My delegation, and by
extension, the Government and the people of the Commonwealth of Dominica, congratulate the President of the General Assembly on his election to the preside over the General Assembly at its seventy- seventh session and to wish him every success during his term.
We also express appreciation and gratitude to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid, for the able manner with which he presided over the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session.
Permit me to express my deepest condolences to His Majesty King Charles III, the royal family and the Government and people of the United Kingdom on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty was a symbol of stability and continuity, not only for the United Kingdom but for the Commonwealth and the world at large.
The seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly is being convened at a time when we are facing innumerable challenges with both current and long-term implications. They include climate change, the degradation of our ecosystem and loss of biodiversity, poverty, inequality and the growing challenge of chronic non-communicable diseases. All of those have occupied the attention of this body over the years, with only marginal progress in finding solutions to them. Compounding those challenges are other emerging threats, such as the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the war unfolding in Ukraine.
The invasion of one country by another must always be condemned, and Dominica has condemned the invasion of Ukraine without reservation. In our interconnected world, what happens in one part of the world affects us all, and so it is with the war in Ukraine. We are all victims of the skyrocketing prices of oil and petroleum products and the resulting impact on the cost of electricity and all aspects of transportation. The cost of the production of goods and services is similarly adversely affected, and as Russia and Ukraine are among the leading suppliers of grain, the conflict has created a shortage in the world’s supply, with implications for hunger in countries that rely on imports from those two countries.
The developments since 2014 that led to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are well known. Nevertheless, we in Dominica are of the view that the invasion
and the ensuing war could have been prevented. The Commonwealth of Dominica therefore stands with the rest of the world in calling for an immediate cessation of the conflict that continues to rage in Ukraine. We welcomed the deal brokered between Ukraine and Russia, with the assistance of Turkey and ably supported by the Secretary-General, to have significant quantities of grain shipped from Ukrainian ports to various destinations and thereby alleviate the emerging global food crisis. For those reasons and in the interests of global peace, the Commonwealth of Dominica urges all the parties to continue upholding their end of the agreement so that further relief can be felt globally as a result.
Like most Member States, we in Dominica and the Caribbean were ill-prepared to deal with COVID-19, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March 2020. Notwithstanding the fact that most countries have managed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and consequently eased the related restrictions, public health experts have warned that the pandemic is not yet over. Furthermore, with new variants continuing to emerge, COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to the global community. The pandemic has exposed the limitations of health systems in all countries large and small, developed and underdeveloped. The reality is that not all people have equal access to vaccines and life-saving medicines, even when faced with a pandemic declared by the World Health Organization.
The theme for this year’s session, “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”, is analogous to the approach and trajectory outlined by the United Nations for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Member States have individually embraced the SDGs as the ideal to be universally pursued and achieved by 2030. Small island developing States (SIDS) face more challenges than most in achieving those goals. The international community has pledged its support, but the question is to what extent such tangible support has been forthcoming. The challenge is to go beyond promises, commitments and pledges to achieve effective delivery and implementation.
The various global crises do not respect national borders. Our interconnected world means that no one is insulated or immune from developments taking place anywhere on the globe. Today planet Earth is under severe threat and stress and may very well become uninhabitable if we delay decisive corrective action further. We need to talk less and start taking the concrete and sustainable actions needed to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere. In addition to tropical storms and hurricanes, we are facing prospects of droughts, warming seas and rising sea levels, all of which will affect lives and livelihoods. For that reason, we continue to champion the call for collective global action in order to build on the resilience of our small island States in the face of natural disasters that are triggered and exacerbated by our changing climate. We must lay a path for development that is sustainable and people-focused.
For a number of years, small States like ours have spoken from this very rostrum and many others like it across the world, seeking to convince the developed world to change the destructive practices threatening our planet and our very lives and livelihoods. Yet despite our best efforts, not enough corrective action is being taken. Not enough support is being given to us to adapt and build resilience to the effects of climate change that are already upon us. I will not stand here today to detail to the Assembly the ways in which climate change is affecting us. They are well known. We see the news reports. The evidence is all around us. What we need from our developed partners in the United Nations family is recognition and acceptance of responsibility that translates to a commitment to providing the funding that is required to enable our small States to become resilient. That must be readily accessible and available to all of us on grant and concessional terms, with the only criterion for access being our vulnerability to extreme weather events.
We have spoken here before of the cataclysmic impact of successive disasters on our country. Tropical Storm Erika, in 2015, and Hurricane Maria, in 2017, caused more than 90 per cent and 226 per cent loss of gross domestic product (GDP), respectively, in terms of lives lost, people displaced and livelihoods shattered. Those experiences triggered our goal of becoming the first climate-resilient nation in the world and realigned our focus to concentrate on adaptation efforts and building back better in every sector of the economy. Our small island developing States are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change — a phenomenon that will continue to escalate with every increment of global warming.
As sea levels rise, some small island States will eventually disappear, while others will experience
coastal erosion that will ultimately destroy infrastructure, villages, towns and cities. The Commonwealth of Dominica therefore reiterates its call on the international community, at the twenty- seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to prioritize the disbursement of climate financing to SIDS in order to support our adaptation and resiliency efforts as we seek to minimize loss and damage from extreme climate events. In that way, actions will reflect more equitable and justice-oriented responses to fulfilling the goals and promises of sustainable development. Furthermore, the continuous call for higher levels of commitment to climate justice must be reflected in tangible and effective responses.
At Headquarter s two months ago, the Commonwealth of Dominica submitted its first voluntary national review in keeping with its international obligations and in the spirit of good global governance. Dominica reported on the tremendous progress accomplished in terms of both the advances made towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and its national agenda as guided by the vision of becoming the world’s first climate-resilient nation.
As it continues to recover from the destructive weather events I mentioned, Dominica’s main economic industries are showing signs of positive recovery. Tourism and agriculture remain the main income-generating sectors, with GDP projected to reach pre-pandemic levels by 2023, averaging 5 per cent growth per year from 2022 to 2026. Tourism recovery has been supported by new infrastructure projects and improved and increased air access.
At the centre of Dominica’s resilience agenda are its citizens. Across Dominica, new and modern climate-resilient homes are being constructed for low- and middle-income families, while modern and smart health and wellness centres have been built and equipped in urban and rural communities. That will allow those communities to withstand the impact of extreme weather events and remain operational, while also strengthening their response to other natural emergencies and pandemics.
In that regard, the Commonwealth of Dominica takes this opportunity to commend the Government of the People’s Republic of China for its commitment to contribute an additional $42 billion to the new Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, which will assist countries such as Dominica that are on the front line of the negative impacts of climate change to accelerate the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Ensuring that our citizens enjoy long and healthy lives will always be a priority. Therefore, what we grow and consume has to be a critical component of our resilience agenda. Global trends indicate that issues surrounding food security are not unique to Dominica. Indeed, under Sustainable Development Goal 2 — achieving zero hunger — Governments are called on to pursue smart and sustainable food production to help alleviate the perils of hunger.
Dominica is working to strengthen its agriculture sector in order to decrease the cost of the importation of food. There is renewed emphasis on growing what we eat and eating what we grow, while at the same time ensuring that affordable and high-quality produce is available for export on a consistent basis. Our aim is to develop a scientific and practical approach to reducing the vulnerability of farmers and fisherfolk through the adoption of resilient and sustainable practices.
We embraced the signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty as part of our international obligation vis-a-vis the total elimination of nuclear weapons, as outlined in the Charter of the United Nations, for the maintenance of international peace and security. Dominica therefore calls on all nuclear- weapon States to abide by international law concerning the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the use of diplomacy as a tool in conflict resolution.
The trade and economic embargo imposed on our brothers and sisters in Cuba continues to be of great concern to us in the Caribbean, and its lifting has become more urgent in the light of the global impact on food security of the Russia-Ukraine war. The Commonwealth of Dominica continues to add its voice to those of the overwhelming majority of States Members of the United Nations to call for the immediate lifting of the unjustified trade restrictions and export bans imposed on the good people of Cuba.
It has long been established that, whatever the objectives were 60 years ago, when the embargo was instituted, it can no longer be justified — if it ever was. The Government of Dominica therefore strongly urges the few States that continue to support those sanctions to heed the call of the overwhelming majority of us gathered here and lift the archaic and unfair embargo
against Cuba. Let us all support the full integration of the Cuban people into the global financial and trading systems.
For decades, Cuba has been training medical doctors, nurses, engineers and other professionals, as well as providing technical assistance to developing countries, as part of its South-South cooperation. Cuba also offers professional training in various disciplines to thousands of students from all over the developing world. In addition, Cuba continues to add its voice to the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the rest of the world. We therefore join all other Member States that have called for the removal of Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, and we ask instead that we redirect our efforts to combating the real threats to global peace and security in the region.
In March 2015, the United States declared that Venezuela poses an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and imposed sanctions on that country. The United States has been followed by several countries in imposing sanctions, since when the good people of Venezuela have endured severe hardship and suffering as a result of those numerous financial and economic sanctions, the consequences of which prevent millions of Venezuelans from meeting their most basic needs, a situation made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, further impacting Venezuela’s contracted economy and an already weakened health system.
The Commonwealth of Dominica again joins the voices of many other States Members of the United Nations to call for the immediate lifting of the unjustified oil embargo and other general sanctions imposed on the people of Venezuela. The political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela demands immediate attention. It is further incumbent upon all of us to provide short- and long-term solutions and opportunities for Venezuela to resolve its challenges and quickly improve the lives of ordinary Venezuelans.
The current situation in Haiti continues to be of great concern to us and demands greater international attention. An editorial in The Washington Post dated 6 August 2020 called for muscular international intervention. That was followed by a statement from the Secretary General of the Organization of American States dated 8 August, in which he reproached the international community for its failure to assist Haiti over the years and for leaving the country in chaos.
Haiti is a country that was once the wealthiest colony in the Americas. It is now the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake of 2010 left the country totally devastated. It claimed some 250,000 lives, left more than 300,000 people injured and laid waste the capital of Port-au-Prince and most of southern Haiti. The cost of the damage done was estimated at $8 billion, and the cost of reconstruction at approximately $14 billion.
United Nations agencies report that some 1.3 million people suffer from food insecurity in Haiti and some 4.6 million from limited access to basic food supplies. While I am pleased to acknowledge the recent special meeting of the lead Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community on Haiti held in Trinidad and Tobago, which sought specific solutions to the many crises that beset Haiti, the international community needs to respond as if Haiti were under invasion, as is the case in Ukraine, or as it did in the post-war reconstruction situation in Europe after the Second World War, requiring the so-called Marshall Plan.
Nothing less can overcome the deep-rooted reconstruction challenges facing Haiti. We therefore urge the United Nations family to forge an effective and unified response that brings to bear the necessary resources — financial, technical, human and otherwise — to alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people.
The severe and massive impacts of the various challenges we have experienced in recent times highlights the importance of multilateralism. As we raise the various issues confronting our individual States and share our hopes, fears and expectations, let us also seek to offer solutions to our various problems as a united international community, eager to realize a sustainable, transformative and fairer future for all.
In conclusion, allow me to reiterate my country’s gratitude to all our international partners and friendly Governments that have stood with the Commonwealth of Dominica, particularly through our darkest days following the major tropical storms and hurricanes that afflicted us. Our journey is one of building back better, sustainability and resilience. With their continued support, we look forward to a brighter future in the days ahead.
I wish all participants and representatives at the seventy-seventh session every success in their deliberations.