Fiji

On behalf of the people and Government of the Republic of Fiji, I congratulate Ambassador Insanally very warmly on his election as President of the Assembly. I am confident that his extensive knowledge of the United Nations system and his wide experience in the field of international relations will help guide this session to a successful conclusion. I wish to pay a tribute to Mr. Stoyan Ganev for the excellent manner in which, as President, he conducted the business of this Assembly at its last session. I express my admiration and deep appreciation to him for a job well done. I also congratulate him for his initiative in rationalizing the work of the Assembly, and especially in rationalizing its Committee structure. My delegation applauds the excellent work done by our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in the period since he assumed his high office. I take this opportunity to express my Government’s deep appreciation for his untiring efforts in tackling the difficult and complex problems facing the world Organization. I should also like to extend a warm welcome to the new States Members of the United Nations, the Principality of Andorra, the Czech Republic, Eritrea, the Principality of Monaco, the Slovak Republic and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. I am confident that the Organization, as it continues to strive for universality, will greatly benefit from their participation in its work. New threats are endangering international peace and security in all corners of the world. Incipient nationalism, ethnic conflicts and excessive protectionism are threatening peace, security, and growth in trade. Thus, a heavy responsibility is placed on this Organization, which, as we all know, is the main body responsible for promoting social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. Behind these complexities, there are also many devastating structural problems that undermine even the best efforts to achieve security and economic progress. Population growth, if left unchecked, will add 97 million people a year throughout the 1990s. Poverty, disease, famine and oppression account for the 18 million refugees and 24 million displaced persons throughout the world. The gap between the rich and the poor countries has not narrowed, but continues to grow as economic difficulties in the industrialized countries have led to increased protectionist measures against trade. Environmental degradation further compounds these problems. In the light of these trends, we must underscore the need for better international cooperation in order to arrive at effective solutions. This, we believe, is a critical element in moving us towards the creation of an international order in which this Organization assumes greater importance as the centre of global endeavours. The process of reviewing the role of the Organization that is currently under way is therefore very timely. We hope that the review will assist greatly in determining how the United Nations can be strengthened and, most important, how each of us as Member countries might best contribute to the new order. The Secretary-General, in his report on the work of the Organization, has quite rightly stressed the need for adequate resources. We share his anxiety, and join in his call to Members to ensure that their contributions to the regular budget, as well as to the peace-keeping budget, are met on time and in full. We must make every effort to explore all possible avenues for ensuring that the Organization is put back onto a viable financial path. My Government would like to pay a tribute to the entire United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) team for the way in which they carried out their mission in particularly difficult and dangerous conditions. Fiji is pleased to have joined other Members of the United Nations in restoring peace in Cambodia through its participation in UNTAC. That mission has now successfully completed its major task. For the people of Cambodia, who unambiguously demonstrated their desire for peace and democracy, it is the beginning of a new era. We urge all factions to cooperate fully with the new Government by keeping alive the spirit of the Agreements signed in Paris. The age-old problem in the Middle East has taken a new turn during the past month. This turn of events spells hope for the future in the Middle East - indeed, in the entire world and for all humanity. The desire of both Prime 10 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to achieve peace for their peoples has necessitated the dismantling of differences that have existed for decades. The Washington accords should pave the way for a lasting peace. Humanity has been touched by this historic event - the coming together of two arch-rivals for the sake of peace. We congratulate Prime Minister Rabin and Chairman Arafat - indeed, all who have laboured to bring this peace pact to reality. We must also acknowledge the contribution of the United States of America and, indeed, the United Nations and others over the years. While positive developments are taking place in the Middle East and Cambodia, Fiji is deeply saddened at the fact that the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains unresolved. Our profound sympathy goes to all who have suffered untold misery. Such a tragedy should not be allowed to continue. We recognize that the issue is a highly complex one, but the international community must do all it can to stop the slaughter, prevent the conflict from spreading, and achieve a lasting and equitable settlement. We are equally saddened at the events in Somalia. The success of the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) in meeting the humanitarian challenge has cast a ray of hope, for which the United Nations deserves praise and, indeed, support. However, recent violence against UNOSOM II personnel must be condemned, and efforts to find ways of reducing tension between the peace-keepers and the local population must be given high priority. Having for years witnessed the repugnant policy of apartheid in South Africa, we are pleased at the rapidity with which that policy has recently been broken down. We congratulate the leadership in South Africa - the South African Government, the African National Congress (ANC) and others - for their courage, determination and foresight in getting together and dismantling apartheid. The United Nations has played a major role in the process, but we should continue the effort until a democratic Government is elected by all - I repeat: all - the peoples of South Africa. Fiji, like the other members of the South Pacific Forum, shares the sentiments that the Secretary-General expresses in "An Agenda for Peace", in which he highlights the positive role that regional organizations can play in the maintenance of international peace and security in their own regions. Fiji will support such regional initiatives. On the economic front, we believe that a successful conclusion to the Uruguay Round is vital to economic growth and prosperity in all our countries. Only increased access to markets for our exports, especially in areas of comparative advantage, will enable us to increase our external purchasing power - our ability to pay for imports from the developed countries. In any event, we look forward to a genuinely equitable outcome that will include a substantial and liberalizing effect on trade in agricultural products. Slow progress in finalizing the Round has led to the formation and strengthening of regional trading blocs. Many new initiatives now being put in place are defensive responses to existing regional trading arrangements. These have the potential to weaken the multilateral character of the trading system, as many of them do not comply with the spirit and the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Developing countries, it has been estimated, lose about $100 billion a year in export revenues as a result of market barriers in industrialized countries - about twice the official development assistance that the industrialized countries provide. Furthermore, it is most ironic that taxpayers in the industrialized countries pay both for aid and for imports that are more costly as a result of trade barriers, while the poorest developing countries lose more in trade than they gain in aid. For these reasons alone, further progress in trade liberalization, through success in the Uruguay Round, is very urgent, and we join other delegations in stressing that no effort should be spared in bringing the Round to a successful conclusion. Of the 42 resolutions on disarmament issues adopted by the Assembly at its last session, 15 deal with various ways of controlling nuclear arms, the management of nuclear waste, the banning of nuclear tests and the elimination of nuclear weapons. In this regard, we welcome the decisions by nuclear Powers to extend their testing moratorium, and we regret very much that this moratorium has just been breached. We call on all nuclear Powers to continue to honour the moratorium. In August this year, the South Pacific Forum welcomed the commitment by the Governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United States to the early negotiation of a comprehensive test-ban treaty. We take this opportunity to urge all the nuclear- weapon States to participate actively in the negotiations and to adopt the Treaty as soon as possible. The signing of the chemical-weapons Convention in Paris early this year was a major step forward in the process of eliminating weapons of mass destruction. As a Forty-eighth session - 11 October l993 11 demonstration of its commitment to that end, Fiji has not only signed the Convention but also ratified it - the first country to do so. In the South Pacific Forum, member Governments, including the Government of Fiji, highlighted the importance of an enhanced international regime to deal with possible transboundary damage arising from peaceful nuclear activity, and noted the absence of effective international rules for nuclear liability. Members of the Forum have agreed to participate in the ongoing deliberations of the Standing Committee on Nuclear Liability convened by the International Atomic Energy Agency and to support the establishment of a comprehensive international legal regime dealing with liability for nuclear damage and reflecting fully the principle that the polluter should pay. Fiji welcomes the continuing growth in the number of parties to the non-proliferation Treaty and will support indefinite extension of the Treaty. In support of international peace and security, we have consistently contributed to many peace-keeping operations over the years. Since our first participation in peace-keeping operations in 1978, Fiji has been involved in seven. We pay tribute to the men and women currently engaged in United Nations peace-keeping operations around the world. Peace-keepers are being increasingly asked to serve in high-risk environments. That these are high-risk operations is tragically borne out by the fact that hundreds of peace-keepers have made the supreme sacrifice in their service to humanity. The time is right for the issue of the safety and security of peace-keeping personnel to be addressed in a more systematic, comprehensive and practical manner, and we support the notion wholeheartedly. The related question of responsibility for attacks on United Nations and associated personnel, and measures to ensure that those responsible for such attacks are brought to justice, is also now an important one to address. We shall fully support any effort in that direction. Apart from the large increase in the number of peace-keeping operations, many important changes are taking place in the nature of peace-keeping. The eight peace-keeping operations undertaken since the end of the cold war have involved not only traditional military activities but also a wide range of humanitarian and civilian activities. The constantly changing nature of the various crises means that we must increasingly be more innovative in designing peace-keeping operations, as they are normally very costly. As indicated in the report of the Secretary-General, the 17 peace-keeping operations are now costing the Organization some $2.8 billion annually. To some extent, the answer to the increasing costs lies in more preventive diplomacy aimed at defusing potential conflicts. Moreover, the involvement of Member States, either on an individual basis or through regional organizations, in peace-building and peace-keeping activities appears to be another effective way of preventing military clashes. In this regard, the Secretary-General has placed before us several suggestions which, we believe, deserve our serious consideration and action. I now wish to turn briefly to a subject that has been the focus of a great deal of attention, especially during the last three years; that is, the subject of sustainable development. Several resolutions adopted by the Assembly on following up the important decisions taken at Rio about 15 months ago are now being implemented at various levels. It is most encouraging that we now have 162 countries that have signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and 26 countries that have ratified it. Fiji ratified the Convention in February this year, and hopes that the required number of ratifications, 50, will soon be achieved, so that the Convention can enter into force. As global warming and a rise in sea level are amongst the most serious threats to the Pacific region and to the survival of some small island States, Fiji reaffirms its support for the Convention and takes this opportunity to urge all States to sign and ratify it as soon as possible. Fiji has been active in the area of environmental management and protection. The Rio Conference has, however, changed the way in which many of us now view environment and development issues. More than ever before, we are committed to the idea that the development of our economy and society must not come at the expense of our environment. To the contrary: development and environmental protection are complementary. My Government is committed to sound environmental management and protection as an integral part of our decision-making process. A national environment strategy has now been adopted by the Government, and will form the basis for further work on environmental issues in Fiji. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development has recognized in the Agenda 21 plan of action for sustainable development, that small island developing countries are a special case for sustainable development. Small island countries supporting small communities are ecologically fragile and vulnerable; because of our small 12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session size, our resources are limited, and because of our geographic dispersion and isolation from markets, we are placed at a disadvantage economically and have limited economies of scale. Our dependence on the ocean and our coastal environments is also very significant. They are not only of strategic importance to us; they also constitute a valuable development resource. It was in this context that, last year, we welcomed the adoption of General Assembly resolution 47/189 calling for a Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, to be convened in April 1994. We appreciate the very important work that has been put into the organizational session and the preparatory meetings, convened early this year. We hope that the Conference will be successful and will help us not only to identify the most critical issues involved but also to agree on precise and practical solutions for overcoming our vulnerabilities. We urge all member countries to participate in this Conference and to assist in finding solutions to problems that have buffeted small island countries for a very long time. The small island States contain a wealth of biological diversity of global significance - our rich marine ecosystems rivalling the better-known tropical rain forests in their importance to life on this planet and in their potential for new knowledge and new products, including medicines. An international cooperative approach to conserving our coastal and marine resources would benefit not just the island States but the world as a whole. The international community met in July this year and examined ways and means of conserving and managing straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. We believe that good progress was made at this meeting in identifying the problems that exist and areas in which fisheries cooperation between States could be improved. There are still, however, several important tasks remaining that need to be completed before the next session of the Assembly. Fiji, therefore, fully supports the convening of two further sessions next year to enable the Conference to reach agreement on all issues relating to the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. Fiji was the first country to ratify the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. We are therefore gratified that the Convention is soon to achieve the 60 ratifications required for its entry into force. We continue to support all efforts towards universal participation in this very important Convention, which is to govern over 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface. In this regard, we are pleased that all States - including now the United States - are engaged in the ongoing dialogue to resolve the outstanding problems and thereby pave the way towards universality for the Convention. Over the next few years, the Organization will be focusing its attention and energies on the convening of several very important international conferences. While these conferences will be important in themselves, as they will bring together the world community, they will not only discuss issues that are assigned to them but will also provide opportunities to arrive by consensus at solutions to many of the critical problems facing the world today. The World Summit on Social Development planned for 1995 will help to strengthen social development in all countries by giving political impetus, at the highest level, to the promotion of social policies. The three core issues that have been established for the Summit - the alleviation of poverty, the growth of employment, and the enhancement of social integration, especially of disadvantaged groups - are all essential. Above all, the Summit should, in our view, foster greater understanding of the importance of social development and, particularly, its relationship with economic development and protection of the environment. The Fourth World Conference on Women, to be convened in Beijing in 1995, will, we hope, be action-- oriented and provide an opportunity to review past activities and, most important, set new priorities. For its part, my Government is fully committed to strengthening the role of women in economic and social development and has taken several steps to integrate women into the mainstream of national development. Towards this end, plans have been formulated and are being implemented by the Ministry of Women and Culture, other sectoral ministries and non- governmental organizations. Women constitute more than 50 per cent of Fiji’s population, which makes them valuable partners in the growth and development of our country and the uplifting of our people. We are, at the same time, also turning our attention to the situation and needs of children in Fiji as we continue to participate actively in Universal Children’s Day. Fiji has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and has signed the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in the 1990s. We have also undertaken a detailed study of the situation of children in Fiji and have identified areas which require our attention. Forty-eighth session - 11 October l993 13 We are now in the process of following up the recommendations of this study. Fiji, as a multiracial and multicultural community, attaches great significance to family values and family traditions. We therefore welcome and appreciate the decision by the United Nations to observe 1994 as the International Year of the Family. My Government has already formed a national committee, comprising representatives from both government and non-governmental sectors, to make preparations for observance of the International Year of the Family in a meaningful and practical way. The International Year of the World’s Indigenous People will soon be coming to a close. With the observance of the International Year the attention of the United Nations has for the first time been focused directly and solely on indigenous peoples. Next year, the Commission on Human Rights will assess the activities of the Year. It is important that the voices of indigenous peoples should continue to be heard, and their right to self-determination, their right to rebuild their communities in dignity with freedom of choice, must continue to receive the full support of the United Nations. The draft text of a declaration on indigenous peoples’ rights, first proposed in 1985, received the approval of the Working Group last July. Fiji welcomes the Working Group’s decision as an important step towards a much-needed international instrument on indigenous peoples’ rights. The International Year of the World’s Indigenous People, should not, we believe, be treated as an isolated event, but as the beginning of a long-term policy of supporting, protecting and learning from the world’s indigenous peoples. For our part, we have set aside a special day in our nation’s calendar to commemorate this event, coinciding with the birthday of Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, one of the great leaders of the indigenous people of Fiji. The indigenous people now comprise the majority of Fiji’s population but my Government recognizes the need and will do its utmost to ensure unity, order, equity and security for all the people of Fiji, so that we can all live in peace and harmony. We will continue to ensure that harmonious relationships are established and maintained both among our own people at home and with other people abroad. With reference to my own region, the South Pacific, we are following very closely the current progress in New Caledonia towards the self-determination of that territory. We hope that the developments, as envisaged under the Matignon and Oudinot accords, will continue so that the indigenous Kanak population will be fully prepared to take part in the referendum in 1998 and to decide on the future political status of their country. Speaking at the session of the General Assembly last year, on 8 October, Fiji’s Prime Minister, Major General Sitiveni Rabuka, promised to initiate a review of the 1990 Constitution of Fiji, which has been the subject of controversy both locally and abroad. I am pleased to say that my Government has already set in train the process for the review of the Constitution, as promised. The review is to consider how the provisions of the Constitution can be improved upon to reflect fully the concerns and interests of Fiji’s multi-ethnic and multicultural society. This Organization, now almost 50 years old, has stood the test of time but, like other institutions, it must also adjust to change. We must continue to examine ways of making it a forum for both discussion and action on the important social, economic and political issues facing the world community as they evolve. In conclusion, I should like to reaffirm my country’s commitment to the United Nations and to the spirit of international cooperation and solidarity that it embodies. My country, and its people, joins with other nations to do its utmost to seek world peace, stability and sustainable development for all. We firmly believe that the United Nations remains the only hope for mankind to achieve peace and prosperity. It is through the combined efforts of all Member States, large and small, that we can develop a global environment which is just and equitable and which reflects the legitimate needs and interests of all peoples.