My delegation and I warmly
congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election to the
high office of President of the General Assembly. I salute
you as a distinguished son of our Caribbean community
and I pledge Guyana’s unwavering support towards
the successful execution of your important duties. I
would also like to pay tribute to your predecessor, His
Excellency Mr. Vuk Jeremi., for his valuable service to
the Organization. And I take this occasion to reiterate
our thanks to the Secretary-General, His Excellency
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his leadership and dedication to
the United Nations.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express
our solidarity with and deepest condolences to the
Government and people of Kenya in the wake of the
recent terrorist attacks there, which resulted in the loss
of life and great pain to the people of that nation.
Barely 800 days remain until the deadline for the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is reached
and a post-2015 development agenda launched. It is
appropriate, therefore, that the Assembly has been
invited to focus its attention on the theme of “The post-
2015 development agenda: setting the stage”. A review
of our experience to date will reveal that the world as
a whole has witnessed substantial progress towards the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
However, prospects vary significantly within and across
countries and regions, and a large number of countries
are likely to come short in achieving the Goals.
Health and education challenges threaten the
sustainability of hard-earned socioeconomic gains.
Today, still more than 1 billion people live in extreme
poverty and one in eight persons on the planet — among
them 200 million children — suffer from chronic
undernourishment. In addition, we still have 57 million
children who are out of school. This needs to be
urgently corrected. We must also pay special attention
to the quality of education in order to develop a
generation of global citizens who are capable of rising
to the challenges of the future. To this end, Guyana
supports the Secretary-General’s Global Education
First Initiative as an instrument for the development
of meaningful solutions to the challenges regarding
access to and quality of education.
If we are to make this world a better place for
everyone, we must also address the issue of inequality.
Income distribution continues to be skewed in favour
of the rich nations and rich persons within nations.
This gap has grown dangerously wide. Needless to say,
inequality leads to great discontent and social unrest.
At the heart of many of the conflicts we see today is
the widening gap between the haves and have-nots.
Sometimes this is not readily visible, as the fight
for social and economic justice is often clouded by
inter-ethnic, interreligious and other types of conflicts.
To defend the gains that we have made and to
expand further, it is necessary for the United Nations
to focus on narrowing the gaps in income, access to
social services, infrastructure, land distribution and
other critical areas. If there is one lesson to be drawn
from efforts to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals, it is that addressing inequality is crucial to the
achievement of sustainable development objectives. The
approach adumbrated in the resolution on a new global
human order (resolution 65/120) remains relevant in the
struggle to eradicate poverty and inequality and indeed
the post-2015 development agenda.
In setting the stage for a post-2015 agenda, we
must build on and expand the gains made. To this end,
we must create an international environment that will
facilitate the achievement of the goals that we will set
for the future. Central to our efforts must be the focus
on world peace. Peace and development are inseparable.
Peace will be realized only if international law and
the rights of nations and their sovereignty are always
respected and upheld.
It is in this regard that I wish to view the situation
in the Middle East. At the moment, Syria is at the
centre of our collective concern. The war in that sister
nation has taken thousands of innocent lives. It is an
illusion to believe that military intervention will bring
peace to that country. What is badly needed is political
dialogue among the Syrian parties. The international
community also has an important role to play. We
welcome the agreement between Russia and the United
States that will facilitate the destruction of chemical
weapons held in Syria. We call on all countries that
possess such weapons to do the same. We hope too, that
terrorist forces operating in Syria will withdraw. After
all, they cannot be terrorists when they were fighting
in Afghanistan and Iraq, but freedom fighters when
fighting the Syrian Government. A terrorist is simply
a terrorist.
In the same way, let me say that a blow was struck
against democracy when the coup took place in Egypt.
However, the major world Powers, instead of condemning
the use of such means to change Governments, chose
to remain silent. This gave tacit support to the coup,
which has led to violations of human rights and loss
of innocent lives, and may lead to more protests and
possibly violence and death. Nevertheless, it is our
fervent hope that the people of that great brotherly
country and their leaders, regardless of their political
persuasion, will find a peaceful way out of the present
difficulties.
Moreover, peace in the Middle East will not be
realized until we have a just solution to the Palestinian
tragedy. The Palestinian people have the right to their
own country. We support them in their quest for the
right to live in peace and in an independent, viable
Palestinian State.
Turning to our own region, allow me to underscore
that the blockade against our sister Caribbean country
Cuba has caused serious damage to that country’s
economy and continues to be a major obstacle to
development. We join the call for a lifting of the
blockade and the removal of the burden that it places on
the Cuban people.
The adoption in April of the landmark Arms Trade
Treaty opens the door to effective regulation of the
international trade in conventional arms. For us in
the Caribbean, the Treaty bears relevance not only to
the safety and security of our citizens and to the fight
against transnational crime, but also, in an important
way, to our overall pursuit of sustainable development.
The funnelling of guns into our societies is a menace
that must be curbed in order to preserve our young
people and our future. As one of the first countries to
ratify the Treaty, Guyana urges all States to work to
assure its early entry into force.
While peace is vital to development, let me hasten
to add that socioeconomic progress coupled with
democracy is crucial to the preservation of peace.
Central to these principles are our people. They remain
the most important factor for development. That is
why my country has been increasingly investing in
the development of our people. An examination of our
national budget will reveal that some 30 per cent of our
expenditure goes to the social sector. As a result, we
have managed to achieve several of the Millennium
Development Goals well before the time envisaged.
We have achieved universal primary education and are
close to achieving universal secondary education.
We have also slashed poverty by more than half.
Moreover, according to the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, we are one of the
few countries in the world that have not only reduced
poverty but also improved nutrition. The eradication of
poverty and the promotion of sustainable development
must become a key principle and objective of global
economic governance and a guidepost for the action of
international financial and trade institutions.
While I speak of these achievements, I would
be remiss if I did not point out the grave challenges
confronting us even as we seek to build on the
foundations that have already been laid. We in the
Caribbean have experienced major setbacks due to the
international economic and financial crises that started
in North America and Europe. While it appears that
those two regions are emerging from the crises, the
effects continue to be devastating in the Caribbean.
Even as we continue to grapple with the effects of the
financial crisis, we are now faced with the graduation
and differentiation imposed by some of our international
partners.
We are told that as middle-income countries,
measured by per capita gross domestic product (GDP),
we are no longer entitled to concessionary financing.
This is a recipe for reversing the gains made over the
years of hard work and sacrifice. We call for a rethink
of that position and urge that greater consideration
be given to the special vulnerabilities of our region,
where a country can see its entire GDP wiped out by
a single hurricane or, as in our country in 2005, when
60 per cent of its GDP was wiped out because of floods.
Clearly what we need is increased cooperation with the
international community and our development partners,
and not less.
Another serious challenge to sustainable
development is the impact of climate change. This is
even more the case for small island developing States,
which are represented in the Assembly. Some of them
face an imminent passage to oblivion. Climate change is
not of our making but, sadly, as small island developing
States and low-lying coastal States, we remain the
victims of its most adverse impacts. Unfortunately,
instead of a reduction in the emissions of greenhouse
gases, there has been a rise of nearly 50 per cent. This
marked failure to take decisive action poses a threat to
all humankind. It is tragic that while we all know that
dangers that lurk due to global warming and climate
change, we seem incapable of stopping ourselves.
We therefore welcome the initiative of the Secretary-
General to convene a summit on climate change, and
hope that it will result in a strong political consensus
for addressing this paramount challenge of our time.
We welcome the observance of 2014 as the
International Year of Small Island Developing States,
and call on the international community to seize the
chance to take a serious approach to meaningfully
assist such States, in particular in relation to building
resilience and disaster risk management. To that end,
a special fund must be established and made easily
accessible.
In setting the stage for the post-2015 development
agenda, we believe that we should intensify efforts
to eradicate poverty. The United Nations must not
allow that objective to be lost among the many other
demands that exist. The United Nations also has a role
to play in ensuring that the poorer, smaller developing
countries are not always put at a disadvantage at the
level of international economic discourse and action.
It is critical that this body pursue and encourage
multilateral approaches to international and global
problems. Experience has shown that even though
the multilateral approach is often slow, it is the only
approach that can lead to lasting peace, democracy and
justice in our world.