Like others who have
spoken before me, allow me to add my warm
congratulations to Mr. Al-Nasser on his election as
President of the General Assembly for our current
session. My delegation and I assure him, as always, of
our support and cooperation. I also wish to thank
Mr. Joseph Diess of Switzerland for a successful term
as President at the sixty-fifth session. We also
remember another former President of the Assembly,
Mr. Harri Holkeri of Finland, who passed away earlier
this year but who left a lasting impact on the good
work of the General Assembly and the United Nations.
As for the ongoing leadership of the
Organization, I wish to extend my congratulations to
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his appointment to
a deserved second term. He and the Secretariat
continue to show the firm resolve needed during these
challenging times of global crisis. We pay tribute also
to the memory of those members of the Secretariat who
have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of
international duty.
A further example of the critical role played by
the Secretary-General during these difficult times was the
convening earlier this week of the High-level Meeting on
the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases
(NCDs). The dangerous potential of NCDs, unchecked
in small States like mine, threatens not just livelihoods
and lifestyle but whatever gains may have been
achieved as they relate to Millennium Development
Goal (MDG) 6 and the other MDGs.
At our annual meeting of Pacific Island Forum
leaders in Auckland earlier this month, we adopted a
statement on NCDs in which, among other things, we
committed our Governments to implementing five key
interventions in areas known to reduce NCDs:
Controlling tobacco, improving diets, increasing
physical activity, reducing alcohol intake and
facilitating access to essential drugs and technologies.
17 11-51372
In that respect, Tonga was pleased to join other
Member States in adopting the Political Declaration
(resolution 66/2, annex) of the High-level Meeting on
the prevention and control of NCDS. I sincerely
believe that the Meeting was a good step in the right
direction for setting a healthier and enjoyable future
for us all.
We were pleased that the Secretary-General was
able to visit a number of countries in our region on his
way to his historic attendance at the Pacific Islands
Forum. He was able to assess for himself the dominant
impact of climate change on countries in the Pacific
and to validate the activities of Pacific small island
developing States like Tonga in international forums.
We must use the positive foundations laid down
collectively in Copenhagen and Cancún to embrace the
promise that might lie in Durban at the seventeenth
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change in
December.
We are pleased that, in July, under the able
presidency of Germany, the Security Council took solid
steps to seize the moral imperative by holding an open
debate and producing a presidential statement on the
Maintenance of international peace and security and
the impact of climate change (S/PRST/2011/15*). The
Council and its membership, now and in the future,
must not turn from their vigilant duty to keep
themselves in a position of leadership over this issue
and its implications for Member States like Tonga and
others in the Pacific.
While last year’s High-level Meeting on MDGs
offered small island developing States like Tonga an
opportunity to take stock of their progress towards
achieving those Goals in 2015, we consider that we
have a similar chance to do so as we all prepare for the
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
next year. We stress the critical importance of the
sustainable development, management and conservation of
our ocean and marine resources — living and
non-living — as a proper source of livelihood and
income for our communities and Governments.
Ensuring that States like ours enjoy a greater share of
the benefits derived from such resources is key. What
we within the Pacific small island developing States
have come to refer to as the “blue economy” will be
our challenge to the Rio Conference to meet the
expectations and development aspirations of our
peoples.
As such, Tonga continues to observe its
obligations under the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea and notes the decision taken by
consensus by the States parties this year relating to the
workload of the Commission on the Limits of the
Continental Shelf, whose work is much valued by
coastal States such as mine. Tonga, together with
another sister State from the region, again actively
participated in the work of the International Seabed
Authority this year and noted the decision by the
Authority to grant exploration licenses to entities
sponsored by our respective Governments. This
represents a creative path for States like mine, within
the spirit of the Convention, towards solid partnership
and development. The common heritage of mankind, if
it is to have any true meaning, ought to be common to
all and not just to some or the few with the capacity in
that area.
Tonga reiterates its call for the creation and
definition of a formal small island developing States
category within the United Nations system. We are in
need of a definition that is not based upon a one-size-
fits-all approach. Like others, we must have a
definition that separates and addresses those States’
diversity of size, population, remoteness, isolation and
different levels of socio-economic development. Such a
definition would not only improve linkages within the
United Nations system but also, we believe, set a good
benchmark for the international community that is both
coherent and practical. It would strengthen the position
of the United Nations and the international system in
addressing small island developing States and the
special and unique challenges they face.
Like others, we, too, welcome the Republic of
South Sudan as our newest State Member of the United
Nations. Tonga has long been supportive of the efforts
to find a comprehensive, just and enduring peace in the
Middle East. The shifting sands of change known as
the Arab Spring throughout the surrounding region
earlier this year has made such a peace and genuine
security all the more challenging, but not impossible.
This is indeed a moment of truth for those with
genuine hope, not just for a secure Israel and a viable
Palestine, but for those who for so long have had such
hopes for an ambitious peace.
Tonga’s interest in developing renewable energy
sources, within the context of our Tonga energy road
map, continued to evolve with our election to the
Council of the International Renewable Energy Agency
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(IRENA) at the first session of the Agency’s Assembly,
in April 2011. We will work in earnest to ensure that
the voices of developing States such as Tonga and
others on the new Council are heard, given the key
leading role it will play in the Agency’s decision-
making and future direction. To take on such a role,
IRENA must be prepared to be innovative. The
Agency’s work will take on greater significance in the
coming International Year of Sustainable Energy for
All and its related activities. I would also like to
recognize the strong support of the Government of the
United Arab Emirates as host State for IRENA.
I am pleased to have addressed the Assembly as
the first democratically elected Prime Minister of
Tonga. In the wake of the elections held in November
of last year, I took office the following month, in
December, after an evolving process of principal
reforms that, within the context of our 1875
Constitution, included the peaceful transfer of
executive power from His Majesty in Privy Council to
the Government of the day; a Parliament in which the
majority of members are elected by universal suffrage;
a Prime Minister elected by a majority of the elected
Members of Parliament; a Cabinet nominated by the
Prime Minister and chosen largely from those elected
Members of Parliament; a constitutional monarchy;
and a strong and independent judiciary free of political
influence.
Notwithstanding this peaceful evolution, the
fundamental freedoms and values guaranteed under the
Constitution continue to afford legal protection and
comforting reassurance to all Tongans.
To address the uncertain future of the current
global economic and financial climate, my Government
has approved the Tonga strategic development
framework, which provides an overall framework to
guide the Government’s activities for the next four
years. It involves nine priority areas, from building
strong, inclusive communities to improving health and
education standards for a safe, secure and stable
Tongan society. Earlier this month, my Government
signed separate agreements with the Asian
Development Bank and the World Bank to improve
information and communications technology services
for Tonga so as to make them affordable and
accessible. Improving such services will enable Tonga
to enhance its related education, health and
Government services as well. My Government
sincerely believes that this framework will put Tonga
on a firm path to improving its ability to meaningfully
achieve the United Nations Millennium Development
Goals by 2015.
As such, in closing my Government happily
reaffirms its commitment to the principles of the
Charter of the United Nations, and we pledge to
support the ongoing work and reform of the
Organization.