I address the General
Assembly today with a sense of deep humility — humility
in the wake of the great architects of world peace who
have stood here before me — and pride. In that regard,
I will utilize my maiden address to this body to pay
homage to those who fostered the birth and initial
dynamics of the United Nations. I therefore find it more
than appropriate to utilize the principles contained in
the Charter of the United Nations as a ready compass
with which to set my course as I navigate the issues that
occupy the forefront of our attention.
Before indicating my own country’s perspectives
on present trends, let me take the opportunity to
congratulate you, Sir, a representative of a Member
State from my own Caribbean region, on your election
to serve as President of the General Assembly. It is a
clear acknowledgement by members of the General
Assembly that all States, large or small, have a deep
and broad interest in how international relations are
evolving and a legitimate contribution to make towards
resolving the problems that are having a negative
impact on us.
At this juncture, permit me to commence my
navigation. The first principle of the Charter reads as
follows:
“To maintain international peace and security, and
to that end: to take effective collective measures
for the prevention and removal of threats to the
peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression
or other breaches of the peace, and to bring
about by peaceful means, and in conformity with
the principles of justice and international law,
adjustment or settlement of international disputes
or situations which might lead to a breach of the
peace”.
Our world vibrates with dynamic political changes,
some welcome, and some threatening to the interests
of small States and therefore unwelcome. Like other
Member States, we prefer the peaceful resolution of
disputes, and therefore welcome the developments in
the Middle East, specifically in relation to Syria, where
the option of a peaceful and negotiated resolution has
taken precedence over the option of war. It is important
that in such matters we not get caught up in the emotions
of the moment. We must be cerebral in our approach,
because emotion is no substitute for intelligence, nor
rigidity for prudence. We do not underestimate the
difficulties inherent in the resolution of issues and
disputes between nations in the Middle East. But we
stand for the right to self-determination as a basic
principle of any people’s existence, and hope that in
other parts of the region the long-standing claims to
entitlement on the part of the people of Palestine will
continue to be pursued, primarily through persistent
negotiation as against any inclination to the threat of
violence and war. We are fortunate to have the United
Nations as a framework within which we can always
proceed to negotiate with patience and persistence until
agreement and/or compromise is reached.
The second principle of the Charter of the United
Nations is to develop friendly relations among nations
based on respect for the principle of the equal rights
and self-determination of peoples, and to take other
appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace.
Saint Lucia, as a small State in a hemisphere of both
small and large States, emphasizes the use of diplomacy
as a prime instrument for the pursuit of normalized
relations. We note the increasing mutual involvement
of the peoples on both sides of the China Strait and
express the hope that that will lead to normal relations
beneficial to all the peoples of the world. In that regard,
we welcome the response of the membership of the
International Civil Aviation Organization to embrace
the participation of the Republic of China on Taiwan in
aspects of its proceedings. That can be an appropriate
model for the further engagement of Taiwan in the
activities of international organizations, thus permitting
that country to play its role more effectively in global
development.
In the same context, the Government of Saint Lucia
reiterates its support for the inclusion of Cuba in all
regional and hemispheric organizations that it wishes
to join. We support the removal of what can clearly be
seen as forced exclusions, which are surely no longer
permissible under the new rules and regimes of balanced
diplomacy. As is evident, the exclusion of Cuba from
normal and complete intercourse remains an open
wound in the heart of our hemisphere. It is unnecessary
and needs to be ended. Saint Lucia therefore emphasizes
its support for persistent international efforts towards
the removal of the unconscionable embargo that inhibits
Cuba’s legitimate efforts at economic growth and full
hemispheric cooperation.
The third principle of the Charter is to achieve
international cooperation in solving international
problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian
character, and in promoting and encouraging respect
for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for
everyone without distinction to race, sex, language
or religion. That is in consonance with the theme
chosen for this year’s general debate, namely, “The
post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage”.
Over a decade ago, when the world was entering the
twenty-first century, the United Nations took the lead
in setting the international development agenda. At
that time, we made a loud and clear declaration of war
against extreme poverty and hunger, illiteracy, gender
inequality, child mortality, poor maternal health care,
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, environmental
degradation, as well as against the forces that seek to
fragment our global partnership for development.
Our declaration was appropriately entitled the
Millennium Declaration, and the goals contained
therein were time-bound and target-driven. Today,
less than two years before the 2015 deadline arrives,
we find ourselves facing new, and increasingly critical,
development challenges. Youth unemployment has
reached crisis proportions globally, and high debt levels
have threatened the solvency and stability of small
States. Climate change and the increasing ferocity
of natural and man-made disasters are threatening
the environmental sustainability, and even the very
existence, of small island developing States (SIDS).
Global interdependence demands that the strong
help the weak, so that everyone can get strong.
Therefore, the setting of the post-2015 development
agenda is a watershed moment in global history, and all
countries must participate meaningfully in the process.
The rich must resist the temptation to retreat inward,
as that can idle the global economic engine. The post-
2015 development agenda must be driven by common
aspirations, shared goals and a unified vision of a
secure and stable world that we can proudly bequeath
to our children.
Saint Lucia and several other States have already
embarked upon and completed post-2015 consultations,
with the support of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP). At least 20 such national
consultations have been conducted across the world,
and they have provided invaluable inputs for the post-
2015 agenda. They emphasize that Saint Lucia and
other SIDS have serious vulnerabilities that seem to
have escaped the gross domestic product-focused eyes
of some of our development partners. The post-2015
agenda must therefore address, in a very real sense,
the issues of concern to SIDS, such as the rise in sea
level, non-communicable diseases, and the assessment
of loss and damage caused by natural and man-made
disasters and the funding needed for recovery. We are
also concerned about the causes of climate change,
particularly our over-dependence on fossil fuels, and
its destructive impact on the debt profiles of our small
and vulnerable economies.
In that regard, we want to arrest the adverse
consequences of climate change before they cripple us,
and we want to accelerate the transition to renewable
energy using clean, green technology. In May 2012,
our region hosted the Conference on Achieving
Sustainable Energy for All in Small Island Developing
States in Barbados and, together with UNDP and other
international partners, we resolved to set targets for
increasing the renewable component of our energy
mix. Moreover, a month ago in Barbados, at the
third interregional preparatory meeting for the third
International Conference on Small Island Developing
States, to be held in Apia, Samoa, in 2014, SIDS
reaffirmed their commitment and renewed calls for the
world to pay attention to their special vulnerabilities.
That is in keeping with the fourth principle of the
Charter of the United Nations, which asserts that the
Organization is to be a centre for harmonizing the
actions of nations in the attainment of the common
ends mentioned earlier. In that regard, we recognize a
number of United Nations initiatives.
First, we note that the outcome document of the
High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly
on the Millennium Development Goals requested the
Secretary-General to initiate thinking on a post-2015
development agenda and to include recommendations
in his annual report on efforts to accelerate progress on
achieving the MDGs.
Secondly, we recognize that the 2012 United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development has
initiated an inclusive intergovernmental process for
preparing a set of sustainable development goals.
Thirdly, we note that the work of the
Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on
Sustainable Development Financing, on which Saint
Lucia is represented, has proceeded in a positive
fashion. That work includes initiatives of the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) region aimed at applying
policies to address the effects of the global recession
and of new trends and rules that negate our effective
participation in international trade. Such initiatives
are promoted by our regional institutions, such as the
Caribbean Development Bank, whose President recently
highlighted the need for new urgency in implementing
policies to help the Bank’s member States to emerge
from the effects of the global recession.
Fourthly, we take special cognizance of the special
event just held and convened by you, Mr. President, to
follow up on efforts to achieve the MDGs. We concur
with the recommendations that propose a framework
for countries like mine to come up with an evolving
response to the new international environment that
recognizes how urgent it is that developed countries
fulfil their official development aid commitments, and
how critical the MDGs are for meeting the basic needs
of people in developing countries.
It is vital that all such initiatives on the part of the
global community include arrangements such as an
adaptation fund that can enhance the ability of small
island developing States to begin constructing facilities
that can protect our countries from sea-level rise and
natural disasters. Do we lie supine on our backs and hug
the elusive phantom of hope? No. Given the turbulent
and unpredictable world situation that we small States
face, we have been compelled to reassess, restructure
and reformulate domestic and foreign policy postures
to enable us to realistically readjust our economic and
political strategies and reshape our external relations
along more contemporary and multidimensional
lines. In that regard, Saint Lucia has been making a
special effort in the area of regional and international
outreach. Within our hemisphere, we have witnessed
the establishment and active engagement of both the
Union of South American Nations and the Community
of Latin American and Caribbean States, and Saint
Lucia, like other Caribbean Community States, has
actively engaged with them where eligible.
It is in that spirit that we have also joined the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America,
so as to broaden our activities in the hemisphere and
ensure that we take full advantage of efforts to advance
our country’s economic growth, reduce the economic
inequalities that result from our small size and ensure
our full participation in the regional and global
decision-making that inevitably affects us.
As I speak of a better balance of global relations
and the evolution of emergent political principles and
practices, Saint Lucia joins with other CARICOM
colleagues in drawing attention to a decision of the
CARICOM Heads of State, taken at their thirty-fourth
regular meeting, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago,
in July. That decision mandates our Governments to
collectively seek reparations, on behalf of our citizens
and countries, for the period of exploitation experienced
during the transatlantic slave trade. Our Governments
have therefore initially agreed to the establishment of
a Caribbean reparations commission that will prepare
the relevant documentation and strategies for pursuing
the practical achievement of that goal, with a central
focus of righting the wrongs of the past and elevating
the status of our people. In that regard, we will continue
to conduct a process of diplomatic outreach, not only
within our own hemisphere and the States of the African
continent, the geographic location of our ancestors, but
also within the wider United Nations family.
I would like to reiterate the importance for small
States like Saint Lucia of deliberate and sustained
efforts to resolve disputes peacefully. We support
strengthening the institutional arrangements of the
United Nations in order to help it better fulfil its
mandate. As the Assembly is aware, CARICOM has
been actively engaged in developments relating to
reform of the Security Council. It is an issue that Saint
Lucia’s Permanent Representative has been directly
involved in, particularly the question of expanding both
the permanent and non-permanent membership of the
Council and thereby giving that body’s decision-making
greater legitimacy. We look forward to further progress
on the matter.
For my part, I can only echo the words of the great
Russian writer Nikolai Ostrovsky, who said,
“Man’s dearest possession is life. It is given to
him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no
torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the
burning shame of a mean and petty past; so live
that, dying, he might say: all my life and all my
strength were given to the finest cause in all the
world — the fight for the liberation of mankind”.
It is to that aim that my country and I devote every
moment of our time.
As I conclude, Mr. President, I thank you and
extend to you Saint Lucia’s best wishes and support
for your successful tenure of office as you pursue
the tasks of the coming year, some visible and some
undoubtedly not yet foreseen. Saint Lucia’s hope is that
as we navigate uncharted waters, we continually refer
to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
to which I have referred, in order to ensure that our
great Organization remains on course, as together, with
mutual purpose and mutual aid, we make a new period
in history.