I am honoured
to deliver this statement on behalf of Prime Minister
Peter O’Neill and the people of Papua New Guinea. I
also wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as
President of the General Assembly. We welcome your
overarching theme of “The post-2015 development
agenda: setting the stage”, advocating a solid global
foundation for a results-oriented partnership that is
people-centred and inclusive in our common pursuit of
sustainable development. Papua New Guinea pledges
its support to you as you take on that important task.
We acknowledge the contributions of your predecessor
and wish him well in his future endeavours.
I take this opportunity to address the Assembly
on the state of our economy, highlight the challenges
before us and put forward the policies and development
plans of my Government.
Papua New Guinea continues to be a vibrant and
thriving democracy. However, as experienced by other
developing nations, the road has not been easy in
terms of the political, economic and social challenges
that have confronted us domestically and globally. In
the past, our development efforts have been littered
with missed economic opportunities. My Government
is therefore determined to reset the development and
wealth-creation direction for our nation.
We have set a transformative agenda for our
country and people under our long-term Papua New
Guinea Vision 2050 policy framework and five-year
medium-term development plan. We are determined to
achieve those development plans, as they continue to
reinforce our work aimed at achieving the Millennium
Development Goals and making progress on the post-
2015 development agenda.
Our economy continues to record unprecedented
growth levels, which can be attributed to a stable
Government with responsible and sound monetary
and fiscal policies. Such positive economic growth
complements the Government’s long-term development
policies aimed at stimulating the economy and
achieving our development aspirations. Strategies to
strengthen economic growth include reinvesting in key
enablers, such as infrastructure, health and education,
so as to maximize opportunities and improve the lives
of our citizens.
My Government is harnessing that positive
economic growth to address and improve our social
indicators, including low literacy levels and high
maternal and infant mortality rates. We have also
embarked on a major strengthening of law-and-order
enforcement infrastructure. This year, 50 per cent of
our budget has been allocated to education and basic
health care, law-and-order enforcement, and critical
infrastructure improvement.
My Government is committed to a public-private
partnership model as an important catalyst for national
development. We are also committed to strengthening
existing programmes and networks with the private
sector, churches, donor agencies and non-governmental
organizations through cooperative and mutually
beneficial arrangements.
We are equally committed to investing in provincial
and local-level government so as to improve service
delivery for the majority of our population living in
rural areas. We firmly believe that such partnerships
will create an enabling environment and empower our
people to take ownership of their lives and be proactive
in nation-building.
My Government has also embarked on investor-
friendly policies, supported by public-private
partnerships and prudent economic management, so
as to promote growth in key non-mining sectors. In
that connection, my Government is reviewing taxation
policies with a view to providing incentives and
concessions and encouraging strategic investments in
areas that are critical to driving our economic growth.
Exporting our raw materials is not an option. We
therefore encourage downstream processing through
genuinely joint ventures and other acceptable economic
cooperation.
My Government is committed to strengthening
governance at all levels by combating corruption. We
have adopted the principle of zero tolerance. To that end,
the Government has adopted a national anti-corruption
strategy and established an independent task force with
powers to investigate and prosecute. An independent
commission against corruption will be established to
enhance the implementation of the United Nations
Convention against Corruption.
Given the importance of cross-border security
and related issues, a national security policy is in the
final stages of completion. The focus of that policy is
on dealing with national security issues as contained
in pillar 4 of the Vision 2050 policy framework. In line
with our national security policy, we are committed to
rebuilding our disciplinary forces and institutions as
well as continuing our participation in United Nations
peacekeeping operations.
My Government is committed to addressing some
of my country’s unflattering international human
development indices, including those regarding
human rights issues. We recognize our development
challenges, including gender-based violence, sorcery-
related deaths, access to social services and the low
level of representation of our women in the public and
private sectors. In our assessment, many of those human
rights and human development reports are exaggerated
and insensitive, with scant attention paid to the positive
efforts by the Government to promote and protect basic
rights for all our citizens. Over the past six months,
my Government has enacted the Family Protection
Law and repealed the Sorcery Act of 1971, effectively
making domestic and sorcery-related violence criminal
offences.
I am pleased to announce that my Government has
ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities. The instrument of ratification has been
deposited with the United Nations at this session.
In recent months, there have been many reports
about Papua New Guinea’s bilateral agreement with
Australia on the regional resettlement arrangement for
asylum-seekers. Papua New Guinea, as a State party
to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, recognizes
the importance of addressing that international
humanitarian issue. Our two Governments are jointly
working on the issue and call upon the international
community to support our efforts. Furthermore, we call
upon like-minded Member States and other stakeholders
to assist our efforts to address the root causes of the
displacement and dislocation of people, as well as to
combat human trafficking and people smuggling.
As an emerging economy in the Pacific region,
Papua New Guinea will enhance its level of engagement
on issues of mutual concern, both within the region and
globally. In the spirit of friendship and neighbourly
South-South cooperation, we are committed to sharing
the benefits of our natural resources development with
our Pacific island neighbours. We have embarked on
that path by providing development assistance to our
neighbours, including the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu,
Marshall Islands, Tonga and Samoa.
Through the Melanesian Spearhead Group, we
are forging dynamic and strong bonds in areas that
include trade and investment, education and training,
judicial support, sporting and cultural exchanges and
visa arrangements to facilitate the movement of skilled
persons. To further consolidate such very important
partnerships at the regional level, we are collectively
reviewing the relevance of the Pacific plan in relation
to regional integration. Papua New Guinea is playing a
leading role in that review exercise.
Papua New Guinea supports the outcome document
of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development (Rio+20), entitled “The future we want”
(resolution 66/288, annex), as the basis for the post-
2015 development agenda. That agenda addresses
balanced human development, including issues relating
to eradicating extreme poverty and improving living
standards for humanity. We also support inclusive
economic growth, while preserving the environment
for future generations. We welcome the work of the
High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015
Development Agenda and the creation of the High-
Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development,
which succeeded the Commission on Sustainable
Development. Both serve as a good starting point for
driving the agenda forward.
Papua New Guinea and the Pacific small island
developing States call on the international community
to support the inclusion of the oceans as a stand-alone
sustainable development goal. We are now in the initial
stages of preparing a sustainable development policy
and strategy for our country, which is to complement
our long-term Vision 2050 policy framework. We
welcome support from the international community to
enhance that work.
Papua New Guinea is pleased to note that the
sustainable development issues of small island
developing States are a priority on the General
Assembly agenda, further reaffirming the importance
of the Rio+20 outcome document and the relevant
General Assembly resolutions. Your two visits this year
to our Pacific region, Mr. President, underscore your
commitment to small island developing States, for which
we applaud you. We look forward to the strengthening
of that important work during your presidency.
As the global community prepares for the third
International Conference on Small Island Developing
States in September 2014 in Apia, Papua New Guinea
reiterates the call for small island developing States to
remain a special case for sustainable development. The
adverse impacts of climate change continue to be of
serious concern to the global community, but especially
for small island developing States. While contributing
the least to that threat, small island countries are not
only suffering the most from the serious impacts of
climate change but also run the risk of being submerged
by rising sea levels.
We support the Majuro Declaration for Climate
Leadership, recently adopted by Pacific Island Forum
leaders. We therefore reiterate the challenge to the
international community to accept its responsibilities
and its leadership role. We also urge the international
community to renew its political commitment to
prioritize the sustainable development issues of small
island developing States in the post-2015 development
agenda. As part of our continued efforts, I am pleased
to note that Papua New Guinea has now become a
member of the Governing Council of the Global Green
Growth Institute.
Papua New Guinea agrees that the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), despite their
shortcomings, have galvanized the international
community’s development efforts to shape the post-
2015 development agenda. We agree with the view
expressed in the Secretary-General’s 2013 annual report
on the work of the Organization (A/68/1) that we should
remain focused and redouble our efforts to consolidate
the implementation of the Millennium Development
Goals for improved outcomes. We also welcome the
outcomes of the recently concluded high-level special
events on the MDGs and on disability and development
during the sixty-eighth session.
Papua New Guinea is unlikely to achieve most of
the MDGs by 2015. However, my Government remains
committed to implementing the goals beyond 2015.
We have tailored our Millennium Development Goals
targets and indicators in accordance with our 2011 to
2015 medium-term development plan and the Vision
2050 policy framework. We are making progress in
the areas of universal primary education enrolment,
poverty reduction, reduced infant and maternal
mortality rates, combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
other health issues and strengthening gender equality
and empowerment.
Papua New Guinea expresses its appreciation for
the support it has received from United Nations agencies
and other development partners complementing
our efforts to accelerate the implementation of the
Millennium Development Goals.
I am pleased to report on the continued progress
in the implementation of the Bougainville Peace
Agreement and the successful scaling down of the
Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands.
We thank the United Nations, regional partners and the
international community for their continued assistance
in both instances.
On international peace and security issues, Papua
New Guinea remains concerned about conflicts and
tensions in various regions of the world, including in
the Middle East, North Africa, the Korean peninsula
and the South China Sea. We urge all parties involved
to defuse the situation through peaceful dialogue.
We join the international community in condemning
the use of chemical weapons in Syria and urge full
compliance with the provisions of the Chemical
Weapons Convention. We therefore commend the
Security Council for adopting resolution 2118 (2013)
with a view to dismantling and eradicating Syria’s
chemical-weapons programme.
Since October 2011, Papua New Guinea has
been contributing to United Nations peacekeeping
operations in the Sudan and South Sudan. Earlier this
year, we became the 148th State Member of the United
Nations to join the Special Committee on Peacekeeping
Operations. We are now looking at expanding and
increasing our troop contributions. We also pay tribute
to the United Nations peacekeepers serving around the
world, often in very trying conditions, and especially
those who have made the ultimate sacrifice with their
lives.
We express our concern over the lack of progress
on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation. As a
strong supporter of a nuclear-free world, Papua New
Guinea calls on the United Nations and the international
community to address that serious lack of progress. We
also need to revitalize United Nations disarmament
work so as to foster international peace and security.
Papua New Guinea welcomes the adoption of the Arms
Trade Treaty, which will regulate the trade and transfer
of conventional arms, including small arms and light
weapons.
Finally, Papua New Guinea welcomes the leadership
of the Secretary-General in reforming the United
Nations system. We encourage robust and constructive
reforms in the context of the growing budgetary
constraints faced by the United Nations in recent years.
A lean, effective and responsive United Nations is
imperative so that it can better deliver on its mandate.
We also call for the Security Council to be reformed in
order to reflect today’s geopolitical realities.