Fiji

My country and my delegation warmly congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty- second session. Your election to this high office is a tribute both to you and to your great country, Ukraine. I wish to assure you of my delegation's fullest cooperation during your tenure of office. It also gives me great pleasure to convey our profound gratitude and appreciation to the outgoing president of the General Assembly at its fifty-first session, Ambassador Razali Ismail of Malaysia, who presided over the session with such consummate skill, expertise and diplomacy, and distinguished himself by his firm management of the session through his dedication to and thoroughness in the discharge of his assignment. I am also pleased to extend our sincerest congratulations to the new Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan. My delegation is convinced that Mr. Annan will make an outstanding contribution to the role and responsibilities of the United Nations in international affairs and to the management of the Organization. We wish to reassure him of our fullest cooperation during his tenure of office. The greatest challenge facing our world today is economic development, specifically the promotion of sustained economic growth with equitable social development, particularly in the developing countries of the world. For small island developing States like Fiji, and for many developing countries of the world in general, we need an international economic environment that is buttressed by economic justice. We need an international economic environment that ensures a better life in all the countries of the world and not in just a few. The slow pace of economic development and even the lack of such development in many countries of the world, circumscribed by the evils of unemployment and poverty, are threats to international peace and security. This greatest challenge is growing more and more acute as economic development is being retarded by a number of policies, trends and unilateral actions which pervade our world today. Our development policies, plans and programmes are being seriously eroded by difficulties in accessing the markets of the developed countries, worsening terms of trade, inadequate capital flow for investment, spiralling debt burdens, protectionist tendencies, ambivalence in the transfer of technologies and exchange-rate volatility. Small countries like mine, and indeed all developing nations, have no real influence in these matters, except as victims. The Charter of the United Nations calls for the promotion of the international economic and social advancement of all peoples. Implicit, if not explicit, in it is embedded the principle of economic justice. As Members of the United Nations, we have a collective moral and humanitarian obligation to help and assist each other. We have a collective duty to make our world a better place to live in. The time has come for the developed nations of the world, and all international organizations which can help, to cooperate and ensure justice by enabling developing countries in their own efforts towards the acceleration of sustained economic and social development. There are a number of ways in which the developing countries can be assisted towards achieving sustained economic and social development. Developing countries, even those endowed with natural resources, are handicapped by a lack of capital to mobilize these resources to their advantage. Developing countries need continuous foreign-direct-investment capital flows to stimulate and sustain economic growth. Both foreign direct investment and private-sector investment are needed to help diversify and increase economic activities, especially where industrialization is an option. Through the diversification of our economies we can produce more for export and trade. In fact, trade is the best means for sustained income generation and development. The present globalized international trade is ideally aimed at ensuring an open, secure, equitable, transparent and predictable multilateral system wherein all participants can benefit. The reality we face is very different from this espoused ideal. We do not live in an ideal world, but in the real world, where international trade is dominated by the industrialized, developed nations. Fiji and other developing and least-developed countries of the world 15 have to compete for markets with industrial giants. The international-trade playing field is not level, despite frequent statements to that effect. In reality, there is no even playing field. It is in truth marked by inequalities of power, influence and resources, with steep and almost insurmountable heights constraining small nations like ours. In order for small countries like Fiji to survive and to develop, we must be allowed to retain special arrangements for our essential exports, which give our people social and economic security. My country firmly believes that globalization is the phenomenon of today's international trade. The transformation of international trade rules from the Uruguay Round to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been marked by rapid changes that can marginalize small developing countries like mine. The appellate body of the WTO has significantly narrowed the scope of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/WTO waiver to the European Community in respect of the Lomé Convention. Fiji is among other African, Caribbean and Pacific countries which will be adversely affected by these new arrangements if the arrangements of the Lomé Conventions are eroded. Furthermore, it has opened up room for policies and actions, leaving weak developing countries unprotected and exposed to economic stagnation. While the WTO is insisting on a level-playing-field approach, peculiarities that pose problems for small island developing countries persist. As for Fiji, our smallness, remoteness and inaccessibility to foreign markets remain our biggest hurdles in international trade. Annual natural disasters, a consequence of the climatic conditions in our location, continue to be a big drain on the Government's savings in terms of rehabilitation projects. Such angry seasonal visitations of nature can wreak havoc on budget plans and our scarce resources. Small island States like Fiji have a very limited range and volume of exports and they cannot and will not dominate and overwhelm any sector of trade commodities. In that context, my delegation is extremely disappointed at the recent decision of the World Trade Organization appeal body against banana exports from Caribbean countries to the European Union. We are not asking for favours. We are merely making a plea for a sensible and reasonable transition period to enable us to adjust. This cannot be done overnight; thus, special arrangements must remain to allow us the opportunity to find means for accommodation and replacement. The blind pursuit of free trade, resulting in dire consequences for small nations and leading to the loss of other fundamental freedoms, will not serve the purposes of eradicating poverty and eliminating social and economic inequalities. We seek an equality of opportunity in a world dominated by inequalities of resources and economic might. The World Trade Organization must bring a sense of equity and justice in its deliberations and decisions, and consciously eschew paths which disadvantage even further already disadvantaged developing nations. We seek an equality of understanding for the position of the weak and the small. We seek the creation of genuine freedom in trade, for trade remains the best means for sustained development for developing nations. The access of developing countries to new, environmentally sound technologies is also pivotal to economic development and sustained economic growth. There is a need for developing countries like Fiji to participate in, benefit from and contribute to the rapid advances in the technologies of developed, industrialized countries. Developing countries should be facilitated access to reliable information on environmentally sound technologies and helped in institutional development and capacity-building to accommodate the transfer of such technologies. Accessibility to knowledge for development is a right, the right of all nations, not merely of a powerful few to retain as a monopoly for their own selfish ends. Official development assistance is an important catalyst for development, yet its value remains unrealized. Only four countries have met or surpassed the official development assistance target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product. A renewed commitment to this target is essential in order to fulfil the imperatives established by the Charter of the United Nations. At this stage of our development, it is a much needed catalyst to our own efforts. External debt repayments continue to be a major constraint on economic development and sustained economic growth in major developing countries. Burdensome debt repayments not only cause economic development to stagnate, but stifle social development as well. I call for the adoption of an effective and equitable development-oriented solution to the debt problem, so that 16 it ceases to be a burden yet remains a useful tool for sustained development. I have emphasized economic growth for sustained development as the direction we must pursue. My country and Government are fully committed to this goal. Yet, for economic growth to be sustainable, as well as beneficial and of quality, the environmental factor must be brought to the forefront in all our development efforts. Despite the convening of the recent special session of the General Assembly for the purpose of an overall review of the implementation of Agenda 21, there are still no clear commitments on the part of many developed countries to work towards achieving such environmental goals as, for instance, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to internationally specified levels. The South Pacific Forum island countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change in terms of sea level rise and global warming. It is therefore imperative that all members of the international community should strive for a firm political commitment before the next Kyoto Conference, to adopt a stronger protocol to strengthen the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In this connection, my delegation joins others in expressing our appreciation to the private sector and civil society for the supportive interest they have shown in the search for an acceptable international solution to such global concerns. A most welcome demonstration of this is the recent donation of $1 billion by the Turner Foundation in support of certain crucial activities of the United Nations. We need more of such assistance to further sustain and strengthen the work of the United Nations in achieving its targets. I would now like to turn my attention to the issue of international security. Today we are witnessing a most significant period of change in our world, a change which bodes well for permanent and lasting peace and security. The cold war has been over for some time now and the tensions and threats to peace and security which it generated are behind us. As a consequence, and with the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), we have moved a step further towards nuclear disarmament. While this is gratifying, there is much more to be done to achieve the objective of our Organization to turn our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has added to the impressive list of political and legal instruments intended to de-escalate the production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons. We have come a long way in our efforts to prevent a nuclear holocaust on our planet, but the existence and improvement of nuclear weapons still leaves the threat over us. The current international situation creates a favourable condition for the international community, and particularly nuclear- weapon States, to take steps towards eliminating nuclear weapons from our planet. While the CTBT is a step in the right direction, it lacks a clear time-frame for the removal of all nuclear weapons from our midst. My delegation urges the international community to begin negotiations as soon as possible on a treaty to halt and prohibit, with acceptable verification, the production and development of all nuclear weapons. My delegation further urges the nuclear-weapon States to destroy all stockpiles and arsenals of nuclear weapons, with acceptable international verification, and thereby rid the world of nuclear weapons, once and for all. My delegation warmly welcomes the finalization in Oslo last week of a draft treaty prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retaining or transferring of anti-personnel landmines. We call on all nations of the world to sign and ratify the treaty. In the achievement of all these objectives, whether they relate to sustained development or disarmament, the United Nations has a crucial role. It must possess a dynamism to be effective. It cannot be cumbersome, unwieldy and partial. To meet new challenges, the United Nations must be streamlined. A meaningful international organization such as ours must adapt to changes, enhancing its relevance and competence. The entire international community, including my country, has been calling for the reform of the United Nations. It has taken some time, but at last our new Secretary-General has presented his recommendations for a restructured Organization that can carry us over the threshold into the new millennium. I would like to thank the Secretary- General for his comprehensive, constructive and coherent recommendations. My delegation will carefully study the bold and far- reaching recommendations for reform, and we endorse the proposals in principle. I make a plea that in the implementation of these reforms there must also be positive benefits for the small Member States, including their increased participation in the United Nations system. I am particularly pleased that the Secretary-General has 17 identified economic and social affairs, as well as development cooperation, as core activities. His proposals are congruent with the high priority which my delegation places on economic growth for sustained development. I have already stated that the United Nations must play a constructive and catalytic role, within its macroeconomic policies to facilitate economic growth for sustained development, thereby enabling developing countries, which constitute the vast majority of the Members of the Organization, to have an equal share in the opportunities for wealth creation. I fully support the submission that peacekeeping will remain an indispensable instrument of the United Nations. My country, small though it is, has played its part in international peacekeeping programmes in virtually every theatre of the world since we joined the United Nations in 1970. In fact, in terms of size of population, Fiji is presently among the largest troop contributors to United Nations peacekeeping programmes. In the process, several of our peacekeepers have lost their lives. But as a nation we remain committed to the goal of permanent and lasting peace in our world. I might add here that it is a cause of great pride, but pride tempered with humility, that one of our nationals, Major-General Jioje Konrote, has been appointed Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). It reflects the degree and extent of the commitment of our small nation of fewer than a million people towards the peace and security of our world. The proposals for the reform of the United Nations encompass new management and efficiency measures which should reduce administrative costs, but the financial predicament of our Organization will not be resolved entirely by cost-cutting measures. It can be resolved if Member countries pay their contributions promptly. We call on all Member States which are in arrears to settle those arrears promptly, fully and without conditions. As we press ahead with the reform of the United Nations, it becomes incumbent on us to ensure that this extends to the Security Council. My country continues to advocate that the Security Council should be expanded to reflect an equitable geographical distribution, taking into account the substantial increase in the membership of the United Nations. Reforms affecting the Security Council should encompass opportunity for participation in its decisions, transparency in its work, a constructive relationship with the General Assembly and the limited scope and use of the veto power. On the issue of expansion, my country wishes to reiterate the recommendation it made to the General Assembly last November with regard to the membership of the Security Council, especially its non-permanent membership. We strongly favour an equitable and wider representation of non-permanent members, by which regions and subregions would adopt a rotation system, including a prohibition on immediate re-election. I further submit that in the same way that the Caribbean forms a special subregion of the Latin American Group, the South Pacific region comprising 14 independent island States, eight of which are members of the United Nations, and Australia and New Zealand, should become a special subregion, ensuring continuous membership from our region. These changes are prerequisites for a dynamic United Nations with credibility in the next millennium. Now more than ever, our international community needs a system of preventive diplomacy that can respond promptly, positively and peacefully to potential conflicts and threats of genocide. My country continues to call for a special United Nations division or unit to undertake preventive diplomacy in conflict prevention and conflict resolution. The division should have the capacity to receive, collate, analyze and interpret intelligence information and reports, with a view to early detection of potential conflicts and early reaction to minimize, contain and resolve such conflicts in collaboration with the relevant Member States. May I reiterate that in such a division, adequate representation of skills and expertise from small States must be mandatory, for the division must not become a device or a creature of the powerful to impose their will on their own terms. Speaking as the head of Government of a small island developing country, I totally support the principle of capacity to pay as a fundamental criterion and a firm benchmark on which the contribution of member countries to the United Nations should be assessed. My country therefore fully supports the recommendation of the Committee on Contributions that the scale of assessments for all Member States whose share of adjusted national income is below the current floor rate of 0.01 per cent should be assessed at their actual share of adjusted income. We also support the recommended minimum assessment rate of 0.001 per cent. We further urge that the ceiling should not be lowered any further because a reduction will negate the effect of reducing the recommended minimum floor rate. 18 My delegation supports the establishment of an international criminal court. Recent crimes against humanity, including genocide, have made it incumbent on the international community to take stern action against those who perpetrate such heinous acts. It is our sincere hope that the current efforts by the international community will be crowned with success and that come next year we shall be in a position to adopt a treaty establishing the international criminal court. My country strongly emphasizes that the protection and security of small States should remain a central concern of the United Nations. Increasingly, elected Governments and the sovereignty and security of their States are threatened by transnational networks of crime, narcotics, money-laundering and terrorism. These scourges are expanding, and international cooperation and action are essential to counter them. The Middle East continues to be a cauldron aboil with conflict, tension, violence and early death, the latter sadly reaching tragic proportions since last year's session of the General Assembly. We call upon all parties involved to engage in genuine negotiations towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. We call upon the international community, too, to contribute towards a just and lasting peace. Last year, I commended both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan for their efforts toward reconciling their differences. I wish to renew my plea to them to work towards unity. We in Fiji enjoy excellent relations with both of them, though we adhere firmly to our One China policy. We in the Pacific continue to enjoy their generosity and their concern for the welfare of the people of the South Pacific. Both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan enjoy our friendship and trust. Fiji and the other 15 member countries of the South Pacific Forum welcome their participation in the annual post-Forum dialogue and consultation with each of them. It is our fervent wish that they will, together, find a solution for their common future. Likewise, I urge South and North Korea to negotiate a solution that will bring lasting peace and unity to the people of Korea. Fiji is an oceanic State. As in many island countries, our progress and development depend as much on our land territory as on the sea around us. We are, therefore, concerned that the seas are utilized in a manner that is environmentally sound and that the development of marine resources is orderly and sustainable so that they can serve the present and future generations. We insist on this approach at the national level and strongly support similar efforts at regional and global levels. In the past decade, our region has adopted a number of treaties and declarations that address the issue of better management of oceans. More recently, following a decision of the heads of Governments of the South Pacific Forum, the region has taken the initiative to negotiate with distant-water fishing States the establishment of a regional fisheries management organization in order to give effect to the provisions of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Agreement relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. This is an important initiative which is designed to promote sustainable use of the region's valuable fish resources to the benefit of both the coastal States and distant-water fishing nations. We look forward to a successful outcome to these negotiations. As Fiji was the first State to ratify the Convention on the Law of the Sea, in 1982, I feel gratified that, thanks to the efforts of many, including my own country, in resolving the outstanding problems, the Convention today enjoys universal support and near universal participation. All States benefit from the stability and certainty that has been achieved in the new regime of the Law of the Sea. By defining the jurisdiction of States in marine areas, and by setting out the rights and duties of States, the Convention represents an important contribution to international peace and security. The institutions established under the Convention, namely the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and the work being done with respect to the oceans in the United Nations itself, require the support of the international community if the achievements of the Convention are to be consolidated and its promise of benefits to the peoples of the world is to be realized. Last year, I lent my strong support to an early adoption of the draft United Nations declaration of the rights of indigenous peoples. I renew my call here. We are informed in the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report 1997 about the bleak future for indigenous people in almost all societies where they are to be found. It is a great tragedy indeed 19 that indigenous people have seen their values and customs destroyed by incoming population. They face discrimination in employment and disparities in education and they fare worse in the non-income dimensions of poverty. The observation of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, the programme of activities associated with it and the efforts of the international community to prepare a draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, will mean little or nothing if the indigenous people remain a disadvantaged people in our world. The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, however meaningful, is a mere drop in the ocean of what is required to really facilitate the development of the indigenous people. The World Bank programme to assist indigenous people is too limited in scope and application. The Member States of the United Nations and the international community should do more. The survival of the indigenous people is at stake. My own country is the home of two indigenous groups, Fijians and Rotumans, but it is also the home of others who came into our country more recently. These newcomers represent nearly half the population of my country. A major challenge for us has been to accommodate the interests and aspirations of these citizens and to reconcile them with the sensibilities, perceptions and pre-eminent status of our indigenous people. We are ensuring peaceful co-existence and cooperation with security and respect for the fundamental rights of all our citizens. It gives me great pleasure to address briefly recent developments in my own country, Fiji, before this Assembly. Our delegation has kept the Assembly up to date with political developments in our country, in particular our efforts to formulate a new Constitution that is acceptable to all the ethnic communities in the country. Our current Constitution, the 1990 Constitution, was promulgated to secure adequate representation in Parliament for the indigenous people in order to guarantee, protect and enhance their future in their country. That Constitution was reviewed by a Commission last year. Following the submission of the report of the commission, a Parliamentary Select Committee comprising representatives of all the political parties in our Parliament gave due consideration to the report and reached a consensus to amend the 1990 Constitution. The changes were written into the Constitution Amendment Bill of 1997 which was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate and signed into law by our President on 25 July 1997. The amended Constitution comes into effect on 27 July 1998. I do not intend to provide all of the details of the new Constitution, except to say that it contains an entrenched Bill of Rights guaranteeing and protecting the equal rights and fundamental freedoms of all individuals and groups, irrespective of race, religion, gender or economic status. In addition to an independent judiciary, citizens will also have recourse to an ombudsman and a human rights commission in the protection of their basic rights. The Constitution continues to enshrine the full right of self-determination of the indigenous Fijian and Rotuman people, including their right to maintain a separate system of administration to safeguard their interests and welfare. A unique feature of the Constitution is the inclusion of a Compact which recognizes certain principles, including the following: the preservation of the ownership of land, including the ownership of indigenous Fijian land according to Fijian custom; the right of all persons to practice their religion freely and to retain their language, culture and tradition; and a commitment by all political parties and their leaders to cooperate in the formation of a broadly based Government to ensure that the interests of all communities in Fiji's multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society are taken fully into account. Indeed, an innovative feature of our new Constitution is the provision for the formation of a multi- party Government. This is to allow for the representation in Cabinet of all political parties that secure seats in Parliament through general elections. We have no doubt - in fact, we are very confident - that with the commitment, goodwill and cooperation of all, this pioneering approach of bringing all communities together in national decision-making, in government and in Parliament, is the best way of consolidating and promoting enduring peace, unity and progress in our little country of Fiji. From our ethnic and cultural diversity, we are determined to build a strong nation with the full participation of all citizens and communities in it. We are the world. We who are gathered here represent the Governments and peoples of the world. We have it in our power to facilitate economic development and sustained economic growth that include the full and equal participation of the developing countries of the world. Let us make it an international imperative. Today I call on all of us to rededicate ourselves anew to our commitment to the United Nations. Upon the high principles of mutual love, justice and care on which it was established, let us together make our world a better place in which to live.