I have come to this gathering
of nations as a representative of one of the smallest
nations on the planet. Seychelles is but a speck on the
globe, home to some 87,000 people — a people that
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believes in justice, freedom and fairness. In this
concert of nations, every country great or small has a
voice. Our voice comes from the heart of a people that,
like countless others, lives in trepidation. I have come
here neither to beg nor to accuse, but to reach out to
the conscience of all who have gathered here at the
United Nations. I ask them to feel the heartbeat of
humanity.
When this great institution was founded over six
decades ago, its architects were motivated by noble and
just ideals: human freedom and dignity, justice, human
rights, peace, security, harmony and development.
Those ideals are values that we hold dear, timeless
values that are the soul of the United Nations. I have
faith in those values. So do the people of Seychelles.
Have we lived up to those values? Yes, we have
averted many wars. We have resolved many conflicts.
But in this age of relative peace and security, new
enemies are staring us in the face: hunger, pandemics,
underdevelopment, poverty, economic turmoil,
environmental degradation and the inequity of the
global trading system. Those are the enemies which, if
not overcome, will shatter the foundation of
civilization. Those are the enemies that we have to
battle and conquer to create a better world for our
children and their children. Those are the battles that
we have to win to save our planet. Those are the issues
that the modern United Nations has to grapple with and
overcome.
Can it succeed? I believe it can. It can if we
endow it with a new vision — a vision in which hope
for mankind goes beyond rhetoric; a vision that
provides for bold leadership, clear commitments and
targets so that we can focus on the greater good for
humankind; a vision in which leaders come together,
setting aside petty differences and charting a new
course for the United Nations, a new road map to
resolve the climate crisis and an appropriate framework
for the energy and food crisis; a vision in which
appropriate institutional reforms are put in place and
adequate resources mobilized to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals; a vision that
encompasses justice and fairness in trade and in which
the specificities of small island developing States are
not only recognized but accepted as criteria for aid to
further development.
I believe in that vision. We can all share it; we
can all help to make it a reality. Our deeds have to be
governed by firm commitments to and perseverance in
finding sustainable, pragmatic and equitable solutions
to the complex issues that threaten our very existence.
We should abandon solutions that continue to
enrich the rich and impoverish the poor and the
vulnerable. When it comes to world trade, for example,
it seems acceptable to some that wealthy countries are
allowed to give subsidies to their farmers, as a result of
which exports from developing countries become
uncompetitive, but that developing countries are
obliged to follow World Trade Organization rules to the
letter, even if they undermine domestic economic
policies formulated to protect vulnerable sectors of
society.
We offer facilities to foreign investors to exploit
our natural resources, which are traded for high profits
on the international market, while we receive a pittance
in licensing fees. It is like taking a bowl of food from
the poor and giving them back a spoonful as a generous
donation. For instance, of the total value of tuna — our
“blue gold” — caught and trans-shipped in our waters
by foreign fishing vessels every year, Seychelles
receives only 7 per cent in revenue, comprising
licensing and trans-shipment fees. That situation is, to
my mind, unacceptable. I ask whether it is
unreasonable to fight for a better share of the proceeds.
On a separate but related note, while the
prevailing situation of insecurity in international
waters off the coast of Somalia is of grave concern to
the international community, it is of graver concern to
Seychelles, whose exclusive economic zone borders
that maritime zone of hazard. A little more than a week
ago, some 40 European fishing vessels lay idle in Port
Victoria as a result of an act of piracy on one of their
own. Such acts can have a serious impact on the
lifeline of the second pillar of our economy at a time
when we are engaging with the Bretton Woods
institutions in a process of economic reforms. I wish to
thank all our partners and friends — in particular
France — for all the efforts they have deployed against
that scourge.
The skewed nature of the global trade regime is
not the only impediment to development. I return to the
case of my country. The fact that we have a high
human development index, ranked fiftieth in the world,
and that we fall in the middle-income group of
countries excludes us from access to grants and soft
loans that would have helped our country to develop
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even further and faster. And that is despite the fact that
donor organizations have confirmed that all aid, grants
or loans that have been given to Seychelles have been
properly and accountably utilized for the benefit of our
people. It is as if we were being penalized for our
success in raising the standard of living of our people.
We have fallen into the so-called middle-income trap.
Furthermore, no account is taken of the fact that
Seychelles falls into the category of highly vulnerable
countries as defined by the Commonwealth
vulnerability index. Why should our relative success be
the reason for the denial of access to special
development funds, especially those addressing
education, water, sanitation and health? Is that the
price we have to pay for improving the quality of life
of our people? Is that the price we have to pay for
dedicating over 50 per cent of our territory to
environmental conservation for the benefit of the
whole world?
Our natural environment is our future, our
treasure trove of biodiversity. We attach the highest
importance to its preservation, not only for ourselves,
but also for the rest of the world.
Like many other small island States, Seychelles
remains vulnerable to the threats posed by global
warming, climate change and rising sea levels. These
phenomena are linked to human activity on our planet
that, collectively, the nations of the world have the
power to influence — if only we had the will to do so.
It is not right that small island States should have
to run the risk of being submerged by rising sea levels
while some nations refuse even to acknowledge their
responsibility for the high levels of environmental
pollution now threatening the planet’s resources.
Despite our small size, we shall continue to lead.
And we shall lead by example. By our example, we
have shown and will continue to show to all that
sustainable development and the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) are achievable in our
present generation.
Through our efforts and with the support of
international NGOs, we have started a global
movement — the Global Island Partnership — to get
all small islands and nations with islands to devote part
of their natural resources to environmental resilience
and sustainability. And, more recently, Seychelles set
up the Sea Level Rise Foundation to galvanize global
action to address the devastating impact of climate
change on our planet.
Are those worthy causes not deserving of
international support, especially in the International
Year of Planet Earth? We are running out of time, and
we must combine our resources and know-how to
avoid the physical damage and social and economic
toll that threaten us.
Some of the greatest afflictions of humankind
today are hunger, starvation and malnutrition. Today,
food security is our foremost concern. The challenge
for many Governments is to bring food to ordinary
people at affordable prices. The dramatic increase in
grain prices has led to huge increases in the price of
bread, milk, meat and other commodities. The hungry
are getting hungrier, more desperate and angrier. The
divide between rich and poor is widening day by day.
We are faced with the looming threat of starvation on a
global scale and, with it, the prospect of violent
upheavals.
We can act to resolve the food crisis. First, there
must be political commitment. Secondly, subsidies
given to farmers by the industrialized countries have to
be removed. Thirdly, the industrialized countries
should make available to the South much-needed
resources to improve our infrastructure. Give us the
resources, technology and infrastructure to produce
more food and there will be no need to help us feed
ourselves.
Mankind has had a hand in most, if not all, of the
crises we face today. We gather here every year in the
name of freedom, human rights, democracy and
sustainable development to deliver eloquent speeches.
In the process, we procrastinate and bury solutions to
our problems in reams of resolutions and declarations.
Can we honestly say that we have got our
priorities right? Can we say that we live in a just
world, where every man, woman and child enjoys the
same rights? Are we, as leaders, living up to the noble
goals for which the United Nations was set up? Let our
conscience provide us with the answers.
A revamped United Nations system is best placed
to facilitate progress in all the areas I have mentioned:
food security, trade, climate change and energy. I am
asking for a clear action plan. Multiple conferences and
talk shops are not the solution. We need a fresh and
effective approach to global governance and I am
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convinced that with the right level of resources, and
with the political will and commitment, we can start to
tackle the fundamental flaws in our global governance
and trade regimes. I am asking the rich nations to
support that endeavour and assume their collective
global responsibility.
Let those of us who believe in freedom and
dignity show solidarity among ourselves. Let us help
each other to overcome the obstacles in our path. Let
us focus on a global vision for the betterment of every
nation.
In conclusion, I leave members with this note of
reflection: “History to the defeated May say Alas but
cannot help or pardon ...” W. H. Auden’s words will
define the future of humanity, in terms of its history.
The time for action is at hand. We must change, or be
redefined by history, like many great civilizations of
the past.