YouSaid · the spoken record

Fradique Bandeira Melo DE MENEZES

lines on the record: 74
first: 2002-09-24
most recent: 2009-09-24
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

“Aware of the role of the United Nations, specifically under the provisions of Articles 1 and 34 of the Charter, Sao Tome and Principe also joined in proposing the draft resolution annexed to document A/60/193. That document contains a letter requesting the inclusion of a supplementary item in the agenda of the present session entitled, “A proactive role for the United Nations in maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait”. Neither proposal received the expected support. We are faced with an excellent opportunity to infuse our Organization with greater dynamism and rationality, more action and less bureaucracy. Reform of the system is urgent. It is a high priority. To that end, we must all work without hesitation for the good of the world to which we belong.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“As we reflect on reforming the United Nations, we must once again take advantage of the opportunity from this rostrum to invite the international community to review the problem of the need for the Republic of China on Taiwan to be represented in the Organization. In this regard, my country signed the letter contained in document A/60/192 requesting the inclusion of an item in the agenda of the present session entitled “Question of the representation of the 23 million people of 05-51226 15 Taiwan in the United Nations”. Once again, we have lost an opportunity to correct this injustice. We are further concerned by the recent adoption by the People’s Republic of China of the so-called anti- secession law, which, by increasing tension in the Strait of Taiwan, may compromise peace in the region.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“I commend the international community, and in particular the United Nations and its Secretary-General, for its prompt contribution, which bolstered the people’s action for peace, stability and development. Now, Guinea-Bissau faces the giant task of promoting development and well-being for its population. The international community must therefore continue to provide its traditional help so that legitimate expectations may not be frustrated. The universality of the Organization requires that all nations must be represented. However, this continues not to be so despite several calls for it.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“However, the United Nations must take additional action to benefit States which, like my own, are not in a position to fully comply with all the provisions of that resolution. We need resources that will contribute to the improvement, inter alia, of our security, including control of our borders and territorial waters. Here, strengthening our capability to fight the phenomenon of terrorism is a priority. In my capacity as President of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, I should like to refer to Guinea-Bissau, which has just successfully concluded a long and difficult political transition. First, let me congratulate the people and the authorities of that country on their success.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“This initiative will help us to deal prophylactically with similar situations that might arise. Likewise, malaria continues to be a serious public health problem for my country despite its active involvement with existing programmes supported by several countries and organizations. The situation of insecurity primarily affects the most vulnerable populations, especially refugees, children, women and the elderly. Terrorism is destabilizing Governments, destroying lives and claiming innocent victims. We are faced with a challenge that requires reformulating our strategies to combat it. It seems entirely appropriate to start with an understanding of the origins of the problem by identifying its causes, and then to forge new consensuses and improve the methods of combating the problem and implementing Security Council resolution 1373 (2001).”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“The cost of treatment continues to be extremely high and our economies are beginning to buckle under the effects of the illness. If significant resources and additional scientific investment for research to seek a cure for HIV/AIDS are not forthcoming the development expectations of Africa will be far from being met. Very recently the Republic of Angola was attacked by the worst outbreak ever of Marburg fever, caused by a virus related to the Ebola virus. We are concerned because Sao Tome and Principe, being an integral part of the Central African States, cannot remove itself from that situation. We appeal to the World Health Organization (WHO) to strengthen the capabilities of the countries of the subregion by holding seminars and providing training.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“In this regard, we would like to take the opportunity to express our thanks both to the international community and to the Government of Mauritius for the efforts made to organize the special conference. International security is based on the protection of the people and on education for capacity-building, promoting a community’s development. Nations that do not pay attention those factors could be in a state of permanent tension, which is not conducive to progress. For this reason HIV/AIDS, poverty, political crises, ongoing violations of human rights, oppression and occupation constitute threats to human security. Many of our countries continue to face challenges in combating HIV/AIDS and other illnesses. In some regions of Africa HIV/AIDS is devastating families, cultures and economies — entire societies.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“In Mauritius, States reaffirmed their 14 05-51226 commitment to support the efforts of small island developing States that would lead to sustainable development through a greater and more effective implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action. Decisions and recommendations were adopted on climate change, natural and environmental disasters, water resources, waste management, tourism, energy, transportation, biodiversity and marine and coastal resources. All the problems that affect small island States, from global warming to ecosystem problems, can be resolved only if the international community makes an effort to effectively increase the resources that will support the sustained development of small island States.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Indeed, the climate of permanent tension experienced in some parts of the world, the unbridled arms race, human trafficking, cross-border organized crime, terrorism, systematic violations of human rights, economic depression and environmental degradation constitute important matters that are in need of the attention of the United Nations now and in the years to come. In the face of such challenges, Member States must manifest a sense of wisdom and responsibility in order for an international order based on peace, security and cooperation to prevail. Small island States met this year in Mauritius to evaluate the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“These difficult times, being experienced by a large part of the American people, cannot leave us indifferent, above all because we are fully aware of the role that the American people and its Government play in international solidarity and cooperation, constantly seeking peace and prosperity for peoples in difficulty, and of their support and financing of this great Organization. From the early days of the signing of the Charter in 1945 in San Francisco, the United Nations has played a crucial role in undertaking many matters of a political, economic, social and humanitarian nature throughout the world. Nevertheless, it seems to us that the world now needs a stronger and more dynamic United Nations. The present session takes place in a very complex international environment.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Kofi Annan, for his valuable efforts to bolster and propel the role of the United Nations in international peacekeeping, security and development. The report by Mr. Kofi Annan (A/59/2005) and the recommendations set out in it provide us with important elements capable of leading to consensus on strategies that will help us to achieve the Millennium Goals and to make progress on reforming the United Nations. I cannot fail to take advantage of this opportunity, on behalf of the people of Sao Tome and Principe, to reiterate to the Government and the people of the United States of America and to the bereaved families our sincere condolences regarding the tragedy caused by Hurricane Katrina.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“First, Sir, I should like to extend my sincere congratulations to you on the occasion of your election to the presidency of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly and to wish you the greatest success in conducting the work of the Assembly. I am also pleased to take this opportunity to offer my sincere thanks to your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Jean Ping, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Gabonese Republic, for the considerable results produced during his term as President, especially towards the end of the session, when we reviewed matters related to the implementation of the Millennium Goals and the reform of the United Nations. I should also like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“We must live with the waste that we make, and we cannot quickly grow back the trees that we cut. If we cut down the trees that shade and protect our food the banana trees, the cocoa trees we will starve. If we put poison in the water and chemicals in the earth, we will die. Whatever we do to bring prosperity to our land, we must do it in a way that respects the water and air and flora and fauna that make up our islands' environment. We must find a way to make progress that supports and sustains life rather than destroying it. The planet Earth is like Sao Tome and Principe in that respect: it is nothing more than an island in the universe. We must take care. We must do better.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“I appeal to those who fuel the factories of globalization and who drive the engines of progress and economic development. You are the ones who endanger the planet with your pollution. You are the ones who cut down forests, who burn the fossil fuel, who poison the oceans, who destroy the atmosphere and who warm the planet. You are the ones who can lead the world to develop cleaner technologies, more efficient uses of natural resources and effective ways to restore our land, air and sea. There is no time left. The people of Sao Tome and Principe live on two small islands in the Atlantic Ocean. If sea levels rise from global warming, my beautiful island home will disappear beneath the waves. We know better than most people that if we spoil our homeland we have nowhere else to go.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“I take this opportunity to pay special tribute to another country, with a population of more than 20 million inhabitants, which has achieved admirable economic and social progress through democracy, but which the international community continues to fail to recognize as an independent and sovereign nation. I am referring to the Republic of China on Taiwan. Sao Tome and Principe hopes, and urges, the Organization of United Nations to resolve this case soon as a matter of justice and to declare and accept Taiwan as an independent and sovereign nation. Having said that, I turn again to the United Nations to say that the final challenge is perhaps the most difficult challenge facing the Organization, namely, to save the Earth itself.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“I am a product of my country's free and fair elections, having been elected just over one year ago, the second freely elected President since our independence in 1975. I promised my people that Sao Tome and Principe would be a model for oil transparency and sustainable economic development based on democracy, human rights, the rule of law and a diversified free-market economy. We invite you to share with us in achieving our goals. I would now like to draw the attention of the General Assembly to the following situation. We are today congratulating two countries on their entry as full members of the United Nations. But the task of achieving universalism in the United Nations has, unfortunately, still not been completed.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“With exploration success would come enormous wealth and potential power to my country. Sao Tome and Principe is therefore facing a moment of opportunity that African nations rarely encounter, or have historically squandered. 20 Just 100 years ago, my people lived in slavery. We picked cocoa off trees for the enrichment of distant European landowners, while we lived in chains, without decent housing, education or even basic human dignity. But we have come far in a very short time. My people are brave. We are strong and we are united. Sao Tome and Principe led the way in Africa in September 1990 in transiting from one-party rule to a multi-party system. My country is now a robust democracy, which enjoys some of the strongest stability in Africa.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We want to receive, to learn how to use and to master the technology that brings enlightenment, affluence and opportunity. Many years ago, another brilliant son of this country, the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, said `A house divided against itself cannot stand. This Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free'. The same can be said today about the rich nations and the poor nations of our world. A house divided against itself our house, this planet Earth cannot endure half rich and half poor. We must do better. Sao Tome and Principe now stands at a crossroads of development. We are strategically situated in the most important petroleum area in the world today: the deep water off the western coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“More insidious, more pervasive and more deadly than even war itself is the poverty that kills many millions of men, women and children needlessly every year. Poverty is silent, but it is insatiable. It is unrelenting. I come from one of the poorest countries in the world. We are grateful to all those who have come to us and have helped us since our independence on 12 July 1975. I take this opportunity to thank all of you. But we cannot, and will not, continue as we are today, without clean water, without health care, without electricity, without jobs, without schools and without even a primitive infrastructure or the capacity to build one. Sao Tome and Principe cannot be left behind. We do not want our neighbourhood in the global village to be a ghetto slum. We want to be part of the information age.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“If I can use Thomas Jefferson's words in the Declaration of Independence of the United States, I will say that President Bush's decision to address the United Nations on the subject of Iraq shows a `decent respect for the opinions of mankind'. On behalf of the people of Sao Tome and Principe, I declare our unconditional support for the effort to protect innocent people from acts of terrorism and to defend our populations from weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations must lead the way. The nations of the world must act together as one. It is a moral duty. Sao Tome and Principe offers what resources we have to assist in this noble effort. But war and terrorism and violence are not the only threats to the lives of our people.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We look to the people in this great Assembly Hall to speak and to act for civilization, for freedom and for justice. An American politician, Hubert Humphrey, said it best: `The heroes of the world community are not those who withdraw when difficulties ensue, not those who can envision neither the prospect of success nor the consequence of failure, but those who stand the heat of battle, the fight for world peace through the United Nations'. I commend the President of the United States for coming to New York to consult and confer with those who represent the community of nations. This act is consistent with the finest and most admirable American tradition.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We condemn those who kill civilians and target women and children, and we say to them, `You are wrong to take the lives of the innocent, whatever the reason, whatever the cause.' That is what my people in Sao Tome and Principe believe. And so it is that last 11 September my tiny nation, with its population of only 140,000 people, only a very small fraction of the population of the City of New York, was horrified by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We send our condolences to those in all the many countries who lost friends and family there. We join in condemning those who carried out these terrible acts. We call for their capture and incapacitation. That is what we feel. We turn to the United Nations for leadership.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Few people in the world have ever heard of my country Sao Tome and Principe. Few people, even in this Hall, could find Sao Tome and Principe on a map. We are a small island-nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of West Africa. We are poor. We are remote. Despite our isolation, my people face the same issues that confront every country in the world today: first, how to protect innocent people from acts of terror, violence and mass destruction; secondly, how to eliminate the grinding poverty that still afflicts and cripples half the world's population and affects people in every country on Earth; and, thirdly, how to save our environment and protect the world's natural resources from degradation and ultimate destruction. As much as any people on the face of this planet, we deplore terrorism.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“It is a great honour for me, as the new President of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, to appear before the Assembly for the first time and to join in the deliberations of this fifty-seventh session. On behalf of the citizens of Sao Tome and Principe, I should like to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of this fifty-seven session and request you to accept my warmest greetings and those of my people. May I also extend our congratulations to Timor-Leste, soon to be a Member of the Organization, and to Switzerland, which has just become a Member. We hope that East Timor's becoming a full member of the international community will guarantee that its brotherly people will have the right to live free of the hegemonic appetite of some of their neighbours.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)