YouSaid · the spoken record

Porfirio Lobo Sosa

lines on the record: 29
first: 2011-09-24
most recent: 2012-09-24
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

“That is why we deem it key to participate in all specialized forums, in particular the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Today and now, in this Hall, Honduras reiterates its commitment to the international community to the comprehensive reform of the United Nations system. That will help to strengthen the principle of universality on the basis of just, fair and inclusive representation. The challenge is for us all and our commitment is universal. That is why we are gathered here now.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Rapid, fair and sustainable growth is the true productive development of the country and, along with education and health care, the best way to reduce poverty and extreme poverty. From the Office of the President and the First Lady, who is here with me at the Assembly, among others, we are working on a very important conditional cash transfer programme. It currently reaches 30 per cent of our poor families. That is an immediate and specific response to social exclusion. Our geographic location makes Honduras one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Along with our socio-economic characteristics, that compels us, both nationally and regionally, to remain constantly vigilant in order to respond to natural threats and disasters.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“According to a study of the National Independent University of Honduras, the country’s principal university, of the top 100 colleges, that leading State college is ranked in seventeenth position. What an injustice. It is our poorest children and young people, those who cannot afford private education, who go to State schools. We are condemning them to remain victims of the most serious exclusion. Those who most need them are denied opportunities. Why do we not declare in this Assembly of peoples that classrooms are sanctuaries of education and must never be closed? We must continue our efforts to ensure greater access for the poor to the productive sectors of the national economy.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We support the right of teachers to disagree and, on occasion, to demonstrate, but the rights of children and young people to the education that they receive in their classrooms cannot be allowed to be interrupted. Look at what is happening to us, according to UNICEF data. In Honduras, approximately 600 teaching days have been lost in State schools and colleges in the past 10 years. That data is equivalent to three school years of 200 days. That means that a boy or a girl who has completed ninth grade in their studies has, in fact, only received a sixth-grade education. Clearly, that is a step backwards for society in general. According to figures from the Department of Education, in 2009, 80 school days were lost, in 2010, 30 days and, in 2011, 40 days. All those days correspond to calls for massive teacher walk-outs.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We also welcome the cooperation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Chile, Cuba and Norway. We wish them every success and hope that peace will return to that country. I would also like to thank the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for its full support and recognition of the fact that we in Central America cannot face such scourges alone. We must seek every mechanism and try to be as creative as possible in dealing with that threat. With greater respect for human rights and more citizen security, we will have more and better education. Honduras has therefore launched a significant reform process. The National Congress has adopted laws to bolster education and to ensure the participation of the family and the community. Our focus and key objective are to provide a sound foundation for our children and our youth.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“As was made clear at the Summit of the Americas and at the recent General Assembly of the Organization of American States, combating organized crime, in particular illicit drug trafficking and related criminal activities, is a common, shared, but differentiated responsibility. At this great Assembly, I wish to underscore the resolute cooperation of Colombia and Chile and the recent memorandum of understanding signed between Honduras and the United States of America. We also welcome the most recent measures taken by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the issue of f light bans. With regard to Colombia, allow me to congratulate its President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón and his Government on his initiative to put an end to 50 years of war among brothers. We commend the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia for their receptiveness.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“As violence and crime threaten our young people, we have launched prevention programmes that can open up better horizons and opportunities. Legal and institutional reform and the implementation of programmes and projects to stop the violence have started to yield results. The most recent figures of the independent Violence Watch in Honduras show that the rate of homicides has fallen by 8.5 per cent this year. That figure, added to the 10-per cent drop in the annual increase just recorded, represents a total reduction in the homicide rate of 18.5 per cent per 100,000 inhabitants. However, it is not only up to us victims to make an effort.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Moreover, the traffickers come from the south and the north but those who die are Honduran. The mothers who suffer are Honduran, as are the orphans. However, Honduras is not unaware of the problem. Despite our limited economic resources, we are facing such challenges with the necessary resolve to find comprehensive and immediate solutions to that situation. Our primary objective is to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our territory in the face of the aggression of which we are victims. To that end, by every means possible we must stop drugs from entering our country and ensure a complete prohibition of those that enter our national territory. We have therefore updated the regulatory framework and are reforming our institutions and security system.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“According to research centres that track illicit economic activity, it is estimated that those groups now account for 10 per cent of the global gross domestic product. Those activities include money-laundering, bribes, drug trafficking, counterfeit, piracy and illicit trafficking in persons and weapons. That astounding amount of financial resources dangerously corrupts our societies and Governments. In my view, it has become a threat to international security that must be assessed, understood and fought against by all members of the United Nations. My country and our citizens are victims of the insatiable appetite for drugs in developed countries and of the greed of the producers and traffickers, who become rich on huge profits stained with the blood of the innocent. Honduras is neither a consumer or producer country.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“As we continue our fight for indigenous peoples, another essential part of our national plan and vision for the country is to put an end to the exclusion of such peoples and those of African descent and to ensure their full and legitimate right to preserve their culture, language, traditions and world view. I am accompanied at this Assembly by a representation of all indigenous peoples in Honduras. Last year, we held the first World Summit for People of African Descent in Honduras. Next year, we will hold a world summit on indigenous peoples. Today’s world presents a range of new threats to our countries that are not traditional in form and that have created new dynamics. I am referring to the activities of transnational criminal organizations.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“On gender issues, the Honduran State has a policy gender progamme, which is a technical and political tool to help women achieve full equality and fairness. My Government supports a 40-per-cent share of women in elected posts in the 2013 electoral campaign and a 50-per cent participation in the following election in 2017. In April, the National Congress of the Republic adopted a law against trafficking in persons. That is a measure of compliance by the State of Honduras with important recommendations on trafficking in persons drawn up by international human rights bodies.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“All must participate in this forum, with no sister nation excluded or not invited. We are called upon to ensure the full recognition of each and every one, with complete security for all. In Honduras, for some years we have acknowledged in all areas the need for a reform process that ensures respect for people’s rights. Our first action, in accordance with our national law, was to invite regional and international organizations to come to Honduras and see our proposals and our work. We have set up a unit to investigate crimes against sexual diversity — lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender — under the Office of the Public Prosecutor. It focuses its attention on vulnerable groups and on furthering dialogue with the broader civil society.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“As always, it is an honour to participate in this Assembly of the peoples of the world, which pursues the ongoing struggle, among others, for the universal principles upheld since 1948. It is here and at this time that we can see that we are different, precisely in this Assembly, which reflects the wealth of our diversity. It is here where we work constantly to overcome our natural differences, respond to our common problems and strengthen the human family through agreed outcomes. The international community must be consistent in that objective. We must be partners and allies at all times, ready to put forward initiatives, solutions and reforms that strengthen the need for close cooperation in the joint responsibility to protect not only the right to that diversity, but also the right to demonstrate it and to fully live it.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We should also point out, and it must be reaffirmed, that consumer countries must act bravely and resolutely in order to reduce or eliminate the use of and the trade in drugs because we must realize that without that, it will be very difficult for our societies to end the scourge. We must succeed in aligning our strategies so as to end the drug scourge and organized crime. I would like to end by expressing my best wishes for this sixty-sixth session to meet the expectations of all Member States, which, I am sure, are founded on the principle of the sovereign equality of States.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Given that demand in developing countries has not decreased, the strategy that we follow in the region today, in the best case scenario, has only a partial and limited impact on the trafficking, transport and use of drugs. For that reason, we note that, first of all, a pilot project that we have put to the United Nations should be launched to strengthen the capacity for the investigation and trial of organized crime in Honduras. Secondly, we need to gather together all the strategies that were discussed at the International Conference in Support of the Central America Security Strategy on 22 and 23 June in Guatemala.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The evidence shows that many of those crimes, from the organized crime and lack of security to which they give rise and that prevail in our societies, have their roots in the use and trafficking of drugs. Owing to their very nature and to the sums of money involved, they have a serious impact on our societies and add to the erosion of our system of values. They steal our young people, destroy conviviality and community life and create parallel economic systems that are true enclaves of crime, violence and degradation. Today, the countries of the region invest huge amounts of money in combating the production and trafficking of drugs. However, practically the only instances in which the production and trafficking of drugs significantly drop in a region occur as a result of a change in routes or production being in other areas.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The most recent analysis carried out by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank show that Central America has become the region in the world with the highest levels of violence and organized crime. Their economic impact has escalated in the past decade to reach, in the case of Honduras, a level close to 10 per cent of our gross domestic product. Violence and transnational organized crime, primarily evident in the commission of crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, money and asset laundering, people trafficking, arms trafficking, the commercial sexual exploitation of women and minors, among other crimes, are a serious threat to our possibilities to create well-being. Without security, there is no economic growth or development.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“One of my Government’s aspirations is to complete our constitutional reform to define Honduras as a multi-ethnic, multicultural country. My Government joins its voice to those of millions of people of African descent in calling for the United Nations to institute a decade for people of African descent beginning in 2012, create a development fund for people of African descent, and establish a permanent forum for peoples of African descent within the United Nations. Before concluding, I would like to raise an issue that is one of the greatest and most important challenges that our region faces: citizen insecurity.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Among them I would mention our ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the institution of an African Heritage Month in Honduras, and the creation and inauguration of a Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and People of African Descent. I note that the United Nations, through General Assembly resolution 64/169, proclaimed 2011 the International Year for People of African Descent. In that context, civil society members of African descent, in cooperation with the Organization for Ethnic Community Development convened and celebrated the First World Summit of People of African Descent in August, amply supported by my Government, other Governments, international partners and United Nations system bodies.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Honduras reiterates its strong approval of all measures to protect and conserve natural resources and the environment, based on the principles agreed upon 20 years ago. We ask the States Member of the United Nations to renew those past commitments and to draw up national policies so that we can build our capacities and establish mechanisms that respond to the needs of the population. Although it is not enough in itself, my Government has made significant progress in promoting the just historical claims, rights and profile of indigenous peoples and people of African descent. In accordance with the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action, we have adopted public policies to work 3 11-50702 towards those commitments.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In September 2010, along with President Johnson Toribiong of Palau, we called upon heads of State of United Nations Member States to save sharks, stop the traffic in shark fins and put an end to global overfishing of the species. I repeat that plea with the same passion today. Although our country does not contribute much to greenhouse gas emissions, we have signed many international treaties and conventions that aim to guarantee the planet’s security and climate for its inhabitants in the context of the clean development mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol. Beyond those important conventions, today we will sign the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Alongside that overall national agreement, all sectors and stakeholders in the field of education are reaching agreement on wide-reaching educational reform in Honduras to propel a dynamic education administration guaranteeing equal opportunity for all, especially those who have the least. In the social sphere, we have a family assistance programme with conditional monetary benefits. More than 400,000 families have received such payments, and by 2013 we hope to reach 600,000 families, representing 50 per cent of families in Honduras. The condition is that children go to school and that parents attend child-nutrition programmes.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“At the same time, faced with the global crisis that resulted from serious problems in developed economies, we have met with trade unions, entrepreneurs, workers, farmers, civil society and political parties to reach an overall national agreement that will enable us to face the challenges that the crisis created in our country. Our Honduran response has been to propose a social pact to establish conditions propitious for economic growth, employment, appropriate remuneration and productivity. The national plan for the next 28 years is under way. We are empowering our citizens. The optimum Government we can shape is comprised of a people who themselves want to develop within a framework of equitable economic growth.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It is also following the recommendations made by the Human Rights Council to Honduras during the Universal Periodic Review. In line with those aspirations, in July our Truth and Reconciliation Commission — having worked in absolute legitimacy and transparency — completed its fully independent mandate and presented the people of Honduras with its report and recommendations so as to ensure that such things never happen again and to foment reconciliation within the Honduran family. We are taking the necessary steps to implement those recommendations.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We have demonstrated by our actions that there is no State policy to violate human rights in Honduras; on the contrary, we work every day to promote a culture of respect for human rights based on ongoing dialogue with all sectors of society, with special attention to those sectors that have generally been deprived of the right to participate. We are building a participatory democracy, derived from the principle that all social groups have the full and legitimate right to take part in our history. We have a secretariat for justice and human rights to advise on relevant policies. With the participation of civil society organizations, the secretariat is enthusiastically working on developing our country’s first public human rights policy and a national action plan on human rights.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Since I took office in January 2010, my task has been to build unity and reconciliation among the Honduran people through peacebuilding founded on social justice. That process of reconciliation and 11-50702 2 democracy-building in our country has enjoyed the constructive support of the international community as a whole. I take this opportunity to express my particular thanks for the mediation efforts of Presidents Juan Manuel Santos Calderón of Colombia and Hugo Chávez Frías of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which led to the signing of the Cartagena Agreement, which in turn facilitated the return of Honduras to the Organization of American States.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In this context, my Government has recognized Palestine as a State and endorses its legitimate aspiration to become a full member in the concert of nations. Full security for the State of Israel and full international recognition for Palestine are essential conditions for a comprehensive negotiated two-State solution providing for strong and lasting peace through mutual understanding. If we want peace, we must recall that peace is based on respect not only for human rights, but also for the rights of peoples and nations. With regard to my country, Honduras, I must say that the political crises it suffered and the coup d’état of 28 June 2009 led to a deterioration in the human rights situation. Overcoming it is one of our highest priorities.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It is also timely to reaffirm my decisive commitment as a leader to this Organization, which represents the best forum for addressing and resolving the problems facing the world in the quest for the common welfare of humankind based on the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. I reaffirm our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in particular to the principle that we are all free and equal in dignity and rights. This concept includes peoples and nations alike. Over and above geopolitical interests, the self-determination of peoples is inviolable and inalienable. All peoples have the right to their own territory, cultural identity and traditions.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“For Honduras, it is a source of great satisfaction to participate in this important session of the General Assembly. On behalf of the Honduran people, I should like at the outset to express our great pleasure at the re-appointment of Mr. Ban Ki-moon for another term as Secretary-General. I also wish to convey to the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session, Mr. Joseph Deiss, my greatest respect for the contribution he made to this global forum through the fruitful work achieved under his leadership. We also congratulate Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser upon his election as President of the General Assembly. I congratulate the State of South Sudan on having become the newest Member of the United Nations.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)