Peru

Mr. President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Distinguished delegates of the nations of the world,

I come from Peru, a country with an enormous history and cultural wealth, which has been the cradle of civilization in our Americas, and whose leadership I assumed with firmness and courage on December 7, 2022, facing a coup d'état in the midst of a political and social crisis that we have managed to overcome within the framework of our Constitution.

Today, as I have the honor of being the first woman constitutional president of the republic, and of leading my country's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, I thank the international community for this recognition. Peru is once again on the world stage, hand in hand with the peoples of the world.

I am a woman from the provinces, a Quechua speaker, born in the highlands of the southern Peruvian Andes, and I lead a government that, within the framework of the law and facing difficult challenges, both from nature and from the international scene, has restored stability and hope to a country seeking its economic development with social justice.

First of all, allow this message that I address to you to pay well-deserved tribute to women, girls, and adolescent girls, especially Peruvian women.

¡AMAÑA WARMI MAQAY KACHUNCHU!

In our runasimi I want to say to the world: No more violence against women!

Mr. President,

Peru is a country that respects democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and international law. For this reason, it actively promotes Latin American integration and is firmly committed to cooperation among countries.

Peru promotes peace. And to achieve that peace it is necessary to apply the Charter of the United Nations under all circumstances.

Therefore, Mr. President, we reaffirm and defend the principle of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of all States.

Mr. President,

As a daughter of the southern Andean region of my country, I have directly known the suffering caused by poverty. Therefore, I am fully aware that, as we reaffirmed in the political declaration we adopted yesterday, "eradicating poverty is the greatest challenge facing the world and is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development."

This is the main objective of my government, and that is why we are committed to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Today, in this forum, I want to reaffirm Peru's voice so that the international community gives the highest priority to eradicating poverty. It is a commitment on which we cannot, and must not, give up!

From Peru we are adopting policies to address not only monetary poverty but also multidimensional poverty, promoting, among other important actions, access to drinking water and basic sanitation.

In nine months of governance we have unblocked more than 100 paralyzed projects, which will provide water to the sisters and brothers of my country.

The crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, growing geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts, and rising food prices are overwhelming our peoples and have paused our potential for growth and development.

If these trends continue, as Secretary-General António Guterres tells us, nearly 600 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030, and only a third of countries would achieve the goal of halving their national poverty levels. We cannot accept that scenario!

The time is now!

Either we progress together or we all condemn ourselves: "United, everything; divided, we all lose."

And this brings us to a further challenge. Our development agenda has as its motto MANAN PITAPAS QIPAPI SAQISPA, which in our Quechua means "leaving no one behind."

However, today millions of human beings are on the move, sometimes literally, carrying their families and their scant belongings on their backs, in search of well-being or simply survival, in the face of conflicts, unemployment, and extreme poverty.

The current state of human mobility requires bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation.

In this regard, Peru is making an enormous effort, but only through international cooperation will we be able to achieve safe, orderly, and regular migration.

Mr. President, health has already shown us that it is not a problem for a few, but for everyone.

My country was one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which cost the lives of more than 200,000 fellow citizens and revealed the gaps and shortcomings of our health system.

And this year we have faced resurgences of dengue, measles, and polio epidemics, as well as an outbreak of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Therefore, my government is firmly committed to guaranteeing access to and comprehensive, free, and universal health care for all, without exception.

To achieve this, we are improving the coverage of the national vaccination scheme, and reinforcing health infrastructure and equipment.

We have managed to vaccinate more than 1,900,000 girls and boys from 2 months to 5 years of age against polio and measles, and we continue, tirelessly, unblocking hospital projects paralyzed by negligence and corruption.

In addition, we have made cancer prevention and treatment a national objective, and currently 20 of Peru's 26 regions have at least one oncology service.

In these areas, international cooperation must ensure quality and accessible health goods and services for all, especially for developing countries, where the gaps are much wider.

In Peru, we observe with concern the growing internationalization of criminal networks fueled by the corruption of past governments, which have damaged the credibility of institutions and democracy, affecting the development and well-being of our citizens.

Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen our joint work. We cannot lower our guard against crime, organized crime, and drug trafficking! These problems affect us all, and we must all be part of the solution!

Our children and grandchildren are at risk of living the hell that the triple environmental crisis would bring, now that we are entering the "era of global boiling," as the Secretary-General of the United Nations has called it.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution put our very existence as humanity at risk. From Peru, we are confronting it with urgency and determination.

At the beginning of the year, heavy rains affected northern Peru, followed by the onslaught of Cyclone Yaku.

In the south, droughts and frosts seriously harmed people, agriculture, and livestock, in addition to recurring anomalous swells in the Pacific, which prevent regular operations at our fishing ports.

Finally, we face the growing threat of the coastal El Niño phenomenon, which will be followed by the impact of the global El Niño.

An action-oriented approach with preventive measures is urgently needed.

That is why, from this high podium, I call for solidarity and international cooperation.

For the first time, a government in my country has undertaken a major action campaign in the face of global El Niño with an investment of 4 billion soles, equivalent to more than one billion dollars.

We are also joining the "Early Warnings for All" initiative, presented by the Secretary-General, so that by the end of 2027, all inhabitants of the planet are protected against weather phenomena.

This, ladies and gentlemen, will save many lives.

In addition to this, Mr. President, allow me to propose the following today: a pact, a commitment to cooperation and international action for the immediate response to the impact of weather phenomena such as El Niño, a pact based on solidarity, resilience, and interdependence.

Today it is Peru's turn to face El Niño. Tomorrow nature may turn its fury on another destination, but united, as I always say in my country, we can move forward.

Let us make this pact a pact for the world, a pact for life!

Developing countries have made progress in reducing carbon emissions, but we remain the most affected by climate disasters.

Last month the eight Amazonian countries held a presidential summit, at which we agreed on measures for the conservation and sustainable use of the Amazon, the fight against deforestation, and urgent action to avoid the point of no return.

There, Peru presented its vision of an "Amazon with a human face." With a human face because the Amazon, which makes up 61% of Peru's territory, is not a sanctuary occupied solely by nature: it is home to nearly 5 million Peruvian men and women.

It is still possible to limit the increase in global temperature to within 1.5 degrees Celsius, as we set out in the Paris Agreement. But forceful actions will be necessary.

This means that developed countries must not only adopt more ambitious emissions reduction targets, but must also honor their commitments on technology transfer and climate financing.

Today, more than ever, it is urgent to mobilize the 100 billion dollars annually for climate action in developing countries to which they committed, as well as to establish the loss and damage fund agreed at the last Conference of the Parties (COP).

At this forum, Mr. President, I wish to report that the Peruvian presidency has already submitted the draft agreement aimed at protecting the marine environment from plastic pollution.

Mr. President,

In my country 48 indigenous languages are spoken, and more than 6 million citizens identify themselves as members of one of Peru's indigenous or native peoples, and more than 800,000 as Afro-Peruvian.

Promoting the full exercise of their rights is a challenge we share with many countries.

And it is our unrenounceable task to continue seeking their inclusion and well-being, providing them with quality services, and fostering respect for their rights, their cultures, and their languages.

Mr. President,

Distinguished delegates,

As we approach the commemoration of the bicentennial of our consolidation as an independent republic, Peru renews its commitment to continue contributing to peace, international development, and the care of the environment.

We have done so during our presidency of the Andean Community, we are doing so from the Pacific Alliance. And we will continue to do so next year from the presidency of the APEC Forum.

We remain firm in our accession process to the OECD, in our participation in the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), and we have begun our approach to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with a view to becoming development partners.

I thus reiterate my invitation to all countries and their economies to continue investing in and trusting Peru.

In my country we await you with clear and transparent rules of the game, with stability and legal certainty, with low inflation, with solid international reserves, and with the sole objective of working for the sustained growth of all, but especially of the most vulnerable.

Mr. President,

The Government of Peru, faithful to its commitment to the United Nations linked to its republican tradition, joins with determination and firmness the global purpose of consolidating the worldwide fight against climate change, defending peace, democracy, unrestricted respect for human rights, international law, sustainable development, and the prosperity to which our peoples aspire, as a matter of justice.

Kuska llancasum, huk sonccollay, huk umalla, huk munaylla, which means:

Let us work together, with one heart, one thought, and one will.

Long live Humanity!

Thank you very much!