Bahamas

I am proud to address this body as the representative of the Government of the Bahamas. We are committed to achieving a sense of security, well-being, pride and prosperity for the people of the Bahamas. We look forward to working with fellow Member States towards securing the same opportunities and freedoms for all people. On behalf of the Government and the people of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, I congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-second session. I also want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to your predecessor for her leadership and dedication and for so aptly guiding the work of the sixty-first session. I would like to take this opportunity to extend congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon on his appointment as the eighth Secretary-General of the Organization. My Government is confident that, given Secretary-General Ban’s experience and diplomatic skills, he will aptly guide the Organization in facing its challenges. Let me take this opportunity to commend the General Assembly’s adoption of the historic resolution 61/19, on the two-hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and on the commemoration of the International Day held on 25 March of this year. The Bahamas, where the majority of our people are proud descendents of freed slaves, is participating at both the national and the regional levels in a number of commemorative activities. We fully support the project aimed at erecting a permanent memorial at the United Nations in commemoration of that shameful period in the history of our world. At a time when the international community is engaged in serious reflections regarding the history and consequences of slavery and the slave trade, the Bahamas wishes to recognize Haiti as the only country to liberate itself from slavery and for the inspiration this provided to the international campaign against slavery. Since modern forms of slavery still exist and since many people continue to be held in servitude, we must not relent in our resolve until everyone is able to enjoy and exercise the freedoms which this Organization has worked so diligently to recognize, uphold and defend. Despite Haiti’s proud history, challenges have beset our neighbour for generations. Haiti’s return to democratic order last year was especially welcomed, and we celebrate the strides Haiti is making along the difficult and arduous road to peace, security and development. We heartily commend President Préval and his Administration for their stewardship of this demanding process. At the same time, we also commend the Organization of American States for its unstinting support for the people of Haiti. The United Nations Mission in Haiti continues to play a vital role in this process, and the Bahamas supports the call for that mission to be maintained so as to consolidate the gains made to date and thus place our Caribbean Community (CARICOM) sister country on a firm and lasting path to sustainable development, peace, security and democracy. We urge the international community to support the people of Haiti in that quest. As Haiti lies merely 90 miles from the southern shores of the Bahamas, its economic and political situation can and does have very tangible repercussions for us all. Each year, the Bahamas is challenged by the arrival of thousands of illegal migrants from Haiti who, by perilous means, journey to our shores in search of a better way of life. Ensuring that justice and democracy prevail in Haiti, therefore, has a positive impact not only on the people of Haiti, but also on the Bahamas and indeed the entire region. The role of the United Nations in matters of sustainable development is crucial, particularly with regard to challenges demanding a truly global response — challenges such as climate change. We commend the Secretary-General for bringing greater focus to the issue, with the convening of the high-level event on climate change last week, and are hopeful that the event will provide the necessary impetus for action when Member States meet in Bali later this year. The Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is indeed the appropriate forum for negotiations on a post-Kyoto agreement, and the political will demonstrated during the Secretary-General’s recent high-level event should only bring closer focus to an agreed agenda in that regard. For small island developing States and archipelagos like the Bahamas, climate change is a matter of critical importance. For many of us it is not just a matter of economics, but a matter of survival, as 80 per cent of our landmass is within five feet of mean sea level; even a one-degree rise in atmospheric temperature can have devastating ecological effects. Climate change is particularly challenging with respect to the potential effects on our tourism industry, which is our main industry and which generates some 60 per cent of the Bahamas’s gross domestic product. We therefore cannot overemphasize the need for an ambitious mitigation agenda for the post-Kyoto regime. Recent studies have shown that there are many mitigation options available, and many of them are win-win. We must therefore, with unwavering commitment, explore these options in an open and inclusive environment. For countries like the Bahamas, resources for adaptation are also essential. However, even access to existing funds can prove difficult given the country’s gross national income. It is therefore vital that the relevant financial instruments and mechanisms be fully operationalized and/or improved so that they become more accessible and better address the peculiar circumstances and special needs of different countries. Further, there is a need for greater international cooperation with respect to the development of new technologies, as well as the transfer of such technologies in support of the sustainable development of small island developing States. We in the Caribbean region must prepare for the possibility of continued increases in the incidence of natural hazards such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. Whether it is through assistance with hazard mapping and vulnerability assessment standardization or through the implementation of early warning systems, international cooperation has an important role to play in complementing national efforts to reduce vulnerability to natural disasters. One step taken by the Caribbean region was the establishment of the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility under the aegis of the World Bank. We would like to thank those countries who have contributed to the fund. The Bahamas continues to press for the execution of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, as well as of complementary frameworks such as the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the Hyogo Framework for Action. The time has come to reassess our collective response to these issues and to renew our efforts in support of sustainable development. Adequate financial resources are essential in the implementation of the wider internationally agreed development goals. Consideration of issues surrounding the follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development is particularly significant this year, as we prepare for the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, to be held in Doha next year. The Bahamas would wish for the deliberations of the upcoming High-level Dialogue, as well as the 2008 meeting of the Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), to provide practical input into, and contribute to the success of that most important review conference. The issue of strengthening the voice and participation of developing nations in international economic decision- making and norm-setting is especially important to the Bahamas. There is a definite need for concrete, realistic proposals to ensure the effective, permanent representation of developing countries, particularly small developing countries, not only in the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO but also in the other international economic and financial institutions, such as the Financial Stability Forum, the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee. The Bahamas welcomes the positive development in the area of international cooperation in tax matters, namely, the establishment of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters within the Economic and Social Council. The establishment of that Committee ensures that the interests of small developing States Members of the United Nations with different tax regimes will be factored into discussions and recommendations aimed at adopting mutually agreed standards that do not unduly favour the wealthy nations at the expense of meaningful development in States and jurisdictions not members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We have reached the halfway mark in the time frame we set ourselves in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to undertake concrete steps by the year 2015 to address not only the economic and environmental challenges plaguing the international community and the Organization, but various social ills as well. In so doing, we gave those who are less fortunate hope for a better and more equitable world. The MDG Report 2007 demonstrates that progress has been achieved in the reduction of the proportion of people living in poverty, the reduction of child and maternal mortality rates and the increase of primary school enrolment levels. However, nearly 20 million children worldwide continue to be severely malnourished and suffer from various preventable diseases that will undoubtedly affect their survival and rob them of their full potential. Overall progress in achieving equal rights and the empowerment of women is also too slow. My Government regards effective and practical measures to address poverty and the enhancement of educational partnerships to facilitate the development of our human resources to impact accelerated change as critical issues. HIV/AIDS remains a global threat to the development, progress and stability of our societies. If the goal of universal access to comprehensive prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010 is to be achieved, commitments entered into in the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS must be implemented. The necessary financial and technical support to developing countries must be provided to help bridge the gap and foster a more comprehensive and sustainable global response to this pandemic. Equally important is the fact that 63 per cent of deaths worldwide are attributable to non- communicable diseases resulting from factors such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and alcohol abuse. At a recent summit of CARICOM heads of Government, a number of action steps were identified. The Governments have agreed to establish, by mid-2008, comprehensive plans for the screening and management of chronic diseases and risk factors, so that, by 2012, 80 per cent of people in the Caribbean region with non-communicable diseases would receive quality care and have access to preventive education based on regional guidelines. In spite of the efforts of various entities and the existence of United Nations conventions to protect the rights of women and children, discrimination and violence against women and children persist throughout the world. In an effort to better address this problem, the Bahamas has drafted a new Child Protective Act and a Domestic Violence Protection Order to enhance and provide greater protection to these vulnerable groups. Last year the United Nations Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288) was adopted, marking an important step towards the elaboration of a counter-terrorism convention. The Bahamas continues to condemn terrorism and recognizes that while there may be instances when terrorism and criminal activities converge, the methodologies used to combat each of them are very different. Based on its own risk assessment, therefore, each Government must determine the level of resources that can be adopted and applied to counter-terrorism measures, particularly given the emphasis that the Strategy also places on addressing and preventing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism. In prescribing counter-terrorism measures, care must be taken by the international community to preserve the tenet of due process. Care must also be taken to guard against the creation of disincentives that negatively impact countries with service-based economies. With respect to counter-terrorism measures, the Bahamas has adopted new legislation, ratified additional anti-terrorism conventions, increased security of large facilities, airports, docks and harbours developed a counter-terrorism intelligence network and provided anti-terrorism training for the police. Needless to say, such initiatives present a challenge and divert resources from our economic development. The Bahamas reaffirms its commitment to fulfil its obligations to major international drug and counter- terrorism conventions and continues to support the concept of the expansion of the membership of the Security Council. The Bahamas maintains, however, that such expansion of the Security Council will not greatly increase the chances for our particular countries, such as the Bahamas. While it is incumbent on Member States to fulfil their obligations that come with membership, the Organization must put in place effective management tools and create a system that would eliminate overspending and waste and create more fiscal accountability and proper oversight. The Bahamas values the role of the United Nations as the custodian of the interests of the world’s people, in particular the poor and the vulnerable. The Bahamas continues to believe that the United Nations Charter constitutes a viable and firm foundation on which the Organization can balance and achieve its objectives: to maintain international peace and security and, equally important, to promote development and economic and social progress.