I take this opportunity warmly to congratulate you. Sir, on your election to the presidency of the forty-seventh session of the General Assembly. We know that we are in capable hand as we face the important tasks ahead of us. I should also like to express my appreciation to your predecessor. Ambassador Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia, for the distinguished manner in which he guided the General Assembly during the last session. It was one year ago that the General Assembly honoured the Republic of the Marshall Islands by granting it membership in the United Nations. On this anniversary, as we reflect on our times, we note that a central feature of the international political landscape of the past several years has been the emergence or the re-emergence of the nationalities. It is our grave responsibility to serve our nations during this challenging period of transition and development. Throughout the world we are seeing the advent of self-government by nations. The sovereignty and dignity of indigenous peoples are coming to be recognized as the basis for effective government. In the Marshall Islands, as in other developing countries throughout the world, we have set high aspirations for our nation and we seek expanded opportunities for our people. Our children will no longer be denied achievement of their potential because of the time and place into which they were born. They will be the hope and the pride of our nation, and our future. We are grateful to the United Nations for its steadfast commitment to fostering the self-government and self-determination of peoples. For many peoples, it has been a long time coming. Like so many countries, large and small, the Marshall Islands was for four and a half decades relegated to one camp of the great cold-war struggle. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the residents of Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the Northern Marshall Islands were relocated from their ancestral homes so that the United States Government could conduct an extensive and widely publicized programme of testing atomic and nuclear weapons. Even though the testing programme was discontinued in the late 1950s, our Government and people are still coming to terms with its effects on our health and way of life. We have many good reasons to applaud the end of the cold war. The breakdown of the two contending camps has left a world in which we can no longer conveniently apply the simple classification of nations into the Eastern bloc or the Western block. It is a time fraught with uncertainty and risk, but it is also a time for rethinking our concepts of government and its relation to individual citizens. And with this rethinking we must see that greater responsibilities are opened to mankind. We are finding that the expediencies that once worked in the cold war centres of power are too broad, too large in scale, too impersonal, for the smaller nations. Development is now taking place on a more human scale. The growth of nations is providing the context for human ingenuity to assert itself with fewer restraints. The progress of the past decade has resulted in a greater portion of mankind than ever before living in situations of political and economic freedom. Increasingly, the human spirit has been able to soar unfettered by restraints and regulations imposed by authorities too distant from individuals' circumstances. In a setting of liberty, the individual is empowered to advance to the extent of his ability. For many years teachers in the Marshall Islands have sought to implement the wise insight of Marcus Aurelius: "Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you have fed him for ever." Some of our teachers have even convinced themselves that this is Marshallese folk wisdom! But at least they recognize that the most effective help is self-help. The exchange of ideas and the reduction of trade barriers have served to draw mankind together. People throughout the world are now cooperating in the developmental process. In no nation do people live in the isolation that our ancestors did only a century ago and that some people endured until the end of the cold war. But, in the face of modernization, the people and places of the world have retained their particular attributes, and these are now giving force and cohesion to their national characters. The past year has seen the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. At this historic gathering the nations of the world agreed to pursue their developmental goals in a manner that will sustain the ecological diversity of our planet. We in the Marshall Islands, living on low-lying coral atolls and islands, have been following with great interest the scientific debate over global warming. The same careful approach that we have applied to evaluating the impact of nuclear testing in our islands is also being applied to the possible dangers of a rise in sea level. In this regard, I am pleased to reiterate the call that President Amata Kabua of the Marshall Islands made at the Rio Summit for the United Nations to convene a follow-up Earth Summit in 1995, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. If global warming endangers certain regions and certain modes of life, we have to confirm the risks and inform our citizens about them. An environment at risk will be a significant constraint for the developing nations in the late twentieth century. Nevertheless, our concern for environmental quality need not put a halt to the developmental process. Instead, it will be part of the overall situation to which individuals will respond with creativity and productivity. With the assistance of the United Nations, the people of our countries will continue to benefit from the international structure of trade, cultural exchanges, environmental studies and the resolution of disputes. The heart of the United Nations consists of the many Member nation-States. The rich mix of nationalities is certainly complicating the map of the world. Our challenge is to find collective benefit in this diversity. As a primary obligation, of course, we must meet basic human needs that are beyond local capabilities: collectively, we can help feed the starving refugees of Somalia; we can commit our manpower and financial resources to help bring peace to the Middle East and in the Balkan States; we can provide emergency assistance to the victims of natural disasters; we can continue to work towards the eradication of the great plagues. In these situations, where the human need is greatest, the United Nations is admirably serving its purposes. In addition, the techniques and processes made available by the agencies of the United Nations have helped provide our citizens with security and basic public services. On the other hand, the preservation of cultural diversity, and probably the preservation of environmental diversity, will require the direct commitment of nations and individuals. In an era of national consciousness, most matters of public policy, even those with international consequences, are going to be worked out at the national level - and frequently locally and individually. Let us celebrate the diverse nationalities, and do everything in our power to nurture our peoples and enable them to lead lives that are full and contented and peaceful.