YouSaid · the spoken record

Romano Prodi

lines on the record: 34
first: 2006-09-24
most recent: 2007-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

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“It is above all a moral imperative for all of us.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“The spread of democratic values and greater attention to the protection of human rights should not make us forget that these principles and values are still threatened and violated in far too many parts of the world. What is more, insecurity leads more and more people and countries to close themselves off. The danger is that this sense of insecurity can cause societies to regress. Even the most free and democratic nations, if they feel they are under threat, may adopt measures that will undermine peace and with it, the civil and political rights of their citizens. In the face of such risks, the principles and values of the United Nations are our beacons and our stars. They make it possible for us to navigate even by night and in rough waters. Staying on course is not just a political imperative.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“We can no longer ignore the reality around us: one half of world trade and investment benefits 14 per cent of the world’s population; the 49 poorest countries in the world receive 0.5 per cent of the global product; and 90 per cent of the planet’s wealth lies in the hands of only 1 per cent of its inhabitants. Efforts are needed from everyone, particularly those who have more to give. The G-8 can play an important role in this area. Here and now I pledge to make this issue the centrepiece of the Italian presidency in 2009. The principles of solidarity and cooperation underlying this Organization are as sound today as they were 62 years ago.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“I am referring to the growth of the economy and to the hope that has arisen in many parts of the continent. In Europe we are now preparing for the second Africa-Europe Summit. I hope that it will be held successfully before the end of the year. Italy is working above all to ensure that the Summit will spark a European policy for Africa that is worthy of the name. That brings me to development. It is the responsibility of the United Nations to keep development at the top of the international agenda. It will take more than lip service to the Millennium Development Goals to achieve them. We all have to work for their attainment. I have already expressed my willingness to sit at a table next year for a progress report on the implementation of the commitments we made seven years ago.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“My country is ready and will not fail to demonstrate commitment and to contribute ideas in this new phase of the Security Council reform process. Reform is also intended to make the Organization more effective in the areas and on the issues where, by history and vocation, it can provide greater added value: Africa and development issues. The United Nations is deeply engaged in Africa. Over two thirds of the Blue Helmets are deployed in Africa on peacekeeping missions. Italy will pursue this goal through the establishment of the African Peace Facility fund, which will complement its European counterpart fund. Darfur and Somalia remain two of our central concerns. But it would be a mistake to look only at the negative side and forget the many encouraging signs of development and unity coming from Africa.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“Last year, in this very Hall, I advocated that negotiations be started to break the deadlock and help strengthen the Organization. I spoke of the need to start negotiations based not on imposing predefined models and positions, but rather on the search for solutions based on the widest possible consensus. I am therefore delighted that, one year later, the General Assembly has decided to make every effort, through intergovernmental negotiations among others, to reach a general agreement on Security Council reform that we all hope will open a new chapter with a view to an agreed solution, a solution that I hope can include strengthening the presence of the leading regional stakeholders in the Security Council.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“I never tire of repeating that we have to restore the General Assembly’s central position, and exploit its political guidance potential and, above all, its universality. The principles of democracy and the representation of every Member State underpin the United Nations system. That is why we are opposed to any concept of Security Council reform that would establish new permanent members. The growing contribution of a growing number of countries to the Organization should not be wasted by introducing elitist and selective reforms. It is clear that reforming the Security Council means addressing one of the fundamental pillars of the global security architecture. The Council’s central role and its nature as the paramount source of international legitimacy impel us to seek shared political solutions.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“The European dream is thus the child of the universal dream of the United Nations. In the past year the United Nations has continued to play a central role in resolving international disputes. The cases of Lebanon and Darfur demonstrate that if Member States are willing to give the United Nations a strong central role, the Organization is today up to the task. We have to ask ourselves what the United Nations needs in order to fulfil its worldwide mission and to be equally effective in different crisis areas. First and foremost, we need an Organization capable of renewal and adaptation. In the past two years the revival of the reform process produced its first positive results. One essential aspect of reform relates to the General Assembly, which remains the main decision-making organ of the Organization.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“It is only through multilateralism, by marshalling everyone’s energies, that we can hope to do good. Our task today is to adapt the multilateral structures at our disposal to a changing world and to think of new forms of global governance, for there is no other way to manage global processes. The challenge facing Europe today is not to become resigned to the world as it is, but to seek to improve it based on the values in which Europe believes: freedom, democracy, respect for others, and respect for the rules of peaceful coexistence. That is why we are adapting our founding treaties. That is why we are building a common foreign and defence policy. That is why we have invented a new citizenship, European citizenship, to which we are entitled by choosing to share certain values, not by virtue of kinship or nationality.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“This applies also to climate change, to which this session is most appropriately dedicated. As I said yesterday at the panel convened by the Secretary- General, Italy considers climate change a priority issue. We are among the European supporters of a unilateral 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. We have made similar commitments on energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and biofuels. In Europe we have already made various strategic decisions, but it is obvious that any post-Kyoto agreement can only be achieved within the United Nations, because when speaking about global warming we are speaking about the pre-eminent global problem of our day. National approaches to solving the world’s problems no longer exist. The era of making and unmaking national borders is long over.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“I am therefore delighted that the United States has promoted a new international meeting. We are ready to provide our input and we are already preparing it, knowing that the more countries in the region that are behind this meeting, the greater the possibility of success. Italy will continue to play its part in the rest of the region too, beginning with dialogue. For it is through dialogue that the most difficult issues can be resolved. I have never seen a lasting solution to a problem when the solution was imposed from above or from outside. Today’s challenges, such as bringing peace to the Middle East, are complex. If we wish to overcome them we must rise to their dimensions. In other words, we have to set aside all partisan interests in a world that is increasingly shaped by global processes.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“Today, thanks in part to our common commitment, Lebanon is in a better situation, although it has not yet solved its problems, as the brutal attacks of recent days have unfortunately demonstrated. We must continue to support the Lebanese reconciliation process and help the country to regain its unity through the election of a new President. We must do this without ignoring the root causes of the conflicts afflicting the Middle East, first and foremost the Palestinian question. In short, we must continue to mobilize support for reconciliation among peoples and within a single people. Restoring peace to the Middle East is the top priority of the international community, because if one day this region should find greater peace, freedom and prosperity, we shall all live in greater peace, freedom and prosperity.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“If genuine politics means showing foresight, we shall perform a great political act through the adoption of that draft resolution. It will demonstrate that humankind is capable of making progress not only in science, but also in the field of ethics. A United Nations resolution against the death penalty will prove that human beings are better today than they were yesterday, even in moral terms. An outcome with enormous consequences, heralding a more just future, and a society that has at last freed itself from the spiral of revenge, demonstrating that it has heeded the ancient admonition: if you want peace, you must work for justice. Last year we welcomed the ceasefire in Lebanon and the launch of the new United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been under Italian command for several months now.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“It has been a source of great satisfaction to see support for our initiative growing day by day in Europe and in every other region of the world. We have now reached a decisive moment. I trust that we shall all be united in this battle, which is supported by Nobel laureates, statesmen and stateswomen, and free men and women throughout the world, and that the “growing trend in international law and national practice toward a phasing out of the death penalty” to quote Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Press release SG/SM/10839) will be officially sanctioned by this General Assembly’s adoption of the draft resolution we are about to submit together with many countries from every regional group and from the European Union.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“I wish to offer you my heartfelt congratulations, Sir, on your election to preside over this sixty-second session of the General Assembly. Your experience in international affairs and your first-hand knowledge of the Organization make you particularly suitable for this important post. At the same time I sincerely thank your predecessor, Ms. Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, for her wise and dedicated leadership of the Assembly. I want to begin my statement where I left off last year, with Italy’s decision to defend human rights in the world and to oppose the death penalty. In recent months, Italy has worked very hard to enable the Assembly to adopt a resolution on a universal moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to its complete abolition.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“That is something we must always remember, especially on the eve of major decisions. That is what is expected of us from those who sacrificed their lives for peace, for a righteous cause, for an ideal, to defend freedom, the same freedom that we enjoy every day in a democracy.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“I wish to conclude with a few considerations on the fundamental principles and values that inspire our action when we deal with multilateralism, the search for peace, security and development, and north-south relations. All these issues coalesce in a defence of life and struggle against all forms of hatred, violence, discrimination and marginalization, undeniable values that, together with democratic principles, are the foundations of coexistence among peoples and should inspire the action of the world’s nations. Today, sadly, these values are still denied and trampled upon, as if we had learned nothing from the horrors of the past. We cannot sit by watching indifferently in the face of barbarous acts. We are for peace and solidarity. We are against the death penalty, injustice and human suffering.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“For it is in the connection between security, solidarity and development that the added value of the United Nations lies, in the full awareness that there can be no peace without development and no development without peace. It is not enough to enunciate at this rostrum, as speakers have been doing for six years now, the words “Millennium Development Goals”. We must get to work and carry them out, starting with the adoption of the financial, trade, technological and environmental steps required and aiming for a very specific, ambitious goal that responds above all to a moral duty: to guarantee a dignified life for every human being.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“We can promote, and we want to promote, this relationship by building new policies to bring us closer to the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, with the goal of making that sea a basin of peace and harmonious coexistence among diverse civilizations and religions. Let me return to the central issue of this session, the global partnership for development, in order to clarify one point. There is a risk that the reinvigoration of multilateralism, United Nations reform, and a collective commitment to the various theatres of crisis will produce no lasting effect unless development issues are treated as priorities. It is up to the United Nations as the driving force, the glue of solidarity among peoples, and the fullest expression of multilateralism, to keep development at the top of the international agenda.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“In the Mediterranean we are working with our partners to address immigration on the basis of those principles, and seeking to facilitate legal flows and to counter both the illegal flows and the parties that profit from them, seeking to facilitate the integration into our countries of those who have immigrated legally, filled with hope and the desire to work. But there is another dangerous gap that risks leaving an even deeper gash in the world. I am referring to what until a few years ago was called a clash of civilizations and religions between the Christian and Islamic worlds. I refuse to believe that such a clash exists. Extremists and fanatics do exist, but civilizations and religions were made for the sake of dialogue, exchange and mutual enrichment.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“Here a strong commitment is required from the Security Council, where, starting on 1 January 2007, Italy will make its contribution also, on the basis of its experience in the region. When I speak of Africa, 06-52879 18 I mean primarily the gap between the northern and southern hemispheres, the phenomenon at the root of almost all the ills afflicting our era. It is that gap, above all, that causes the massive migratory flows that we cannot ignore and that we must address with realism, responsibility, equanimity, and especially solidarity.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“In the Middle East, as I mentioned earlier, we need to seize our opportunities and openings , aware that there will be no peace until the Palestinian question has been resolved, with an independent, sovereign, vital and contiguous Palestinian state next to the state of Israel, and both within secure and internationally recognized borders. That grave regional crisis should not lead us to forget Africa — long suffering, prey to ongoing crises, and even poorer than it was two decades ago. The situation in Darfur is critical. We cannot stand by and watch, for the simple reason that time has run out. We need to act quickly and strive for a gradual assumption of responsibility by the United Nations, in compliance with the decisions of the Security Council. The situation in the Horn of Africa is also a source of concern.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons, has to be seen today in the context, above all, of the negotiation under way with Iran. But it is our duty to look further ahead and to strive, all together, to consolidate the general non-proliferation system. That principle will inspire the action of Italy when it enters the Security Council. With regard to the Iranian nuclear file, we are ready to make our contribution to a negotiated solution that promotes regional security and stability.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“Only if Europe wields a more incisive influence on the issues of peace and security can it be considered a true global actor. The Balkan tragedies in the early 1990s were the result of an absent Europe. But when it is present, and when it is united, Europe can make the difference. That is what we are seeing in the Lebanese crisis. During the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, and in the course of its biennium in the Security Council, Italy will make a special effort to increase the commitment and role of the European Union at the United Nations. Our aim is to make the Organization more effective in the areas and on the issues in which, by history and vocation, it can provide the most added value.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“The numbers alone make the European Union a global actor — 25 countries with a total population of more than 450 million, representing one fourth of the world’s gross domestic product and every month allocating €500 million to third countries. Yet these numbers do not correspond to a comparable ability for the European Union to make a difference outside its own borders. In the work of the Assembly and its various committees, the European Union is becoming a key actor. At every debate and on every resolution its position represents a point of reference in shaping the attitudes of the other regional groups. Our goal should be to acquire a similar ability within the Security Council. It may be a slow process, which will have to take into account points of resistance and stubborn legacies, but it should be pursued with determination.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“Another way for the United Nations to regain the forcefulness and credibility it needs to fulfil its mission is by strengthening the role of its great regional stakeholders. I am thinking first of the European Union, because if Europe is stronger the United Nations will be stronger. The world and the United Nations do not need a Europe that hesitates. Rather, they need a Europe that is able to play its part in meeting the challenges that await us. Europe, in turn, must become more aware that only by contributing to the resolution of global tensions can it give greater security and prosperity to its citizens. The conditions for performing this role are there.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“In the current situation Member States thus need to send a strong political signal that will help us to begin a new chapter and open the way to an innovative approach. In other words, we need to enter a period of negotiation which has thus far eluded us, a period in which, rather than seeking to impose positions and models, we can undertake a true comparison of positions for the purpose of achieving solutions that are not divisive but, rather, enable the widest possible consensus. But a word of caution: everything is negotiable except for the ownership of the Organization by the Member States, by all of us, an ownership that represents the true pillar on which United Nations multilateralism must rest.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“A priority commitment to human rights and their safeguarding should be the goal of any country that wishes to lend greater ethical authority to its foreign policy. The results achieved by the reform on this point, through the establishment of the new Human Rights Council, are still being examined. The other significant outcome is the affirmation of the principle of the responsibility to protect, so that the international community will no longer be indifferent to acts of genocide. 17 06-52879 But it is on the General Assembly and the Security Council that we must focus our attention, by restoring the central role of the General Assembly as the main decision-making, representative and policy- making body of the United Nations; and by renewing efforts to reform the Security Council, in terms both of its working methods and its composition.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“The question we must ask at this point is this: what do we need to do in order to continue the work just begun in Lebanon? More generally, in view of the crises and emergencies that surround us, what does the United Nations need in order to fulfil the principles of the Charter? It needs two things: first, quick completion of the reforms, and, secondly, the strong and unconditional support of its Members. On the issue of reform, last year, after an intense series of negotiations, a moment of summary allowed us to lay the groundwork for giving the United Nations a more incisive role, to the benefit of the international community. The Peacebuilding Commission is the first major result, because it highlights the indestructible bond between development, security and human rights.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“In Lebanon we are still at square one, and much remains to be done. To underestimate the risk of this mission would be a serious mistake. We must, however, be pleased with how the United Nations, its Member States and — allow me to add — the European Union have addressed a situation that only two months ago risked getting out of hand, but which today presents a series of opportunities for the Middle East as a whole. We should be pleased to have set up a mission that represents the entire international community, a tangible expression of the very global partnership that we are discussing today. For, while it is true that Europe provides the backbone of UNIFIL, it cannot carry out its mission effectively without the contributions of China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Turkey and the many other non-European countries participating.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“Without collective action by the countries in the northern and southern hemispheres, international organizations and institutions, the public and private sector and civil society, it will be impossible to achieve the goals we have set. First and foremost we need to reinvigorate multilateralism, by which I mean above all restoring the central, fundamental role of the United Nations. The recent experience in Lebanon and the strengthening of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is one example of how the United Nations can regain its crucial importance in the resolution of international controversies. Above all, it demonstrates — and this is the key point — that if the stakeholders are willing to confer upon the United Nations a strong, central role, the Organization is well able to fulfil it.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“These new threats add a new element to a list that includes regional conflicts in the Middle East, Asia and Africa; pandemics; problems of development and the gap between North and South; human rights abuses; mass migrations; and issues concerning energy and the environment. These are phenomena that it is also impossible to resolve without a collective assumption of responsibility. If we wish to govern these phenomena we need to be equal to their dimensions. No country, however strong and powerful, can take on such complex challenges single-handedly. Global threats demand a global response. In the final analysis, this means collective partnership. To have chosen as the theme of the sixty-first session “Implementing a global partnership for development” was thus particularly appropriate.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“On that day we knew that the new millennium would hold unpredictable and complex threats extending beyond national borders; global threats against which notions of protection inside national borders are illusory; asymmetrical threats that are difficult to counter effectively with the instruments previously used to settle conflicts. Terrorism and weapons of mass destruction have changed traditional society and its values. They have rendered obsolete systems of collective defence and security based on deterrence. The old solutions to the world’s problems — the logic of balance and hegemony — are no longer enough to guarantee stability and security.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“I wish to offer you my congratulations, Madam President, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty- first session. Your experience in international affairs is the best guarantee of the success of your term. At the same time I express to your predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, our sincere thanks for his effective and 06-52879 16 balanced leadership of the sixtieth session. My special appreciation goes also to Kofi Annan for having dedicated his life to the Organization, particularly in the past 10 years as Secretary-General, leading it through difficult challenges and laying the groundwork for its reform. Thank you, Kofi. It was in this city on 11 September five years ago that the dramatic realization was forced upon us of just how dangerous the world has become.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)