I too offer
you, Sir, my warmest congratulations upon your
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
this our sixty-fifth session. Let me assure you, as
always, of the cooperation and support of the Tongan
delegation. I also express my gratitude to your
predecessor His Excellency Mr. Ali Treki for his
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recently concluded term as President at our sixty-fourth
session.
I wish to also thank the tireless Secretary-
General, Ban Ki-moon, for his resolute leadership of
the Organization during these times of unprecedented
and challenging global events. We also acknowledge
the enduring work of the Organization’s Secretariat and
its agencies, and in particular those who have made the
ultimate sacrifice in the furtherance of that work.
A decade on, the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) continue to reflect our firm global resolve to
ensure a durably improved quality of life for all of our
peoples — a global pursuit of happiness, if you will. It
is no surprise, then, that the MDGs are now a core
component of our national development planning.
Tonga has recently produced its second national
MDG report, which highlights positive results across
the eight Goals. With regard to MDG 1, on the
eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the report
suggests that, while the international community
acknowledges that Tonga does not suffer from extreme
poverty or hunger, there are some households that do
suffer hardship, and their needs are being addressed.
With regard to Goal 2, the net enrolment ratio in
primary education for 2008 was 93 per cent, indicating
that Tonga has almost achieved universal basic
education. Goal 6, as it relates to halting and reversing
the incidence of non-communicable diseases by 2015,
and Goal 5, as it relates to universal access to
reproductive health, both remain challenges.
Yet despite the continuing uncertain global
economic and financial climate, Tonga remains
committed, in the five years remaining until 2015, and
beyond, to making further strides towards achieving
the MDGs. We look forward to completing one such
stride on MDG 6 next year, in 2011, with the timely
convening of a high-level meeting of the General
Assembly on the prevention and control of
non-communicable diseases.
The MDGs, in our view, as much as marking the
advent of the twenty-first century, reflect our
aspirational goals for this millennium beyond 2015.
Much of any future progress for Tonga will be
contingent on our determination and ability to rely on
our own domestic efforts, complemented by the actions
of our development partners and the international
community.
At the annual meeting of the Pacific Islands
Forum leaders held in Port Vila last month, leaders
adopted the Port Vila Declaration on Accelerating
Progress on the Achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals, wherein they drew linkages
between the attainment of the MDGs and the state of
progress in the 19 focal areas of the Mauritius Strategy
for Implementation.
If the landmark Barbados Programme of Action
placed small island developing States (SIDS) firmly on
the global agenda, then the linkages between the
MDGs and the Mauritius Strategy +5 Review (MSI+5)
serve as an accurate compass for charting the direction
that small island developing States, their development
partners and the international community need to take
to ensure progress. We join others in thanking the good
Ambassadors of Luxembourg and Singapore for
brokering the consensus outcome of the MSI+5.
Like others, Tonga calls for the creation of a
formal SIDS category within the United Nations
system that not only improves the internal linkages and
infrastructure within the system but ultimately
improves its ability to better relate to and respond to
the needs of SIDS. Without some measure of
adjustments to the manner in which the United Nations
system addresses SIDS and SIDS issues, progress will
remain stilted.
Climate change properly continues to dominate
the majority of statements we have heard this week and
last. In the end our collective ability as States could not
adequately meet the burden of global expectations in
Copenhagen, and many States like Tonga were left to
look for what little positive outcome the Copenhagen
Accord represents. Therein lies the potential for all of
us to reach beyond our narrow national and regional
interests in Cancún and embrace our collective
responsibility and duty to each other as nation-States,
particularly to those States that are most vulnerable,
least responsible for this situation and least able to
address the capricious whims of climate change.
In taking forward the work of the Pacific SIDS on
the consensus resolution entitled “Climate change and
its possible security implications” (resolution 63/281),
we would join others in strongly encouraging current
and prospective members of the Security Council to
seize the moral imperative and follow the momentum
by taking positive and proactive action on the
resolution. As the final arbiter of international peace
7 10-55408
and security, the Council must ensure it positions itself
in an active leadership role on this issue.
Tonga continues to follow the course of the
ongoing exchanges among our membership on the
reform of the Security Council and the limited progress
that has been made to date. An organization such as
ours that wishes to retain its broad relevance and
global primacy in this day and age has to be open and
willing to seriously reconsider those elements that give
it a unique and distinctive quality. In our view, the
Security Council and its composition constitute one of
those elements.
We maintain our support for Council reform. It is
already somewhat self-evident that there should be an
expansion in both categories of membership,
permanent and non-permanent, with certain States —
Japan, Germany, Brazil and India — being worthy of
permanent membership on an enhanced Council. The
permanent membership category must also take
favourable account of seats for Africa.
Tonga remains supportive of the substantive
efforts for direct talks by President Obama and his
Administration, the Quartet and regional neighbours to
find a comprehensive, just and enduring peace in the
Middle East. Despite the pursuit of the seemingly
elusive goal of two States living side by side within
secure borders and in lasting peace and genuine
security, including a viable Palestinian State that can
realize the true potential of its people, we encourage all
parties to continue this fresh round of dialogue with a
renewed sense of purpose and conviction.
Tonga was one of the 13 Pacific SIDS that
participated in an historic summit between Pacific
leaders and the League of Arab States earlier this year
in Abu Dhabi in order to share perspectives on the
current and future challenges faced by our respective
regions. That historic summit and its outcome represent
the ever-expanding development of Tonga’s foreign
policy interests to include countries and regions that
had hitherto not been considered. That development
comes firmly on the heels of our active engagement
with the International Renewable Energy Agency and
our continuing interest in the potential of renewable
energy and the first-time visit to Tonga and a number
of other Pacific SIDS by His Highness Sheikh
Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to develop relations
with our region. In that regard, we acknowledge with
appreciation the Partnership in the Pacific Programme
and its potential to meet the development aspirations of
the peoples of the Pacific.
Earlier this year, Tonga, in compliance with its
obligations under the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea, formally presented its partial
submission to the Commission on the Outer Limits of
the Continental Shelf. One issue of concern that arose
as a result of our formal presentation to the
Commission is the likely lengthy time frame for
consideration of submissions such as Tonga’s. We
encourage our fellow States parties to the Convention
to thoughtfully consider the adjustments necessary for
the Commission to fulfil its mandate with respect to all
States parties in a reasonably timely manner.
Tonga welcomes the successful conclusion of the
2010 review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons, particularly, the continuing
acknowledgement of the concerns of SIDS over the
safe transport of radioactive materials by sea and the
announcement by the United States of its intention to
pursue ratification of the Protocols to the Treaty of
Rarotonga.
When my Prime Minister addressed this body last
year, it marked the tenth anniversary of Tonga’s
admission as a State Member of the United Nations.
Our admission was culmination of a journey towards
statehood that began with tentative steps 135 years ago,
in 1875, with the granting of Tonga’s Constitution by
King George I.
And after 135 years, we realize that our domestic
system of governance needs to be strengthened in ways
that align itself more readily with the strong and
vibrant systems of democratic governance prevalent
today. And so, simultaneous with my delivery of these
remarks here today is the historic closure of the current
session of Tonga’s Legislative Assembly, the last under
the existing system of governance. Elections under the
new system are scheduled to take place later this year,
on 25 November. So while the modalities for
improving democratic representation have been
enhanced, the fundamental values and freedoms
guaranteed in the Constitution continue to protect and
support all Tongans.
As any small island developing State appreciates,
a presence here in New York represents a significant
sacrifice of already scarce resources, but it is made in
the knowledge that despite our size, our remoteness
and our geographical isolation we are not immune to
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the global challenges that beset us all. Therefore we
have a responsibility to our Government and our
people to be more than mere bystanders in the work of
our Organization.
As such, Tonga reaffirms the rights and
responsibilities bestowed upon it by the United Nations
Charter, and we pledge in our own way to continue to
participate actively and constructively to give an
enduring Tongan voice to the global issues of concern
to us all. And while many subgroupings and variations
of States such as the Group of 20 or the Group of Eight
may convene from time to time for a particular purpose
or timely nuance, whether it be reforming the
international financial governance institutions or
reinvigorating international environmental governance,
the pivotal role of the United Nations as a viable
institution remains constant against an ever-changing
backdrop.
Finally, any other 65-year-old might be
contemplating retirement, but our Organization’s
strength rests as much in the principles of the Charter
as it does in the people it must continue to inspire and
remain relevant to, especially our young people.
During this, the International Year of Youth, the United
Nations and all of us must ensure a legacy worth
passing on to the next generation.