Vanuatu is honoured to
join other speakers in congratulating Mr. Sam Kutesa
on assuming the presidency of the General Assembly at
its sixty-ninth session. I believe that his able leadership
will successfully guide the session to its conclusion.
Let me also extend my gratitude to his predecessor,
Ambassador John Ashe, for his exemplary leadership
and the important achievements during his tenure in
the past year.
Since the last session of the General Assembly,
many major global events have taken place which, on
the one hand, have contributed to strengthening the
international system and, on the other, have threatened
international peace and security and directly derailed the
process of development, resulting in the marginalization
of the vulnerable populations of our societies. Given
past efforts to address the global financial crisis, we
have witnessed some recovery of the global economy.
That is good news; but it is well known that the recovery
is fragile and further international efforts are needed to
ensure that global growth prospects in the long run will
remain solid and sustainable.
We are concerned about prolonged periods of
conflict that have led to the displacement of the most
disadvantaged members of our societies, including
women, children and the disabled. It bothers us to see
the increased radicalization of groups and individuals
that have been targeted to create terror and impose
threats against countries, Governments and citizens.
Those are all problems that could be avoided, if all
countries adhered strictly to the peaceful principles of
dialogue enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.
As members of the international community, we have a
moral duty to ensure that the principles of dialogue and
reasoning prevail in order to address conflict. I have
no doubt that the multilateral system is best placed to
address the challenges.
The outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus that
has claimed over 2,000 lives in West Africa has
also concerned us greatly. In this regard, we highly
commend the efforts of the United Nations agencies,
in particular the World Health Organization, and the
international community in addressing the security
risks of the epidemic. Likewise, the efforts of the
Secretary-General and his determination in addressing
the challenges are most commendable. I would like
to reiterate my Government’s support for the ongoing
efforts.
Concerning the political developments in the Pacific
region, I wish to congratulate the people of the Republic
of Fiji on successfully and peacefully electing a new
democratic Government. My Government commends
the people of Fiji for their resilience and steadfastness,
and I congratulate the newly elected Prime Minister on
fulfilling his promise to the international community to
successfully lead his country to a democratic election.
Vanuatu, a small island developing State, has a
small economy which is open and vulnerable to internal
and external shocks. Those characteristics have
determined and shaped our development outcomes. For
decades now, our economy has been growing and is now
generating increasing per capita incomes. Vanuatu was
one of the countries that called on the United Nations to
allow vulnerability to become one of the three criteria
used in assessing or identifying graduation cases.
Vanuatu’s vulnerability was recognized as a result of
the revised criteria, and our country ceased to qualify
for graduation. It was not until the end of the twentieth
century that Vanuatu’s eligibility for graduation from
least developed country (LDC) status was raised again,
after a decade of unquestionable economic progress in
our island nation.
After the Committee for Development Policy
and the Economic and Social Council reviewed our
progress in 2012, the General Assembly, in December
2013, decided that Vanuatu would graduate (see
A/68/PV.59). At the same time, a grace period of four
years was granted to enable a smooth transition to
post-LDC life. Vanuatu’s graduation from LDC status
is now scheduled to take place in December 2017.
My Government accepts that as a positive signpost.
However, the issue of vulnerability must be carefully
addressed by the United Nations.
We are examining the LDC benefits we may
eventually lose, with a view to negotiating the
possibility of retaining certain concessions we deem
important — if not vital — in sustaining economic
development. Our impression of the graduation process
is that our attention is being drawn to the question of
smooth transition, while the real issue — the question
of vulnerability, even during the post-graduation
stage — is being circumvented. Our situation could best
be described using the analogy of an aircraft. Vanuatu is
in the descent phase, but the focus should not be on the
smooth landing; rather, we must look to what happens
after the smooth landing, as that is the real issue. Our
vulnerabilities as a small island developing State (SIDS)
remain undiminished, with lasting disadvantages and
growing challenges regardless of our graduation from
LDC status.
What is it, then, that the United Nations, which has
been so generous in recognizing our vulnerabilities,
can now offer us, as a SIDS, in support of our efforts
to build resilience and productive capacity, and in
support of our climate adaptation expenditure? Surely
SIDS dealing with such issues deserve as much special
attention as do LDCs. Is it unreasonable to expect
that attention be translated into some form of special
treatment for SIDS? We appreciate the focus of the
United Nations on the importance of a smooth transition
for graduating countries, but we also urge it not to be
distracted from the real question, which is the way we
SIDS will be treated after graduation.
Like other, similar economies, while Vanuatu has
made some headway towards meeting the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), it is still finding it difficult
to achieve all of the goals by 2015. The reasons for that
are numerous, but one of the significant difficulties is
our narrow revenue base, coupled with a geographically
dispersed population scattered over our 83 islands,
which makes it a challenge for the Government to deliver
basic services to all of its people. We are grateful that
our development partners are always there to support
us. Given the challenges that SIDS and LDCs face
in financing development, I appeal to the developed
countries to honour their commitment to increasing
their aid to 0.7 per cent of gross national product, as
agreed on in the Monterrey Consensus.
The current problem of terrorism threatens the
security of States and the safety and well-being of
innocent and vulnerable women and children. The
kidnapping of innocent people, including some of
our peacekeepers, is a threat to international security
and peace. As a participant in various United Nations
peacekeeping missions, I would like to express our
gratitude to the United Nations and other countries for
their assistance in negotiating the release of Fiji’s United
Nations peacekeepers. The cooperation in this respect
of members of the international community is a positive
sign for the concept of our collective responsibility for
international peace and security.
We salute the Secretary-General for his leadership
as a vigorous campaigner for climate action and for
convening this year’s Climate Summit. Leaders made
many pledges and commitments during the Summit,
and we look forward to seeing the rhetoric translated
into urgent action. My delegation calls on the United
Nations family to stand together to find ways to
address climate-change issues. We are staring at a
climate-change bubble, and the longer we delay action,
the costlier it will be for our future generations. We
must act now and fast to ensure that we steer clear of
the current dangerous carbon-pollution trajectory.
The theme for the sixty-ninth session of the
General Assembly, “Delivering on and implementing
a transformative post-2015 development agenda”, is
timely and relevant, particularly considering the ongoing
efforts to arrive at a new post-2015 development agenda
for all countries. I commend the excellent progress that
has been made in this area, and I recognize that it is
not easy to negotiate such goals, with so many member
countries and the different groups they represent, all of
which want their development agendas incorporated. I
believe that our draft agenda does represent a consensus
on the part of every United Nations Member and that it
is capable of bringing development to a new level in all
of our countries.
As a Pacific small island developing State, we
are dealing with numerous development challenges
that the United Nations system and the international
community should address. I reiterate that climate
change is a major global challenge for all of us. Some
Pacific States are facing an existential threat, and we
cannot deal with the issue of sustainable development
alone if climate-change challenges are not addressed
seriously by the international community. To that end,
it is vital that climate change remain one of the major
elements on the agenda of sustainable development
goals (SDGs).
We note that this is a matter for considerable debate,
owing to its cross-cutting nature. However, it is not a
new issue, for the climate-change agenda is prominently
featured in “The future we want” outcome document
of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development (resolution 66/288, annex). Our current
efforts to address climate change are consistent with
that, and it is another reason why our climate-change
targets should be more ambitious. We strongly urge
that the target of holding the increase in global average
temperature below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels be
included in the SDGs.
In addition to climate change, our support for the
SDGs extends but is not limited to the inclusion of
peace and effective institutions; ocean management;
health and education; energy security and gender
equality. We also concur with the emphasis on the
means of implementation in the report of the Open
Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable
Development Goals (A/68/970) and urge the United
Nations and the developed countries to continue to
support developing countries, especially the SIDS
and LDCs, in the areas of sustainable development
financing and improving institutional capacity in their
efforts to promote development.
Coincidentally, my country is at an important
stage in its development planning process. Our current
development planning framework will come to an
end in the fourth quarter of 2015, and we are already
consulting for the post-2015 era. The agenda and issues
being discussed in the global arena will be translated
into and merged with our development aspirations.
I would like to take this opportunity to call on our
development partners to support us by working in
harmony and in a true spirit of partnership to help us to
fulfil the dreams of our people, particularly our young
and more vulnerable generation.
My Government acknowledges the synergy of the
efforts being made by the United Nations and the British
Commonwealth to uphold the international principles
of peace and good governance, as well as in promoting
stronger partnerships for inclusive development. I
would like to ask the United Nations to allow the views
expressed by the Commonwealth Heads of Government
on the post-development agenda to be seen as additional
contributions to that process.
My country has a history that evolved as the
result of a long political struggle to achieve political
independence, which finally came in 1980. But when
most of us were young, it was governed by Britain
and France, and we were stateless in our own country,
neither French nor British citizens. For more than seven
decades, we were exposed to foreign rule. We thus had
to struggle to reconstruct our identity as a nation that
could govern itself rather than be subjected to foreign
rule. In 1981, after independence was achieved in 1980,
I finally arrived here at the United Nations with our late
former Prime Minister, Walter Lini. I clearly remember
that cold autumn morning, when a small group, along
with the United Nations protocol staff, gathered outside
the entrance of this magnificent building to raise our
flag for the first time at the United Nations. A new
nation was born and was accepted by the United Nations
family of nations.
As a freedom fighter and as the Prime Minister of
the Republic of Vanuatu who took office less than six
months ago, I proudly stand here today to thank the
United Nations for the recognition and endorsement of
our membership. But more importantly, here on this
rostrum I want to underscore the unfinished business
of the United Nations with regard to bringing closure
to its work on decolonization. Part of my country’s
sovereign territory is still being disputed by one of our
former colonial Powers, which is also our dear friend
and development partner.
I am delighted that the United Nations once again,
through the work of the former United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples,
Mr. James Anaya, brought the matter to the twenty-
first session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
My country is delighted that in 2012 France responded
to that action and expressed its openness to dialogue.
We believe such openness is a necessary element for
progress so that our indigenous peoples will be able to
resume their rights to fully exercise their cultural and
spiritual obligations on the two islands of Umaenupne/
Matthew and Leka/Hunter, and to revive the traditional
routes of our ancestors in Tafea province.
My country’s political struggles have led to a strong
position on decolonization. We share the dreams of
those who are still longing for freedom so that they can
achieve self-government and independence. As we near
the midpoint of the United Nations Third International
Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, I want to
echo those voices, from within our region and beyond,
who should one day be able to stand on this podium as
free and democratic nations.
My country acknowledges the message of
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reminding the
2014 Pacific regional seminar of the United Nations
Decolonization Committee held in May this year
that “good intentions will have to be translated into
credible action to make the Third International Decade
a success”. In that connection, my country supports
the conclusions and recommendations contained in the
report of the United Nations visiting mission to New
Caledonia this year (A/AC.109/2014/20/Rev.1) and calls
on the United Nations and the international community
to pursue their efforts to provide support to the people of
New Caledonia and the Government of France in their
endeavour to implement a successful decolonization
process under the Nouméa Accord.
At the nineteenth Melanesian Spearhead Group
Leaders Summit in June 2013 in New Caledonia, the
Group’s leaders renewed their commitment through
a declaration to support the Front de libération
nationale kanak socialiste (FLNKS) in their pursuit
for full emancipation under the Nouméa Accord,
through the provision of technical assistance and
training programmes for the Kanak peoples to assist
them in their struggle to fully exercise their right to
self-determination and independence. While the New
Caledonian people look forward to a political transition,
I call upon the United Nations, through its regional
agencies, to provide assistance to New Caledonia, in
particular the FLNKS and the Kanak people, in specific
areas of training to enable them to fully participate in
the implementation of the Nouméa Accord. I appreciate
the cooperative efforts of the Government of France for
facilitating the implementation of the Nouméa Accord
in a very mature and responsible manner. Those efforts
must not be derailed.
I cannot close this section of my speech without
paying tribute to the late Mr. John Ondawame, a
freedom fighter from West Papua, who passed away
last month while in exile in my country. He was laid
to rest in my country as a hero who had fought for
the rights to self-determination for the people of West
Papua. He and other martyrs had a dream that one
day the United Nations and all nations advocating and
promoting democratic principles would hear their cries
and deliver on the promise of a self-determined future.
At his funeral service, I stated that his struggle for
freedom and justice would continue to be our struggle
until colonialism is eradicated.
There are many other heroes in many countries
that are still voiceless and are suffering in silence,
either owing to unilateral policy choices, or because
of ignorance on the part of the multilateral system.
My country is encouraged by the onset of flexibility
exercised by the United States of America towards the
Cuban people. I believe that the willingness for dialogue
and consideration is a responsible gesture that will
slowly open the door for a better future for all Cubans.
We must, as individual countries, be ready to be a voice
for the voiceless. Bigger and richer countries must be
the burden-bearers for smaller nations. In doing so, we
demonstrate our willingness to live as a village, a world
community of friends and not aggressors. I want to
stress that the only way to address that issue is through
dialogue and unity. It is our moral responsibility not to
fail those who have been victims of past ignorance.
My country and many others have repeatedly raised
these concerns on this same podium for many years,
because we subscribe to them as inalienable human
rights. The concerns of vulnerability, sustainable
development, fisheries, job creation, human rights
and many others are reflected in the Small Island
Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action
(Samoa Pathway) outcome document (A/CONF.223/3,
annex). My country fully endorses the Samoa Pathway
document as a guide that is to be used to navigate
through our development challenges.
The Samoa Pathway, built on the Barbados
Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy
for Implementation, has charted a decisive course
going forward. The United Nations system and the
international community are urged to ensure that it is
integrated into a transformative post-2015 development
framework and that we close the implementation gaps
of the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius
Strategy.
Let me take this opportunity to thank the
Government and the people of Samoa for ably hosting
the third International Conference on Small Island
Developing States held in Apia.
I deeply appreciate the opportunity to present my
views to this important forum. I hope that the statements
and the deliberations that we make today will translate
into concrete actions leading to a better future for all
our peoples. Long live our aspirations to create lasting
peace and a better world for our people! May God bless
the United Nations!