It is indeed
an honour for me to address this body for the first time
since assuming the portfolio of Minister for Foreign
Affairs a little over one year ago. I take pleasure in
sharing the perspectives of the Government of Saint
Kitts and Nevis on matters before the General Assembly
during its sixty-ninth session.
Allow me to start by congratulating Mr. Kutesa on
his election to the office of President of the General
Assembly, to steer the course of the Assembly during
this session. Indeed, his sterling contribution in
his native Uganda, where he serves as Minister for
Foreign Affairs, and his efforts at strengthening the
African Union have prepared him for the challenging
task of finalizing the development of the post-2015
development agenda.
My delegation wishes to commend his predecessor,
Mr. John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, for his
leadership in presiding over the Assembly at its sixty-
eighth session. His focus on the development of the
sustainable development goals and other issues of
importance to small island developing States (SIDS)
and developing countries in particular is worthy of high
commendation.
The theme of the sixty-ninth session, “Delivering
on and implementing a transformative post-2015
development agenda”, is quite timely as we enter a new
dispensation that reflects global priorities that were not
contemplated at the time the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) were conceptualized leading up to
the year 2000. As we work on implementing the
post-2015 development agenda, we must ensure
that the 17 sustainable development goals recently
formulated are effective in building on the foundation
laid by the Millennium Development Goals. It is my
delegation’s hope that the agenda as developed will be
transformative in nature, with a high degree of success
in its overarching objectives — the eradication of
poverty and hunger, and the promotion of sustained and
inclusive economic growth.
We are mindful that MDG 8, which calls for the
strengthening of global partnerships, remains part of
the unfinished business of the Millennium Development
Goals established at the Millennium Summit in 2000. It
is therefore highly important that we take great care in
ensuring that the first 16 sustainable development goals
are buttressed by a robust suite of implementation tools
that will effectively serve as the catalyst for achieving
success in the post-2015 development agenda.
My delegation can never overemphasize the
importance of rendering effective and operational Goal
17, which calls for the strengthening of the means of
implementation and the revitalization of the global
partnership for sustainable development. We are
therefore heartened by the President’s expressed plan to
convene three high-level thematic debates and one high-
level event geared towards, inter alia, strengthening the
means of implementation in order to achieve sustainable
development in its three dimensions.
We pay keen attention to the first event, the
debate on the means of implementation. We are of
the view that achieving sustainable development will
require mobilization and the effective use of financial
resources and technology development and transfer,
in addition to capacity-building at all levels. It will
also entail increased investment in the social sectors,
infrastructure, community development, climate
financing and the protection of global common goods.
The key question before us in relation to the means
of implementation is how we mobilize the significant
resources that will be needed to turn the aspirations
of the post-2015 development agenda into tangible
outcomes. I wish to pledge my Government’s support
in advancing the basic thrust of the President’s tenure.
A strengthened global partnership should foster close
collaboration between and among Governments,
provide for an increased role of the private sector,
ensure a fair international trading regime, and foster
national and foreign direct investments.
My Government wishes to reiterate its firm
commitment to doing its part to ensure that we
achieve the goals developed to sustain economic and
social development in a manner that will preserve
the environment and ensure stable, safe and peaceful
societies. Since our last address to this body, Saint
Kitts and Nevis has solidified its position as a leader in
the Caribbean in attracting foreign direct investment,
specifically in its tourism infrastructure, and
building its industrial base in the light manufacturing
sector — electronics and electrical components. We have
also successfully forged public-private partnerships in
renewable-energy ventures providing sustained growth
for our economy.
One of the peculiar vulnerabilities of small island
developing States such as Saint Kitts and Nevis is
our susceptibility to economic and external shocks,
which results in a state of high indebtedness. It is
no secret that high public debt affects the ability of
Governments to achieve sustainable development in all
its dimensions. In the area of economic sustainability,
we developed in 2011 and successfully implemented
a comprehensive approach to the management of our
national debt. Our plan included debt restructuring
with international financial institutions, an exchange
offer for government bonds, the curtailment of public
borrowing to sustainable levels and a creative land-for-
debt swap initiative.
I am pleased to report that by the end of June, we
had successfully reduced the ratio of our debt to gross
domestic product (GDP) by 50 percentage points, from
over 145 per cent pre-restructuring to 95 per cent now.
I am even more pleased to report that our debt-to-GDP
ratio is projected to decline further, to 85 per cent by the
end of 2014. In spite of our fiscal discipline, however,
it is important for us to be mindful of the fact that one
severe climate event can erase the gains achieved,
effectively sending us into a vicious cycle that makes
it difficult if not impossible to achieve sustainable
development on the economic front.
At this juncture, I would be remiss if I failed to
echo the call for a new paradigm for the assessment
used in the policy of graduation, which currently uses
the narrow policy of per capita gross national income
to confer middle-income and high-income status on
developing countries. Saint Kitts and Nevis is of the
view that that measure is grossly inadequate and needs
to take into account the peculiar vulnerabilities of
SIDS. We commend the Commonwealth secretariat
for the innovative work it has been spearheading to
encourage leading international financial institutions
to accept a broader matrix, including the vulnerability
index, to correctly assess the true economic situation of
SIDS such as Saint Kitts and Nevis.
I must emphasize that graduation to a higher
income category makes it difficult to access resources
to sustain our economic, social and environmental
policy objectives. Borrowing funds at a high rate on
the international market serves only to perpetuate the
vicious cycle of debt and threatens our sustainable
development. That runs contrary to the goals and
objectives of the post-2015 development agenda. In
that connection, I call on the international community,
including the leading international financial
institutions, to broaden the scope of the assessment of
SIDS in order to avoid creating scenarios where debt
sustainability measures undertaken at the national
level are undermined by the policies of international
institutions. Saint Kitts and Nevis stands ready to work
with the international community by contributing its
ideas to the debate in order to ensure a most favourable
outcome.
My delegation is convinced that a nation’s wealth
lies in the health of its people — its productive sector.
We continue to wrestle with the high incidence of
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in our country
and region. We wish to reiterate our call for a strong
global response to combating the high incidence of
non-communicable diseases, in particular in developing
countries. In our last statement to this very body (see
A/68/PV.15), our Prime Minister stressed the need for
this international body to keep on the front burner a
practical strategy to address the high incidence of
NCDs within our region and throughout the world.
In that connection, I wish to commend the outgoing
President of the General Assembly, Ambassador John
Ashe, for convening a number of events focusing on
that matter of great importance to my delegation.
It is our hope that the final report on the
informal interactive hearings with non-governmental
organizations, civil-society organizations, the private
sector and academia on the prevention and control of
NCDs, which was held in June 2014, will serve to build
on the outcome of the initiatives resulting from the
High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases,
held in September 2011 during the Assembly’s sixty-
sixth session, and the work conducted during the
following session.
My delegation is indeed pleased to see the inclusion
of non-communicable diseases in the goals and targets
for sustainable development as part of the post-2015
development agenda. We support the goal to ensure
healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all
ages. We also support the target to reduce by one third
premature mortality from non-communicable diseases
through prevention and treatment, and to promote
mental health and well-being by 2030. We look to
the various specialized bodies of this international
Organization for guidance and support as we seek to
meet the targets and indicators under that and all goals
developed as part of the post-2015 development agenda.
We reiterate the call for the strengthening of the means
of implementation of the goals and targets and for the
revitalization of the global partnership for sustainable
development.
Climate change remains more than an environmental
concern for small island developing States such as Saint
Kitts and Nevis. We regard it more as a threat to our
existence. The adverse effects of climate change are well
known: persistent adverse weather conditions, floods,
extended droughts and rising sea levels. My delegation
is convinced of the need to preserve our planet Earth
for ourselves and generations yet unborn. We have an
obligation to combat climate change through mitigation
and adaptation measures.
Climate change financing and technology transfer
will be pivotal to the success of that objective. We
urge widespread acceptance by the international
community of creative initiatives such as debt swap
for climate adaptation and mitigation. My Government
is convinced that such proposals, developed with
assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat, provide
SIDS with a greater degree of flexibility as we try to
achieve sustainable development. We welcome the
commitment of the President of the General Assembly
to provide appropriate impetus and momentum to the
ongoing process under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reach a
global agreement on climate change by 2015.
Maintaining peace and security remains one of
the main priorities of the United Nations. That ideal
is captured in the post-2015 development agenda as
sustainable development goal 16, to achieve peaceful
and inclusive societies and the rule of law and to build
effective and capable institutions. I am pleased to
report that at the national level we have implemented
strategies that have brought a reduction in violent crime
and strengthened institutions that sustain peaceful and
inclusive societies. We are grateful to our development
partners — the Governments of the United States of
America, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada,
the European Union, and the Republic of China on
Taiwan — for their invaluable assistance in that regard.
Thirty-one years ago, our new nation forged a
strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with
the Republic of China on Taiwan. That relationship
has grown by leaps and bounds, and it touches all
three dimensions of sustainable development. As
the dialogue continues on the implementation of the
post-2015 development agenda, Saint Kitts and Nevis
regards itself suitably qualified to speak on the valuable
contribution which the Republic of China on Taiwan
can make to the international community.
At the recent SIDS Conference in Samoa, our
Prime Minister had the privilege to speak of the value
of the partnership established with the Government
and private sector of Taiwan in implementing a number
of projects in renewable energy, specifically the
establishment of a solar panel manufacturing plant and
the outfitting of Government buildings and street lights
with solar panels. The latter project will assist us in
Saint Kitts and Nevis to achieve the goal of ensuring
access to affordable, reliable and modern energy
services for all.
For many years, our Government has called for
the international community to allow the Republic
of China on Taiwan to participate in the work of the
organs of the United Nations system. That call is by
no means arbitrary in nature. It has resulted from
our partnership in numerous development initiatives
across the sustainable development spectrum. Saint
Kitts and Nevis is therefore pleased to note that Taiwan
was recently invited to attend the Assembly of the
International Civil Aviation Organization for the first
time since 1971. We are equally pleased to note the
participation of Taiwan in the World Health Assembly
and to offer our commendation to the Government and
people of Taiwan for sharing their expertise in the fields
of medicine and civil aviation safety.
At this juncture, we are convinced that the time
is right for that spirit of understanding and inclusion
to extend to the area of the ongoing negotiations
in the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change and the United Nations Environment
Assembly. My Government is equally convinced that
the experiences gained by Taiwan in its strategy for
building environmental and economic resilience can be
shared with the international community through the
UNFCCC.
While the international community is focused
on maintaining peace and security, we are pleased to
underscore the active role played by the Government
of the Republic of China on Taiwan in promoting peace
and security across the Taiwan Strait and for proposing
the East China Sea Peace Initiative, thus demonstrating
its commitment to international peace and security.
The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis remains
concerned by the decades-old unilateral trade embargo
imposed on Cuba. That relic of the Cold War runs
counter to the principles of international law, principles
which undergird the United Nations system. We stand
by our sister nations in the Caribbean Community and
the Group of 77 and China and reiterate our call for
creative ways to resolve that perennial issue, which
adversely affects the tenor of hemispheric relations.
My delegation recognizes the challenging weeks
and months ahead as we prepare in earnest to implement
the post-2015 development agenda. We offer our fullest
support in that regard. Such support is critical to the
successful implementation of the development agenda.
May we, as an international community, redouble our
efforts in a manner that will redound to the benefit of
developed and developing countries alike.