UN GENERAL DEBATE CONTINUES: UK, PALESTINE AND

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000873 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON UNGA AORL MW HA NH BY BG NP UK, JM, BT, BU, WS, BF, VC, AU, NU SUBJECT: UN GENERAL DEBATE CONTINUES: UK, PALESTINE AND OTHERS REF: USUN NEW YORK 831 ¶1. SUMMARY: On the morning of September 26, the UNGA General Debate continued to address the global financial crisis, climate change, natural disasters, and restarting the Doha round of trade talks. The following heads of state spoke: Montenegro, Haiti, Vanuatu. Heads of Government and high-level representatives from Burundi, Bangladesh, Nepal, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Samoa, the Bahamas, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Palestine, Austria, and Nicaragua also spoke. All statements are available at www.un.org/ga/63/generaldebate. END SUMMARY. PALESTINE, OTHERS CALL FOR A "TWO-STATE SOLUTION" -------------- -------------- ¶2. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas urged a two-state solution, using the 1967 borders. He lamented that Palestine had not reached an agreement with Israel that would end "Israeli Occupation," particularly in Eastern Jerusalem. He questioned whether peace was possible without complete restoration of Arab territories. Abbas thanked President Bush and the Secretary for their role in advancing negotiations. Abbas frequently reproached the condition of Palestinians in jails, in the Gaza strip, and in refugee camps. Throughout the morning, several leaders reiterated (in the case of Jamaica, nearly verbatim),UK Prime Minister Brown's call for a two-state solution that guarantees the security of Israel and gives the Palestinians viable statehood. COUNTRIES JOIN UK'S CALL FOR COLLECTIVE RESPONSE TO FINANCIAL CRISIS -------------- --- ¶3. The United Kingdom called on nations to jointly address the "twin shocks" of rising commodity prices and a global credit crunch, adding that we must all resist the urge towards isolationism. The United States deserves the support of the rest of the world as it develops concrete measures to stabilize its financial markets, he continued. A revitalized global financial system should be based on the principles of transparency, sound banking regulations, responsibility, integrity and a global supervisory mechanism to oversee global capital exchanges - proposals which Jamaica, Burundi and others echoed. REFORMING THE UN FOR GLOBAL PEACE -------------- ¶4. Most speakers called for the reform and democratization of the United Nations in order to more efficiently deal with global security concerns. Vanuatu advocated for Japan and India to be granted permanent seats on the Security Council. Montenegro and Samoa welcomed the upcoming intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform, and Haiti lauded General Assembly President D'Escoto's call for a high-level dialogue on democratizing the United Nations (reftel). Meanwhile, Austria asserted its readiness to serve on the UN Security Council. Bulgaria noted the need for intensive partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations, particularly in light of situations in the Balkans and recent aggression in Georgia. CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS -------------- -------------- ¶5. Most countries placed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the context of global trends and the food, energy, financial, and climate crises. The island nations of Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa and Vanuatu discussed the need to address climate change since rising ocean levels and increased tropical storms can destroy progress toward the MDGs. These nations also called attention to the Pacific Island nations' proposal to address climate change in the UNSC; Austria also voiced support. Speakers repeated calls for developed nations to meet their pledge of providing 0.7 percent of GDP for development assistance. TRADE AS A MECHANISM TO BOOST DEVELOPMENT -------------- ¶6. Using similar language, countries on both sides of the North-South trade divide called for an immediate and successful conclusion to the Doha round of World Trade Organization trade talks. The UK called for an end to protectionism and trade-distorting subsidies costing developing countries billions of U.S. dollars each year in agricultural Qme. Vanuatu thanked the United States for its development assistance; while Haiti asserted that the internationaQmmunity must breaQe "paradigm of charity" and agree instead upon fair and transparent trade liberalization policies. The Bahamas and St. Vincent and the Grenadines also called for equality in global markets. Jamaica noted its disappointment that the Doha round has failed to create a fair, equitable system and called on all parties to return to negotiations. Khalilzad