It gives me great pleasure
to begin this address with warm congratulations to His
Excellency Mr. Sam Kutesa on his election as President
of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. I
also wish to congratulate His Excellency Mr. John Ashe
on his inspiring leadership of the Assembly at its sixty-
eighth session.
This year, we marked the 100th anniversary of the
First World War. Our forefathers in 1918 called that
War the war to end all wars, because they knew, as we
know today, that no society can aspire to development
and a better way of life without peace. At that time,
many Seychellois people gave their lives to defend that
ideal. Despite being one of the smallest nations in the
world, geographically far removed from the centres of
power and of conflict, our people have always known
that we cannot be at peace if the world is not at peace.
I take this opportunity to salute those who made the
ultimate sacrifice in those turbulent times of 1914 and
those islanders who showed that no matter how small
we may be, we can make a meaningful contribution.
However, the turbulent events that have unfolded
before our eyes during the course of 2014 have shown
very clearly that the world is not at peace. The heinous
and murderous acts of global terrorist activities in
recent weeks remind us of the increasing threat posed
by terrorism and of the pain that it brings to innocent
victims. That is coupled with a multiplication of
regional conflicts and instability within States.
In order to build peace, we must reinforce our
commitment to multilateralism through the United
Nations, while also ensuring that we accord the highest
priority to more inclusive and effective development.
In that context, I commend the President for placing the
discussion in this year’s general debate under the banner
of “Delivering on and implementing a transformative
post-2015 development agenda”. Seychelles takes
pride in having achieved most of the Millennium
Development Goals and continues to impart greater
impetus to ensure that the remaining challenges are
effectively dealt with by 2015.
For small island developing States (SIDS), the
sustainable development goals are essential to allow
for the implementation of development transformation.
We must recognize that the current development
framework of the majority of development institutions
is still not favourable to the development of SIDS. Most
development gains are still assessed ultimately through
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita measurements,
which do not adequately identify the threats to human
development or the opportunities that exist, especially
for small island States.
Seychelles warmly welcomes the outcomes of
the Third International Conference on Small Island
Developing States, held in Apia, and would particularly
like to thank the Government and people of Samoa for
their leadership in establishing a platform for action to
support the development of SIDS.
Seychelles has championed three priorities that are
outcomes of that conference. The first is the need for a
vulnerability index to be used as a more effective tool
for addressing the development needs of SIDS than
GDP per capita. The second is the need to address the
debilitating debt of SIDS through innovations, such as
debt for climate change adaptation swaps. The third
priority is the need to build opportunities for SIDS
on the basis of their strengths, not their weaknesses;
hence, the need to support a blue economy approach,
whereby SIDS can better utilize their oceanic potential
and whereby we can be large-ocean nations.
Those three priorities are not specific only to
SIDS. The development challenges of SIDS highlight
the deficiencies of the development framework for
all developing nations. A vulnerability index allows
us to target those areas that place our societies at
risk. An effective vulnerability index adopted by
the United Nations will allow us to better target the
diverse needs of SIDS, least developed countries and
landlocked countries, as well as States threatened by
desertification or those most prone to natural disasters.
It is an inclusive view of development.
Ownership of the blue economy also widens
development perspectives for our whole planet. It is
high time that we realize the immense potential of
our oceans. We cannot apply the principles of a green
economy and of sustainable development without
recognizing that we are applying them in a blue world,
for over 70 per cent of our planet is covered by oceans
and seas. For developing nations, the ocean is a shared
opportunity. It is therefore essential that we address
our oceans, and the challenges therein appropriately,
through a stand-alone sustainable development goal on
oceans.
The right to development belongs to us all. True
development is therefore not only about economic
growth or the total wealth that a country can create.
It is about the constant improvement that we need for
the well-being of people. It is about being able to build
a future for our children based on shared opportunity.
In that vein, I reiterate the call that the international
community not spare any effort in helping the nations
of West Africa to overcome the Ebola pandemic, which
is a health issue of international concern. Ensuring
that the affected communities have access to the right
medical support will save lives not only in West Africa
but across the world. Ebola is not just an African
problem. It is a global problem.
We also remain preoccupied by the conclusions of
the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change. That is why SIDS have
continuously underlined the scientific research being
conducted on climate change, which shows that a
warming of even 1.5°C will have a negative impact
on all countries, even if islands are on the front line.
However, the science also tells us that we still have a
window where we can act decisively and effectively.
A legally binding agreement that sets a course for
increases of no more than 2°C is achievable, but all
countries, large or small, must make it happen. It is not a
subject that we can leave aside to take up later, to debate
at a later date. We call on all partners to ensure that
the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
which will meet in Lima, sets the stage for concluding
a meaningful and legally binding agreement in Paris in
2015.
I would also like to reiterate the importance
of fulfilling commitments to jointly mobilize
over $100 billion annually by 2020 for the full
operationalization of the Green Climate Fund, which
should be capitalized as soon as possible. I also
underline the importance of ensuring that the most
vulnerable, in particular SIDS and African nations,
have access to the appropriate resources as quickly
as possible. Further, we call for SIDS to be part of the
decision-makers on issues of climate change and to be
allocated a permanent seat on the Executive Committee
of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and
Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts.
Seychelles will also continue to advocate for a
solution to the debt trap in which many of us, especially
SIDS, find ourselves. A solution that Seychelles
has brought forward in partnership with the Nature
Conservancy, an international non-governmental
organization, is proposals for debt-for-adaptation
swaps. SIDS are often constrained in their development
because of large debt-to-GDP ratios. Transferring
that debt into climate change adaptation projects
will address the SIDS need for greater flexibility in
addressing their development challenges while also
making a real impact in terms of building climate
change resilience by creating marine protected areas,
not only locally, but globally. That concept will also
allow for the application of climate change funding in
order to achieve leverage for adaptation projects while
reducing financial barriers for small island developing
States.
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Faced with the challenges of security, transnational
crime and extremism, the United Nations requires
significant reform and must rise above its divisions
to help build a world in which human beings can live,
wherever they are, in dignity and free from want and
fear. More than ever, it is necessary to encourage the
search for collective solutions to address all sorts of
phenomenon that undermine the balance of our world.
That is the sense that guides every action of
my country. Seychelles is indeed ready to meet the
challenges of the twenty-first century in a spirit of
openness and dialogue with all peoples, for a world
of peace and human brotherhood. We are working in
Africa, particularly in the Indian Ocean, with a view to
the region becoming one of shared peaceful, democratic
and prosperous development.
The Indian Ocean region is grateful to the United
Nations, and the Seychelles once again thanks its
specialized agencies, as well as our various partners, for
the invaluable role each one has played and still plays in
the fight against maritime piracy, which has already had
a deep impact on our development plans. Statistics show
that today maritime piracy has declined, but that hardly
indicates that that threat has disappeared. Therefore,
we must remain vigilant, and we still need the support
of all to help dispel the profound aftereffects it has left
for our economy. Over the years, maritime piracy has
had serious repercussions on fishing, tourism, shipping
and port services. Seychelles continues to work in
harmony with all its partners, since any slackening in
the face of that unpredictable phenomenon could have
consequences.
The Seychelles is actively involved with partners
in our region and beyond to better target organizers
of cross-border trafficking in the Indian Ocean zone.
We have established a regional information centre that
allows better coordination between our region’s forces
and also aims to better manage the monitoring and
protecting of our shared maritime space against the
shared threats, whether piracy, narcotics trafficking or
illegal fishing.
In the same vein, the Seychelles will continue to
support the Security Council decision to strengthen
the United Nations-African Union partnership in
Somalia. It is a difficult task, for which I wish to
affirm our solidarity with the African and United
Nations staff involved. I take the opportunity to urge
the international community to continue supporting
efforts to restore peace and reconciliation in Somalia.
The international community must not lose patience
in view of the mixed results achieved so far. For our
part, we have taken action bilaterally and with regional
and multilateral partners to help Somalia strengthen its
capacities in areas such as fisheries management and
development. The United Nations must always show the
way and inspire the necessary efforts to bring together
the means necessary in the struggle and to coordinate
them with the States concerned.
Seychelles also expresses solidarity with all
African countries affected by conflict or instability.
We are committed to working together so that we can
build together, in the African Union, the transformative
Africa that we foresee through our 2063 strategy.
Seychelles, like all African countries, also
expresses solidarity with the Palestinian people, given
the challenges of the continuing conflict in the Middle
East, and we reiterate our wish for peace between the
two neighbouring States based on the 1967 borders.
We also take the opportunity to recall the
importance of lifting the economic embargo against
Cuba, an island country that depends on trade access to
better support its development, as all island States do.
All those problems and challenges justify the United
Nations remaining the leaven of international peace
and security, but also and especially the conscience
of humanity. Here I commend the Secretary-General,
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his remarkable work at the head
of our Organization at a time when human history is
facing enormous challenges. Indeed, much remains to
be done, but optimism remains, for the helm is in good
hands. The United Nations will effectively discharge its
mission if all the nations that gave rise to it, large and
small, provide it with the necessary means and entrust
it with the responsibility for carrying out actions in the
service of humanity. Seychelles, for its part, remains
ready to play its role to its full capacity, in this noble
and exciting mission.