I extend Samoa’s congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Csaba Korosi on his assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session. He can be assured of Samoa’s full support in the successful execution of his mandate over the next 12 months.
It is an honour for me to address the Assembly in person as Samoa’s Prime Minister as part of the yearlong celebratory events of the sixtieth anniversary of our independence since we became independent in 1962.
Samoa has for decades championed the importance of the rule of law and the protection of human rights. Many labelled the events that unfolded following our 2021 elections a constitutional crisis. While those were difficult times for Samoa, they were also key to our forward journey as a maturing democracy. They divided our country and tested the key pillars of our society: our faith, our culture and the rule of law. However, my delivering this statement today as the first female Prime Minister of Samoa and bringing about a change in Government after four decades are testaments to the fact that the rule of law has prevailed. Samoa today remains peaceful and stable, despite all the challenges we lived through.
My Government will continue to safeguard the rights of all its citizens, especially the most vulnerable, by strengthening appropriate social protection measures and prioritizing assistance for those most in need. We have focused on people-centred development as pivotal to the implementation of our development agenda over the next five years.
Samoa presented its third universal periodic review in November 2021. We maintain that our Christian values, unique culture and traditions complement our human rights obligations and fundamental freedoms, which we have committed to promote, respect, protect and fulfil.
As we take stock of the global challenges we face, we highlight the need for sustainable measures to address economic recovery following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and urge all nations to resolve and work towards peace and security, enhance resilience from climate change impacts and achieve our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda.
The theme of this year’s general debate, “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”, resonates with Samoa as we clearly recognize that the world is at a critical moment in the history of the United Nations, owing to complex and interconnected crises. We need an effective United Nations to mobilize our collective efforts and to propel urgent actions to address those issues.
The achievement of the SDGs must be the driving force in our collective efforts over the next eight years. Together, we must elevate our actions with a sense of urgency to address the climate emergency or our planet will be lost to us and to future generations. Though we are far removed from the centres of conflict, resultant escalating fuel and food prices and threats of nuclear weapons use have reached our isolation. Yet no one empathizes with the war climate is waging on atoll islanders watching their maritime boundaries disappear fast with sea-level rise.
Samoa stands ready to meet its obligations and commitments to achieving the SDGs. There is a need to strengthen capacity-building at all levels, enhance data and information collection and storage through national and regional climate change portals, as well as invest in robust systems and processes, including reporting and verification, and knowledge brokerage. Improving resilience actions through learning and developing knowledge societies will enable adaptation and responsiveness to future crises.
Both the global financial and governance systems are desperately in need of reform. As the Secretary- General lucidly puts it, the global financial system is morally bankrupt, and it favours the rich and punishes the poor. That must change. The approval and effective implementation of the multidimensional vulnerability index will be a move in the right direction in addressing that imbalance and make the global financial architecture fit for purpose by tackling the financing gaps of small island developing States (SIDS). The full support of all our development partners, international financial institutions and multilateral development banks is critical in ensuring the effective implementation of the multidimensional vulnerability index.
Small island developing States face a unique set of vulnerabilities that impede their ability to achieve sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated those vulnerabilities, with many SIDS being particularly affected by the drop in international tourism and remittances. Consequently, the timely call for and endorsement of a multidimensional vulnerability index will allow for the inclusion of more than just income-based criteria to assess eligibility for concessional finance. A universal multidimensional vulnerability index could be viewed as the foundation upon which the key principles guiding specific responses to our vulnerabilities are anchored. It is an option and not a hindrance. It should be perceived as the landing zone upon which specific responses could be framed depending on the circumstances involved. It is a tool that provides for a richer lens on vulnerability and resilience; its adoption and full implementation are therefore critical to our economic recovery.
Climate change remains our number one priority. The scientific evidence is clear and irrefutable. For Pacific communities, the main challenge is securing action for survival, and we all need to shoulder our responsibilities and play our part. The big polluters and emitters have a moral obligation and responsibility to
meet their commitments ahead of the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), because they hold the key to our achieving the 1.5°C promise of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We call on all parties to commit to more ambitious nationally determined contributions to meet the Paris Agreement promise, as we are all part of the solution.
Our global commitment to implementing the Paris Agreement is critical. Even if warming is limited to 1.5°C, SIDS will continue to incur severe loss and damage. We must therefore promote recovery investments that are climate-smart, resilient and in line with net-zero emissions by 2050. We are at the doorstep of COP27. We must work diligently to generate solutions to meet expectations. The achievement of a 50/50 split between mitigation and adaptation funding is of paramount importance to Samoa and SIDS. We should not put out the flame of loss and damage.
Natural disasters continue to devastate countless lives. Recent climate events are transboundary and drive home the reality that no country is immune to the impacts of climate change. Those environmental threats will worsen. The triple planetary crisis is the alarm knell that is reminding us that we are putting immeasurable pressure on the planet. Our relentless need to extract resources from nature is causing disruptions, propelling climate change, destroying nature and raising pollution levels.
Any response programmes must be informed by our commitment to science for informed policy and law and institutions that strengthen environmental governance. We seek to further enable change through transformations in finance and economic systems and by leveraging data and technology for the environment. Small island developing States like Samoa do not always have the requisite levels of capabilities and capacity to repurpose and redirect financial and economic systems towards sustainability, improve the effectiveness of legal frameworks, deliver science as the catalyst for action and be digitally connected.
The ocean is in us, and we are the ocean. It is the lifeblood of our blue Pacific nations — the lungs of our planet. But while its sustainable use provides a strategic pathway towards our sustainable development, we must also address the associated risks. The health of the ocean is a key priority. We must therefore continue to advance work on the ocean-climate nexus, such as by empowering women, girls and youth with relevant knowledge and skills to contribute to the health of the ocean.
The recent Our Ocean Conference in Palau and the second Ocean Conference in Lisbon were opportunities to take stock of SDG 14 and we welcome the call for more investment in making the ocean and its resources more sustainable. Of all the SDGs, life below water is the most underfunded. That must change. We need to attract and retain sustainable and innovative investment, including foreign direct investment through blending, guarantees and other innovative financial instruments. Our global community must focus on the work that remains to be accomplished. The pledges and commitments made at those two conferences and at COP26 are inconsequential if they are not delivered on time to effect actions on the ground.
Samoa’s marine protection goals, outlined in our first ocean strategy, are aligned to the Blue Leaders 30x30 campaign, as are calls for protecting 30 per cent of our global oceans by 2030. We welcome the complementarity of such initiatives and encourage others to join.
The Pacific Ocean hosts a remarkable array of biodiversity. With our blue Pacific family, Samoa continues to prioritize both marine and terrestrial ecosystems restoration. We remain engaged in the Convention on Biological Diversity process. Together with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and COP27, 2022 is a critical year for aligning action to tackle the climate emergency and addressing the threats posed by biodiversity loss.
The Pacific SIDS subscribe to the position that preserving maritime zones and the rights and entitlements that flow from them give expression not only to the foundational principles of equity and stability, but also to the notion of climate justice deeply rooted in human rights and the principles of international law. In that vein, we urge all Member States to inject a sense of urgency into efforts to conclude negotiations on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond areas of national jurisdiction. Samoa pledges its support to the Vanuatu initiative to seek an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on climate change.
We must unite to prevent and reduce marine pollution, including plastics, oil spills, waste discharge and nuclear contaminants. If we continue down the current path, we will fish out of our oceans more plastics than fish. Pacific SIDS contribute less than 1.3 per cent of the mismanaged plastics in the world’s oceans yet are among the main recipients of plastics pollution and its impacts.
The effects of overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing are a major concern for Pacific economies. Lost revenues are in the billions. The increased acidification of our ocean is already destroying entire reef ecosystems. Reef damage affects fish population, which in turn affects entire fisheries upon which we rely for our livelihoods.
The global food system is at a critical stage, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, the onslaught of climate change and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The Food Systems Summit held last year mobilized the global community to find transformative solutions. Samoa was pleased to be part of that important event, which encouraged shared exploration of potential for collective action.
Through organized dialogues, Samoa benefited from a comprehensive assessment of the issues involved in building the sustainability of our food systems. Access to a balanced and nutritional diet is crucial and requires a return to locally produced, high-quality fresh foods and less of processed imported foods. That will be key to addressing the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which represent the single largest cause of premature mortality in the Pacific countries, including Samoa. With support from our development partners, the Samoa Government launched the first comprehensive NCD control programme among Pacific Island countries, in May 2020. Its aim was to build people-centred and systematic NCD service provision in Samoa to strengthen primary health care, empower community participation, promote early detection and effective referral of NCDs, and increase population awareness of NCD risk factors.
We continue to call for a future of peaceful and open societies, free from wars, nuclear weapons and the threat of terrorism. The Boe Declaration on Regional Security defines for the Pacific what constitutes security concerns. Those are primarily non-conventional in nature, ranging from climate to environmental and resource security, human and cybersecurity, and transnational crimes. The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, adopted by Pacific Island Forum leaders at their July 2022 meeting, will support and strengthen the key tenets of the Boe Declaration.
While Samoa welcomes development partners on our terms, we note with concern the ongoing geopolitical posturing in our region and call for our national and collective interests to be placed at the forefront, for a peaceful and secure blue Pacific continent.
We are concerned about the serious shortfalls in the implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, noting that nuclear-weapon States have spent billions of dollars on modernizing and maintaining their nuclear arsenals rather than on helping the victims of past use and testing of nuclear weapons and focusing on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The increasing use of information and communications technology has raised issues of security and privacy. Online cybercriminal activities have increased, including the dissemination of disinformation and the misuse of information.
We rely on our collective responsibility as a global community to prevent and combat high-tech cyber- and electronic crimes. Samoa believes those are crucial processes at the multilateral level in ensuring that cyberspace is safe for all. We therefore need to work together to combat and eliminate those destabilizing activities.
Accelerated action to meet the promise of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs is an imperative. COVID-19 and climate change have uprooted and even reversed hard- fought development gains. However, we must persist to meet the SDGs, as they provide the best option for a brighter future and countering the threats posed by the climate crisis.
We should not forget the commitments and undertakings made towards the full implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway. I thank all SIDS partners and the Secretary- General for their continuous support and commitment to that task. The proposed monitoring framework for the SAMOA Pathway is a necessary tool for followup action and review, allowing for effective resource allocation and accountability. Outstanding issues relating to the framework must be concluded urgently, considering the fast-approaching timeline set out in the Secretary-General’s report on that matter (A/73/226),
as well as the fast-approaching timeline of the 2024 SIDS conference.
No country should be placed in a situation of choosing between rebuilding its economy and servicing its debt obligations. The March 2021 report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted that SIDS simply cannot support their SDGs and fund their core needs on their own under the prevailing conditions of economic contraction. Tourism may never return to pre-COVID-19 levels. Aviation services will be slow to recover, and one casualty of the pandemic, in our case, was the recent demise of our national airline, Samoa Airways.
Many Pacific Island countries rely on remittances from diasporas and communities. Apart from being an important source of income for families and foreign exchange reserves for Governments, remittances are an important buffer in periods of economic shocks and natural disasters. Yet the cost of sending remittances to the Pacific is over 10 per cent, which is higher than the global average and 7 per cent higher than the target set by the SDGs.
According to the 2021 IMF report, the Pacific region is in a recession. Income, demand for regional exports and tourism receipts have all recorded reductions, while public spending continues on an upward trajectory. The projected outcome is a greater risk of debt distress. It is also the case that most of the Pacific debts are with multilateral agencies. While the adoption of austerity measures is an option, there is also the real possibility that this may worsen poverty and undermine economic recovery.
Multilateralism and united international cooperation are our best response to the many threats we face, as building resilience at the national level can only take us so far. Samoa is confident that despite all the challenges — existential threats for some of us — there is still hope if there is unity among our United Nations family. We need to change our world for the better and leave hope for our future generations.
The COVID-19 situation, forcing border lockdowns and state-of-emergency restrictions further emphasize the importance of digitalization for the SIDS to build resilience and meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Samoa will continue to prioritize the need to invest in digital technologies and promote a digital economy and connectivity. This is key to stimulating business opportunities and increasing productivity and growth in more traditional sectors, such as agriculture and tourism. Investment in innovation and digitalization for Samoa can enable more efficient delivery of health and education, improve connectivity between rural and urban communities, advance economic empowerment for women and youth, and assist with more efficient public-service delivery.
To fully realize the benefits of a digital economy, Samoans must be able to connect with and trust the technology; an enabling business environment must be in place; and investment in education, skills, and digital literacy is paramount. The availability of fast, reliable and affordable internet services to Government, the business community and the public is crucial. In the agriculture and health sectors, we are investing in digital solutions for contact-tracing and for information-sharing between farmers. We recently launched our e-health system to improve medical record-keeping and strengthen health information and vital statistics. More importantly, as we expect increasing health-security threats, this e-health system will be vital to protecting the health and well-being of our population and enhance its resilience. Our experiences with COVID-19 and the ongoing fight with climate change reinforce our conviction of the importance of technology and online distance learning to provide access to quality education for all.
We should not lose sight of the fact that, while pursuing these home-grown solutions, we do not end up creating disparity between those who can and those who cannot gain access to or afford these solutions. But I am convinced that embracing technology and knowledge-sharing for our people will be a powerful driver for change, innovation and welfare.
The report of the Secretary-General entitled “Our Common Agenda” (A/75/982) highlights the urgency of reforming our global governance system. The coronavirus disease is upending our world, threatening our health, destroying economies and livelihoods and deepening poverty and inequalities. Increasingly, people are turning their backs on the values of trust in and solidarity with one another — the very values we need to rebuild our world and secure a better, more sustainable future for our people and our planet. We agreed that our challenges are interconnected, cross borders and all other divides and can only be addressed by an equally interconnected response, through reinvigorated multilateralism with the United Nations at the centre of our efforts. “Our Common Agenda” is,
above all, an agenda of action designed to accelerate the implementation of existing agreements, including the Sustainable Development Goals, and it is our road map to recapturing this positive spirit and beginning to rebuild our world and mend the trust in one another that is needed at this moment in history. Just as with the Security Council and the global financial system, Samoa is convinced that now is the opportune moment to bring about reforms that would make our global response to future crises and emergencies more effective and timelier, and that an all-United Nations institutional approach is a necessity.
In conclusion, let me end by reaffirming Samoa’s commitment to the United Nations and our conviction that it remains the foremost forum to address all issues that transcend national boundaries. As we look to the future, the collective hope for humankind is for leaders to take tough decisions for the health of our planet. Entrenched positions detached from today’s realities and designed to pursue unrelated agendas do not have a place in our collective efforts. While we need to make bold and courageous decisions, let us protect the safety nets crucial to our existence.
There is a saying in my country that goes
“Aua le naunau i le i’a ae ia manumanu i le upegcT, which translates to
“Hunger not for the fish at the risk of ruining
your net”.
I am grateful to be able to make this statement on behalf of my country.