It is an honour to address this gathering of States in the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session. I stand before the Assembly to speak on behalf of a proud nation that is celebrating the leadership of the General Assembly for the next year by a son of the soil of Trinidad and Tobago. We are proud of you. Mr. President. I once again extend my warm congratulations to you on behalf of the Government and the people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and assure you of our full support. I would also like to express our deep gratitude to your predecessor. His Excellency Mr. Csaba Korosi. for ably guiding our work during the seventy-seventh session.
Let me express our deepest condolences to the Governments and the peoples of Morocco and Libya and our solidarity with them in the wake of the recent tragedies in their countries, which have resulted in significant losses of lives and livelihoods and the destruction of property.
At the midpoint of the journey towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, sober reflection will leave many observers with a pessimistic feeling that the world is in peril and that we are at risk of significantly falling short in ensuring that no one is left behind. We have seen an array of cascading crises in many parts of the world. The Secretary-General recently sounded the alarm, saying that the period of global warming had ended and one of global boiling had arrived. Investments in instruments of war have far surpassed investments in instruments of peace and peacebuilding. Some protracted conflicts are continuing with little sign of a ceasefire, and others continue to erupt and escalate, with disturbing consequences. All of that contributes to the waning spirit of multilateralism in our United Nations, the very purpose for which the Organization was built. We have seen glimmers of hope extinguished by the darkness of despair, where the most vulnerable of the global population are made to pay the highest price. The cards of the international financial system remain heavily stacked against the global South, inhibiting the prospects for those countries to achieve economic growth and sustainable development. Against that backdrop. I ask. is that the legacy that we want to leave to future generations?
Trinidad and Tobago, as a responsible member of our Organization, is committed to doing its part to achieve sustainable development and international peace and security for all. However, our ability to safely navigate our destiny into the harbour of sustainable development by 2030 has been stymied by challenges and threats, some of which are existential. One such threat is the proliferation and use in our society of illegal firearms, which, just as they do in other jurisdictions, bring untold suffering to many families and communities and the nation as a whole. Only today we experienced the loss of five members of one family, killed by an assailant with an assault weapon.
The situation has worsened largely because of the accelerated commercial availability of such weapons, coupled with illegal trafficking from countries of manufacture into the almost defenceless territories of the Caribbean. With a population of 1.4 million people. Trinidad and Tobago experienced more than 600 murders last year. 90 per cent of which involved handguns or. increasingly, assault weapons. Despite making our best efforts and huge inroads into our already scarce resources, we have already seen more than 400 violent firearms-driven killings this year. This is a crisis shared by almost all the territories in the Caribbean and must be added to the challenges that stand in the way of successfully tackling any of the Sustainable Development Goals that have already been identified. Trinidad and Tobago, both individually and as part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). has attempted to devise solutions and interventions to address those challenges meaningfully and holistically. For that reason, earlier this year we hosted a CARICOM Regional Symposium addressing crime and violence as a public health issue, as we felt it was incumbent on us to promote and encourage dialogue aimed at reducing violence and preventing crime in our society. In that context, we are cognizant of the need for cooperation at all levels.
Accordingly. Trinidad and Tobago remains fully committed to the Arms Trade Treaty and its stated objectives. We also look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with our regional and international partners, especially the United States, to urgently reduce the illicit trade in illegal firearms, most of which are produced by gun manufacturers and promoters based here in this country. We acknowledge and appreciate the recent and ongoing support of the United States in joining with Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM more generally in confronting that metastasizing scourge, which is not only disturbing our safety but threatening our sense of security and even our democratic States themselves.
We acknowledge that the proliferation of violent crime, concomitant with other escalating crises, provides fertile conditions for destabilizing any country. It is in that context that Trinidad and Tobago supports CARICOM’s position that all nations should respect the Caribbean Sea as a zone of peace. Consequently, as we fight our own battle in this area, we remain deeply concerned about the developments in our fellow CARICOM country. Haiti, that are having unimaginably terrible humanitarian, socioeconomic and security consequences. We applaud the decision of the Government of Kenya to offer to help lead a multinational unit in Haiti and welcome the decision of the Governments of the Bahamas and Jamaica to contribute personnel to it. Rwanda’s offer to help is also significant and commendable.
We urge the international community to collaborate with Haiti with a view to arriving at a credible solution to its current crisis that can guarantee that the country and its people are not left behind. I would like to remind everyone of the exhortation by Trinidad and Tobago’s iconic calypsonian David Rudder in his timeless classic song “Haiti”, in which he says. “Haiti. I’m sorry”. In his words.
“I refuse to believe that we good people / Will forever turn our hearts and eyes away / Haiti. I’m sorry / We misunderstood you / One day we’ll turn our heads / And look inside you”.
That day has come. That day is now. We. the United Nations gathered here must prioritize authorizing the external help that Haiti desperately needs. Just like anywhere else in the world. Haiti deserves peace. Haiti deserves prosperity. Haiti deserves progress and Haiti deserves sustainability. Haiti requires the intervention of the United Nations now. I want to assure the Assembly that Trinidad and Tobago, as an honest broker, remains fully committed to working with the Government of Haiti and all other stakeholders to arrive at an indigenous solution that can comprehensively address the crisis in that country.
Trinidad and Tobago is of the view that in order to rebuild trust and reignite global solidarity, there must be universal adherence to the Charter of the United Nations and international law. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States must be paramount and permanent. It is in that connection that we continue to register our dismay and disappointment at the ongoing hostilities following the military action against Ukraine. Although we are geographically far removed from the threat of the conflict, we are not unaffected. It is indeed disappointing that the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which helped stabilize global food prices and potentially protected millions from the threat of famine and starvation, has been terminated. We noted with great anxiety that global food prices rose in July for the first time in months. That situation is of major concern to CARICOM as we acknowledge that food security remains a crucial issue for our region and is a vital component in our quest to implement the 2030 Agenda.
It is also regrettable that after all this time, a credible solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains elusive. In that regard. Trinidad and Tobago reiterates its strong support for a two-State solution based on mutual understanding, tolerance and respect, which would serve as a foundation for Israel and Palestine to live as peaceful, responsible neighbours. We continue to urge both sides to recommit to a just, lasting and comprehensive solution that can ensure peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.
The year 2023 marks two very important milestones for the international community, as we commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute. As a country that has been a long-standing advocate for the International Criminal Court. Trinidad and Tobago congratulates the Court on its achievement. In recognizing that milestone, we want to remember and pay tribute to an outstanding pioneer of the Court, the late Arthur N. R. Robinson, former Prime Minister and President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. We have seen sufficient evidence to be convinced that
his efforts, which resulted in part in the creation of the International Criminal Court, were not in vain. For that reason. Trinidad and Tobago remains steadfast in its support to the work and mandate of the Court, as we believe that access to justice is a critical element in achieving sustainable peace. We therefore continue to urge those countries that have not done so to submit to its jurisdiction so that it can comprehensively fulfil its mandate as a truly universal Court.
While we acknowledge that the International Criminal Court provides a beacon of hope for access to justice, we also recognize that it is an absolute injustice that 75 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, discrimination and a lack of tolerance for fundamental human rights still exist. We remain concerned about the fact that in some quarters, women and girls continue to be denied the kinds of opportunities that are offered to men and boys, which stymies our collective pursuit of building peaceful and sustainable societies. It is quite paradoxical that we are attempting to implement the 2030 Agenda while leaving substantial segments of communities behind. All of us must be allowed to live a life free of fear and free from all forms of violence, a life in which we are respected and our dignity and liberty are not compromised. Those ideals must also shape the way forward for reconciliation, truth and justice.
The persistent underdevelopment of Caribbean nations and so many others is directly attributable to the unpaid debt created by centuries of enslavement and economic exploitation of Africans by Europeans. The descendants of those people populate the Caribbean islands, where they struggle manfully against the residual rigours of those historic crimes, even as they are visited by the worst effects of climate change and a constant threat of exclusion from the world’s mainstream financial systems. In that regard. Trinidad and Tobago continues to call for bold and decisive action to ensure reparatory justice for the untold suffering of millions in the developing world, and we would welcome Africa’s support in that quest for justice.
It is undeniable that climate change is an existential threat to all of us and does not recognize geographic boundaries. We also acknowledge that our people, the people of the small island developing States, those who are least culpable for the climate crisis, are the ones who continue to be most disproportionately affected. The experts have told us that this past July was the hottest month on record and that global ocean temperatures also reached record levels. Most disconcertingly, we have noted with justifiable alarm the recent dire warning from scientists that without ambitious climate action, we will exceed the critical 1.5°C temperature threshold. However, recent developments have shown that overly ambitious net-zero targets should not be forced on small island nations.
We are called on to be game-changers on this issue. We have a responsibility for the survival and continued existence of life on this planet that no other generation of leaders has had. A global stocktaking at the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be crucial, and it must produce a road map that brings the world closer to being on track by ensuring that nationally determined contributions are aligned with the 1.5°C goal. Nationally determined contributions must become nationally implemented contributions. Trinidad and Tobago is in the process of implementing its commitment to installing some infrastructure for supplying sustainable energy. We urge developed countries to increase their support for the second replenishment of the Green Climate Fund. If those commitments are honoured in full sooner rather than later, they will go a long way to rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity, particularly for the global South.
The global economic crisis has landed heavily on the developing world, with small island developing States such as Trinidad and Tobago and its Caribbean neighbours facing the harshest impacts of the socioeconomic fallout. For that reason, the next 10- year programme of action will be crucial to ensuring that no one is left behind. We call on the international community to lend its support to the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, and to reach an ambitious and transformative global blueprint that will drive the sustainable-development ambitions of small island developing nations towards long-term, resilient prosperity. We will also continue to advocate for sensitivity on the part of international financial institutions to the specific circumstances of developing countries and the challenges they face. Trinidad and Tobago therefore reiterates its support for the development of a multidimensional vulnerability index, the Bridgetown Initiative and any other effort that addresses the most pressing needs of developing countries, including those encountering liquidity challenges and debt distress.
Earlier this year. Trinidad and Tobago welcomed the landmark adoption of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Along with its CARICOM partners. Trinidad and Tobago participated actively in the negotiations. We are fully confident that when that treaty enters into force, the benefits will redound to all of humankind.
The 2030 Agenda envisions a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity. However, it will be impossible for our sisters and brothers in Cuba to achieve those goals if the anachronistic economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed on that country remains in place. For more than six decades, the people of Cuba have been grappling with significantly diminished prospects for charting a course towards prosperity, meaningful progress and sustainable development. Trinidad and Tobago therefore reiterates its call for the unconditional lifting of the economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba, and certainly for Cuba’s removal from any unjustified listing as an alleged State sponsor of terrorism.
Despite our challenges. 2023 has been a momentous year for us in CARICOM. In addition to your election as President of the General Assembly. Sir. in Port of Spain we recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Caribbean Community under the theme “50 Years Strong: A Solid Foundation to Build On”. It was indeed a confluence of celebratory events, as we all rejoiced over the election of CARICOM members to major United Nations bodies. In that regard, we congratulate Guyana on its election as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and Haiti and Suriname on their election to the Economic and Social Council.
Guided by our Charter and the spirit of multilateralism, there is a popular aphorism that we can use as inspiration. “Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success”. If we can apply that maxim. I have no doubt that we can achieve peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all. Trinidad and Tobago will be doing its part. We continue to stand on our principles, to deploy our diplomacy and leadership in the service of the common good, to uphold international law and to work with Member States in our commitment to leaving this world safer, healthier and better.