On behalf of the
Government and the people of the Republic of
Suriname, I take this opportunity to congratulate
Mr. Joseph Deiss on his election to preside over this
sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly. I am
pleased to see Switzerland, one of the newest members
of the Organization, occupying this high office,
especially since his country has a long-standing and
constructive record regarding international neutrality
and respect for international order. I am convinced that
his diplomatic experience, as well as his well-known
in-depth knowledge of current international issues, will
enable him to successfully discharge the important
responsibilities of his office. As one of the Vice-Chairs,
Suriname pledges its full support for his work agenda
for this session.
I wish to express our appreciation to Mr. Ali
Abdussalam Treki for his unwavering efforts in
steering the Assembly’s work at its sixty-fourth
session.
I also pay tribute to the Secretary-General,
Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, for his leadership and guidance of
this Organization throughout the past years of crisis
and turbulence.
It is a great honour for me today to address the
Assembly, as a leader who recently received a mandate
from the Surinamese people to realize sustainable
economic and social development through our own
efforts and with the support of all friendly nations.
Twenty-seven years ago I had the honour to
address the Assembly. I then stated:
“by the same token, we are dismayed by the fact
that, in spite of the presence of the Organization
on the international scene for almost four
decades, its lofty goal of creating an international
order based on respect for international law and
the peaceful settlement of disputes seems today to
be as elusive as ever”. (A/38/PV.28)
Today we can conclude that things have not
fundamentally changed.
The challenge we face is that of striking a proper
balance between full recognition of the sovereignty of
the individual Member States of the United Nations
and the apparent need for global governance regarding
the global issues that endanger the very survival of our
planet and its inhabitants. We are not there yet. It has
become obvious to Suriname that this balance can be
achieved only when participants in the international
arena refrain from using military force and/or
economic coercion. We have even seen States abuse
their own legal system to force their political will on
another nation.
Restricting ourselves to the Caribbean region, the
Republic of Suriname is deeply concerned about the
persistence of the imposition for almost half a century
of the economic, commercial and financial embargo
imposed against Cuba with the aim of changing
developments of that nation’s political, economic and
social road map. Those coercive measures cause
unnecessary hardship and have severe effects on the
rightful development and well-being of the Cuban
people. Suriname therefore joins Member States which
since 1992 have consistently been calling in vain for
the rejection of the unilaterally imposed embargo
against Cuba. As is the case on the national level, the
international community will prosper only when all
values protected by the rule of law are distributed
equally, notwithstanding the asymmetry that
characterizes international relations.
13 10-55103
My country finds itself at a crossroads in its
history. The electorate gave its leaders a mission to
create a society in which everyone participates and
everyone shares in what the country has to offer,
meeting their basic material means, and in which
solidarity prevails. The aim is the creation of a just
society in which people can develop themselves to
their highest potential and become international role
models and leaders in areas in which our society
excels. No one will be left behind in this task of
nation-building. My Government pledges not to waste,
but to protect, our national inheritance and assets for
future generations and the world. Moreover, we will
seize every opportunity to generate greater national
wealth.
We will devote special attention to groups who in
the past have had limited scope for development. In
this regard, I refer to our indigenous peoples and our
countrymen living in tribal communities. Our intention
is to gradually break the cycle of their isolation and
considerably improve their quality of life.
When we look at the many national challenges
facing us, it is clear that our task will not be easy. In
almost all sectors of the economy and society we have
suffered enormous neglect, and there has been a
decline, stagnation and reversal of national growth. As
a result, today many segments of our society have
become desperate and hopeless. We therefore need a
bold new visionary approach to give our people what
they justly deserve as co-owners of a nation endowed
and blessed with so many riches.
However, we need to overcome two huge
challenges that since decolonization have haunted and
blighted our national destiny as a people.
First, we must dismantle any lingering remnants
of the colonial police State which blocks and obstructs
the establishment of a free, democratic, constitutional
State based on the pillars of an independent judiciary, a
Government free of corruption, a legislature that acts
in the interests of the people, and a free and
independent press committed to the honest
dissemination of information.
Another major challenge that we face is the
transformation of our society from an economy which
is merely a source of profit for foreign interest groups
into one that is based and built on a healthy
interdependence. Suriname needs a new national
economic approach created by Surinamers and for
Surinamers.
We realize that we are part of the global
community, which as a result of technology is
gradually turning into a global village, fostering
intensive relations in both a negative and a positive
sense. Despite all the resources and knowledge at our
disposal, we are still faced with what seems an
insurmountable challenge: to rid the world of extreme
poverty, to ensure adequate education for our children,
to stem the tide of infectious and other diseases, or to
take responsible decisions on environmental
sustainability. We have to recognize that with today’s
interdependence many challenges transcend national
borders and that the ability of countries, in particular
developing countries, to make progress on many of the
international development goals does not merely
depend on domestic policy choices. An international
enabling environment in this regard is of increased
significance.
Climate change is a global threat that will affect
developing countries in a most devastating way.
Suriname, with its low-lying coast, belongs to the top
10 countries which will be seriously affected by sea-
level rise. This is ironic, because we are not culpable
for the excessive levels of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, but we are about to bear a heavy part of
the brunt.
According to the United Nations Environment
Programme, global biodiversity loss is high, so high
that 2010 has been declared the International Year of
Biodiversity by the United Nations in order to attract
attention to this global problem. In this respect,
Suriname could serve as an example for the world, as
its laws to save forest and biodiversity date from the
middle of the past century. We are proud to state here
today that Suriname is rightly called the greenest
country on Earth for its 90 per cent forest cover.
That having been said, it is ironic that a country
such as Suriname, with such a good environmental
track record, is overlooked and that the world’s efforts
are concentrated on countries that are using their
resources unsustainably, thereby sending the wrong
message globally. We believe that we should tackle this
problem head on, starting at home, moving towards our
immediate neighbours and from there to the subregion
of South America and the Caribbean, thus creating a
10-55103 14
substantial force at the world forum dealing with the ill
effects of climate change.
It seems that the standing forest and the wealth of
Suriname’s biodiversity are being taken for granted by
the global community, as there are no structures in
place to provide incentives to continue on the path of
sustainability. Despite that, we promise that our
choices for development will duly respect a proper
balance between nature and development.
Various high-level meetings have been organized
to address issues of common concern, such as the fight
against HIV/AIDS, the negative effects of climate
change, arms proliferation, the effects of the global
economic and financial crisis and transnational
organized crime and its associated ills.
At this time it is necessary to draw special
attention to the issue of non-communicable diseases,
which is of great concern to all of us. The initiative of
Caribbean Community leaders, subsequently endorsed
by the Commonwealth, to organize a high-level
meeting of the General Assembly in 2011 to address
the rising incidence and prevalence of
non-communicable diseases is very important. It
highlights the ever-growing need for the international
community to join forces in addressing this global
barrier to development.
Although non-communicable diseases are
currently not a part of the indicators for assessing
progress in the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), they undoubtedly have a
negative impact on those Goals. We can no longer
ignore this emerging health crisis, which
disproportionately impacts the poorest people, pushing
them further into poverty and deprivation. Therefore,
the global development agenda needs to include
measures to address this problem, if we do not wish to
jeopardize the accelerated achievement of the MDGs
by 2015.
We are aware of poverty and extreme human
suffering resulting from natural disasters. We
empathize with the peoples of Haiti, Pakistan, China,
Chile and all other countries where major weather
patterns have wreaked havoc. Suriname is of the
opinion that all nations should effectively and
adequately contribute to the alleviation of the dire
needs of our fellow citizens of the world. These people
deserve more than expressions of sympathy; they
deserve to see that promises made to them are kept.
Finally, we want to share our thoughts on the
structural causes of poverty and the resulting ill effects
on societies. My Government believes that education
related to survival skills and production is the only way
to effectively eradicate poverty. Money given to poor
people for the sake of one’s own conscience is an
absolute waste. Accordingly, we ask ourselves whether
we should continue to use the phraseology “fighting
poverty” or should instead start talking about pursuing
wealth. Therefore, the slogan of my country in our
lingua franca is: “Broko a pina, tek yu gudu”, which
means “Break away from poverty, by pursuing wealth”.