I am
honoured to address the Assembly on behalf of the
Government and people of Haiti. Allow me, first, to
offer my heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Haya Rashed
Al-Khalifa on her election to the presidency of the
General Assembly in its sixty-first session. I am
convinced that her wealth of legal training, her
profound knowledge of public affairs, her national and
international career and her keen negotiating skills
mean that this session will be a success. Allow me to
reiterate to the President the full support of my country
and of the Haitian delegation in discharging her lofty
tasks.
I wish also to congratulate Ambassador Jan
Eliasson, whose practical spirit, his sense of
compromise and great know-how, meant that the
sixtieth session was a successful one. I wish him every
success in his new job as his country’s Minister for
Foreign Affairs.
I wish to convey to the Secretary-General, His
Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, sincere thanks for the skill
with which he has conducted the Organization over the
past 10 years. I congratulate him also on his continued
commitment to my country. The people of Haiti is
profoundly grateful to him for his subtlety and
determination demonstrated in the quest for viable
lasting solutions to the long crisis that has beset my
country in recent years. Mr. Annan deserves the full
appreciation of the international community for his
laudable, indefatigable efforts for peace, justice, human
rights, democracy and development.
On 3 July 2006, the Republic of Haiti regained its
seat in the Caribbean Community and Common Market
(CARICOM), thus putting an end to an absence of two
long years. We recognize that during this period our
brothers and sisters in the Caribbean never lost interest
in Haiti’s affairs. Quite the contrary: they were
strongly committed to finding appropriate solutions,
which have allowed my country today to have the
honour to participate side by side with them in the
great debates concerning the region. On 11 September,
Haiti finally rejoined the great family of the
Non-Aligned Movement, whose purpose is to
strengthen South-South cooperation. This was most
welcome. Those two events clearly show that we want
to be open to the world.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome
the accession of the Republic of Montenegro to
political sovereignty and to the great family of our
Organization.
Today, more than ever before, our world is facing
manifold threats that imperil its very existence. Despite
the Organization’s intensive efforts to make the world
more human and more liveable, the spectre of major
pandemics, poverty, hunger, organized crime,
terrorism, armed conflict, civil war and natural
disasters continues to haunt us. We therefore need to
redouble our efforts to refine our diplomatic
approaches and to give priority to dialogue, honest,
open negotiations, flexibility and compromise. Those
principles lie at the very basis of the creation of the
United Nations and reaffirm its strength and its raison
d’être. Our Organization remains the ideal forum, the
reference point for finding appropriate solutions to the
problems that beset our world. Nothing should make us
abandon that spirit.
The Republic of Haiti unreservedly supports all
of the international community’s initiatives to resolve
conflicts in Africa, in East Asia and in the Middle East
by finding peaceful negotiated solutions respectful of
the sovereignty of States.
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Terrorism is today assuming apocalyptic
proportions. The attacks of 11 September 2001 against
targets in the United States and subsequent attacks
elsewhere in the world were wake-up calls to us,
forcing us to silence our petty interests in order to face
this scourge which, unless it is swiftly curbed, will lead
to catastrophes with untold consequences. We cannot
make mistakes and we cannot hesitate. Recently, we
have been impotent, as we witness an infernal cycle of
violence, massive destruction of innocent human lives
and property. We are seeing attempts to annihilate our
institutions and our society. The very future of
humanity seems to be taken hostage by unbridled
groups that stop at nothing to destroy wherever they
can. The Republic of Haiti reaffirms once more its
resolve to fight terrorism in all its forms, using the few
resources that it has. It supports the preventive
measures taken against terrorism, measures taken in a
legal context. We encourage States to agree on a global
convention on terrorism based on a clear definition
acceptable to all.
Haiti welcomes the major steps taken to reform
the United Nations at the previous session. We are still
far from our goals, but some very significant progress
has, nonetheless, been made. We hope that the changes
decided on will continue to give our Organization the
resources it needs to carry out its global vocation. We
must adapt to new requirements, as we reaffirmed at
the World Summit of 2005. Accordingly, I applaud the
creation of the Peacebuilding Commission. It should
play an important part and its purpose is political
stability, creating sustainable foundations for
socioeconomic development in post-conflict situations,
as well as to help strengthen democratic institutions
and make them effective in a constitutional framework
and under the rule of law.
Similarly, I also welcome General Assembly
resolution 60/251, which created the Human Rights
Council. I congratulate the 47 members of the Council,
who were elected in May in order to put their
experience to use in promoting and protecting human
rights. I hope that this new body will, in many respects,
help to develop our society, to make it more open to
dialogue, understanding, mutual respect, social justice
and tolerance.
Haiti also welcomes the creation of the Central
Emergency Relief Fund. It will provide upfront
resources to enable the United Nations to finance
humanitarian relief operations, as soon as a catastrophe
occurs, in other words, to do more, faster.
My Government agrees with the idea of
revitalizing the Economic and Social Council. As one
of the main organs of the Organization, it should be
more involved in development activities in countries
that have been sidelined by history, especially the least
developed countries (LDCs). It should provide greater
cohesion in adopting the best approach for attaining the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The question
of harmonizing strategies and actions among the
entities of the United Nations system that work in the
area of development is, for us, a crucial one.
Through the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti of
the Economic and Social Council, my country enjoys
the support of the Council and, recently, at the high-
level substantive meeting held in Geneva last July, the
Council extended the mandate of that group through
July 2007, with the possibility of being renewed once
more. I welcome the idea that this extension will
enable various sectors involved in the sustained
development of Haiti to achieve tangible results for my
country.
Since 1945, date of the creation of the United
Nations, of which my country was a founding Member,
the international landscape has undergone profound
change. However, after more than sixty years, the
institutional framework of the Security Council has
remained the same. Any reform of the Organization
would, therefore, be incomplete were it not to include a
reorganization of the Security Council. The
composition of the Security Council must, therefore,
reflect the realities of the twenty-first century and
include Member States that are capable of shouldering
responsibilities of area of the maintenance of
international peace and security. In this new desirable
configuration, it is crucial that developing countries
from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean
enjoy equitable representation.
In February 2006, Haiti held historic, fair and
democratic elections. This process will be completed at
the end of the year by municipal elections and
territorial elections, which will help restore democracy
and open the way to political stability. The people of
Haiti as a whole decided in favour of change capable of
giving it security and improved living conditions. I
welcome the activities of the international community
for the support and assistance it gave and has continued
7 06-53958
to give to Haiti. I salute the Group of Friends of Haiti
and all Members of the Organization that have spared
no effort or sacrifice to support the United Nations
Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) by
providing it with military or police personnel.
I also welcome the adoption of Security Council
resolution 1702 (2006) of 15 August 2006, which
renewed the mandate of MINUSTAH. I hope that this
mission, which is doing a very difficult job —
sometimes a dangerous, but noble job — will, together
with the national police of Haiti and the Government,
manage to control the wanton insecurity that is
besetting Haitian society. I therefore call upon the
mission to work closely with the Haitian authorities to
make the necessary changes depending on the priorities
of the moment.
I hope that international assistance will also focus
on reforming the judicial system, on the
professionalization of the police and on strengthening
democratic institutions, such as the parliament,
municipal bodies and the territorial collectives.
To the parents, friends and colleagues of
peaceworkers who died in Haiti in the line of duty, I
would like to reiterate the pain and sorrow of our
Government and the Haitian people, who recognize the
importance of the United Nations presence in Haiti, the
ultimate goal of which is to help the country to recover
its stability.
The new team that the head of State of Haiti,
Mr. René Garcia Préval, has the privilege of leading
since he assumed office in May, has embarked on the
long-term task of rebuilding the country. The task is to
restore security, to build a modern State, to strengthen
democratic institutions and to offer favourable
conditions for investment in order to create wealth that
benefits everybody. In order to attract investors and
create conditions that favour sustainable development,
the implementation of basic infrastructure projects is
imperative, e.g., the building of roads, ports, airports,
providing electricity to the main towns of the country,
improving telecommunications networks, all of which
requires the support of the international community.
Lack of security is a fertile ground for all kinds
of temptation. It favours destabilizing elements that
exploit the subhuman conditions under which a large
number of our poor live, by arming them to sow death
and destruction in the Haitian family, thus imperilling
the very future of our Republic. Attacking this lack of
security and the climate of violence marked by
dramatic kidnappings and deadly clashes between
armed gangs and the police is one of the top priorities
of my Government. Dialogue, on the one hand, and
toughness, on the other hand, are necessary in finding a
viable solution to banditry, which in recent times has
been spreading in the country, causing a flight of
capital as well as a brain drain. Accordingly, the
technical and financial support of the international
community is therefore essential in the effective
implementation of the disarmament, demobilization
and reintegration programme. We are aware that Haiti
is not a classic case, but that does not mean that we
should do nothing.
In order to provide speedy relief to the sufferings
of the masses and to reduce, even eliminate, the
sources of gang recruitment, my Government has
launched a social pacification programme. This
programme provides for the establishment of a
database of more than 300 projects and actions in
various sectors of our national life and throughout the
territory. It will help create labour-intensive jobs and
will enable the State to reduce unemployment, to
guarantee some relief and thereby to reduce
wrongdoing.
Moreover, in order to create a climate conducive
to good governance our head of State initiated an open,
honest dialogue with all political sectors upon his
election to the presidency. They understood the
urgency and responded positively to the invitation by
agreeing to participate in the current outward-looking
Government, which includes members of various
political parties, which are also represented in
parliament. The point is to achieve social cohesion and
political reconciliation, which are essential for
stability, security, economic recovery and the
rebuilding of an inclusive society.
The international conference for the economic
and social development of Haiti, which was held in
Port-au-Prince on 25 July 2006, produced promises of
financial commitment by the international community.
My Government intends to carry out a long-term
development plan. That attests to our strong
commitment to take control of the destiny of the
country, and that of our international partners to
respect the priorities defined by the Government.
In order to facilitate the task of the Government
to create the necessary conditions for true economic
06-53958 8
and social development, I call upon donors to live up to
their promises and to support Haiti in the long term.
Financial aid from the international community will
facilitate the consolidation of democracy and will help
us to establish the basis for sustainable development.
In order to attain those results and to strengthen its
credibility, the Government is determined to comply
with the requirements of good governance, to ease the
poverty of the disadvantaged and to continue the
ceaseless fight against insecurity and corruption in
order to facilitate private national and foreign
investment.
In conclusion, I would note that the Government
of Haiti is counting on the active cooperation of the
international community to assist it in its quest for
peace and socio-economic development. Throughout
the general debate and listening to the statements made
by our many friends from CARICOM, the Americas
and all over the world, Haiti has been aware of the
keen desire of our partners to work side by side with
Haiti in order to meet the challenges faced by our
Government. Here, I wish to express the gratitude of
the Government of Haiti. Haiti is faced with a daunting
challenge, but there is no lack of political will. My
country will — with our Organization and with all of
us working together — attain our goals.