The
Republic of Vanuatu is honoured to participate in
this debate under your presidency, Sir, and we wish
to associate ourselves with all other delegations in
congratulating you and the members of your Bureau
on your election to lead us through this sixty-eighth
session of the General Assembly.
On Syria, we have seen internal conflicts transformed
into international disputes that require solutions from
this body. During this session, there has been intensive
debate on the protracted conflict affecting the Syrian
people and undermining regional and international
peace. We join many other peace-loving nations to call
for an end to the conflict and for the United Nations to
do more strongly to enforce the international ban on the
use of chemical weapons. We also urge the United States
of America and the Russian Federation to take a strong
leading role in the issue of Syria and in addressing the
chemical-weapons issue there.
We are concerned at the fact that that such conflicts
have often diverted the international focus from
addressing much more important issues, such as our
common aspirations for the Millennium Development
Goals. It is unfair that countries resorting to such
illegitimate acts can trigger wars that cost a great deal
of money, whereas the rest of the peace-loving countries
and their peoples suffer the consequences, as the monies
spent could be diverted to better and effective use.
It is here, from this rostrum, that the leaders of our
nations have spoken out freely, from their hearts, in an
endeavour to find common solutions so as to inspire the
community of nations committed to international peace
and security. Our main objectives are to take collective
decisions so as to address a spectrum of international
issues, some of which require urgent action, such as the
issue of climate change. It is here that we have called
for the recognition of the rights of women, children and
persons with disabilities who are caught up in conflicts
and violence. It is here that we have called for help for
those who have been discriminated against because of
their colour, their religion or their political convictions.
For the Republic of Vanuatu, this rostrum is the
only international platform from which, year after year
since 1981, we have spoken out against colonialism
and neo-imperialism in all its forms. Today once
again, I speak on behalf of the entire population of our
archipelago to be the voice of those who still live in
colonized territories.
We know that decolonization is still incomplete.
However, we have seen the Special Political and
Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) take
more and more positive steps during its 2013 sessions,
recognizing the inalienable right of French Polynesia
to self-determination. We also applaud the work of the
Committee in continuing discussions and dialogue on
the question of New Caledonia.
Allow me at this juncture to thank the Government of
France for its cooperation in moving the decolonization
process forward. It is important to maintain this
dialogue with the specific goal of helping the Kanak
people to attain their independence. With the greatest
possible respect, I encourage all parties to ensure that
the process of achieving freedom remains on track. We
in the Melanesian Spearhead Group are appreciative of
the work of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation
Front as chair of the Group.
The Republic of Vanuatu has just emerged from
colonialism, having achieved its political independence
from the Powers of the British-French condominium
33 years ago. Based on our struggle for independence,
we share the journey and the litany of heartaches and
dreams of many of our brothers and sisters whose rights
to political and civil freedom are still held back by the
tentacles of imperialism and colonialism.
I would like to reiterate today our appeal launched
last year from this rostrum that the Secretariat should
always remain impartial and avoid any selective
implementation of General Assembly and Security
Council resolutions on the rights of all people who
desire to be free from colonialism or any form of
imperialism.
We can debate issues of terrorism, financial and
economic crises and climate change and reach some
level of understanding of the seriousness of those
challenges and the measures that must be taken to
address them. We can talk of good governance and the
rule of law and respect for human rights. But when it
comes to the issue of the rights of the people of West
Papua, our voices fall silent, even from this rostrum.
I wish to congratulate the Secretary-General,
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who, when he visited Asia in
2012, emphasized that the United Nations would do
everything possible to ensure that human rights are
respected in West Papua, saying
“whether you are an independent State or a non-self-
governing territory or whatever, [that] human right
is inalienable and a fundamental principle of the
United Nations”.
Now, as Members of the United Nations, we must
call for those words to be translated into action.
My Government calls upon the United Nations to
appoint a special representative to investigate alleged
human rights violations in West Papua and its political
status in the light of the controversies surrounding the
administration established in the 1960s, the United
Nations Temporary Executive Authority. Ever since the
controversial Act of Free Choice, the West Papuans have
always been consistently denied any sort of recognition
by the United Nations. It is clear from many historical
records that the Melanesian people of West Papua were
the scapegoats of Cold War politics and were sacrificed
to gratify the appetite for the natural resources that the
country possesses. Today, they are still victims of the
ignorance of the United Nations.
If the United Nations representative at the time,
Mr. Fernando Ortiz-Sanz, described the West Papuan
issue as a cancer growing on the side of the United
Nations and that it was his job to remove it, it is very
clear today from what we have observed that that cancer
has never been removed, but merely concealed. One day
it will have to be treated. We must not be afraid. The
United Nations has made mistakes in the past. We must
admit our mistakes and see that we are the stronger for
that, because when we are weak, admit our mistakes
and take corrective action, we become stronger and
more alive.
As Members of the United Nations, we all subscribe
to the principles of democracy, good governance, human
rights, accountability and the rule of law enshrined in
the United Nations Charter. In this age of technology,
when nothing can escape the attention of civil society
and Governments, I ask how then can we ignore the
hundreds of thousands of West Papuans who have been
brutally beaten and murdered?
The people of West Papua are looking to the United
Nations as a beacon of hope. We are now deliberating
on the issue of Syria. In that same spirit, I would ask
that my fellow leaders express support for West Papua.
It is time for the United Nations to move beyond its
limits and take action to rectify the errors of the past.
Since our independence 33 years ago, the indigenous
peoples of my country have remained concerned that a
part of our maritime and cultural jurisdiction, including
the islands of Umaepnune and Leka, situated south of
Vanuatu, are still occupied by France. Thus, the people
of our country are denied the right to the exercise of
full political freedom and their inherent cultural rights.
The indigenous peoples of the southern province of
our country cannot, therefore, fulfil their obligations
to protect their culture and traditions that bind them
to the sovereign land that has been theirs since time
immemorial.
Those two islands are of paramount importance,
because they form the basis for the establishment of
our unique cultural framework, which brings together
our cultural island group known as the Tafea Islands.
It is that cultural framework that governed us and
defined our identity and our way of life long before
administrative colonial Powers began to explore and
govern our shores.
Unfortunately, today, our indigenous peoples
continue to be denied access to those sacred and
cultural islands. My Government therefore calls on
the community of nations meeting in the Assembly
to uphold the principles of the respect of the rights of
our indigenous peoples and their way of life. Further,
we call upon the French Government to allow our
indigenous people of Tafea to have access to the land
of their forefathers, the islands Umaenupne and Leka in
the south of the Republic of Vanuatu.
The call by the United Nations to review the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to
strategize a post-2015 development agenda compels
us to rethink our global partnership structures and
our national priorities in order to better achieve our
goals in the period after 2015. My country has made
some progress in achieving some of the MDG targets.
However, the appropriate conditions for economic
growth and development must be created. An integrated
and balanced approach is required to deal adequately
with the social, economic and environmental
dimensions.
To that end, my Government has placed emphasis on
climate change, renewable energy and the sustainable
use of the environment. We have now created a separate
Ministry focusing on adaptation to climate change,
energy and the environment so that the Government
can address issues in that area. We would therefore
welcome opportunities for unconditional partnerships
in order to better address those issues.
It is clear that there has been much debate on the
issue of climate change. However, the level to which
final pledges have been met has been unsatisfactory,
considering the fast pace at which climate change is
having an impact on small island developing States. We
call for more urgent action and decisions on that front.
While Vanuatu supports the shift in the development
paradigm, we also recognize that the new development
agenda might harbour its own shortcomings and must
therefore be given careful consideration when it comes
to its final design. It is evident that the new approach
must take heed of, first, the complexity that still exists
within international aid programmes for development,
coupled with the risk of unpredictable financial crises
that can affect the delivery of aid; secondly, the
challenges faced by countries at present in attaining
the MDGs; thirdly, the ambiguities and difficulties
involved in setting the priority of goals within an
expanded list of priorities; fourthly, the imminent
graduation of my country from least developed country
status and the benefits accompanying that change; and
fifthly, the risk of a reduced level of real aid spending
per capita affected partly by a failure to increase global
aid for development.
Aware of those issues, Vanuatu has taken measures,
partly on its own and with the assistance of its partners,
to ensure greater resilience to its own vulnerabilities.
Our plan involves taking decisions that lead to quantum
leaps in the development of our country’s infrastructure
in which ports, roads and airports will be built and
upgraded to facilitate, inter alia, the large-scale
integration of the rural population into the national
economy.
I would like to thank the Governments of China,
Australia and New Zealand and the Asian Development
Bank for their assistance, as well as the Government
of the United States for its enormous investment in
the two major national highways in Vanuatu. We see
that as an investment in the future of my country,
where 60 per cent of the population is aged 25 years or
under, whereby most of the rural population will gain
greater access to markets and economic opportunities
throughout the archipelago’s islands.
All our development initiatives must be inclusive
and not ignore the poor and the marginalized. My
country has taken the measures necessary to ensure
gender equality and the empowerment of women. The
Government’s measures include legislation amending
laws on sexual discrimination, addressing issues of
domestic violence and the submission of universal
periodic reports to ensure compliance with the reporting
framework of the Human Rights Council.
In conclusion, I wish to thank you once again,
Mr. President, for giving me the opportunity to express
my views in this forum. We have spoken a great deal
about many things, and we now must translate our
words into action. Long live our aspirations for a better
and more secure world for everyone!