Samoa congratulates the
President on his election and lends its full support to
the agenda that will guide our work during his tenure.
In the same spirit, I applaud our Secretary-General
and Samoan Prince Tupua Ban Ki-moon for his firm
commitment and strong leadership in steering our
Organization during this particularly turbulent and
difficult period for the world.
As members of the global family, our futures and
interests are inextricably linked. Crises with a global
reach threaten to engulf the world and affect all nations
irrespective of whether they caused or contributed to
the crisis.
Climate change is one such crisis. It is the world’s
most urgent problem and the greatest moral challenge
of our time. Known crises of global dimensions pale in
comparison to what climate change poses to our world
as a whole and to the future security of some of our
low-lying islands as sovereign States. Climate change is
indifferent to the suffering of countries touched by its
destructive reach. The victims can be rich or poor, large
or small, resilient or vulnerable, but they hardly matter.
It impacts all. For some there are already existential
implications looming. Others may consider the effect
on them to be minimal. Such complacency would be a
grave mistake and tantamount to gross negligence. If
climate change is not addressed comprehensively, the
consequences for our planet will be dire indeed and
will affect all countries.
No country should therefore stay detached and
unconcerned before the plight of the majority. All
countries must work together. Apportioning blame
for the present state of our environment is in itself yet
another human failing. It serves no useful purpose.
Being judgemental will not restore our environment.
Those who exploit the traditional divide between
developed and developing countries and ideological
and political differences do so conveniently, to mask
their own unwillingness to be part of the solution to an
impending global catastrophe.
There is too much at stake for the world to just sit
idly by. Strong visionary leadership that rises beyond
the dictates of vested national interests and political
tenures and views the world as a single constituency
where everyone must work together within the limits
of their capacity and capability to be part of the total
solution is at a premium. Governments must yield — not
to vested interests and expediency of time, but because
it is the ethical and just thing to do. Our timelines are
slipping by fast and soon we will be playing catch-up.
Yet each day lost to indecisiveness and wrangling on
petty points only intensifies the challenges we face.
The Lima and Paris climate conferences will provide
the best openings for the world to redeem itself. States
Members of the United Nations should step forward
with a sense of urgency and commitment to addressing
climate change today, not tomorrow. It should not just
be science and real life experiences that force us to act,
but also our consciences.
Against this backdrop, the Climate Summit on
Tuesday was timely. Its message was clear and simple.
Our actions to address climate change are grossly
inadequate. We are focusing more on symptoms than
on the root causes, and the solemn truth is that things
will only get worse if we do not act collectively now.
However, a ray of hope, best captured in the following
fundamental truths, is couched delicately in this
ominous prediction.
First, climate change is a societal problem
requiring decisive political leadership and a whole-of-
society approach. Every individual effort and every
national action counts because in unity we succeed,
but in division there is little we can do. Secondly, we
need a global solution if we are to succeed. The United
Nations is our last best hope. It is indispensable to a
sustainable solution that we provide the necessary
commitment to turning the tide against climate change.
Thirdly, climate change is solvable, and the solution is
firmly in our hands.
Only through enlightened leadership and the
concerted efforts of all countries, with the major
greenhouse gas emitters at the forefront, do we stand
a chance of lessening the destructive impact of climate
change and of reaching a credible post-Kyoto climate
agreement next year. Samoa calls upon those States
Members of our Organization that are in a position of
world leadership to lead the charge and to undertake
the tasks that need to be implemented quickly and
decisively so that the Paris conference can deliver
on an ambitious climate change agreement that is
effective, binding, capable of swift implementation,
and universally owned and respected by the 193 States
Members of the United Nations.
The Ebola outbreak is a deadly pandemic causing
chaos and untold suffering in parts of West Africa.
Its reach is global and if it is not treated it may prove
unstoppable. It has no respect for national borders or
Government sovereignty, and its victims are selected
indiscriminately. Born and unborn babies are robbed
of their youth, girls and boys of their adulthood, and
women and men of their productive lives, their dignity
and worth, while countries are dispossessed and
deprived of their valuable human assets.
Can we win the war on Ebola? Samoa believes that
we can and we should. That was why we were honoured
to be among the 134 co-sponsors of Security Council
resolution 2177 (2014) on peace and security in Africa,
with reference to Ebola, last Thursday. The Security
Council resolution was adopted with the highest-ever
number of sponsors and was swiftly followed the
next day by General Assembly resolution 69/1, which
unanimously approved a proposal to establish the United
Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Samoa
welcomes the rapid, decisive and coordinated response
of United Nations Member States and agencies, and
in particular the proactive role the Secretary-General
played in mobilizing both the political will and the
material resources necessary to respond to this grave
crisis.
The global response to the Ebola outbreak is a
powerful illustration of what is possible when States
collaborate and coordinate to assist each other in
achieving common and critical goals. Such unified
responses have tangible results and save lives. Samoa
encourages all Member States to take this spirit of
cooperation forward, and to harness and follow this
example when dealing with other critical global issues.
As we meet here at the United Nations, the
rise in extremism has a taken a turn for the worst.
Radical militants are committing unspeakably brutal
and barbaric atrocities across the Middle East, and
threatening to spread their evil brand further afield. As
a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean, these threats
can seem extremely far removed from my country
of Samoa. However, in the globalized age in which
we live, all countries are threatened by challenges to
international peace and security. Developments in one
State invariably have effects in others, and this is true
of my country, far away as we are.
Global interconnectedness has brought innumerable
benefits to all countries, but it also increasingly brings
risks from distant corners of the Earth. As such, it is
imperative that the United Nations and its Member
States commit to tackling threats to international peace
and security, especially through the Security Council.
Specifically, States Members of the United Nations
must increase their collaboration and cooperation to
find solutions to challenges to peace and security, and
work diligently to implement them.
The United Nations was founded upon the values
of collective security and, for small nations, remains a
critical forum in which to contribute to the maintenance
of international peace and security, stability and
prosperity. This is particularly important for small
island developing States (SIDS), which risk a reversal
of the development gains they have made due to crises
far from home. To cement and build upon development
goals already achieved, international peace and
security must be maintained, and it is the responsibility
of all Member States, particularly those on the Security
Council, to work in close cooperation to ensure that this
happens.
Samoa belongs to the group of small island
developing States, a United Nations-recognized group
with special needs and inherent vulnerabilities, not by
choice, but by dint of factors completely outside its
control. Part of the dilemma we continually face is the
misconception that SIDS challenges are minuscule in
comparison to the needs of other special groups and
regions, and that their one and only concern is climate
change. Nothing could be further from the truth.
My country was honoured to host, on behalf of
the Pacific region, the once-in-a decade International
Conference on Small Island Developing States three
weeks ago. Our primary goal in hosting the Third SIDS
Conference was to have the spotlight of international
attention fall on SIDS, their challenges and realities.
Now that the spotlight has faded, we hope that the
increased understanding and appreciation of SIDS
issues and challenges gained at the Conference will not
be forgotten over time or sidelined by other competing
priority issues.
The international community has a very full agenda.
We as nations are being pulled in many directions.
This general debate and the sixty-ninth session of
the General Assembly will show just how packed
the agenda is. The follow-up to the SIDS Conference
will be part of that agenda. It is our hope that, despite
all the political, economic and other demands on the
countries of the world, the realities of SIDS, so clearly
spelled out in Apia and in the Small Island Developing
States Accelerated Modalities of Action — the SAMOA
Pathway — are able to retain the attention of the
wider international community. We took seriously the
commitments made to SIDS at the Conference and we
will remain deeply mindful of how those commitments
are turned into actions.
The Conference had as its theme “The sustainable
development of SIDS through genuine and durable
partnerships”. We are ready to build on our existing
partnerships. We may be small, but we are also able to
demonstrate the impact of our people and our countries
in successful, twenty-first century partnerships.
We may be small and sometimes invisible to many.
However, we know that united the SIDS are a strong
and positive group. The Alliance of Small Island States
(AOSIS) is showing its determination in a growing
range of areas and forums. Samoa, like other Pacific
islands, is proud of its place within AOSIS.
The SAMOA Pathway asks the Secretary-General
to undertake a comprehensive review of how the United
Nations system supports SIDS. This is an opportunity
to ensure that the United Nations is fit for the purpose
when it comes to supporting SIDS. There is ample scope
for improvement, and we look forward to engaging
fully in the process. The time for business as usual has
long passed. Let us work for an approach to SIDS that
shows the United Nations at its best.
The SAMOA Pathway is a well-crafted
intergovernmental agreement that has the seal and
stamp of approval of the United Nations membership.
Going forward, it falls on SIDS themselves to be
prepared to lead and own the SAMOA Pathway if it is
to be sustainable. Together with the specific entities
within the Secretariat charged with advocating and
championing SIDS causes, they should be more
proactive and assertive. Jointly, they must reposition
themselves to engage better in a more effective and
visible partnership.
Moreover, what we need to achieve is a human face
of SIDS to every issue that comes before the United
Nations, be it security, human rights, climate change,
development, gender or indigenous issues. That way,
SIDS issues will be at the forefront of the United
Nations agenda. They will remain topical and relevant
and be taken up, debated and acted upon daily, weekly
or monthly — and not conveniently set aside to be
discussed only when we have another SIDS conference
10 years from now.
Samoa continues to support United Nations
peacekeeping efforts worldwide. Small though we
are, Samoan police continue to serve side by side with
officers from other countries in places that require the
intervention of the United Nations. Within the Pacific
region, our solidarity with our neighbours in meeting
challenges means a guaranteed Samoan police presence
in the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands
and under the umbrella of the Pacific Islands Forum.
A durable peace settlement in the Middle East
continues to elude us, but that is not grounds to be
pessimistic. We should support every effort to create
conditions conducive to the successful establishment of
an independent Palestinian State alongside a secure and
safe State of Israel.
Finally, those bent on creating fear and panic
throughout the world will stop at nothing to achieve
their aims. We must not be held hostage to their devious
designs. Individually and collectively, we must step
up our efforts to combat the threat of international
terrorism in its many manifestations. No country can
succeed on its own. Only by working collaboratively
can we be successful.
As we approach the new post-2015 development
agenda, the culmination of many years of international
negotiations and agreements on sustainable development,
we must ensure that while a one-framework approach
is important, it does not equate to a one-size-fits-all
formula for purposes of implementation, monitoring and
evaluation. Indeed, the applicability of the Millennium
Development Goals and their indicators to small island
countries proved difficult, and much tailoring was
necessary before those global targets were seen as
relevant enough for us to meaningfully participate.
It is important therefore in the defining and refining
of the sustainable development goals and post-2015
development agenda that we account for groups like
SIDS and ensure that the indicators developed are also
applicable to their situations. Building on the existing
processes and experiences in the SIDS countries and
their respective regions and subregions is critical in
that regard.
Fortunately, we are on the back of a successful
SIDS Conference whose theme focused on effective
means of implementation through partnerships. We
must ensure therefore that the means to implement
the SAMOA Pathway is solidly incorporated into
the post-2015 development framework. Those
arrangements are well entrenched in the High-level
Political Forum and the review arrangements of the
Economic and Social Council. It is important that
the intergovernmental architectures of our respective
SIDS regions be included in the process, which means
working together. We cannot afford a situation where
we have intergovernmental organizations developing
separate policies and implementation arrangements
and partnerships for the same things. We must work
together.
Finally, we must break down what has been a
traditional them-and-us perception on both sides of
the divide between Member States and the Secretariat
established to serve our collective needs. It has not
served either side well; we are in fact on the same
side. I would therefore encourage any coordination
mechanisms established to ensure representation of
both in order to promote transparency and a balance
of perspectives and interests. The Inter-Agency
Consultative Group for SIDS is perhaps an arrangement
that could benefit from Member State representation
as well, where open discussions can take place around
effective implementation of the SAMOA Pathway and
the post-2015 development agenda.
Some of our development partners, traditional
and new, have reached out to help us. What they have
in common is trust and respect for our views and
needs. Bilaterally, regionally and internationally, they
are partnering with SIDS to overcome some of the
constraints imposed by limited land and narrow natural
resource bases, isolation and downward agricultural
production, sustained food security for our expanding
populations, and the need to provide a meaningful
existence for our people and communities in the rural
areas.
The United Nations was established to prevent
wars, bring peace and security, and protect human
rights through multilateralism and intergovernmental
cooperation. The architecture of the Organization
we have today is very complex, and, inevitably,
there are imperfections. However, the fact that we
have consistently met without failure at the General
Assembly each year is irrefutable proof that our
Organization works at many and different levels. It
is hard to imagine where the world would be without
the United Nations. It is why Samoa’s support for our
Organization is unwavering.