Maldives

First, let me extend to you, Mr. President, my delegation’s warmest congratulations on your election to preside over the Assembly at its fifty-ninth session. My delegation has every confidence in your sagacity to guide this session and its deliberations to a fruitful conclusion. It is also my pleasure to pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Julian Robert Hunte, for the commendable manner in which he discharged his responsibilities as the President at the fifty-eighth session. As well, I wish to take this opportunity to compliment the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on his diligence in promoting peace and pursuing the noble principles of this Organization. My delegation sincerely wishes him every success in his daunting task. The unfolding international events bring to the fore the question of multilateralism and the vital role the United Nations has to play in addressing global crises and problems and in promoting a world order based on the rule of law and the collective responsibility of all nations and communities. The global challenges that we face today are numerous. While goals are set and programmes launched for eradicating poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, fighting HIV/AIDS and protecting the environment, hundreds of innocent lives are lost every day as a result of conflict and civil war. Terrorism has not been defeated. On the contrary, it is re-emerging in uglier manifestations in the most unexpected places, killing innocent people, including children. The disappointing impasse on global disarmament and the dreadful odds of further proliferation of weapons of mass destruction make us ill at ease and cause us to lose hope for a peaceful world. We in small States feel more vulnerable to these challenges and threats, as our security is entirely dependent on the prevalence of global security and the observance of the rule of law by all States. Clearly, the concerns of small States cannot be confined only to the issues of the environment, climate change, sea-level rise and sustainable development. The ominous threats that are emerging on the political and security fronts of the contemporary world have far-reaching implications for us as well. Not too infrequently, we witness small States being victimized by non-State actors such as terrorists, mercenaries, insurrectionary gangs and organized crime networks, whose calculated assaults disrupt socio-economic and political development of small States, endangering peace and security. It would be imprudent to ignore the wider implications of the presence and activities of such perilous actors on international peace and security. Solutions to those threats can only be sought through international cooperation, vigilance and timely action. It is imperative that the international community takes on the crucial responsibility of protecting the security of small States, as stipulated by General Assembly resolutions 44/51, of 8 December 1989, 46/43, of 9 December 1991, and 49/31, of 9 December 1994. With its global spread and ability to work in collaboration with regional institutions, we see the Organization as the most appropriate body to address such issues. Terrorism poses grave threats to regional as well as international peace and security. The train bombings in Madrid; car bombings and terrorist attacks in Iraq, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia; and, most recently, the hostage-taking tragedy in a Russian school, are all grim reminders of the particularly insidious nature of terrorism. I am sure that I echo the unanimity of the international community in reiterating that the war against terrorism should continue to remain a principal priority on the international agenda. My Government 4 believes that early adoption of the proposed international convention on terrorism would be a crucial step in effectively combating that dreadful menace. Expanding globalization and increasing trade liberalization, contrary to the hopes for a healthier global market, have had a distressing price tag for small economies, especially for small island economies such as the Maldives. Limited natural resources and the narrow economic base of small island economies severely restrict their scope for diversification and their ability to attract foreign investment. Those disadvantages call for special considerations, including a level of preferential treatment, on an exceptional basis, to ensure the sustainable development of small island developing States. While the Maldives is beset by the entire range of economic problems inherent to small island developing States, the recommendation by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) to graduate us from the list of least developed countries has compounded the challenges to our development. We do take pride in our achievements in the social and economic sectors during the last two decades. However, we fear that graduation may cause enormous and irreparable damage to our economy, in the absence of a suitable mechanism to ensure sustained socio-economic development. In that context, we welcome the recommendation of the CDP and the decision of the Economic and Social Council earlier this year indicating the need to formulate smooth transition strategies for least developed countries prior to their graduation. We support in particular the recommendation to decide post-graduation transition arrangements on a case-by-case basis and to establish ad hoc country advisory groups to help formulate those arrangements. We strongly feel that it is important for the Economic and Social Council to formally endorse the arrangements proposed by the ad hoc country advisory groups while mandating the CDP with the task of monitoring the progress of newly graduated countries for any disruptions in their development. Allow me, at this juncture, to register our sincere gratitude and appreciation to our development partners and the members of the Group of 77, the Group of Least Developed Countries and the Bureau and members of the Economic and Social Council for the understanding and the care with which they are proceeding on this crucial and important issue. The state of the global environment is as depressing as ever. Statistical information and projections are alarming and disturbing, not only to small island developing States but also to the entire international community. Those figures and predictions reveal the severity of environmental problems and the potential threats to human existence unless swift remedial measures are implemented. The frequency with which we have been witnessing natural disasters such as hurricanes and cyclones around the world demonstrates the urgent need to tackle environmental issues on a global scale. Many small island developing States suffer disproportionately from such hazards, underscoring the vulnerability of small island developing States in that regard. As we recently witnessed in Grenada, a single hurricane can lay waste to decades-long developmental progress in a matter of a few hours. We will soon be meeting in Mauritius to review the progress made over the past decade in the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island States. If we are to make the forthcoming meeting in Mauritius a success, we need to muster the necessary political will to channel resources and to ensure the comprehensive realization of the objectives of the Barbados Programme of Action. The complexity and magnitude of ever- developing global challenges demand that a reformed United Nations be assigned the central role in dealing with them. While those reforms should cover the entire United Nations system and its bodies, the focus is once again justly being drawn to the urgency of the need to restructure the Security Council, making the Council more reflective of the realities of the present-day world and more representative of the capacity and commitment of Member States to contribute to international peace and security. It is disappointing, though, that no common view has emerged on that issue. We feel that we should go ahead with the enlargement of the Security Council, both in the permanent and non-permanent categories and including in that enlargement countries such as Japan and other Member States that have the capacity and the commitment to serve as permanent members and that 5 would represent the wider membership of the present- day United Nations. The international treaty regime has to be expanded and strengthened so that emerging problems can be dealt with more effectively. We feel that that task should be a priority in enforcing the principles for which the United Nations stands and the values of peace, security, justice, equality, human rights, democracy and rules-based international order that it has advocated. In that context, we applaud the remarks made by the Secretary-General at the opening meeting of the General Assembly, and wish to express our support for his efforts to reform the United Nations system. The rapid socio-economic development attained by the Maldives in the past two and a half decades is in no small part grounded in the political stability that we have enjoyed during that period. To emphasize further the need to promote and sustain the values of democracy and respect for human rights, President Gayoom proposed a sweeping agenda for political reform in early June of this year. The Government remains firmly committed to carry out the reform agenda, which has been welcomed and supported by both the people of the country and its friends in the international community. A special people’s assembly was convened, as required by the Constitution, and was charged with the task of debating reforms to the current Constitution proposed by the Government and civil society. We seek the support and assistance of our friends in the international community in our pursuit of that unprecedented reform agenda. The solidarity of the international community at this crucial hour of need would reinforce our resolve and help us move ahead with the reform agenda with increased veracity and diligence. My Government is also committed to respecting and observing human rights through adherence to relevant international conventions. In that regard, I am pleased to announce that the Maldives will this week sign a framework agreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross. We will also keep under consideration the signing of other important instruments, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Before concluding, I should like to reaffirm our commitment to the principles enshrined in the Charter. My country believes this Organization to be the best suited to working for the betterment of humanity and the maintenance of international peace and security.