YouSaid · the spoken record

Rodolfo Nin Novoa

lines on the record: 49
first: 2017-09-24
most recent: 2019-09-24
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

“By placing human beings at the centre of public policies, we will contribute to reducing inequalities, combating poverty and making this planet a better place every day, by giving everyone hope for a better, fairer future with better opportunities, free of hunger, poverty and exclusions, and in which peace prevails.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“However, countries such as Uruguay, which are on the path to development, still need a redesigned and refocused form of cooperation to support it in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by bridging the structural gaps that still persist. As Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez did before the General Assembly last year (see A/73/PV.8), we reaffirm the concept of development in transition, and we will continue to fight so that development is no longer measured solely in terms of per capita income — an indicator that ignores the existing gaps among the various sectors of each country, denies the reality of the most vulnerable groups and poses a very serious risk of reversing the progress so laboriously achieved by our Governments on social issues. Change is in our hands.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The introduction of technology was a fundamental tool for equity and social inclusion — values that are at the heart of our digital public policies — in addition to widely known projects, such as universal access to the Internet, livestock traceability and Plan Ceibal, through which Uruguay became the first country in 2009 to ensure that every school-age child had a laptop for personal use. More recently, a new plan was launched that universalizes the use of laptops and tablets among the elderly. For those reasons, it is not surprising that since February 2018 Uruguay has been part of the group of the most digitally advanced countries, the so-called Digital 9, the chairmanship of which it has held since February. The next summit of the group will be held in Montevideo in November.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“In Uruguay, we are absolutely convinced that the key to facing those challenges lies in the universalization of education. Education is a human right — an invisible engine of sustainable development and peace. Because of Uruguay’s free, secular and obligatory education, 98.6 per cent of its population is literate, 99 per cent of five-year-old children are in school and 100 per cent of its public and private primary schoolteachers are credentialled. Uruguay has chosen to embrace the concept of transformation with equity, and within that framework, it has developed public policies that have had a direct impact on reducing the digital divide.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Education systems could use artificial intelligence to change their management, teaching and learning. Each of the goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires education to equip all people with the knowledge, skills and values that will enable them to live with dignity, build their own lives and contribute to the societies in which they live. However, serious difficulties unfortunately persist. According to UNESCO, 262 million children and young people do not attend primary or secondary school, and 750 million adults are illiterate, all of which contribute to increased poverty and marginalization. Aid to education has stagnated since 2010, and only one third of it is allocated to primary and secondary education in low- and middle-income countries.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Only in this way will we be better prepared to face its negative effects and therefore achieve a more resilient international society that is less vulnerable, with greater capacity to adapt to change and climate variability and more aware and responsible given the challenge. An active and conscious citizenry, with an education guided by that awareness, will act as an effective means of controlling Governments and private enterprise, thereby enhancing cooperation with the safeguarding of the environment. Thirdly, I will address education. In order to provide quality education, it is necessary to be prepared to face the use of technology and its democratization. Rapid technological advances in artificial intelligence are transforming societies by changing the way people learn, work and live together.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Given the risk that climate change poses, Uruguay has been adopting policies that place it among the most advanced countries of the world in the field, including its salient national energy policy through which it achieved generating 98 per cent of its electricity through renewable energy sources. As nations, we have the responsibility of pooling our efforts to agree on educational policies that allow us to deepen the integration of climate change throughout the educational process and to contribute to increasing the awareness of our peoples with respect to the challenges it poses.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Uruguay reaffirms its willingness to work together with all countries committed to the protection and safeguarding of the environment, in accordance with the principles established in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted in 1992, and the commitments made in the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and makes a fervent appeal to Governments to seriously address this real threat to the stability and equilibrium of the globe. In this regard, my delegation reiterates its full support for the twenty- fifth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Santiago in December, and congratulates Costa Rica on its commitment to the environment and its efforts to accelerate climate action at the pre-Conference meeting it will host in October.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“By 2050, climate change could displace 140 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America alone. The severity of environmental degradation has reached levels beyond what is tolerable. The commitment of all Members of the United Nations is essential to stopping environmental damage and to trying to reverse its bleak consequences. The devastating fires that have ravaged California, Siberia, Bolivia and Chile this year, in addition to those in the Brazilian Amazon, seriously threaten biodiversity and the balance of the planet’s largest ecosystem. Governments have an obligation to protect biodiversity as our common heritage and legacy for future generations.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Numerous studies show the multidimensional nature of the phenomenon of poverty, which can only be addressed through comprehensive policies that can build sustainable solutions. Without such a multidimensional approach, there will be 1 billion people living in poverty by 2050, with the lowest- income countries experiencing the highest population growth. All States must consider the multidimensional approach, since poverty is a problem that afflicts all societies in the world, which is why multilateral efforts are the key to eradicate it. Secondly, with regard to the fight against climate change, if we are to succeed, we must be aware that the harmful effects of climate change directly affect the increase in poverty and global economic and social inequality.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“To end poverty and reduce inequality, we must invest in people, the most important component of the wealth of nations. Women account for less than 40 per cent of global wealth because they continue to earn less than men throughout their lives. Achieving gender equality would increase human capital by almost 20 per cent. That is why Uruguay inserts a chapter on trade and gender, with an inclusive approach, in all of its trade agreements, as was the case in our recent agreements with Chile, with our Southern Common Market partners and with Canada. That is why it is important for States to design and implement fair and balanced social policies aimed at reducing inequalities, ending poverty and narrowing the existing gaps in our societies, thereby offering everyone a better, fairer and more hopeful future.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Today, the wealth per capita of the high-income member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is 52 times that of low-income countries. This is a major challenge for the United Nations. Only with enhanced institutions and exemplary legitimate governance can we make progress in managing the complex global processes that lead to inequality. We are not utopian, but we believe that it is possible and necessary to take steps towards a gradual but effective action that will make it possible to reverse the abysmal and shameful inequality on the planet. This inequality significantly affects the entire edifice of rights and tends to turn it, not infrequently, into a formalism of little substance, valuable only as a proclamation of what should be, but not very real and present in the daily life of many nations.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Although personal wealth worldwide has grown exponentially in the past 20 years, 736 million human beings live in extreme poverty. Less than 10 per cent of the world’s population holds 86 per cent of global wealth, while 70 per cent shares a mere 2.7 per cent of the wealth. In addition, 96 per cent of the world’s poor live in various Asian countries, in Africa and in Latin America. Driven by the explosion of digital technology and the growth of emerging economies and the global economy after the financial crisis at the start of the century, the world’s wealth has increased by 66 per cent compared to the year 1995. However, that increase in wealth has not ended poverty or reduced inequality. On the contrary, they have increased.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“As a result of those same social policies, the total number of people living below the poverty line has been reduced to 8 per cent, the lowest in Latin America, with indigence standing at 0.1 per cent and inequality at 0.38 per cent, making Uruguay the most egalitarian country in Latin America and the Caribbean. The rights agenda for which Uruguay is internationally recognized has also significantly contributed to the advancement of a freer and more democratic society. After all, we are one of the few full democracies in the world based on a strong institutional framework and the strength of traditional political parties, the oldest of which have existed for 200 years and the youngest of which has been around for half a century. Our robust institutions have allowed Uruguay to avoid the wave of corruption that shook the region.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“This new institutional framework focused on social policies, increased public spending and launched a comprehensive strategic planning programme in this area. All this took place in the context of uninterrupted economic growth over the past 15 years. In addition, our country opted for decent work, providing more guarantees and rights to workers, including the right to social security and free medical care for rural and domestic workers, who have historically been neglected. Those public policies have been critical for the Government to fulfil its social inclusion goals, which it has done with such remarkable success that, at the most recent International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization, a private-sector representative complained that, in its view, the Government has granted workers too many rights.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“If we eliminate poverty, we will finally approach the state of well-being to which I referred at the beginning of my statement — world peace. The equitable distribution of wealth and the eradication of extreme poverty are a priority objective for the Government of Uruguay. We are committed to definitively eradicating extreme poverty and indigence by 2030 and have been working for 15 years to achieve this objective. It is with great satisfaction that we can say today, in this Hall, that in Uruguay there is not a single child sleeping on the streets. The year 2005 marked a milestone in the fight against poverty and extreme poverty in Uruguay. In order to respond to the needs of the Uruguayan people, we undertook key institutional innovations and promoted normative reforms that have expanded social protections.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“In 2017, 2018 and 2019, in order to properly ensure accountability, my country submitted voluntary reports that take stock of the significant progress we have made in each of the 17 Goals. In my view, there are three cross-cutting vectors within the Sustainable Development Goals — the elimination of poverty, the fight against climate change and quality education. Allow me first to focus on the worst global scourge, the greatest enemy of peace, the cause of most of the ills of our era and the enemy we should focus all our efforts towards exterminating — poverty. If we eliminate poverty, we can universalize education and do away with the education deficit. If we eliminate poverty, we would be reducing harm to the environment. If we eliminate poverty, we will be eliminating hunger, exclusion and discrimination.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“As a founding member of the United Nations, Uruguay is deeply committed to multilateralism in all spheres, not only as protection against more powerful actors, but also as a framework for faithfully fulfilling its own obligations. Four years ago, the States Members of the United Nations committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), some of which serve as inspiration for this general debate. In this regard, Uruguay has responsibly assumed its commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which fully match the policies it has been implementing over the past 15 years, as my country has been integrating the SDGs at the national, departmental and local levels.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Uruguay considers the Security Council to be the only organ with the competence to apply measures against a Member State for the purpose of maintaining or restoring international peace and security or to determine whether the use of force is warranted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. The world has made progress in building this institutional architecture, which, with its strengths and weaknesses, must be defended — and Uruguay, which believes in international law as the guarantor of peaceful coexistence among nations, will always do so. For that reason, it participates actively in the maintenance of international peace and security, through peace operations to which it contributes substantial contingents. In fact, Uruguay is the top personnel contributor in the entire Western Hemisphere.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Illegal sanctions that run counter to international law have impoverished the people of Cuba, and their grave consequences are detrimental to the future of the women and men of that brotherly Latin American country. Uruguay has a long tradition of defending multilateralism, democracy, self-determination and the protection and promotion of human rights. We come to this Hall today to renew our commitment to fighting for solutions based on dialogue, peace, democracy and the full enjoyment of human rights when it comes to addressing conflicts generated in our region.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Nor can we tolerate foreign intervention under the pretext of defending democracy, all the while terrorizing the population with the threat of an allegedly liberating invasion whose only certain results would be the loss of thousands of innocent lives and the suffocation of many others through economic sanctions that would plunge them into deeper poverty, as is currently the case with Venezuela. Only dialogue and understanding between the parties can lead to a peaceful solution to the crisis. In a similar vein, we again raise our voice in this Assembly, as we have done for 27 years, to strongly condemn the savage and illegal commercial and financial blockade that has been applied for more than 50 years against the Republic of Cuba.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“In Latin America we are deeply alarmed by the spread of extreme ideologies that seek to forcibly apply their methods in other countries, thus shamelessly violating the authority of regional organizations and generating situations of crisis and violence as an excuse to impose their doctrines by force and plunder the Latin American peoples for their own benefit. We are even more concerned that some Governments in the region embrace those same ideologies and procedures, the use of which has had significant adverse effects still evokes bitter memories. We cannot allow the principle of non-intervention to be a protective barrier to enable grave violations of human rights.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Uruguay, a firm champion of denuclearization, urges the parties to reconsider their positions and act with a universal conscience by putting aside rhetoric to score short-term political gains at the cost of dire global consequences. Similarly, my country is concerned about the proliferation of arms, especially small arms and light weapons. The indiscriminate access of private individuals to such weapons in countries with permissive legislation is responsible for a growing trend of vigilante justice.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The tension in Western Asia and the Middle East, the political and economic upheaval in Europe, hunger and malnutrition in Africa and the alarming spread of extreme ideologies are additional risk factors beyond the power struggle among the various Powers vying for domination, whether in the form of trade wars or ideological wars. We are gravely concerned about the withdrawal of the United States from the nuclear treaty with Iran, a hard-won agreement, which casts a shadow over the future of peace in that fragile region and could lead Iran to resume its nuclear programme, with unforeseeable consequences for international peace and security.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I cannot touch upon the central theme of this debate without first making some observations that put it in context. We are today living through a difficult global situation of great uncertainty, product of the clash of opposing forces struggling to establish a new world order, often without considering the serious consequences of their actions for world peace — that utopia we yearn for in which all people can live in a state of happiness and freedom, with their basic needs met and without fear of suffering least of all deprivation of their rights and security. A quick glance at the planet suffices to realize the fragility of the foundations that underpin peaceful coexistence among States.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“At the outset, I would like to extend to Her Excellency Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, President of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session, a well- deserved recognition for her excellent leadership of the main organ of the United Nations system. As the first woman from Latin America and the Caribbean to be elected President, she not only represented Latin Americans, but also women from all over the world. I would also like to congratulate the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. We wish him every success in the discharge of his duties and pledge the commitment of our entire delegation.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I would like to reiterate once again our emphatic rejection of the unfair blockade which, after 55 years, is still looming over our sister Republic of Cuba, and we express our sympathy and condolences in connection with the victims of the hurricanes and earthquakes that recently affected the region. In conclusion, achieving a sustainable planet and a decent life requires the effective use of existing resources so that we can live in peace and security and our legacy can be a habitable world for future generations.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“This is the best example we have when we talk about specific results. It is our Latin America that we have made a region of peace today. The great note of hope that has sounded when this ceasefire and the peace agreement were reached gives us the enthusiasm we need to take on the new and difficult missions in other parts of the world in which the way out often seems difficult to see. Latin America has single-mindedly rejected all attempts to resolve internal conflicts in Latin America, no matter how intense they are, through military intervention. In the historical experience of our continent, such interventions have only left a trail of lasting violence, poverty and instability. Latin America is united as a block against interventionist war-mongering endeavours that are neither rational nor prudent.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We cannot even think of peace in the world if the international community does not make a serious commitment to disarmament and non-proliferation. Any progress in disarmament and non-proliferation — be it serious commitments; gradual, effective, specific steps forward; or results — must be welcomed and celebrated as a tremendous achievement of the United Nations. We wish to conclude our statement by highlighting the overarching historical significance of the peace process that has been gaining ground in Colombia and putting an end to the armed conflicts that divided it, drowning it in pain and blood for many long decades. As Uruguayans, as Latin Americans and, in this case, as the then President of the Security Council, we are pleased and proud to have made a modest contribution to the building of peace in Colombia.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“That is why we believe it is vital that the issues taken up by the Security Council be public knowledge for all Members of the United Nations. What is discussed there is of such importance that all States present here today should be aware of what goes on behind closed doors. That is why Uruguay will continue working towards more transparent and inclusive working methods in the United Nations within the framework of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency group, as well as in other multilateral contexts. As a signatory to the Charter of the United Nations, Uruguay emphasizes its commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations while committing itself to working tirelessly to sustain those principles, which we believe are vital for building a safer and more prosperous future.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Women and girls are those who suffer the consequences most. War invades their lives, threatening their sense of security. In this context, as an elected member of the Security Council, a country with a long-standing participation in various peacekeeping operations and an active troop contributor, Uruguay is intent on fighting sexual exploitation and abuse in armed conflicts. We are deeply committed to the zero-tolerance policy. We reiterate our support for this policy and are working very hard to prevent new cases of abuse and sexual exploitation in peacekeeping operations, with the understanding that a single case is one too many. For more than 50 years, Uruguay knew what it was like to be outside the most important decision-making body in the world.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Not only should we emphatically condemn this, but we should also adopt resolutions to protect victims and bring perpetrators to justice. Uruguay once again calls for full compliance with Security Council resolutions, especially resolution 2286 (2016), and the establishment of effective mechanisms for itsimplementation. I wish to reiterate that this kind of attack against civilian targets, disguised as collateral attacks, should never be tolerated. It is undeniable that we are experiencing deep- seated changes in the kinds of conflicts we are seeing. The increasing presence of terrorist organizations and non-State actors spreads fear among populations and disproportionately undermines the rights of women and children. History has shown us that there is a constant pattern in terms of conflicts in the world, regardless of region or religion.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We understand that the best way to honour humanitarian workers, who have saved thousands of lives in numerous settings, is to devise successful policies and reach agreement within the framework of the United Nations to bring about the immediate cessation of attacks on civilians, while making possible the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in conflict situations. We are concerned at the increasing number of attacks on and deliberate bombings of civilians, humanitarian workers and civil infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and markets, all of which are serious human rights violations. The ultimate atrocity is when defenceless human beings are attacked while they are assisting other defenceless human beings at the worst times and in the worst places.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Just three months before ending its term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, Uruguay wishes to emphasize once again that it is firmly convinced of the importance of focusing its efforts on protecting civilian populations in all conflict zones by using different modalities, through peacekeeping operations and the delivery of humanitarian assistance, by, inter alia, protecting hospitals and medical personnel and denouncing flagrant violations of human rights. In the current context of crisis, we wish to acknowledge the bravery and altruism of humanitarian personnel as they continue to assist, at the risk of their own lives, those in need in conflict situations.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“However, we also urge all countries, in particular the great United States, to avoid the verbal escalations that have always preceded major tragedies throughout history and weigh every word in a responsible manner, eschewing all violent rhetoric. A dynamic of antagonism often makes it impossible to stick to the facts. In addressing the 3rd meeting of the General Assembly at its seventy-second session, our Secretary- General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, made reference to “sleepwalking our way to war”, inspired by the eloquent title recently used by the historian Christopher Clark to describe how human beings and nations marched into the tragedy of the First World War, dazed and confused by mutual misunderstandings and unheeded warnings. When they became aware of the outcome, it was too late.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“As part of its concern about the development of nuclear weapons, Uruguay expresses its strong condemnation of North Korea’s nuclear tests and ballistic-missile launches and urges that country to abandon its existing nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way, putting an immediate end to all related activities, including launches using ballistic-missile technology, and other acts of provocation. In the same vein, we urge that country to respect the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and return to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which it abandoned in 2003, and the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards regime.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Uruguay welcomes the success of the United Nations conference that negotiated a binding instrument to ban nuclear weapons and bring about their total elimination. It concluded with the adoption of the historic Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, recently opened to all States for signature, and to which Uruguay has just acceded. In that regard, we call on all countries to sign the instrument, which aims to ensure a dignified life for future generations and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Diplomacy, diplomacy and more diplomacy: that is the path that we must take. The use and threat of use of nuclear weapons constitute a crime against humankind and a serious violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as of the Charter of the United Nations. The only guarantee against the use and threat of use of those weapons is their explicit prohibition and total elimination. Nevertheless, far from abandoning their weapons programmes, the nuclear Powers continue to improve and actively modernize their nuclear arsenals. Data from specialized organizations indicate that nine countries have more than 17,000 nuclear weapons, of which approximately 2,000 are on high alert, ready to be launched at a moment’s notice.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“And let me repeat here in the General Assembly something that has already been mentioned in the Security Council. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 74 per cent of the total volume of arms exports in the period 2011-2015 was carried out specifically by the five permanent members of the Security Council. Similarly, military spending in 2016 was $1.69 trillion, which was higher than in 2015. We should ask ourselves how many needs could have been met had those funds been redirected to the economic and social development of countries. The possession of nuclear weapons and the delay in disarmament by the States that possess them also endanger and threaten the world’s stability and human security. If the proliferation of nuclear weapons overtakes diplomacy, the consequences will be devastating.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The growing threat of terrorism and the challenge it poses to the international community as a whole, the risk of the potential use of weapons of mass destruction by terrorist groups, and the acquisition and use of conventional weapons and the links of such weapons with transnational crime have made the failure to disarm one of the greatest threats facing humankind . It is therefore a matter of deep concern. Controlling the international arms trade is an urgent necessity, given that trafficking and arms deals with warring parties in conflicts contribute directly to the suffering and murder of civilians. For that reason, the accession to and ratification of international instruments intended to protect civilians, such as the historic Arms Trade Treaty, are a great contribution to that end.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“In July, at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, my country, for the second year in a row, submitted its voluntary national report on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which involved carrying out a regular process of consultations and interinstitutional coordination with the participation of the Government, academia, civil society, the private sector and international organizations, with respect to its implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, there is an issue on the United Nations agenda that is even more vital for Uruguay — disarmament as a prelude to peace. The international community must be committed to actively seeking effective solutions to this global problem.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“It is a commitment that can be undertaken in a straightforward manner by a country such as ours, which throughout its history has made the fight against abandonment one of the marks of its identity and succeeded in building, from a relatively early stage, a reasonably integrated society with a significant degree of social cohesion, although not without having to confront challenges and difficulties.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We all know that, with the current advances in science and technology, poverty and hunger are unacceptable, and issues stemming from poor organization and the inequitable distribution of power and national and international resources are the cause of their unjustifiable persistence. For that reason, we reiterate that the rule of law and development are inextricably linked and mutually reinforcing. Both are therefore essential to sustainable development at the national and international levels. Uruguay fully endorse the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the commitment to leave no one behind. It pledges its unqualified support for that commitment, without any preconditions.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Unfortunately, human trafficking networks, which take advantage of human despair and vulnerability, emerge in those contexts, promising people a non-existent future. In the face of this scourge, all countries gathered here must redouble their efforts to combat all forms of trafficking, including human trafficking. All States must cooperate in order to put an end to all such heinous practices, which denigrate their victims and strip them of their basic humanity in service of the interests of global criminal and terrorist networks, and in order to promote the growth and social development of nations. Let us call a spade a spade: inequality remains the main cause of most of the difficulties and threats that we face.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Hundreds of thousands have been killed and thousands of others injured, and millions of displaced persons have been forced to flee their homes and risk their lives in search of peace. We should never consent to idly stand by when faced with such tragedy and devastation, in the midst of an indifference out of which we are shaken only exceptionally, when a memorable image moves or strikes us. Such an image — and this is the greatest tragedy — may be sadly representative of the fate of tens or hundreds of thousands of human beings whose lives and sad destinies we will never know. “Wasted lives” was how Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, the father of “liquid modernity”, described them in his outstanding essay. It is only right to recall here that the world bade Bauman farewell earlier this year.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The increase in armed conflicts, characterized by unprecedented violence, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the expansion in the trade of all types of weapons, the spread of terrorism, cyberattacks, hunger and the devastating effects of climate change make it more than ever necessary for the international community to make a strong commitment to addressing them. At a time when many of these expressions of violence and devastation are the result of global causes, it would be injudicious to strive to impose painful or insufficiently local responses to such challenges. The international community must rise to the occasion, consolidate its frameworks for joint action andstrengthen global governance in order to resolve these serious problems. Today, millions of people are directly affected by violence and armed conflict.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Uruguay has made these pillars its State policy, supported by all its political parties regardless of the different ideological or programmatic orientations that alternate based on the rotation of power that is inherent to our idea of democracy. They represent a common heritage and a key chapter of the agreements entered into throughout our history that define our national identity. Today, with the world facing a broad range of threats and challenges, Uruguay is resolved to make its voice heard and base its actions on the international stage on those cornerstones that have held up its architecture in a peaceful and democratic manner.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“This would be a worthwhile endeavour, given that the Assembly is and will continue to be the expression of a universal demos, which humankind must safeguard as the ideal for organizing peaceful coexistence on a global scale, where all States, large and small, are equally worthy and respected. Uruguay’s foreign policy has focused on certain traditional pillars that have governed its actions throughout history, such as democracy, the rule of law, respect for and promotion of human rights, the defence of multilateralism, and the commitment to dialogue and peace. These are the principles that our country has historically defended and actively promoted.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“As we greet all delegations, we also welcome the holding of the seventy-second session of the General Assembly. Uruguay is convinced that today more than ever we need to strengthen these bodies of international coordination and leadership. Failure to do so would be to abandon humankind to transnational powers that escape regulation and arbitrarily impose their rule, notwithstanding the full validity of national sovereignties, which, throughout the course of history, have shown great longevity and bravely responded to challenges. By instituting the reforms necessary to adapt its structures and methodologies to a time that is very different from the one in which it was born, the United Nations should become stronger, and the General Assembly, its main body, should be given higher priority.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)