It is indeed an
honour for me to express to you, Madam, sincere
congratulations on behalf of the Government and the
people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on your
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
its sixty-first session. Your appointment as the third
woman ever to hold that esteemed position is of special
significance and must be duly recognized. Trinidad and
Tobago is convinced that your extensive experience in
multilateral diplomacy and your international legal
expertise adequately equip you to guide the work of the
Assembly to a successful conclusion.
We also take this opportunity to welcome most
warmly the Republic of Montenegro as the 192nd
Member of the United Nations and to wish its people
and its Government continued peace, stability and
prosperity.
We would also like to recognize the astute and
efficient leadership of the President of the General
Assembly at its sixtieth session, Mr. Jan Eliasson of
Sweden, who efficiently, dispassionately and with
subtle dexterity discharged the mandate of follow-up
entrusted to the sixtieth session by our leaders at the
2005 World Summit, getting us past hurdles that
challenged to the core the working methods of the
Assembly. His efforts also enabled the international
community to create two crucial new international
institutions — the Human Rights Council and the
Peacebuilding Commission — as part of the ongoing
reform of the United Nations.
Trinidad and Tobago is hopeful that the Human
Rights Council will be an effective instrument for the
defence and promotion of human rights worldwide,
denouncing without fear or favour gross violations of
human rights and seeking, through dialogue and
cooperation, to bring about full compliance with
internationally accepted norms related to universal
fundamental human rights and freedoms.
Institutional support for countries in transition
from the post-conflict phase to that of sustainable
development is a sine qua non for the success of efforts
to restore peace and normalcy. It is in that context that
Trinidad and Tobago views the indispensable role to be
played by the Peacebuilding Commission in those
countries that have been traumatized by years of
internal strife.
His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan is a very special
friend of Trinidad and Tobago — and, might I confide,
especially of Tobago. It is thus with mixed emotions
that we bid him farewell at this session. Over the
course of his tenure, our seemingly unassuming
Secretary-General has steered the vessel that is the
Organization with an abundance of skill and with
clarity of vision, keeping it on an even keel as it has
traversed one of the most turbulent periods in its
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history. He has been a champion of principle, a
spokesman for international justice and the staunchest
defender of all that the Organization stands for and to
which all of our countries subscribe. There is so much
that the Secretary-General has done that history will
record. For us, it suffices that he has been the beacon
that has kept the United Nations ideal alive during
these difficult times.
The role of the Secretary-General in the twenty-
first century is no longer that of a mere chief
administrative officer — burdensome as that role may
be — but one that requires profound knowledge of the
dynamics of current inter-State relations. Trinidad and
Tobago is hopeful, therefore, that as we elect a
successor to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the
Security Council will recommend to the General
Assembly a person whose diplomatic skills are highly
regarded, whose leadership abilities are well
recognized and who will be able to maintain an
excellent working relationship with all Member States
and enjoy the confidence of the five permanent
members of the Security Council, thereby facilitating
decisive and timely actions by the Organization when
they are most urgently needed.
However, the functions of the Secretary-General
can be carried out effectively only with the firm
support of the entire international community. It is
therefore vital that the process through which the
chosen candidate will emerge be as inclusive and
transparent as possible and that it remain faithful to the
principles and procedures enshrined in the Charter as
they relate to his or her appointment.
The international community continues to grapple
with the absence of realistic and pragmatic solutions to
many longstanding global problems. A just and lasting
peace in the Middle East continues to elude us, and the
humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people
continues to worsen daily in view of the economic and
financial stranglehold placed on their economy
following the assumption of power by democratic
means of the political grouping of their choice. We
urge the major political parties in the Palestinian
territories to find common ground that would satisfy
the aspirations of the Palestinian people, who for
generations have longed to exercise their inalienable
right to self-determination and independence.
Peace and security in the Middle East also remain
threatened by conflicts of a more recent vintage. The
use of force disproportionate to the threat at hand, as in
the recent cases of Gaza and Lebanon, has also had the
effect of increasing the suffering of the civilian
populations concerned and of destroying vital national
infrastructure, and has served only to increase
bitterness and hatred among those populations and to
inspire resort to extremism.
Trinidad and Tobago also views with growing
alarm the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the
Darfur region of the Sudan and calls upon the
international community to exercise its responsibility
to protect the people of Darfur. The international
community has a fundamental legal and moral
obligation to act in cases of egregious violations of
human rights such as this. It is incumbent on us to
institute immediate measures to provide security and
alleviate the suffering. We must also bring to justice at
the International Criminal Court (ICC) those
responsible for the crimes against humanity committed
in Darfur.
Trinidad and Tobago exhorts the Government in
Khartoum to accept the presence of a United Nations-
mandated peacekeeping force that would enhance the
capacity to monitor the Darfur Peace Agreement. Such
a force could also provide the necessary security for
the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced
persons living in makeshift camps and for the return of
refugees from neighbouring Chad, and would facilitate
the provision of humanitarian assistance.
On another front, Trinidad and Tobago applauds
the efforts of the International Criminal Court and
welcomes with satisfaction the progress made to bring
to justice the perpetrators of the heinous crimes
committed against the peoples of Uganda and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Trinidad and
Tobago views universal adherence to the ICC as
integral to entrenching the rule of law in the conduct of
international relations, and as yet another pillar of the
promotion of international peace and security. We
again urge States Members of this Organization that
are not yet party to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court to consider acceding to
that instrument as soon as possible.
The well-being of peoples the world over is
threatened not only by violations of international
humanitarian and human rights law, but also by
individual and collective acts of terrorism which the
Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
29 06-53952
resolutely condemns. We are, indeed, hopeful that the
recent adoption by the Assembly of the Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy will lead to a holistic and
integral approach to a phenomenon that threatens the
internal peace and security of States in virtually all
regions of the globe. It is also our sincere hope that this
body will, in the near future, conclude its deliberations
on a comprehensive international convention against
terrorism that would provide a legal framework for
combating that scourge — a framework acceptable to
all nations.
It has become something of a cliché to say that
there will be no peace and security in the world
without development and, conversely, no development
without security. It was therefore with a degree of
concern that we witnessed the near-total relegation to
secondary status of the development dimension of the
international agenda at the 2005 millennium review
Summit. Some degree of relief was provided
subsequently when, after long and arduous
negotiations, we were able to agree on a development
resolution that sought — on the basis of a global
partnership, among other things — to operationalize
and implement the development commitments made at
the major summits in the economic, social and related
fields.
That resolution also provided for monitoring
mechanisms to follow up on the commitments of the
Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade
Organization. Trinidad and Tobago is hopeful that the
commitments to the achievement of those international
development objectives, as set out in that resolution,
will be honoured and will not be the subject of
renegotiation at the next review.
Global peace and security are also threatened by
the failure of the international community to bring
about the necessary structural changes in the fields of
international trade and in economic and financial
relations. Like most developing countries, Trinidad and
Tobago is painfully aware of the significant imbalances
that have been having an adverse impact on developing
economies. The current suspension of the Doha trade
negotiations, and the delay in the resumption of those
talks, are consequently of particular concern to us,
given the outward-looking orientation of our economy
and the fact that the most basic tenet of our trade
policy relates to increased market access for the export
of our goods and services.
Trinidad and Tobago therefore joins with other
small vulnerable economies in calling for a process
that would accelerate the recommencement of
negotiations, while ensuring that adequate treatment is
afforded to the development dimension. It is crucial
that global trade rules be enhanced in recognition of
the need for treatment to be accorded to small,
vulnerable economies that takes their special
circumstances into consideration and allows them to
participate in world trade in a manner commensurate
with their national capacity to do so.
Even as our economies grapple with the systemic
imbalances in the international trading system at home,
Trinidad and Tobago, like many other Caribbean
countries, faces social challenges that have global
implications. One such challenge manifests itself in the
increasing resort to gun violence by our young people
and by others engaged in the nefarious drug trade. The
countries of the Caribbean region are not producers of
small arms and light weapons, yet small arms are
increasingly visible in our societies and raise the
fatality levels resulting from the commission of many
serious crimes.
Much of the illicit trade in firearms and related
activity in our Caribbean region is linked to the illicit
traffic in drugs. Yet international cooperation —
essential to help us stem the flow of illicit drugs
through our countries, which are already recognized as
key transit States — is not forthcoming from our
development partners. Trinidad and Tobago
accordingly urges the international community to
provide the necessary resources to bolster Caribbean
regional efforts aimed at interdicting drug shipments
and putting an end to the flow of illicit firearms, which
negatively and profoundly affect the security and
development of the region.
It is well known that the living standards
suggested by positive economic indicators are of little
consequence if the basic security and sense of well-
being of the individual is under threat. Similarly, the
failure by the international community earlier this year
at the Review Conference to reach broad agreement on
additional measures to further implement the 2001
United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms
has been a source of disappointment to Trinidad and
Tobago. We are heartened, however, that within the
international community a broad understanding appears
to be emerging regarding the utility of an international
06-53952 30
legally binding instrument to govern the international
arms trade.
Trinidad and Tobago therefore strongly endorses
the call by some States for the conclusion of such an
instrument. We are also of the view that until such a
treaty becomes a reality, it is imperative that the major
producers and exporters of small arms and light
weapons establish comprehensive export controls in
order to ensure that such weapons are not diverted into
the illicit trade.
Trinidad and Tobago’s approach to development
places primary focus on enhancing the living standards
and sense of well-being of the individual. Thus, even
as we address major problems of a global nature, we
should not forget those among us who face greater
challenges in realizing their full potential. The
international community has recently become
increasingly sensitized to the difficulties faced in
almost all spheres of activity by persons with
disabilities, and during the sixtieth session of the
General Assembly, we successfully negotiated a draft
convention on the promotion and protection of the
rights of persons with disabilities. Trinidad and Tobago
joined in the adoption by consensus of the final
negotiated text, and looks forward to its formal
adoption by the Assembly and its subsequent opening
for signature. We have in the interim developed, and
are in the process of implementing, a national policy
on persons with disabilities.
Another area that cries out for timely and
decisive action by the international community is that
of the environment. Our planet today continues to be
ravaged by patterns of production and consumption
that gravely threaten its sustainability and give rise to
phenomena whose management consumes the already
stretched energies and resources of small island
developing States in particular. The challenges to those
countries posed by such phenomena as climate change
and sea-level rise, as well as the effort and resources
necessary to recover from adverse seasonal weather
patterns, add another dimension to the challenges that
they already face in the area of economic and social
development.
Trinidad and Tobago invokes that same spirit of
partnership of the international community to work
towards the full implementation of the Mauritius
Strategy, that being the framework for the collective
development of this vulnerable grouping.
In the midst of such daunting challenges, the
littoral States of the Caribbean are faced with the
constant threat of a maritime casualty resulting from
the shipment of radioactive or other hazardous wastes
through the Caribbean Sea. Such an occurrence could
create the potential for an environmental disaster for
all countries along the Caribbean coastline, but, in
particular, it would threaten the economic well-being
and livelihood of the many small island developing
States of the Caribbean that depend on this fragile
ecosystem.
Trinidad and Tobago is of the view that the
integrated management approach of the recently
conceived Caribbean Sea Initiative will be critical to
advancing the development goals of the member States
of the Caribbean and uses this opportunity to seek the
support of all United Nations Member States for the
Initiative, which seeks to ensure that the Caribbean Sea
is recognized by the United Nations as a special area in
the context of sustainable development.
Trinidad and Tobago is committed to the
partnership approach in all areas of international
interaction, be it for sustainable development, peace
and security, human rights or humanitarian assistance.
It is a position that informs a fierce defence of
multilateralism in full recognition of the benefits of
collective action and of the responsibility of each
country to assist when in a position to do so within the
limits of its resources. This thinking underlies the
actions taken by Trinidad and Tobago in respect of the
provision of economic and humanitarian assistance,
both institutionally as well as directly, to countries in
our region and to those further afield.
It is in this context that Trinidad and Tobago
pledges its full support for the economic and social
development of the Republic of Haiti in its return to
constitutional governance, which has led to its
readmission into the Caribbean Community Council
and calls for the release of all donor funds that have
already been pledged. The history of Haiti is of special
significance in the struggle for independence in the
Caribbean and is linked to other historical
developments more international in scope. One such
development was the abolition of the Atlantic slave
trade, the 200th anniversary of which will be marked in
2007. The slave trade has had long-term effects on the
social and economic development of parts of Africa
that are still being felt today.
31 06-53952
Nor were we in the Caribbean spared the effects
of the slave trade, and we are of the view that any call
on the international community to mark this occasion
should go beyond the need merely to reflect on the
atrocities committed during this perverse period of our
history. Trinidad and Tobago thus lends its support to
the call made by countries of the African diaspora in
the Caribbean and elsewhere for the commemoration
by the United Nations in 2007 of the abolition of the
Atlantic slave trade.
The United Nations is central to any resolution of
the problems with which the international community
is confronted in today’s world. It is only by having a
strong United Nations, fully resourced by its Member
Governments and imbued with the necessary political
will, that we will be able to tackle these problems and
provide this generation and succeeding generations
with a life of dignity and free from daily degradation of
the human spirit. We seek a life in peace and security
and free from the ravages of war, lived in good
economic and social conditions, without poverty,
illiteracy, hunger or disease.
This historical moment requires bold initiatives
on the part of the General Assembly President, who, in
tandem with the new Secretary-General, is called upon
to provide the vision, courage and strength of
conviction necessary to carry the United Nations
forward along the path to confronting the myriad
challenges facing the Organization in today’s world.
We are confident that they will both be up to the task.