YouSaid · the spoken record

Alisher Vohidov

lines on the record: 26
first: 1998-09-24
most recent: 2005-09-24
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

“Any protraction of the process could seriously paralyse the system of international relations, allow current threats and challenges to become irreversible, and lead to a situation in which the international community is unable to take timely and appropriate measures. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the readiness of Uzbekistan to cooperate actively with other States in creating more effective and just United Nations.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Uzbekistan is providing broad support to the Afghan people, as well as to relevant mechanisms of the United Nations and other international organizations, to aid the reconstruction process in that country. Five years after the Millennium Summit, Member States have adopted an historic decision to launch reform and renovate the mechanisms of the United Nations. We have a unique opportunity to carry out more far-reaching reforms to adapt the Organization to new realities. The aim of those reforms is to ensure the well-being and prosperity of all our peoples. Today the time has come to make decisions and take action.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“We reiterate our position that it is unacceptable to politicize the issue of human rights or to be selective in reviewing human rights situations, even more so when United Nations bodies or mechanisms are involved. The establishment of a stable and long-lasting peace in Afghanistan is of strategic value for Uzbekistan. In that context, we welcome the parliamentary elections that were held in Afghanistan on 18 September. That event has become another important step towards restoring statehood to Afghanistan. Uzbekistan supports the efforts aimed at the prompt stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan. Considering Afghanistan to be a part of the Central Asian region, we encourage its active participation in regional integration processes.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“There is no doubt that protection of human rights needs to be one of the core tasks for the United Nations. Uzbekistan is a party to all the major international human rights instruments and it is steadily moving towards democracy and the formation of a civil society. One important step in that direction was the decision to abolish the death penalty in the country, as proposed by Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov. We are convinced that reform of the United Nations human rights system needs to be carried out step by step, consistently, and taking into account the concerns of all interested parties. Along with political rights, it is necessary to strengthen other human rights, 27 including socio-economic and environmental rights.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“On that issue, we need to move urgently from words to action. In that connection, we are counting on the international community’s firm support for Uzbekistan’s initiative to establish a Central Asian regional information and coordination centre to counter transboundary crimes related to drug trafficking. The President returned to the Chair. Together with the pressing problems of development and security there is the issue of human rights. That issue is central to forging a new path in international relations, and to United Nations reform, in particular. In his report, “In larger freedom” (A/59/2005), the Secretary-General notes that international treaties adopted over the past six decades form an impressive normative basis for ensuring full international acknowledgement and respect for human rights and freedoms.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“It is unacceptable to further delay taking measures against those international centres of terrorism and extremism that — under the guise of espousing universal human values — in fact develop and disseminate ideologies of fanaticism. In that connection, we welcome the Security Council’s most recent counter-terrorism resolution — resolution 1624 (2005) of 14 September 2005 — on the suppression of incitement to terrorist acts. At the same time, we believe it is crucial not to allow double standards in the implementation of that instrument. Those considerations should also be concerns in the process of drafting a universal convention on international terrorism. A powerful accomplice of international terrorism is drug trafficking. Unfortunately, no actual progress has been seen in reducing drug production in Afghanistan.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Member States should pool their efforts to tackle problems of environmental degradation, shortages of water resources and drinking water and the deterioration of environmental conditions in cities and industrial zones. The global environmental agenda also calls for the pressing issues of desertification, biodiversity and climate change to be addressed. Acts of terrorism carried out in many regions of the world, including Central Asia, have once again reminded us of the need for a critical assessment of the practice of international cooperation, including within the United Nations, to counter that plague of the twenty-first century, which threatens rich and poor States alike.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“We believe it important for the concerned regional commissions of the United Nations — the Economic Commission for Europe and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific — to strengthen their work to assist economic development in Central Asia, with a view to the greater and broader involvement of the countries of the region in international economic relations and investment cooperation. We are of the view that the international community, including the United Nations, should pay serious attention to the question of creating a Central Asian common market capable of ensuring the rational and effective use of the rich potential and resources of the region. Uzbekistan supports all efforts to ensure sustainable development.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“The effectiveness of the principle of moving from regional to global approaches has already been proved on many occasions. At present, Uzbekistan is implementing its national goals for economic development. It is carrying out economic reforms and taking measures to strengthen regional economic cooperation. However, any national efforts need to be supported by international economic structures. It is important that genuine conditions for an equal and fair international economic order be established. International donors must provide their full support for regional cooperation, and interested developing countries, in turn, need to make that kind of cooperation an integral part of their national strategy.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“There is a real danger that if the United Nations fails to take action, its coordinating role will gradually pass to other international structures, which lack the degree of broad representation that the United Nations enjoys. Thirdly, the reform of three main bodies of the United Nations — the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council — should provide balance in their work. In that regard, we consider it to be in our common interest that Security Council reform not be prolonged. It should be carried 26 out during the main part of the sixtieth session, before the year is out. Fourthly, regional approaches should be given priority in dealing with development, security and human rights issues.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“But, in our view, our primary task is to ensure their full implementation and not to allow inertia to impede this, as has been the case in the process of implementing the Millennium Development Goals. Strengthening the capacity of the United Nations to achieve its goals in the three areas of development, security and human rights requires appropriate and active adaptation of the entire United Nations system. In this connection we consider it important to make the following comments. First, regardless of how important it is to reform and modernize the United Nations, there is, at present, no alternative to the Organization. Secondly, further delay in reform of the most important bodies of the Organization will negatively impact its role in the modern world.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“First of all, let me take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Jan Eliasson on his election to the high position of President of the General Assembly and to wish him every success in guiding the work of the session. I would also like to thank his predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping, for his able leadership as the President of the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session. It is obvious that the years-long process of reorganizing the entire system of international relations, in particular reform of the United Nations, has been unreasonably delayed. The 2005 summit was an important stage in exploring mutually acceptable formulas and in adopting goals whose implementation will lead us to the achievement of development and security. Some of the decisions taken at the summit were medium-term and others long-term in nature.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“In conclusion, I should like to stress in particular that our relationship with the United Nations is intended not only to obtain assistance and support, but primarily to enable us to play our full part in the successful implementation of the purposes and principles of the United Nations and to give fresh content to the activities of the Organization.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It has an acute need for the experience and know-how of international bodies. At the same time, our republic is devoting great attention to the question of recruiting Uzbek experts for the activities of a variety of United Nations bodies. Let me stress that the level of training and knowledge of Uzbek specialists is fully in keeping with the requirements for recruitment to the bodies and specialized agencies of the United Nations system. I am confident that specialists from Uzbekistan can and should contribute to the work of international organizations.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We are obliged to say that the idea is gaining ground in the international community that the Aral crisis can be contained through humanitarian operations. That is not the case. This is an extraordinary ecological problem that requires the establishment within the United Nations system of a regional commission on the ecology of Aral Sea. This initiative is justified by the need to formulate and implement a specific long-term strategy and programme for resolving the Aral crisis on the basis of the principles of sustainable development, maintaining the standard of living of the people of the region, and ensuring a decent life for future generations. Modern Uzbekistan is in the process of establishing a State based on the rule of law, a civil society and an effective, socially oriented market economy.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“When considering potential threats to national security, we ought today to give special attention to problems of ecological security and environmental protection. It is common knowledge that the drying up of the Aral Sea has caused many complex ecological, socio- economic and demographic problems, whose origins and gravity are international, even global. The Aral crisis is one of the most serious of the world’s ecological and humanitarian disasters. It has had a direct impact on more than 35 million people who live in the Aral Sea basin. A number of decisions have been adopted at international and regional meetings on the problem of the Aral Sea. But these have not been backed up by practical 18 action.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Allow me to cite the closing statement of the President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second session, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko: “In a decision designed to further promote the regime of nuclear nonproliferation, the Assembly adopted a consensus resolution supporting the initiative to establish one more nuclear-weapon-free zone, in Central Asia. The significance of that step became even more apparent in the light of the recent nuclear tests in southern Asia”. (A/52/PV.92) Here, let me express our special gratitude to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and to the Under- Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, for their well-informed and strong support of this initiative.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In this connection, Uzbekistan has taken the initiative to establish within the framework of the United Nations a commission for the prevention of terrorist activities and for fighting international terrorism. The main task of such a commission would be to formulate recommendations on questions relating to the fight against international terrorism. Making use of legal norms, the United Nations could prosecute the organizers and perpetrators of terrorist acts. If Member States support this initiative, Uzbekistan will take an active part in bringing it to fruition. Uzbekistan has consistently taken steps to ensure peace and strengthen regional security. One of these is Uzbekistan’s initiative to establish a Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone. Considerable progress has already been made to implement this idea.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In particular, once again we call for the elaboration of special programmes to plan for concrete, joint action by the States of Central Asia and the European Union. Unfortunately, terrorist acts have become a common occurrence in many countries. Existing international mechanisms to fight terrorism, including political isolation, economic sanctions and direct military intervention, are not achieving results. We should have no illusions about this phenomenon. Today we need coordinated and targeted action by the entire international community. In that connection, we welcome discussion of one of the most complex issues in international law: the possibility of and need for a new approach to the problem of terrorism. The importance of resolving this whole set of problems is obvious.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Government of Uzbekistan welcomes the efforts of the United Nations to counter the spread of narcotic drugs and to implement the Political Declaration adopted at the twentieth special session of the General Assembly, held in New York in June 1998. Today, in some European countries, up to 90 per cent of the narcotic drugs consumed originate in Afghanistan. The international community is aware of the need to take coordinated action to counter illegal trafficking in narcotic substances and to implement the principles of international cooperation in this area on the basis of mutual assistance and solidarity. However, we believe that these principles should also reflect specific regional aspects.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The problems that affect the vital interests of Uzbekistan, in particular the establishment of lasting peace in Tajikistan, the cessation of war in Afghanistan, the imposition of an arms embargo on the Afghan zone of conflict, the establishment of a Central Asian nuclear- weapon-free zone, the construction of transport communications and the revival of Aral Sea are all part of global international processes that are under way and could be implemented under the aegis of the United Nations. I believe that the events of the last decade have convinced everyone that no State can, on its own, resolve transnational security problems such as illicit drug- trafficking, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of their components.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We also commend the efforts of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi. Recent developments in Afghanistan have confirmed that one of the most important conditions for the restoration of peace in the Islamic State of Afghanistan is the achievement of consensus at the regional level and the elaboration, under the aegis of the United Nations, of a 17 single position to be taken by the countries that have an influence on events in that country. Cooperation with the Afghan factions in order to reach a speedy settlement of the Afghan conflict is the ultimate goal of the proposed on-site meeting of the Six Plus Two group in Tashkent. We hope for further support for this proposal from interested States and the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“However, the implementation of these projects should not cause confrontation, but should on the contrary promote stability and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the States of the region. Given the ongoing hostilities in Afghanistan, the importance of the Six Plus Two group as a full-fledged negotiating instrument is growing. Within that framework — and with the cooperation of the inter-Afghan forces — it is possible not merely to elaborate the terms of reconciliation but also the necessary measures to restore statehood to that country and bring about its economic revival. In that connection, we fully support the decisions of the meeting of the Six Plus Two group held at the level of Ministers for Foreign Affairs, which took place on 21 September of this year in New York.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Six Plus Two group, with the participation of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries, as well as the United States and the Russian Federation, which was established as a result of a proposal by Uzbekistan, is today, in our opinion, the only effective international mechanism within the United Nations capable of launching the peace process. Its task is not to condemn the warring factions, to criticize them or to support one of them against the others. We are united by a common goal, which is to find a path to stability, security and peace. A great deal of interest is now focused on energy projects and transport communications in the region.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The international community fully recognizes the danger of recent developments in Afghanistan, South Asia and the Republic of Tajikistan. There is an enormous potential for conflict in this subregion today. The threat that the Afghan conflict may explode and spread to neighbouring States remains a real one. Uzbekistan has repeatedly appealed to the international community from this rostrum for assistance in resolving the Afghan problem. This goal should be served, inter alia, by our initiative to impose an arms embargo on Afghanistan. The appeal to halt deliveries of weaponry and matériel to all parties to the conflict has been reflected in numerous Security Council resolutions and awaits the creation of an effective mechanism within the United Nations so that it can be implemented.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Allow me first of all to offer my sincere congratulations to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Mr. Didier Opertti, on his election to the post of President of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session and to wish him every success in this important task. I am confident that his long experience and abilities will contribute to the successful outcome of the current session of the General Assembly. I should also like to express our appreciation to the previous President of the General Assembly, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for his energetic and professional work. I would like to take this opportunity to draw the Assembly’s attention to the problems that are of greatest concern to the States of our region.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)