At the outset, Sir,
allow me to offer the warm and sincere congratulations
of Solomon Islands on your election as President of the
Assembly at its sixty-third session. I am confident that
with your vast experience and able leadership you will
guide this session to a fruitful outcome. You can rest
assured of Solomon Islands unwavering support and
cooperation during your tenure of office.
Through you, I acknowledge the good work of
your predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, who has shown
great leadership on issues of global concern, in
particular on climate change, financing for
development, United Nations reform and the
Millennium Development Goals.
My delegation is pleased to see you,
Mr. President, take such issues head on, presiding over
the high-level event on the Millennium Development
Goals as we arrive at the midpoint of our time-bound
commitments. Unfortunately, many countries, including
my own, are off track in terms of achieving the Goals.
My delegation also wishes to join others in
conveying its gratitude and appreciation to our
Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who has worked
tirelessly and diligently to protect and preserve the
principles and purposes of the Charter during his first
year in office. We wish him well as he carries on the
good work he has begun — in particular, his regular
briefings of the membership, making his office
accountable and transparent in carrying out its
activities.
This year our multilateral institution is being
revisited by history and challenged by the changing
international system. Unilateralism and changing
postures by big Powers are creating a new global order.
The creation of new fronts in Asia, the Pacific and
Eastern Europe is coupled with the ongoing conflicts in
the Middle East and parts of Africa. Above all, the
arms race is no longer a threat, but a reality.
The structural imbalances of the international
financial architecture have exposed the inability of the
major developed markets to respond to the volatility of
the international financial system, resulting in State
interventions. The world economy is looking more
precarious and unequal. For small open economies the
results are catastrophic. Hence, we must be cautious in
using the free market approach and recognize its
limitations.
The increasing cost of food and energy is causing
macroeconomic instability throughout the world today.
This speaks of the complexity and weakness of the
international system. It reflects the uneven distribution
of wealth that continues to fail the developing
countries, generating instability across the world. This
can only be corrected by having an open rule-based,
non-discriminatory and equitable trading system.
Furthermore, market speculation and agricultural
subsidies continue to pose major risks to the global
economy. The failure of the recent Doha Round is of
concern to my delegation, as it further marginalizes the
small economies from globalization. The issue of the
food crisis now deserves our immediate and most
serious consideration at this session.
My delegation deeply regrets that the recently
discussed United Nations food crisis Comprehensive
Action Plan is not matched by the required resources.
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Countries will therefore need to look at their own
resources for solutions. To this end, Solomon Islands is
working on short-, medium- and long-term solutions.
The population is encouraged to eat locally produced
food and to undertake community-based rice growing
programmes. Solomon Islands hopes to further
strengthen its relations with rice-growing countries.
My Government commends the Republic of China on
Taiwan for supporting Solomon Islands rice-growing
programmes.
Dependency on imported fossil fuel and food is
reversing Millennium Development Goals gains,
painstakingly achieved over the last decades. Solomon
Islands is no exception. Thus, cleaner energy to power
the world economy is the way forward. In this
connection, we look to both the North and the South
for solutions. I wish to thank the Republic of China on
Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Austria for coming forward
with community-based renewable energy programmes.
Such cooperation preserves the indispensable character
of our noble institution and translates into action the
Solomon Islands rural electrification policy of bringing
affordable electricity to 80 per cent of its population in
the rural areas.
We are also exploring bulk purchasing
arrangements with Venezuela, using the models of the
Petro Carribe arrangement. We hope, having spent a
third of our national budget on fuel alone, that this will
provide Solomon Islands with some breathing space.
Climate change and natural disasters continue to
create anxiety and cast a dark cloud over the future and
survival of humanity, in particular of the 50 million
people of small island developing States. The
magnitude of climate change has outgrown the existing
capacity of the United Nations system. Our multilateral
institution is heavy on providing technical support and
analytical data and less weighty with regard to on-the-
ground activities. Regional and subregional
intergovernmental organizations are also going in the
same direction, leaving countries to fend for
themselves. Solomon Islands hopes that the Small
Island Developing States Unit within the United
Nations will be strengthened to effectively coordinate
implementation of meeting the special needs of small
island developing States.
Today there is already within Solomon Islands a
steady migratory pattern of movements of indigenous
populations from their ancestral low islands to larger
islands as sea levels rise. This has placed much stress
on the diverse fragile land tenure system, causing
friction between ethnic groups. Climate change is for
Solomon Islands a sustainable development, security
and poverty issue — all are interlinked. It is about
preserving our forests, about our reforestation
programme and about providing environment-friendly
opportunities for the resources owners in our rural
areas.
On this note, Solomon Islands is embarking on an
ambitious programme of scaling down logging, which
is the country’s major export income-earner. My
Government has earmarked funds for community-based
reafforestation and reforestation programmes. It is
hoped that over time the agriculture, tourism and
fisheries industries will fill the forestry vacuum within
the country’s economy, and that sustainable harvest of
forests will become the norm.
The increased frequency and magnitude of
natural disasters remind us that no country will be
spared. Solomon Islands is still recovering from last
year’s tsunami. We feel the pain and suffering of the
Governments and peoples of Myanmar and the
People’s Republic of China, hit by Cyclone Nargis and
earthquake respectively.
More recently the three hurricanes that battered
our fellow islanders in the Caribbean speak of our
common vulnerability to natural disasters.
My delegation hopes that a more committed
outcome will emerge from the Bali Action Plan.
Solomon Islands further notes with concern the
proliferation of climate change financial mechanisms
outside the multilateral process. This will once again
disadvantage the most vulnerable countries — small
island developing States and least developed countries.
Climate change for us requires new and additional
resources. Accessibility to the Adaptation Fund and
funds for mitigation and technology transfer are at the
heart of the solutions to climate change challenges.
In this light, Solomon Islands fully associates
itself with the Alliance of Small Island States
Declaration on the issue, as well as the recently
adopted Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Niue
Declaration on Climate Change. We further call on the
United Nations membership to support the draft
resolution on climate change and security.
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On the issue of terrorism, Solomon Islands is
concerned about the lack of progress on the draft
comprehensive terrorism convention. The absence of a
legal definition of terrorism is creating gaps in our
global fight against terror. We continue to condemn
terrorism in whatever form and manifestation. We urge
the international community to weed out the evils that
breed terrorism. Our fight against terrorism must be
responsible and humane.
I take this opportunity to sincerely congratulate
the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands,
commonly referred to as RAMSI. The Government and
people of Solomon Islands value its partnership with
the Regional Mission, and I thank all participating
Pacific Islands Forum Countries for their ongoing
contribution and commitment. RAMSI continues to
enjoy popular support, as it provides a unique
opportunity and an enabling environment to rebuild
Solomon Islands. Since assuming office nine months
ago, my Government, the Coalition for National Unity
and Rural Advancement, has defined its relationship
with RAMSI and the Pacific Islands Forum through
consultation and dialogue. This is done through
regional and national processes.
Solomon Islands and RAMSI will soon
commence negotiations on a proposed Government-
RAMSI partnership framework, which will form the
basis of future cooperation. The guiding principles of
the framework are that it should be people-centred,
nationally owned and driven and aligned to
Government priorities and policies. This should
guarantee its sustainability and long-term success.
Meanwhile, our Parliamentary Foreign Relations
Committee has been mandated by our National
Parliament to review RAMSI. The Committee is
expected to report its findings to Parliament next year.
Solomon Islands is establishing a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, modelled on South
Africa’s experience, to address people’s traumatic
experience during the three years of ethnic conflict. It
is our hope that the process will rebuild confidence,
trust and unity among the diverse cultural communities
in Solomon Islands.
More than 80 per cent of the country’s resources
and land are traditionally owned. Last month the
Solomon Islands National Parliament passed a Secured
Transactions Bill, which will make traditional assets
bankable to allow more investment in the informal
sector. Solomon Islands is also considering putting in
place a Political Parties Integrity Bill to instil national
stability and nurture its growing democracy.
On the issue of achieving the Millennium
Development Goals, as a small island developing State
with least developed country status, we find that much
of our achievement rests on partnership with all
stakeholders at all levels. Solomon Islands is one of the
highest foreign aid recipient countries. This
unfortunately has overstretched and crowded our
national policy space in strengthening and maintaining
good relations with all donors. Meanwhile, the
Government welcomes new approaches by
non-traditional donors of providing direct assistance
using existing national institutional frameworks. This
strengthens governance and democracy, as provided for
under the Paris Declaration, allowing the State to
increase its legitimacy and reach out to its population
more meaningfully.
My delegation remains concerned that much of
the debate on the Millennium Development Goals is
centred on social commitments, from health to gender
and from HIV/AIDS to education. Economic issues are
given no attention, placing countries with huge youth
and unemployed populations in an awkward and fragile
situation. We consider such a gap as a time bomb that
will explode and trigger more instability in the future if
it remains unaddressed.
Educating our youth is the way forward. We are
therefore grateful to those countries that continue to
train our young people. This year a new partner, Cuba,
is offering medical training opportunities for more than
60 students. Solomon Islands will make every effort to
utilize these training opportunities.
Within my subregion of the Pacific, the
Melanesian Spearhead Group, after some 20 years of
informal existence, has established a secretariat,
located in Vanuatu. This should further strengthen
relations among the subregion’s countries and its wider
neighbours, as we continue to address our collective
development aspirations.
We have only eight months left to register our
continental shelf, as required by the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea. We are working
diligently on the matter, having just accessed the
Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea
Trust Fund four months ago. Solomon Islands
welcomes the recent decision by the eighteenth
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Meeting of States Parties to the Convention
recognizing the technical and resources constraints on
many developing countries in meeting the required
time frame of May 2009. We are determined to keep
working on this very important issue, which will
redefine our territorial waters.
I turn to sustainable development issues. Hailing
from the world’s largest ocean, countries of the Pacific
have relied on the ocean for their livelihood and
economic sustenance. This has prompted certain
countries of the Pacific, including Solomon Islands, to
initiate sustainable management arrangements to
protect our juvenile tuna stocks by closing pockets of
high seas adjacent to our respective exclusive
economic zones.
The review of the implementation of the
Monterrey Consensus scheduled for late this year
should promote global growth and better international
development support, especially for the least developed
countries which remain on the periphery of the
international system. Solomon Islands hopes the
review will also reinvigorate the operations and
governance of the Bretton Woods institutions, to make
them more responsive to the changing character of the
international financial system and become an effective
part of the multilateral system.
As one of the least developed countries, Solomon
Islands looks forward to the Fourth United Nations
Conference on the Least Developed Countries,
scheduled for 2010, which will provide an opportunity
to address the special challenges of the least developed
countries. My delegation joins other least developed
countries in looking to you, Mr. President, for
leadership to work on the modalities of the conference
during this session.
On the issue of democratization of the United
Nations, Solomon Islands believes that our
Organization must play a prominent role in influencing
and shaping the dynamics of the international system.
This can be achieved only by increasing the legitimacy
of our premier Organization through wider
participation of its membership. This means that
strengthening the General Assembly is crucial.
Ensuring that the Secretariat is representative of the
membership is a must.
We also call for a genuine attempt by the
Secretariat to undertake a universal recruitment drive,
in particular among those that remain underrepresented
in the Organization. This could be achieved through
annual country competitive recruitment exams.
Solomon Islands welcomes the recent recruitment
exams held in Honiara, and would like to see them held
annually.
On the issue of system-wide coherence, Solomon
Islands notes the establishment five months ago of the
joint office arrangement between the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Having one of the largest
UNDP country programmes in the subregion of the
Pacific, we note with concern that more than 70 per
cent to 80 per cent of the programmes are spent on
consultancy, making country-United Nations relations
distant.
In this regard, my delegation welcomes the
appointment of an in-country UNDP Deputy Resident
Representative. However, we renew our call for a fully
fledged in-country Resident Representative.
Security Council reform continues to elude the
Organization. It is like a process that has never started
and takes the longest to finish. We have over the years
identified elements for negotiations, yet remain
reluctant to move into intergovernmental negotiations.
I am confident that you will give us leadership,
Mr. President, and plough deep in facilitating an
intergovernmental process on Security Council reform
by February 2009. In this connection, Solomon Islands
reiterates its support for Japan, Brazil and India as
permanent members in an enlarged Security Council.
On the issue of Taiwan, Solomon Islands
congratulates the Government and people of Taiwan on
the successful free and fair election of President Ma
Ying-jeou in March this year. My delegation
acknowledges the goodwill shown by Taiwan in
developing an atmosphere of trust, flexibility,
pragmatism and a positive spirit to reduce tension
across the Taiwan Strait with greater economic
engagement through trade, tourism and cultural
exchange.
We also note the intention to replace armed
confrontation with negotiation, and isolation with
engagement. Resumption of direct flights between the
two countries, increased dialogue, and people-to-
people interaction are all positive developments that
should be encouraged. Above all, much has happened
since the March election.
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Solomon Islands calls on the international
community to recognize the Republic of China on
Taiwan’s good faith and build on the positive
momentum. The international community must provide
the Republic of China on Taiwan with the necessary
and appropriate international space if we are to be
responsible and contribute to the maintenance of
international peace, stability and security along the
Taiwan Strait.
Solomon Islands welcomes the 47-day Annapolis
talks held from December 2007 into January this year.
My delegation shares the Quartet’s support for ongoing
Palestine and Israel negotiations to realize the shared
goal of establishing a Palestine State by December
2008 as a just, permanent and long-lasting solution to
the Middle East conflict.
Solomon Islands further salutes Turkey for
mediating talks between Israel and Syria in April, and
salutes the courage of the two countries in discussing
issues that are difficult and sensitive.
In conclusion, as we reflect on the range of the
global agenda before us, we must honour and act on
our collective commitments. We must also define a
path that offers our people human security
guaranteeing freedom from want, freedom from fear
and freedom to live in human dignity.