Today, in New York City, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon spoke at the General Debates of the 70th session of United Nations General Assembly and drew the attention of the world community to the settlement of global problems of humanity.

At the outset, the Head of Tajik state Emomali Rahmon extended congratulations to Mr. Mogens Lykketoft on his election as the President of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, and stated that “The current session of the UN General Assembly offers a unique opportunity to comprehend the accomplishments of the United Nations during its 70 years’ history and to reiterate our resolution to meet aspirations and hopes of our peoples for a secure and sustainable development.”

The President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, summing up the 70 years of activities of the United Nations, noted in particular that “For 70 years the UN has guarded peace and security, development of international cooperation and human rights. Over this brief, in terms of history period, the United Nations has done a lot to promote stability, sustainable development, reduction of poverty and inequality”. “Over these years, - stressed Emomali Rahmon, thanks to collective mechanisms of interaction, the development of international cooperation has achieved considerable success. The other day the Summit adopted the new Agenda for Sustainable Development, which lays down the foundation and identifies the areas of further efforts of the international community at achieving sustainable development that would meet the interests of all peoples and each individual”.

The President of the country in his speech also noted a special contribution of the United Nations to sustaining the establishment of new independent states and their further development, and reminded that “When at the dawn of its independence Tajikistan experienced difficulties of transition period, it received every kind of support from the United Nations, and this support enabled the country to embark on the road of democratic development with confidence”.

The Head of state reminded about the role of Tajikistan in the fight against terrorism and extremism, transnational organized crime, illicit drug trafficking and arms smuggling, human trafficking, and in the advancement of the UN water agenda, and stated that “Our police officers are participating in the joint peacekeeping operations of the UN and the African Union in Darfur and are contributing to peace building process shoulder to shoulder with the colleagues from other member states. The Drug Control Agency that was established with the UN support, continues to play an important role in combating illicit drug trafficking. Since 1995 the Tajikistan National drug enforcement authorities have confiscated one hundred eleven metric tons of narcotics. This amount is equal to 206 million 650 thousand drug dozes, and can have turned 50 million people the world over into drug abusers”.

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon expressed concern over the increase in the number of armed conflicts and acts of terror, food, energy and financial and economic crises, degradation of environment, climate change, spread of infectious diseases and called upon the world community for a concerted and comprehensive response. President noted in this context that “the UN remains the key platform for achievement of consensus on the key issues of international security and development, and also for coordination of joint actions of the entire international community in meeting numerous global challenges and risks”.

Emomali Rahmon stated that “throughout joint efforts, we should search for ways of addressing the issues of poverty reduction, dealing with the negative impact of globalization, preventing and resolving regional conflicts and proposed at the current stage that “the need to strengthen intercultural and interfaith dialogue, mutual trust and tolerance is of special importance”.

The President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon expressed his views on the current situation in Afghanistan and stated that “Tajikistan stands for expanding friendly and good neighboring relations with Afghanistan, and calls on the international community to support the efforts of the Government of this country at achieving peace and stability by addressing the social and economic problems, continuing the process of national reconciliation and dialogue, and involving the country in the regional cooperation”. Tajikistan continues to make its practical contribution to the social and economic development of the neighboring state.

In his speech the President of Tajikistan also touched upon the issues of climate change and expressed hope that the member states will take advantage of an opportunity to meet in Paris in December 2015 and will adopt a new document on climate change based on the principles of the UNFCCC and by doing so will lay down one of the foundations for a transit to sustainable development. “We believe that such a transit requires not only an industrial modernization based on innovative technologies, but also cardinal changes in mindset and consumption pattern”, - stressed President Emomali Rahmon.

President of the country Emomali Rahmon mentioned that 2015 is the final year of the International Decade of Action “Water for Life, 2005-2015” – a global project, approved by the UNGA, in support of the achievement of the MDGs. It was stressed that with the purpose of reviewing the progress and gaps during the implementation of the International Decade of Action the following events were held:           

UNGA High level Interactive Dialogue on a comprehensive review of the progress during the implementation of  the International Decade for Action “Water for Life, 2005-2015” held last March here in New York;

High level International Conference on the implementation of the International water decade held in Dushanbe on June 9-10, 2015.

Moreover, President of Tajikistan, availing himself of this opportunity, extended his appreciation to the member-states, the President of the UNGA, UN Secretary-General, to the UN agencies and institutions, international organizations, representatives of civil society, academia and business for their active participation in the implementation of the Decade and summing up its results.

At the end Head of Tajik state highlighted that “The other day we adopted “a road map” for achieving sustainable development, which incorporates the water component, in a comprehensive manner. In the next fifteen years, against the background of ever-increasing impact on water resources of climate change, degradation of environment, population growth, food and energy crises, we will have to undertake enormous efforts for a timely achievement of the set goals. In our view, development of cooperation, partnership and water diplomacy will promote a timely adoption of relevant measures on mitigation of the impacts of the above destructive processes and timely achievement of the SDGs”. In this regard, Emomali Rahmon, given the need in the development of new bases for strengthening and expanding cooperation at all levels, proposed to consider a possibility of proclaiming a new water decade aimed at promoting the implementation of the new agenda for sustainable development. President of Tajikistan voiced hope that the UN member-states will render support to this proposal”.

Also heads of state and government of the USA, Brazil, China, Russia, Korea, Iran, France, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Finland and others spoke at this session.