YouSaid · the spoken record

Antoni Martí Petit

lines on the record: 119
first: 2013-09-24
most recent: 2018-09-24
sittings or episodes: 6
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“That is a global society to which Andorra — because of its small size, but also because of its serenity, which prevails as a result of centuries of peaceful existence — is fully committed. The Secretary-General is aware of that, as are the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session and all our friends in the international community. Politicians move on. Countries and institutions remain. I am sure that in the future Member States will be able to continue to count on the Principality of Andorra to assist in building a fairer, safer world. That is our task.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We must work right through to the last moment so that our disappointments can be transformed into their hope, so that our mistakes give rise to their ability to prevent them from happening again, and so that our good choices serve as the foundations on which they can continue to build peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies. All of us, the older and the younger generations, should always be aware that everything that happens in the global area has local repercussions and that all of the actions that we undertake at the local level contribute to shaping the global society. Hopefully, it is one that is fairer in nature, a global society in which everybody feels that they are listened to and included.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Moving from that awareness of fragility, we have found the strength to undertake actions that had been sitting on the table for years and to launch reforms that had been pending for decades — seeking a more open, transparent and cooperative economy, constructing a more inclusive and all-embracing society, finding sustainable models of growth and preserving the institutions and values that have been handed down through history, adapting them and making them useful for the people of today. Out of necessity we have made a virtue and out of weakness we have found strength so that the younger generations can take up the reins of their times and do so with the same optimism that we had 25 years ago.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“If I compare that sense with the spirit of optimism that prevailed 25 years ago, the symbol of our times, the symbol of this current moment, is precisely that awareness of the fragility of the economy, the institutions, the worldwide geopolitical order, the environment and the planet as a whole. Everything seems to be much more fragile and in much greater danger now.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“However, it was also up to me and the people of my generation to take on the responsibilities of Government in a time of crisis — economic crisis, social crisis and a crisis in values — at a time when what we believed to be solid and resistant was proving to be fragile and unstable. Over time, we have grown accustomed to living with that awareness of fragility and instability. When all is said and done, maybe that is not so bad. Our predecessors, the previous generations of Andorrans, were acutely aware of the fragility of the foundations on which our very old institutions stood.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The ballot boxes bestowed that responsibility on me again in March 2015. This will therefore be the last time that I address the General Assembly. In Andorra, the entry of the men and women of my generation into political life coincided with the approval of the 1993 Constitution and with the recognition of our country as a full member of the international community. I was elected a Member of Parliament in the same year that Andorra became a part of the United Nations. I am therefore a child of that time of optimism that I mentioned at the beginning, a time when democracy was expanding, economies were growing, and multilateral institutions were becoming stronger.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“However, misunderstood leaders do not exist, because a misunderstood leader is not a leader. A leader who does not connect with the people is not a leader. The United Nations cannot afford the luxury of disconnecting from the problems, needs, expectations and hopes of the citizens of this globalized world. Andorra therefore offers its support to the plans to reform the architecture of the United Nations that Secretary-General Guterres and his team are carrying out. More effective management of resources is essential, particularly with a management focused on people. That is crucial. In this final part of my statement I would like to tell a personal anecdote. Seven and a half years ago, I took on the responsibility of leading the Government of the Principality of Andorra.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“With the financial support of the Government, several Andorran non-governmental organizations are carrying out projects to promote training and opportunities for street children in Bolivia, educate young girls in Honduras and provide schooling for poor children in Madagascar. In choosing the theme for this session of the General Assembly — “Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies” — our President has spoken about leadership and shared responsibilities. That seems to me to be a key matter. If we allow the action of the United Nations, and by extension that of the entire international community, to move away from people’s real needs, we would be losing leadership. In the face of the increase in populism and extremism, political leaders often feel they are misunderstood.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Andorra is working to fulfil the commitments of the Paris Agreement and strongly encourages the rest of the international community to do the same. As far as quality education is concerned, Andorra is proud of having a rich, diverse, all-embracing education system that is available to all citizens. It is a system in which families can opt for Andorran, Spanish or French education at no additional cost. It prepares our young people to become citizens of a global world while remaining deeply rooted in their own identity. That is perhaps why a great many Andorran international cooperation efforts focus on the area of education.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“All of those actions are designed to enable us to comply with the 2030 Agenda. Andorra has also emphasized two more goals, measures to combat climate change and high-quality education, because they are two things with which Andorran society fully identifies. We therefore champion the validity of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which many countries signed here in New York in April 2016, and we insist that the international community must comply with the agreements and commitments made in Paris in December 2015. We reiterated that view in Paris last December at the One Planet Summit, promoted by the Secretary-General and the President of the French Republic and Co-Prince of Andorra, Mr. Emmanuel Macron.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“That is why we need a cross- cutting alliance between the public and the private sectors so that we can put technological progress in the service of the 2030 Agenda. We have assessed our performance on six Sustainable Development Goals linked to the environment. They are water and sanitation; clean, accessible energy; sustainable cities; responsible consumption and production; the protection of life on Earth and the fight against climate change. Various actions introduced by my Government in recent years are aimed at those goals — the ongoing improvement of water and air quality; a comprehensive plan of energy transition that has enabled us to reduce our dependence on outside energy sources by promoting renewable energy; direct grants for renewing buildings using energy-efficient criteria and so on.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Andorra presented its first voluntary national review on the Sustainable Development Goals at the high- level political forum on sustainable development of the Economic and Social Council last July. As explained in the review, our Government has been working for some time on classifying various of its political endeavours according to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. We have also launched a campaign to involve the education community, civil society and private companies in promoting and achieving the various Goals. That is a way of opening up and bringing the United Nations and its agenda closer to the people. In our opinion, innovation and the new technologies play a very important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“If we do not do that, we would be persevering in our mistakes; we would be reinforcing an image of international institutions that are difficult to understand and far removed from the concerns of the people, and we would be opening the door to populism even wider. That is why Andorra wants to participate in a particularly active way in promoting and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Goals are focused on the specific, tangible needs of the world population. They are major global objectives that have local applications and impact, and if they are attained, they will reinforce the bonds that are so necessary between people and institutions.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Very often the solutions that we have found to major international issues — whether geopolitical, economic or social — are solutions that do not consider people and that go against one of the themes of the United Nations, the call to leave no one behind. I therefore view very positively the theme chosen by the President of the General Assembly, Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés — with whom we also share the Ibero-American community — of “Making the United Nations relevant to all people”. And that means building peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies. The action of the United Nations, and by extension of the entire international community, must be inclusive and focused on the real problems of people.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“All too often, defenders of the multilateral order and globalization believe that we have made no errors and that it is other people who are mistaken, without seeing that globalization has created antibodies, some harmful and some not — because perhaps not every kind of globalization is good. In the face of that dialectic between opening up and closing down, we should not seek confrontation but look for balance. There should be a balance between cosmopolitanism and being deeply rooted in tradition, because there are advantages to both. All too often we have focused on the risks of protectionism, populism and closing down, without realizing that there is also another risk — that of elitist and inhumane globalization, which is not very inclusive, if at all.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In the face of complex problems, technocracy proposes solutions that are as complex as they are elitist and that rather than being inclusive, generate inequality and bypass many people. Populism is fed by the disappointment of people who have been left to one side and have suffered from exclusion, a lack of understanding and inequality. In recent years, we have heard time and time again that the world is struggling between opening up and closing down, between multilateralism and unilateralism, between cooperation and protectionism. But perhaps the mistake lies in wishing to present things in that way.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“All of us have the same rights; what affects all of us must be decided by all of us; and any conflict must be solved peacefully and lawfully. When I say “all of us”, I am referring to everybody, individually, within a representative democracy and to all countries, on an equal footing, here at the General Assembly. Representative democracy and multilateralism share a set of common values and it is therefore not surprising that they should end up in crisis at the same time. In my view, the democratic multilateral order is threatened by the two extremes of populism and technocracy. In the face of complex problems, populism proposes solutions that are simple but that are not solutions, because they end up creating new problems and calling into question democratic principles and values.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In its most recent report, we read that in 2017, only 4 of every 10 people live in free countries. That slow decline in democratic regimes has been accompanied by an increase in inequality, intolerance and extremism. Even in the most established democracies, we increasingly hear the voices of people who have suffered discrimination in silence for many years — women, persons with disabilities and victims of sexual abuse or abuse of any kind. All of that shows us that our optimism 25 years ago was rather naive. However, despite all the disappointments and all the faults, we must still defend the international order that was created by the United Nations just after the end of the Second World War. We must defend that order because it is based on three principles that are as elemental as they are universal.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Today, we all remember that period with a certain degree of nostalgia. We were reminded of that this summer during the meaningful homages paid to the former Secretary-General the late Kofi Annan, who did so much for peace and multilateralism throughout the end of the past century and the beginning of this millennium. We saw it again just this week during the Peace Summit dedicated to Nelson Mandela (see A/73/ PV.4 et seq.), who was, without a doubt, one of the key figures of that historic moment. Twenty-five years on, many of the hopes of 1993 have become blurred and, despite some of the milestones reached, we have slipped back. The prestigious non-governmental organization Freedom House has noted, year after year, a constant decline in world democracy since 2006.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“I would now like us to reflect on what the world was like 25 years ago, when Andorra joined the Organization as a full Member. The year 1993 was a time of hope for everyone. The fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War gave way to a wave of unprecedented democratization. Never had so many people in the world lived under democracy as during the final years of the twentieth and the early years of the twenty-first century. Human rights were strengthened, economies grew and inequalities were gradually diminishing. They were years of peace, cooperation and multilateralism, as well as respect, understanding and dialogue among cultures and religions. Around us, on the old continent, they were years of optimism in the long and fruitful process of European construction.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“It is therefore no wonder that the Andorran Constitution expressly states that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is in force in Andorra. That is why our country wanted to play an active part in the Stand Up for Human Rights campaign, emphasizing the importance of the dissemination of human rights in the area of education. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, with whom I have had the honour of working in the Ibero-American community in recent years, knows that she can count on Andorra to ensure that the Declaration made on 10 December 1948 remains as valid and as strong as ever. As I have already said, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was already part of Andorran positive law even before Andorra became a Member of the United Nations.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“For the people of Andorra, 2018 is a year of double celebration, globally and locally speaking. On 28 July, the Principality of Andorra celebrated 25 years since its entry into the United Nations, and on 10 December, it will be 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As I have already mentioned, those two events have both a global and a local significance — what some people call “glocal”. In fact, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights has a global dimension for Andorra, as well as for the other countries that make up the international community. But it also has strong local roots, because fundamental rights have been respected in Andorra since time immemorial.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The Government and the Mexican people know that they can count on the sympathy and solidarity of the Principality of Andorra. As I have said, our dedication to the purposes and principles of the United Nations is clear and firm. Secretary-General António Guterres can rely on Andorra to help build a sustainable, safe and fair world that involves everyone, with no one left behind.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Like other small countries, we firmly believe that the major challenges of our time must be addressed globally, and that what the various countries of the world can do for themselves amounts to very little without global and concerted action. That is why much of our foreign policy is focused on multilateral forums, as we showed four years ago during the Andorran presidency of the Council of Europe. Evidence for that will also be seen next month, when Andorra hosts the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and from our candidacy to organize the Ibero-American Summit in 2020. The Ibero-American community is in mourning today for the victims of the earthquake that took place in Mexico last Tuesday.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Allowing the Court to act ex officio in the most serious cases without the need for referrals by the Security Council would be a meaningful step forward for the rule of law at the international level. For the same reason, Andorra will continue to support initiatives that seek to limit the right of the veto for the permanent members of the Security Council in cases of genocide or serious human rights violations. In our opinion, the political declaration adopted two years ago on the initiative of the French Republic and the United Mexican States, which provides for the suspension of the veto in cases involving mass atrocities, is a good course of action to follow. No one should be surprised by the fact that Andorrans are faithful defenders of the multilateral order.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“It is all of us who must work to ensure that global agreements, starting with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, are truly binding, to assess with transparency various countries’ compliance with those agreements and to avoid the possibility that the United Nations and the international community could become paralysed or inactive in the face of the great challenges and major crises of our times. It is for those reasons that Andorra has supported, and will continue to support, the Rome Statute and the Kampala Amendments, which make it possible for the International Criminal Court to exercise its jurisdiction in cases of crimes of aggression that clearly violate the Charter of the United Nations.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Today, with the global threat of terrorism, while diplomacy between States continues to be very important in settling issues of peace and security, they also require concrete action for combating terrorism and eradicating its root causes. The Secretary-General can therefore count on Andorra’s support for his establishment of the Office of Counter- Terrorism and other measures designed to improve the functioning of the Organization and provide the effective answers that citizens of the world expect from all of us. The question of the effectiveness of the United Nations is important not only for the Secretary-General but also clearly for all of us States Members of the Organization.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Proof of the fact that the Secretary- General is doing a good job is his decision to establish a United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism headed by an Under-Secretary-General. The importance of fighting terrorism has been trumpeted everywhere in recent years. We Andorrans have seen our European neighbours suffer directly from the consequences of such irrational hatred. In Spain last month, Barcelona and Cambrils, two Catalan towns that are close to Andorra, suffered from the problem. Peace and security have more complex dimensions today than they did 70 years ago. In the mid-twentieth century, after two world wars, the maintenance of peace and security could be addressed and resolved here in the Assembly through frank dialogue and effective cooperation and among countries. Bilateral diplomacy also played a significant role.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The first mission of any organization, from private companies to Governments, is an internal one — ensuring that its members and structures are aligned with its final objectives and that they are well prepared to respond to various needs. We therefore welcome the fact that one of the first steps taken by Secretary-General Guterres was on his project to reform the United Nations development system. If we really believe that peace, human rights, development and sustainability are closely interrelated, we would logically expect the various bodies and committees dealing with such issues to work together in a coordinated manner, just as it is logical and necessary for specific problems to be managed by specific departments.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“I have in mind especially the concerns we have about the Pacific islands, which are threatened by a rise in sea levels, the fragile ecosystems of mountainous countries such as Andorra, and the extraordinary, devastating force of the hurricanes that have been hitting the Caribbean region recently. More than ever before, we need inclusive multilateralism that will leave no one behind. But we also need effective multilateralism that works, offers concrete results and responds to people’s problems. Work to that end begins here at United Nations Headquarters, which must adjust the Organization to the needs of both countries and their citizens.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Andorra heartily welcomes the work that has been done so far for the global compact, which includes, as a substantive right for individuals, the right to a sound and healthy environment. Here, our 1993 Constitution was a bellwether, as it includes the right to a clean environment as a citizens’ right and, therefore, a duty for the public authorities. The various international conventions aimed at protecting the environment must be reflected in specific actions that will have tangible effects for people, because the negative effects of climate change and global warming have been apparent for some time and are having a very negative effect on the planet and its inhabitants.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“As most members of the international community stated in December 2015, we do not want this effort to remain merely pious words or a catalogue of good intentions that will not be translated into concrete action. We therefore welcome the initiative of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, the President of our partner country, France, to promote a global compact for the environment, which will collect and harmonize all of the agreements signed and implemented since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 through to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change — because it is important that all global action to protect the environment and fight climate change be reflected in specific rights and obligations for States and individuals.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“In recent times, Andorra has become very aware of the relevance of fighting climate change, and we have demonstrated that through actions. Thanks to an ambitious aid programme, Andorra has one of the world’s most significant growth rates per inhabitant for electric automobiles and numbers of points for charging electric vehicles. Given that heating buildings is one of our biggest sources of greenhouse-gas emissions, we are investing substantially in network projects that centralize heat generation, making it more efficient and less polluting. We are also implementing a policy of incentives and obligations to promote citizens’ own production of renewable solar and geothermal energy. Lastly, we are drafting a law on energy transition that will make all such policies mandatory.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“That is because the destruction of ecosystems and the natural disasters linked to climate change directly and cruelly affect the most vulnerable people; because a scarcity of natural resources is at the heart of many current conflicts; because the new paradigm of sustainability drastically changes our previous notion of economic and social development; and because — and pardon me for mentioning the obvious — if we destroy the planet, there will be no sense in talking about peace, security or development. Fighting climate change will therefore continue to take up much of the debate now and in the future on international actions and initiatives. That is why seven of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are directly related to environmental issues. It is key that much of the our Governments’ domestic efforts should address that issue.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“All three of those efforts are also in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, and in some instances are inspired by them. A good example of our commitment to international educational standards is the Government’s recent adoption of the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, a key international instrument for promoting equal opportunity. While the relationship between peace, human rights, security and inclusive development is clear and undeniable, it is also increasingly obvious that combating climate change is a crucial pillar of that edifice.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Inclusive multilateralism, which I mentioned a few moments ago, should not only prevail in the General Assembly but should also guide our internal policies. At the national level, we need to involve the largest possible number of actors and find solutions that work for everyone. There are also other examples of Andorra’s efforts in the context of domestic policy, such as in the area of education, which is directly linked to Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda. In that regard, we are working to introduce competency-based education; to continue and improve the coexistence of our three educational systems — in Spanish, French and Andorran — all of which are public, free of charge and open to all; and to incorporate human rights and democratic values in our curriculums for children and young people.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“From a social perspective, the work that Andorra has done over the past year to develop a white paper on equality as a basis for cross-cutting actions to foster inclusion in both the public and the private sectors is a clear example. When I say that Andorra is developing this white paper, I mean the country as a whole, not just the Government. Of course, the Government and Parliament must act as initiators and leaders, but they do so with the full participation of civil society. The white paper will lead to a law on equality, which should be the key tool in our effort to eradicate the discrimination that still persists in our society. All that work is clearly aligned with Goal 5 on gender equality and Goal 10 on reducing inequalities within and among countries.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“That is a positive thing, but it will not be if we limit those evaluations to the economic and financial sphere. We must be equally demanding in the social sphere — although economic progress does indeed play a very important role in constructing a fairer and safer world. The promotion of a decent life and social development are also essential elements. That is what the voluntary national reviews are — a means of measuring all we are doing to attain the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. Andorra will submit its voluntary report next July. The various ministries and departments of the Andorran Government have, in fact, been working for some time to align our internal policies with the 2030 Agenda and ensure that our internal actions comply with each of the 17 Goals to which we all committed on 25 September 2015.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“For that reason, Andorra will participate in the next round of voluntary national reviews of the Sustainable Development Goals, which will evaluate our implementation of the 2030 Agenda and accelerate its effective application. Everyone here knows that we live in a world of constant assessment. Rating agencies measure the solvency of our countries, the World Trade Organization analyses the level of openness and interdependence of our economies and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development ensures transparency and healthy fiscal competition between States. Never before have we experienced the evaluative capacity of various international agencies and bodies so intensely, especially in the economic and financial sphere.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“It is in that spirit that Andorra has become a member of the Economic and Social Council for 2017 to 2019, because it is in that Council that inclusive multilateralism is truly significant. The Economic and Social Council is the clearest manifestation that the United Nations not only strives to be an assembly of the world’s countries but also wants to have a direct impact on the lives of citizens all over the world. If, as the Secretary-General stated, development is the key to conflict prevention, the Economic and Social Council is a key tool for that. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development also plays a key role.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“In June we marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Its four objectives — peace, human rights, development and sustainability — continue to be priorities. All four are tightly interconnected, and all four require a multilateral approach, since no country, no matter how powerful, can guarantee peace and security alone. No country or group of countries can implement development policies alone, and no country can fight climate change alone. We must therefore continue to uphold inclusive multilateralism. It is not enough to simply work together to resolve issues that affect us all — the solutions we agree on should leave no one behind. They must be fair and inclusive, and we must make sure that they benefit us all.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Soon afterwards, the original objective of maintaining peace and security was joined by those of promoting human rights and, subsequently, by the economic and social development of nations and their citizens. That in itself was because the international community became aware of the strong relationship between development opportunities and the prevention of conflict. A fairer world with fewer inequalities, with opportunities for all and respect for our differences, will tend to be a safer and more peaceful world. It was several decades ago that the United Nations turned its focus towards another major objective, namely, sustainability, caring for the environment and, more specifically, the fight against climate change.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“António Guterres, during his first nine months at the helm of the United Nations. Next year will mark 70 years since the publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first major joint success of the United Nations. Throughout those seven decades, we have learned that the goals shared by all of humankind are interrelated. The United Nations was founded with the fundamental aim of preventing conflicts and ensuring peace. Over the centuries, all our parliaments and assemblies have been established on the basis of that goal, namely, to peacefully resolve conflicts and make decisions that affect us all together. This parliament, an assembly of all the countries of the world, was also founded on that very desire.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“I would like to begin by congratulating the President, Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, on his choice of theme for the seventy-second session of the General Assembly. The link between peace and a dignified life is, without a doubt, one of the key issues of our time — as is sustainable development, which has become the principal challenge facing the international community. The priorities set forth by the President and the theme for the current session highlight the close link between peace, a dignified life and a sustainable planet. The choice of those priorities and theme are in keeping with what we have been building together over the years, as reflected in the aims of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which we agreed on two years ago, and are also based on the actions of the Secretary-General, Mr.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“If education is the guiding thread to a good part of Andorra’s multilateral action, that is also thanks to the insistence of the Secretary-General on making quality universal education one of the main pillars of his action during his 10 years at the helm of the United Nations. As Mr. Ban Ki-moon said during his visit to Andorra three and a half years ago, the United Nations will always be able to count on our country in the collective endeavour to build a more peaceful, secure and, above all, more equitable world.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“As a legacy of his 10- year mandate, he leaves us with a clearly marked path in the form of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Mr. Ban Ki-moon is therefore a fundamental player in any understanding or explanation of the United Nations, and by extension, of the entire international community during the first third of the twenty-first century. For the people of Andorra, Mr. Ban Ki-moon is also the first Secretary-General to make an official visit to our country, as he did in April 2013. The Andorran people have heeded his teachings well.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“While populism would prefer to close borders, build walls and stoke the fear of difference, we opt instead for the dignity of persons, for regulation and for education about diversity. This is the last session of the General Assembly with Mr. Ban Ki-moon as Secretary-General. Many speakers have highlighted his career and his wise decisions over the last decade. Mr. Ban Ki-moon is the Secretary-General who brought about the effective implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and was the driving force behind the post-2015 development agenda. He has been a key player in the relaunching of the multilateral strategy in the fight against climate change, which culminated in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Andorra, which has for decades been a land that has welcomed many families from all over, is a good example of that positive narrative, as is the case, I am sure, for many of the countries represented here. However, in order for that narrative to continue to be valid, we also need to teach the value of respect for diversity. We must raise world citizens who do not fear difference or change. While populism would prefer protectionism and economic isolation, we opt for liberalization and greater integration of our national economies. While populism would prefer to deny the scientific evidence of climate change and turn its back on the problem, we opt instead for commitments and specific measurable actions.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“It is a challenge that needs to be dealt with through the regulation, both internationally as well as locally, of migratory flows and the right to asylum, through the fair distribution of the impact that taking in a huge contingent of displaced people may represent, and through care and vigilance to ensure the respect of rights and the dignity of displaced people. In that connection, I am delighted, taking up what I said before regarding the fundamental role of education, that the high-level meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, which took place here on 19 September, also emphasized the need to construct a positive narrative on immigration.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“It was in that same spirit of firm confidence in global action that we participated last year in the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which led to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In the coming weeks, our Parliament will be asked to ratify the Paris Agreement. It is with that same mindset, in our view, that we need to deal with the matter of the huge displacements of refugees and migrants, which have become one of the great challenges of our times.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)