Dominica

Allow me to start by congratulating you warmly, Mr. President, on your election to the high post of President of this respected global forum and to wish you success during your tenure. Your election to the post of President of the General Assembly is indeed an honour and a source of pride for all Saint Lucians, as well as for your brothers and sisters in the Organization of East Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Latin America. Your presidency is, as such, a CARICOM-Latin American presidency, and your record of prudence and diplomatic skills will certainly be instrumental in meeting the lofty goals sought commonly by all of our nations and peoples. I take this opportunity to congratulate your predecessor, His Excellency Jan Kavan, for the leadership he provided to the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly, a session that brought out clearly the many challenges confronting the United Nations in this decade. The delegation of the Commonwealth of Dominica assures you of its full cooperation and support. Profound appreciation is also due to our Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his tireless efforts to make the United Nations more responsive and effective. 13 Over the last nine months, the relevance of the United Nations has become a burning issue worldwide. We must all appreciate that it remains the only universal multilateral institution with the capacity to address the complex set of global problems of the twenty-first century, ranging from peace and security to development. Today's world is entangled in a web of complex problems that threaten global security. These problems, which require the urgent attention of the United Nations, include HIV/AIDS and other diseases, poverty, the marginalization of indigenous people, terrorism and global crime, the growing scarcity of freshwater, global warming, the spread of light arms, which threaten peaceful countries like Dominica, nuclear proliferation, armed civil conflicts and the refugees they give rise to, trafficking in humans and unfair trade rules that contribute to growing poverty in the developing countries. All of these problems require a strong and effective multilateral organization, which enjoys the trust and confidence of the people on this planet and is capable of articulating collective approaches towards some solutions. The world has changed considerably, yet present institutions for global governance the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization continue to operate on outdated political and economic foundations. The legitimacy, effectiveness and credibility of the United Nations continue to erode in the face of the democratic deficit', which was an integral part of the original design but which needs to be remedied now. The reform of the Security Council and the General Assembly is indispensable to the restoration of the moral authority lost because of failure to enforce resolutions. Effective governance, predicated on the principles of accountability and transparency to the people of the Member States, is a highly desirable objective that we must strive for. I wish to reaffirm our country's total commitment to, and support for, the United Nations. Let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to Sergio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, other staff members of the United Nations and the citizens of Iraq who lost their lives or sustained injuries in the tragedy of Baghdad last August. We share the sorrow of the Secretary-General and his staff, and extend our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The return of peace and stability to Iraq has now become the responsibility of all States members of the international community. If the international community must accept and shoulder this important responsibility, then we must commit to a greater role for the United Nations. We strongly hold the view that stability in Iraq is inextricably linked to the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis, who must have sole responsibility for their future. The coalition forces must give a clear mandate to the United Nations for the creation of a multinational force, led of course by the main troop contributors, in order to ensure the security of Iraq. While the attention of the international community is focused on restoring peace and security in Iraq, we cannot turn a blind eye to the breakdown in the Middle East peace process. My delegation supports the road map for peace in the Middle East and calls for the removal of the obstacles that have stalled the process. We embrace the two-State solution as the only mechanism for a lasting peace in the Middle East. The State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority must both commit to a ceasefire and return to the agreed obligations under the road map framework. The fight against international terrorism remains a priority for Dominica given the horror of 11 September. In that regard, we have taken many steps to comply with the obligations of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001). This year our Parliament enacted the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism Act, which complements two earlier pieces of legislation related to the prevention of terrorism, the Money Laundering Act and the Exchange of Information Act. The passage of these pieces of legislation has contributed to significant strengthening of the regulatory regime for banks operating in our offshore financial sector and to efforts to combat money-laundering. We welcome the assistance of the Commonwealth in a review of our legal system to allow its alignment with the global strategy to fight terrorism, as well as the guidance of the Counter-Terrorism Committee. The numerous terrorist actions this year in Indonesia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Iraq underscore the central importance of being vigilant and prepared to manage any crisis from a terrorist attack. We appeal to Member States to continue collaborative 14 efforts in this global fight to combat terrorism and to ensure that the capacities of small States are enhanced through transfer of intelligence information, surveillance technology and training in prevention strategies. The United Nations International Year of Freshwater has helped the world community to focus attention on the millions of poor people who lack access to clean sources of water. Dominica is one of the islands in the Caribbean blessed with abundant freshwater resources, largely thanks to our high rainfall. Our experience with conserving our mountains and forests, which contribute to the maintenance of the water table, is one of the many experiences that our people are prepared to share with the world community. Mankind faces a great challenge as growing scarcity of freshwater becomes a reality of this century. This is clearly an arena for constructive global action by the United Nations. Let us hope that concern for and attention to freshwater remain a core part of our continuing commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. My delegation is indeed pleased at the tremendous progress made by the International Criminal Court over the last year. We have moved one step closer to punishing war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. This year is an important year for the Commonwealth of Dominica because we are celebrating the silver jubilee of our political independence, as well our twenty-fifth anniversary of our membership in the United Nations. Twenty-five years of nation-building has given us some experience in the global arena and allowed us to build a foundation for the next 25 years of national development. As a peace-loving people, we highly value the right to self-determination and the full, fair and unhindered expression of the will of the people. We reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law, good governance at all levels and deepening of our longstanding democratic tradition. Dominica and its sister islands of Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Jamaica are island nations adversely affected by the World Trade Organization (WTO) banana regime, which will bring to an end preferences and quotas for bananas exported to the European Union. The impending abolition of the banana quota at the end of 2005 has contributed immensely to an economic crisis in these Caribbean Community States. Thousands of small farmers in these island nations have lost hope and left banana production altogether. This has led to a 60 per cent decline in banana export earnings and has a negative impact on our national savings. In Dominica, this situation has necessitated the implementation of an austerity program, in tandem with a standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund. We are, however, working assiduously to create the conditions for economic revitalization and transformation. As we struggle to eradicate the mono-crop nature of our economy, a remaining vestige of the colonial period, we are determined to anchor our future economic foundation in the following areas: sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, ecotourism, information technology, financial services and water resource management. Our resolve to build a new economic order is based on our assertion of the principle of responsibility for our own development. Our efforts at economic re-engineering urgently require a complement of new foreign direct investment, official development assistance (ODA) transfers, technology transfer and deepening of cooperation with Member States and global civil society. We remain hopeful that our donor partners will soon translate the ODA commitments that they made at Monterrey last year into action, since these commitments have become critical for economic reconstruction throughout the developing world. Our call for special and differential treatment in the trade arena continues to resonate loudly. The outcome of the WTO meeting in Cancun was not encouraging. We join other developing nations in the call for an end or drastic reduction of agricultural subsidies in the developed world. Let me take this opportunity to commend the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) for organizing the high-level plenary meeting with respect to the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, which took place on Monday, 22 September. This meeting will only be successful if it renews the resolve of Member States to accord a higher priority to national integrated efforts to fight the disease, which is exacting a toll on the youth and adult populations of African and Caribbean nations. 15 The Commonwealth of Dominica has developed a five-year plan of action to guide our efforts to manage the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and we are increasing our efforts to ensure a coordinated and participatory national response that involves schoolchildren, workers, the private sector and the voluntary sector. I also wish to acknowledge the great initiative of President George W. Bush for the global fight against HIV/AIDS. It is a bold and assertive commitment that will contribute much-needed financial resources for the global campaign, particularly in Africa and the Caribbean. I also want to pay tribute to the tremendous efforts of UNAIDS, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organization/Pan-American Health Organization in HIV/AIDS prevention. The programmes of these United Nations organizations deserve additional resources from Member States, international financial institutions, private foundations and transnational corporations if we are to expect higher levels of effectiveness and greater positive outcomes in HIV/AIDS prevention. In 2004, the Decade of the World's Indigenous People will come to an end. The Decade was important in that it highlighted, for the first time since Columbus came to the Americas, the marginalization of the world's indigenous people. Although the Decade has fallen far short of expectations, it did have one positive outcome, namely, greater awareness on the part of the international community about the continuing plight of the indigenous peoples of the world. Dominica's indigenous people, the Caribs, made some important gains during the decade. These include the building of links with other indigenous groups across continents, the consolidation of a Caribbean grouping of indigenous organizations, and the Government's establishment of a Department of Carib Affairs. Indigenous peoples around the world continue to face marginalization and to wallow in abject poverty. The world community must demonstrate greater responsiveness to improving their condition through more generous contributions to the Voluntary Fund. We welcome the first report of the Secretary- General on the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and we are greatly encouraged by the number of African actions to institutionalize NEPAD along with the incremental steps towards alignment of United Nations activities with the priorities of NEPAD. We commend the African Union and the African nations for all the efforts towards strengthening the organization's momentum. Dominica reiterates its continuing support for the efforts of our brothers and sisters in Africa to take full responsibility for their own development. Next August, the international meeting for the 10- year review of the Barbados Programme of Action regarding the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States will be held in Mauritius. This meeting will address the future of the world's small island developing States and will be a momentous occasion for Dominica and all the members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to finally get the much-needed international support to address the range of vulnerabilities we confront. Dominica is honoured to host next week a meeting of sustainable development experts, who will assess the performance of the indicators of the Barbados Programme of Action. The Mauritius Conference is especially important given the marginalization of small island developing States by unfavourable World Trade Organization (WTO) trade rules and the trade liberalization process. The international community must pay greater attention to the social and economic vulnerabilities faced by small island developing States. The sudden adjustment to trade liberalization and the WTO trade regime has contributed to the economic decline in many small island States. Averting the rapid descent into a downward economic spiral and social dislocation in SIDS requires a wider embrace and understanding of our call for special and differential treatment in the trade arena. The Dominican delegation believes that we have an obligation to be responsible to future generations by ensuring that they will have an earth that is safe, secure and can sustain life. Let us not forget the commitments we made last year at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, especially regarding small island developing States. We reiterate our concern once again about all manifestations of climate change, and our opposition to continuing trans-shipment of nuclear waste through the Caribbean Sea. We therefore call on all Member States to support and participate in the Mauritius Conference for the 10- year review of the Barbados Programme of Action next 16 August. We also appeal to corporations, private foundations, bilateral and multilateral organizations to lend support for significant participation of civil society organizations, particularly from the AOSIS member States, at this conference. The delegation of the Commonwealth of Dominica wishes once again to address the participation of the Republic of China on Taiwan in the work of the United Nations. Taiwan has demonstrated its willingness to provide much needed assistance to countries around the world, including relief to war-torn and devastated countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Article 4 of the United Nations Charter invites all other peace-loving States to join the Organization and compels us to consider the participation of Taiwan's 23 million people. The problem of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) ably demonstrated that progress towards the noble goals of the United Nations is only impeded by not integrating the Republic of China on Taiwan into international efforts to confront global challenges. The situation regarding the Republic of China must be addressed to ensure a more meaningful contribution to global peace, security and poverty eradication. In conclusion, Dominica repeats its call for a new global framework to redress the imbalances brought about by the galloping forces of globalization. We urge the international community to rally behind the banner of multilateralism and to support the bold initiative of General Assembly President Julian Hunte to make development and its attendant components, poverty eradication and the Millennium Development Goals, the central focus of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly. We call also for the leadership role of the United Nations in the quest for peaceful resolution to the conflicts in Iraq, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and for the unwavering support of the international community to the special needs of the small island developing States.