First
of all, let me join other delegations in offering
congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss on
his election to the post of President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. With your guidance,
Sir, my delegation is confident that we can discuss, in
the spirit of cooperation, the different global challenges
confronting us in order to further the common good of
humankind.
We are meeting at a time when the world is going
through some mixed developments. While, on some
parts of the globe, countries are experiencing relative
peace, in other parts they are embroiled in armed
conflict. While some countries are enjoying economic
growth and budget surpluses, others are experiencing
economic stagnation or contraction.
The focus at this session of the General Assembly
on reviewing the progress on the implementation of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is most
appropriate. The achievement of the eight cross-cutting
Goals we set for ourselves would improve the quality
of life of all of our peoples. Just last week, we
concluded a stocktaking of the progress in the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
While the results on the scorecard are mixed, the
commitment of Member States to continuing to
implement measures to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals by 2015 is unequivocal.
Papua New Guinea, like many developing
countries, has had measured success. As many noted
last week, the global economic crisis has had an
adverse bearing on the implementation of the MDGs. I
would add, however, that had the resources promised in
2000 for implementing the MDGs been made available,
the assessment sheet for many developing countries
would have looked more positive. Papua New Guinea
applauds the commitment of $40 billion for poverty
alleviation, especially to improve the health of children
and women. It is our hope that this will be a new
resource envelope and not repackaged old
commitments.
We have noted the calls for countries to take
greater ownership of the implementation of the eight
Millennium Development Goals. Papua New Guinea
has accepted these challenges. We will continue to do
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all we can to meet the obligations we assumed when
we joined others in 2000 to adopt the Millennium
Declaration (resolution 55/2).
The Permanent Representative of Papua New
Guinea to the United Nations outlined in detail last
week our country’s efforts to achieve the MDGs by
2015. Allow me to reiterate some of the main actions
we are taking. Papua New Guinea has adapted and
localized the MDGs by establishing 15 targets and 67
indicators within our medium-term development
strategy for the period 2005 to 2010. We have
calibrated our 2011-2015 medium-term development
plan and designed our development strategic plan to
achieve the MDGs. In addition, we have drafted our
2050 Vision Statement to be consistent with the
Millennium Development Goals.
Our official development assistance programmes
with our donor partners are being gradually realigned
to enable Papua New Guinea to eventually meet its
MDG targets. On a wider scale, we urge donor partners
to abide by the principles of the Paris Declaration on
Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action. In
the Pacific, we have adopted the Cairns Compact to
better coordinate development assistance and to ensure
effective delivery. Developed countries also need to
raise their official development assistance to 0.7 per
cent of their gross national income, in line with their
commitments.
In line with our commitment towards MDG 3, my
Government has submitted proposed legislation to the
Papua New Guinea legislature to reserve 22 seats for
women in the national Parliament. With respect to
MDG 2, we have introduced a universal primary
education policy and aim to achieve free primary-level
education for all of our children by 2015.
Papua New Guinea is under no illusion that the
achievement of the MDGs is a unilateral undertaking.
This is a joint undertaking between developed and
developing countries, just as it is a cooperative effort
between the Government and civil society
organizations. It is for this reason that my country is
disappointed that MDG 8 on a global partnership for
development appears to attract little serious interest
from the developed countries. We note that the real
value of aid has remained constant and that the Doha
Development Round remains an unfinished affair.
Also of concern to us is the inability of many
developing countries to enjoy equitable treatment from
the Bretton Woods institutions. Our efforts to reduce
deforestation in tropical rain forest countries, which I
will touch on later, have met with the same apathetic
response. Despite the best of efforts within the World
Trade Organization and Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum processes, the international trading
environment continues to be characterized by
inequalities. Often less visibly but still harmfully,
global trade continues to be encumbered by trade
protectionist measures.
In the area of international peace and security, the
world, unfortunately, is no safer today than it was when
the United Nations was established. War continues to
be waged in Afghanistan. Iraq continues to suffer from
regular suicide bombings. The Korean peninsula
continues to be a flashpoint in the Asia region, and the
Middle East continues to be a hotbed of tension.
Likewise, regional conflicts and ethnic tensions
continue to erupt in many parts of Africa, Latin
America and Eastern Europe. The international
community needs to do more to address these conflicts,
especially the Afghanistan and Iraq issues. The fragile
peace and global security environment is further
exemplified by the continued presence of Blue Helmets
in many parts of world.
Papua New Guinea commends the efforts of
United Nations peacekeeping forces, many of which
have to operate in very trying circumstances. We wish
to thank the troop-contributing countries for bearing
this onerous responsibility on all our behalves. For our
part, I am pleased to announce that my Government
has enacted the International Obligations Bill to
provide the legal framework for Papua New Guinea’s
participation in United Nations peacekeeping
operations.
Acts of terrorism continue and the threat of
another terror attack on a scale similar to that of 9/11
remains real. The international community must
continue to strengthen its cooperation to address this
scourge.
Nuclear weapons continue to cause anxiety in our
security considerations. While some may argue that
nuclear weapons are the reason why the world has not
fought another world war, my Government believes
that these weapons of mass destruction are unnecessary
and need to be eliminated. As part of that process, we
support efforts to strengthen the mechanisms aimed at
the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
3 10-55128
As for other countries of the Pacific region,
climate change is of great concern to Papua New
Guinea. We need no scientist to tell us of the negative
impact of climate change. We live it and we suffer
from it. Many of our islands, such as the Carterets, and
coastal habitats like my own home area of the Murik
Lakes are being gradually submerged by rising sea
levels. The result is that people living in these areas are
becoming environmental refugees. Lowland diseases
such as malaria are now occurring in the highlands of
Papua New Guinea. Unusual weather patterns, such as
increased incidences of cyclones, frequent heavy
flooding and mudslides, are causing havoc in our
economies and exacting untold suffering on our people.
All these attendant climate change challenges are
taxing the budgetary resources of our countries and
undermining our development plans. The international
community has rightly recognized the insidious effects
of climate change and agreed to take concerted action
under the ambit of the Kyoto Protocol, the Bali Road
Map and the Copenhagen Accord to address the issue.
Papua New Guinea urges our developed partners
to shoulder greater responsibility for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and for assisting developing
countries, particularly small island States, to adapt to
climate change and its effects.
Resources for adaptation and mitigation
measures, particularly those committed in Copenhagen,
must be made more readily available to developing
countries. We note the initiative announced by Japan
last week during the MDG review and look forward to
further details of what it constitutes. We also applaud
the financial commitments and policy initiatives that
China announced to assist developing countries to
implement the Millennium Development Goals. As for Papua New Guinea, with our colleagues
from the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, we have
committed ourselves to a programme of reducing
emissions from deforestation and forest degradation,
more commonly known as REDD-plus. As this is the
International Year of Biodiversity, let me say that the
REDD-plus initiative will assure the protection of
important biodiversity.
In addition, at the national level Papua New
Guinea has adopted an action plan for climate-
compatible development and established the Office of
Climate Change and Development explicitly to oversee
our actions on climate change issues. As part of our
strategy to reduce our carbon footprint, we are now
aggressively seeking to develop more hydropower and
geothermal sources for our energy requirements. We
have also embarked on a major commercialization
exercise of our gas reserves to deliver a cleaner energy
alternative to the world.
Many of us here have recognized the need to
reform the United Nations in order to take account of
the changed circumstances under which it operates, as
well as the new and emerging challenges that it must
address. We note and commend the Secretary-General
for the ongoing administrative and institutional reforms
he is undertaking to improve the efficiency of the
United Nations in better serving Member States. We
urge all stakeholders in the Security Council reform
agenda to demonstrate courage and leadership so that
the composition and workings of the Council can be
reformed in ways that are equitable and reflect the
current geopolitical and economic realities.
Papua New Guinea has previously stated at this
Assembly that we believe that the expansion of the
membership of the Security Council is logical to allow
for representation from certain developed and
developing countries. In that regard, I wish to reaffirm
Papua New Guinea’s support for Germany and Japan to
be included as permanent members in an expanded
Security Council.
Finally, the inequities that exist in the global
trading system today are daunting, but they can be
resolved. With genuine partnership, we can and shall
overcome them. The world may not be any safer today
than it was when the United Nations was established
some 65 years ago, but having been able to avert
another world war is ample testimony that the
international community has the political will to
address tensions and discord in a measured way. The
United Nations and the international legal architecture
that it has achieved, developed and promoted have
played a significant role in that regard, thus
underscoring the continuing relevance of this body.