he said.
He said Malaysia had followed up on his idea, made at the GA 5 years ago, to establish a Global Movement – of Moderates of all religions, of all countries – to marginalise extremists, reclaim the centre, and shape the agenda towards peace and pragmatism. Central to this effort is reaffirming Islam’s true nature. So it is more important than ever that we spread awareness of authentic Islam, most especially when conflicts persist and people lose hope.
PM Najib said that new international solutions are needed to deal with the migration crises. The millions fleeing are people—like us. They should concern us all. We must respect our common humanity. Over the years, Malaysia has set an example by receiving many people fleeing war, starvation and persecution. The desperate migrants, he said, the victims of extremists and those whose lives had been degraded by poverty and hunger, should not be seen as strangers but rather as brothers and sisters.
Adriano José Timossi is a Senior Programme Officer of the Global Governance for Development Programme (GGDP) of the South Centre.
The United Nations’ 70 years of history
After two months of intense meetings, the United Nations Conference on International Organization concluded on 26 June 1945 with the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations by representatives of 50 countries. Poland which was in process of forming a new government added to the group three days later. The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 with the ratification of the Charter by majority of its signatories.
As we celebrate its 70th year, and with 193 members today, leaders gathered in New York reflected on its achievements and the challenges ahead for the organization. They have called for enhanced global efforts in order to make justice to the principles for which the organization was initially thought – to build an era of peace, justice and development for all humanity.
