YouSaid · the spoken record

Alfredo Palacio

lines on the record: 28
first: 2005-09-24
most recent: 2006-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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 06-52885 22 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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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. 21 06-52885 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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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 06-52885 20 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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“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.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“We want to be part of a greater nation, South America, a human assembly that can make its voice heard and follow the path to genuine, just development accompanied by greater solidarity on behalf of the principles that we have recalled here.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“In recent years, Ecuador has witnessed a serious deterioration in its democratic institutions. Faced with that situation, my Government has pledged to restore the rule of law by means of profound political reform legitimized through a referendum of the Ecuadorian people. We are determined to firmly fight the corruption that erodes democratic structures. Only three days ago, on 15 September, my Government deposited its instrument of ratification as the thirtieth State party to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which made it possible for the Convention to enter into force. The voice of my people, the people of Ecuador, echoes the deep-throated clamour of Latin America.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“In addition, we have placed before our National Congress a new proposal to punish all forms of trafficking in human beings. I should like to talk about indigenous peoples and peoples of African descent. The International Decades of the World’s Indigenous People, proclaimed by the General Assembly, have been a valuable opportunity to increase awareness of the situation of our brothers and to promote respect for their identity and the chance to find viable solutions to their problems. The biology of the new world order requires recognition of their rights as protagonists of history and as leading actors in society. In the Ecuador of the last decade, indigenous peoples have been significant components of our social and political life. That is recognized in our Constitution and in International Labour Organization (ILO) Agreement 169.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“On migration routes we must overcome the police stigmatization of the undocumented. Regularization requires that the rights of migrants be viewed as a fundamental human right and must be reflected in every State’s population policy. The Government of 05-51226 3 Ecuador calls upon this forum to address the problem of migrants in terms of equality for all nationals. We propose that this problem be addressed at the high- level dialogue on international migration and development, to be held in 2006. We in the Government of Ecuador, aware of the need for migration and its consequences to be treated in an integral and responsible manner, have approved a law revising our criminal code to define crimes of the sexual exploitation of minors and the trafficking of persons.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Today the United Nations must take over the role of a new Moses. It must lead the people to their homeland and provide the bread to calm the hunger of the wretched of the world. More than 175 million human beings have been forced to leave their homeland in search of better days. Today migrants are treated worse than capital or commercial goods: we are always looking to provide freedom of transit for these. The mere existence of this fact forces us to recognize that for the hungry of the third world there is no liberty and even less the equality and fraternity symbolized two centuries ago by the French revolution. The link between the migrant issue and development is undeniable and must be handled in a transparent manner based on a vision of shared responsibility on the part of all nations involved.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“As I said in my statement during the High-level Plenary Meeting (see A/60/PV.5), in my country’s opinion the Millennium Development Goals constitute a well-honed and effective tool for this century to carve out a path towards a more just humankind. I am firmly convinced that ethical regulations to preserve the biological heritage of the planet constitute the paramount goal for this third millennium. With conviction and resolve, my country has adopted a date for its future: 2015. Copies of the reports on my Government endeavours to attain the Millennium Development Goals are available in the General Assembly Hall. I should now like to talk about migrants. Globalization is creating urgent demands for the new century. One of these arises from the pain that is giving rise to a new exodus.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Studies on this substance suffer from technical and methodological shortcomings. Ecuador therefore calls upon the United Nations system to promote a comprehensive, reliable and credible study on the actual impact of this spraying. Ecuador considers that it is essential to apply the precautionary principle that has been recognized in many international agreements and other instruments, in particular the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Consequently, Ecuador has asked its neighbouring Government of Colombia to suspend aerial-spraying activities in a 10-kilometre strip north of our border.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“The ethical mandate of our time demands a change in the collective conscience of social welfare. Heavily indebted middle-income countries must organize their efforts to arrive at joint agreements with the world’s creditors. Thirdly, the incorporation of biology into the new international order obliges the United Nations to transfer its focus from man to biology. The presence of this new factor — biology — brings with it the need to raise the level of ethics and international law to the highest degree of respect for biodiversity and the preservation of all forms of life. Ecuador attaches particular importance to this topic and is therefore concerned at the controversial spraying of glyphosate as a herbicide to eliminate illegal crops along border areas between Colombia and Ecuador.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“The United Nations must develop new mechanisms to protect the survival of our species and of all forms of life. Secondly, the economy must eliminate marginalization and redress the unequal nature of opportunities, among both nations and individuals. This is the conflict. In 1945, the vital need to establish policies to promote a just and progressive distribution of surpluses was proclaimed. Nevertheless, 60 years later we see ever more regressive patterns of distribution and growing gaps at all levels, basically produced by the tragedy inherent in the accumulation of foreign debt, which represents such a heavy burden for developing nations. The burden of the debt has pauperized our peoples. It has put a brake on productive development and cancelled out the aspiration of all to have access to food, health, shelter, safety and education.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“It is unjust, inefficient and inhuman. We must therefore set in motion factors that were unimaginable in the middle of the twentieth century. The economy, international law and biology constitute a fundamental triangle from which the future of the human being can be projected. I set out for the Assembly the idea of building a new world order based on this trilogy. First, with regard to international law, Ecuador reaffirms its commitment to the San Francisco Charter and the principles of non-intervention and the self- determination of peoples, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the rejection of all forms of colonialism, discrimination or segregation. In accordance with these principles my country believes in the need to strengthen the Organization, transform it and democratize it.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Water is becoming scarce, there are holes in the ozone layer and, along with biodiversity, the Amazon is being destroyed. Entire nations are being disinherited and condemned to roam the earth, mortal illnesses hover over humanity and terrorism lurks in every corner. I have come from the middle of the world to speak of faith in the renewal of the dream. Ecuador is a small nation in South America sharing an identity with almost 400 million human beings living in an area of 8 million square kilometres. We have more than one fourth of the fresh water of the world and immense energy, mineral and food resources; we boast the greatest tropical rain forest in the world and colossal mountains, deserts and prairies. Yet, our region remains a realm of social injustice. 2 05-51226 The world order that governs us is not the one we want.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Six decades have passed since we inaugurated this institution and its essential objectives of human coexistence, peace and the international rule of law. After six decades we can rejoice with old Neruda, who lives on in our hearts, along with Stravinsky, Garcia Marquez and Mother Teresa. Let us celebrate, but let us also take stock of the dream yet to be fulfilled. Sleeplessly, we face threats and challenges that affect the survival of our species. When the second millennium ended — quite unlike the first — our world was not threatened by the terror-filled visions of the apocalypse and the seven trumpets that would transform a third of the world into blood, darkness, smoke and locusts. However, our new millennium faces the reality of increasing poverty in two thirds of the planet.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“The people of Ecuador wish to express their deepest condolences and fraternal solidarity to the South-East Asian nations affected by the tsunami, as well as to all our brothers and sisters living in the southern United States who were so severely affected by Hurricane Katrina. Faced with the danger of natural disasters, Ecuador is committed to the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action and to support the International El Niño Research Centre, based in Guayaquil. Today, the nations of the globe have come together to celebrate 60 years of human hopes, 60 years after the proclamation of the founding Charter of the Organization that represents every man, every woman, and every child.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)