Allow me at the outset,
Mr. President, to join previous speakers in
congratulating you warmly on your assumption of
office to preside over the General Assembly at its
sixty-sixth session. Your election is testimony to the
growing confidence of the international community in
the ability and commitment of the smaller Members of
this Organization to play an increasingly active and
responsible role in the United Nations. I would also
like to take this opportunity to place on record our deep
and abiding appreciation to your predecessor,
Mr. Joseph Deiss, for the exemplary manner in which
he guided the work of the sixty-fifth session.
Allow me also to convey my sincere felicitations
to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban
Ki-moon, on his re-election for a second term. We
remain confident that his experience and leadership
will ensure that this Organization, in which so many of
our hopes and dreams are invested, will be equal to the
many complex challenges facing us during these
tumultuous times.
We are at a defining moment in history. Across
the Middle East and North Africa, popular
pro-democracy uprisings are sweeping away
longstanding dictatorships. We are witnessing the
greatest liberation movement since the fall of the
Berlin Wall. But what is most striking is that it is
happening in countries with predominantly Muslim
populations. The democratic uprisings across the
Middle East prove that Muslims yearn for democratic
rights just as much as non-Muslims.
For me, that is not surprising. After all, we are all
human. We all feel resentment if those in power steal
our county’s wealth. We all feel frustrated if we are
prevented from speaking our minds.
In the fog and confusion of the turmoil we are
witnessing in the Middle East, one thing stands
abundantly clear. The demand for human rights and
democratic values is universal. The march of
democracy is inevitable. And the argument that says
Islam and democracy cannot be united is shown to be
foolish and patronizing.
My country, the Maldives, in some ways was a
harbinger of the Arab awakening. Our revolution began
eight years ago. Then, in 2008, presidential elections
brought peaceful closure to a 30-year authoritarian
regime. Since then, we have had our difficulties
consolidating democracy. There are many hurdles to
overcome.
But I am pleased to report that in the three years
since the elections Maldives is generally stable, safe
and successful. I do not want to sound complacent.
Democracy is a process, not an end goal. Freedoms are
always threatened in one way or the other. A successful
democracy requires more than just the separation of
powers. We also need free media, strong institutions
and a vibrant civil society. Above all, we need patience
to realize the fruits that democracy brings.
Nevertheless, I can report without exaggeration
that Maldives enjoys more freedoms today than at any
other point in our history. I am sure that, with the
support of the United Nations, the peoples of Tunisia,
Egypt, Libya and other countries will also enjoy
democratic freedoms.
We must counter the false perception that people
must choose between devotion to Islam on the one
hand, and the full enjoyment of human rights on the
other. We strongly believe in the compatibility of Islam
and human rights and seek to do our part to promote
understanding and tolerance. That is why we intend to
organize, during 2012, a major international conference
on progressive Islamic jurisprudence and human rights.
With this conference, we hope to renew the concepts of
peace and tolerance, coexistence and inter-faith
harmony in Islam.
As we watch the changes in the Middle East and
North Africa, it has become even more imperative that
the question of Palestine be addressed. The Maldives
stands shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people.
The time for Palestine to join the international family
of nations is long overdue. We therefore welcome its
application for statehood. The Maldives calls on all
Members to support the recognition of a Palestinian
State, living side by side and at peace with the State of
Israel. While recognizing the rights of the Palestinians,
we also value and support the right of the people of
Israel to live in peace and security.
We are proud to announce that last week
Maldives acceded to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court. Maldives believes that
human rights must be protected at the national and
international levels alike. We are pleased to join a
growing alliance of States that stand firmly against
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those who believe they can violate human rights with
impunity. In our globalized world, those who trample
human rights or deny basic freedoms will be held
accountable. I am proud that the Maldives has now
taken its rightful place as a defender of international
law and human rights.
As a small island State, we understand that our
means are modest. Nevertheless, we are proud to
contribute to United Nations efforts to promote peace
and security. In this regard, we are pleased to note that
following the approval of our Parliament, the Maldives
is looking forward to becoming engaged for the first
time in United Nations peacekeeping efforts around the
world.
As a newly graduated least developed country
(LDC), we welcome the international support we have
received in our transition. Our graduation from LDC to
middle-income status has not been easy. Based on our
experience, I would like to say that the international
community must continue to help States make a
smooth transition from LDC status. We must not allow
graduation from LDC status, and the removal of
support that comes with it, to undermine a country’s
progress and development.
The Maldives has spared no effort in highlighting
the growing threats posed by climate change. Our
nation is just one and a half metres above sea level. For
us, climate change is no vague or abstract menace, but
a clear and present danger to our very existence as a
nation-State. Over the past year, the world has
experienced an increase in natural and man-made
disasters, which compels us to address the effects of
climate change with more resolutely and urgently. It is
becoming increasingly evident that the international
community needs to be better prepared and equipped to
address the challenges of disaster preparedness and
response.
Cutting global carbon dioxide emissions to a
safer level — below 350 parts per million — is not just
an environmental issue. It is also an issue of national
security. We view the cutting of carbon emissions not
as a burden but rather as an opportunity — an
opportunity not just to protect the climate, but also to
create new jobs and grow our economies. For these
reasons, Maldives is proud to announce that we will
dedicate a minimum of 2 per cent of our total
Government revenue to investments in renewable
energy.
We look forward to the day when the
international community will adopt a legally binding
climate treaty. We welcome the incorporation of the
political pledges contained in the Copenhagen Accord
into the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change process in Cancún. In Durban, we look
forward to helping to advance the process so that we
can reach the elusive prize of an agreement that
protects the climate and the interests of vulnerable
nation-States.
From the very beginning, the sustainable
development of small island developing States (SIDS)
has been inextricably linked to the Rio process.
Unfortunately, the objectives defined in the Barbados
Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy have,
like the goals expressed in the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development, gone largely unmet.
Now, as we set the goals of the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development, we must
include in the agenda a serious review of the progress
made by the international community in addressing the
sustainable development challenges facing small island
developing States. The Maldives hopes that Rio 2012
will provide a platform and create the necessary
impetus to radically reform international support for
SIDS. This should pave the way for establishing a
SIDS category based on objective, transparent and
consistent criteria.
We must also analyse and identify the particular
challenges and needs of SIDS, which are different from
those of other developing countries. We must further
ensure that United Nations programmes are redesigned
to assist with those particular challenges. Maldives
believes that three issues should form some of the key
pillars to be discussed and acted upon in Rio next year.
They are, first, the reform of United Nations support
for the sustainable development of SIDS, secondly, a
political declaration and strategy to give impetus to the
roll-out and mobilization of renewable energy and
green technologies, and lastly, improvements in the
integration of sustainable development principles into
international and domestic policy at strategic and
project levels alike.
We are deeply concerned by the dire food crisis
in the Horn of Africa. As the United Nations, we must
come together to find global solutions to these
challenges and ensure that we work to protect the
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rights of those who are most vulnerable, especially
women and children.
As a country that derives its livelihood from the
ocean, we are also concerned by the growing threat of
piracy in the Indian Ocean. We will continue to work
with the international community in addressing this
growing menace so as to make our maritime areas safe
for international shipping and trade.
The Maldives looks forward to a time when every
country will be democratic, every nation will be free
and the values that underpin this great institution can
finally be realized everywhere. Through the institutions
of the United Nations, we look forward to continuing
to promote equity, fairness and the protection of the
most vulnerable, regardless of where they live or what
religion they practise.
Only through the United Nations can we hope to
forge an agreement that protects our climate — a
prerequisite for all of our future progress and
development. In this volatile and ever-changing world,
there is one institution that provides the stability of
continuity, and that is the United Nations. The United
Nations is more important today than ever before.