Dominica

I wish to extend my congratulations to Mr. Harri Holkeri and his country, Finland, on his election to the high office of President of the fifty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly. His experience and the respect accorded him by the international community will certainly ensure that the matters of this Assembly are conducted with efficiency and urgency. I should also like to express my delegation's appreciation for the very competent manner in which his predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, presided over the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. The recently concluded Millennium Assembly was exceptional for the number of world leaders who attended that historic event. The Declaration adopted at its conclusion sets forth laudable values and principles for the guidance of the international community. Further, it documents the goals that must be achieved and the challenges that must be met if we are to succeed in creating a better world for all citizens of our global village. But the Declaration is also a strikingly sad chronicle of the deplorable and degrading conditions that affect the lives of most of the world's population: debilitating and abject poverty, economic deprivation, oppression and injustice, inadequate or non-existent health care in the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, victimization on the basis of ethnicity, children without educational opportunities but with daily experiences of hunger, lack of fresh and clean water and uncertain prospects of ever escaping depressing and unhealthy surroundings. These conditions were not newly discovered immediately prior to the Millennium Assembly. Indeed, they have been the subjects of United Nations resolutions at successive sessions of the General Assembly in the past. While there has been some amelioration in some areas, largely through the efforts of the United Nations and its agencies, there has been noticeable deterioration in others. The challenge that faces the United Nations, and the international community in particular, is to go beyond the concerns expressed, the affirmations and resolutions and demonstrate in tangible and effective ways a commitment to serious engagement in a concerted effort to bring about meaningful change in the lives of the many poor people among us. As the Commonwealth of Dominica and other small States embark on the difficult road of raising the living standards of their citizens, we find the task made much more difficult by the negative impact of the twin forces of liberalization and globalization. Globalization and trade liberalization operate to the advantage of the rich and developed countries, which have the requisite institutional and human resource capability and are well placed to reap the benefits and rewards that accrue from these processes. For small countries like my own, with very limited ability to carry out proper exploitation and to deal with current economic forces, globalization has resulted in greater inequality and marginalization and a widening gap between rich and poor nations. That is the unavoidable result, since the proverbial levelling of the playing field is in reality non-existent. And the countries benefiting from the process seem to have no interest in making sure that all nations, rich and poor, have an equal opportunity to be engaged in harnessing the opportunities presented by economic and scientific innovations and by the revolution in telecommunications and information technology. Compounding this problem is the disturbing and alarming tendency of the rich and powerful to fashion international trade rules and organizations with the purported intention of liberalizing trade but which in reality have resulted in creating a decisive edge in international commerce for themselves. Those who advance the concept of free trade as the most efficient vehicle for income enhancement in developing countries continue to cling to protectionist policies for selected items of trade while simultaneously engaged in a determined effort to deny market access that 30 provides some small measure of special or differential treatment for our exports. A clear case in point is the World Trade Organization (WTO) and what it represents for the Commonwealth of Dominica and other small banana- producing countries in the Caribbean and elsewhere. We have traditionally, over a period of 50 years, exported our bananas to the European market, under special rules that made allowances for the particular circumstances of small State size, or difficult terrain and high cost of production. In the interpretation and application of its rules, the WTO is not minded to craft decisions that promote equity and fairness among parties of unequal standing. But that is the logical expectation for an organization that was evidently established to decide disputes among equals and on whose dispute panels, particularly at the appellate levels, the advanced countries are predominantly represented. The ruling of the WTO in the dispute with respect to the European Union's banana import regime has resulted in economic uncertainty in the Windward Islands, a situation made all the more damaging by the continuing inability of the parties to agree on a formula for making the regime compatible with WTO rules. My country holds firmly to the view that adopting either of the current proposals being considered to resolve the banana dispute would result in economic stagnation and dislocation for the banana-exporting countries in the Caribbean, particularly of course in the Eastern Caribbean, as well as Jamaica, Belize and Suriname. We therefore urge the parties concerned to explore a compromise solution that would allow Dominica and other banana-producing countries to continue to export bananas to the European Union at prices that are fair and reasonable. Equal trade and fair prices are what we ask for, not handouts. Our suffering farmers ask for no more. Meanwhile, our diversification efforts are being accelerated while we stand square and firm in support of our farmers. My delegation calls for a speedy resolution to this impasse, as we view the application by the United States of trade sanctions against some members of the European Union as counterproductive and not conducive to reaching a fair and negotiated settlement. The threatened carousel approach to imposing those sanctions is punitive and a pressure device, unfair to those European countries. At a time when there is a real prospect of our losing our market in bananas and as we explore avenue of economic diversification, our fledgling financial services sector has been subjected, since June last year, to a potentially serious attack from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD alleged that several Caribbean countries, including my own, are guilty of establishing and maintaining tax havens. These countries were also condemned for having competitive tax regimes and for their unwillingness to undertake to eliminate policies that the OECD unilaterally determined to be harmful to its members. The Commonwealth of Dominica believes that the unilateral formulations contained in the OECD report are inconsistent with international practice and are designed to impede the development of the competitive capacity of the Caribbean jurisdictions in the provision of offshore financial services. We believe that international rules and practices must evolve from genuine consultative practices and must be democratically applied on the basis of accepted principles and norms in the international community. We take the view that the report is simply one more example of small developing States being coerced into complying with rules, standards and practices promulgated by advanced States to advance the protection of their economies while ours continue to deteriorate. We are committed to the establishment of adequate legislative and regulatory frameworks necessary to insulate the sector from illegal activities. We are also ready to work with the Financial Action Task Force to address any legitimate concerns they may have. However, we do not intend to surrender our sovereign right to act in the best economic interests of our citizens, nor will we be deterred from doing so by threats of any kind from any quarter. While our efforts at improving our export earnings are being undermined and our financial services sector comes under serious scrutiny, the development programmes and strategies of the Commonwealth of Dominica continue to be affected by the continuing decline in official development assistance (ODA). The expectation that foreign direct investment would bridge the gap has not materialized, notwithstanding the strides we have made in providing a climate of good governance, openness and stable, democratic practice, which, we were told, were the prerequisites for investment development. 31 The simple truth is that the more advanced developing countries have benefited disproportionately from the tremendous increase in foreign direct investment over the last decade, with the small and less developed States receiving little or nothing at all. There must be an understanding that if small developing States are to embark successfully on the road to sustainable economic development without the benefit of foreign direct investment, official development assistance is indispensable to that process and the declining trend in the provision of official development assistance must perforce and necessarily be reversed. The most deadly threat to our human resource base and to our population at large is the contagion of HIV/AIDS. This disease takes a heavy toll not only in lives but also in social and economic terms, and the countries most affected are the least able to deal with the consequences. Statistics from the recent world conference on HIV/AIDS indicate that sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of infection in the world, with the Caribbean coming a close second. This is not an African or Caribbean problem, however. Global in scope and impact, the HIV/AIDS pandemic warrants global attention and action. The Commonwealth of Dominica believes that as a first immediate step there must come into being a partnership between the pharmaceutical manufacturers and the stakeholders in the international community, with the express purpose of ensuring that less costly HIV/AIDS medication is readily available to those most in need. Simultaneously, there must be increased efforts at raising awareness and consciousness of the crisis and the preventive measures available, while a dedicated commitment to the development of an AIDS vaccine must be matched by increasing funding for research. In 1994, the Commonwealth of Dominica participated in the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and there reaffirmed our commitment to sustainable development programmes that enhance the quality of the lives of peoples, including their health, well-being and safety. The task ahead of us is to ensure that the measures and the resources of small island developing States — the oceans, coastal environments, biodiversity and human resources — are utilized in a sustainable manner that will be to the advantage of present and future generations, as it is our responsibility to preserve them. My country shares with small island developing States the problem of the safe disposal of solid and liquid waste. It has been recognized that this lack of capacity results in marine pollution and coastal degradation. Our position is consistent with the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development that small island developing States will be constrained in meeting the challenges that face them if they do not have the cooperation and assistance of the international community. As the United Nations meets for the first General Assembly of the new century, the delegation of the Commonwealth of Dominica wishes to address once again the issue of democratic representation in the United Nations for the people of the Republic of China. It is a concern to my delegation that the Republic of China, with a democratically elected Government and a population of 23 million, is unable to participate in our deliberations. The Republic of China is a model of democracy in Asia and is more than able to carry out the obligations of our Charter. Over the past few decades, the Republic of China has proved itself to be a good world citizen, using its own economic development to generously assist in alleviating debilitating poverty through economic assistance programmes in many needy developing countries. The situation of the Republic of China should be addressed to ensure participation in the work and activities of our organization and its agencies as a valued member of the international community. My delegation calls for this fifty-fifth General Assembly to be a new beginning for the United Nations. Rejuvenated by the unprecedented sharing of vision that we witnessed during the Millennium Summit, let us utilize those ideas, proposals, suggestions and criticisms to chart a way forward for the United Nations that will allow it to meet the needs and challenges of this new century. Let us look towards a new vision for a future that will incorporate the weak and strong, the rich and poor and the developed and developing world, so that none will be marginalized. Let us collaborate in achieving the objectives of the Secretary-General's millennium report of freedom from fear and freedom from want. Let us include all Members — developed, developing and least developed — in the decision-making process 32 so that all can share a future based on the premises laid down by our forebears in the Charter of the United Nations.