I am honoured to
address the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session
as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of
Barbados.
The theme of this year’s session, concerning the
role of the United Nations, multilateralism and global
governance, is timely, and it permits an examination of
the complex issues facing the global community today.
Moreover, it lends itself to an exploration of solutions
to those issues as well as to restoration of the centrality
of the United Nations and its organs.
A week ago leaders from every corner of the
world met and confirmed that the global consensus on
the United Nations Development Agenda remained
intact. They pledged to spare no effort to ensure the
fulfilment of our collective promise to the world’s
poorest and most vulnerable.
Barbados shares the view of the Secretary-
General that the Millennium Development Goals must
serve as “a blueprint for ending extreme poverty”
(A/65/PV.3). The Goals are at the core of the global
development agenda. They represent our common
vision of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world,
in which all human beings can enjoy better and safer
lives. For the past decade these globally shared and
endorsed set of priorities have inspired extraordinary
efforts by Governments and non-State actors alike.
Now is not the time for complacency. Progress
towards achievement of the Goals remains mixed, and,
while success is still within our grasp, it is by no
means certain. Our common task is therefore to convert
this unprecedented consensus into collective action on
all fronts and immediately implement what has been
agreed in order to guarantee success by 2015. Failing
this, the many words of the Outcome Document that
we adopted a few days ago will simply serve as yet
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another solemn reminder of human needs neglected
and promises unfulfilled.
This display of global solidarity in the face of
unparalleled economic uncertainty reminds us that the
United Nations is an invaluable and indispensable
instrument for its Member States and for the world’s
peoples, as we seek to respond to the challenges of our
times. While we may not have the same degree of
consensus on every pressing global problem, Barbados
cannot contemplate the prospect of a world without an
Organization such as this. No other entity can mobilize
global political will and coordinated action around
common causes, and provide a voice for the voiceless,
like the United Nations.
Scarred by the bitter experience of two world
wars and a great depression, the founders of this
Organization had the foresight and wisdom to
recognize that only through multilateralism and a
strong and effective system of global governance, with
the United Nations at its core, could lasting peace be
maintained and international law upheld.
Today we bear witness to a world which is more
interconnected and intertwined, yet in a real sense
more deeply divided, than ever. Barbados is of the
view that an enhanced and renewed system of global
governance must be at the top of the global agenda. In
this regard, Mr. President, Barbados fully supports
your initiative to address this issue during the course of
this sixty-fifth session. We must take stock and reflect
in a holistic and comprehensive manner on the system
of global governance, including the United Nations and
its organs, to ensure that it truly delivers on the vision
of our predecessors and serves the interests of all
mankind, particularly the poor and the vulnerable.
Delivering global public goods such as global
economic and financial stability; ensuring the
promotion and protection of human rights; maintaining
international peace and security; and ensuring
environmental sustainability: those matters cannot be
successfully addressed by States acting on their own,
or even by coalitions of the willing. Finding effective
solutions to those challenges and mobilizing collective
action provides the most immediate and obvious reason
for enhancing global governance and strengthening
multilateral cooperation.
As United States President Harry Truman stated
on 25 April 1945 at the birth of this Organization, in
his address to the opening session of the United
Nations Conference on International Organization, held
in San Francisco:
“Differences between men, and between nations,
will always remain. In fact, if held within
reasonable limits, such disagreements are actually
wholesome. All progress begins with differences
of opinion and moves onward as the differences
are adjusted through reason and mutual
understanding.”
Renewing the vision of our predecessors must
start with the United Nations and extend outwards to
all organizations with a role in dispensing global
governance.
During this session we must finalize the decades-
long project of Security Council reform. If the Council
is to retain its unique legitimacy it should be made
more broadly representative of the international
community as a whole, as well as of the geopolitical
realities of today.
The Council’s working methods must also be made
to adhere to the highest standards of transparency,
accountability and efficiency. Its outreach to
non-members must be significantly improved.
Barbados continues to believe that the number of
permanent and non-permanent seats on the Council
should be increased, and that Brazil, Germany, India
and Japan should join the ranks of the permanent
members. Membership from the African Group must
also be assured.
Sustained and widespread future prosperity will
require major reforms in global economic governance
as well as new approaches to global economic
development. The global financial and economic crisis
has made clear the extent of the interconnectivity of
financial markets, as well as their inherent
vulnerabilities. While there is no precedent for the
current level of global financial and economic
integration, the policies, rules and institutions
established to govern those processes are predominately
national in scope, and global mechanisms highly
compartmentalized.
We can no longer postpone the task of reforming
the institutions responsible for global economic and
financial governance. They must be better equipped to
address the challenge of a globalized and highly
interdependent world. In this regard, Barbados
welcomes the broadening of the Group of 8 to include
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the participation of developing and emerging economies
and the designation of the Group of 20 (G-20) as the
premier forum for international economic cooperation.
We also recognize the important role played by
the G-20 in stabilizing the global economy. We
acknowledge its ambitious agenda to restore global
growth and achieve needed reforms in the world’s
financial systems. However, the Group must
significantly enhance its outreach to non-members,
including the smallest members of the international
community, particularly when issues affecting their
economic viability and survival are under discussion.
Furthermore, it must also demonstrate real leadership
in breaking the impasse in the World Trade
Organization and ensure a successful conclusion to the
Doha Development Round. It must also ensure that
reforms in the Bretton Woods institutions are
accelerated.
Small States have traditionally played a crucial
role in shaping global governance, and our voice
should not be diminished in efforts to reform the
current system. Barbados will play its part. It is against
the background of articulating the role and importance
of multilateralism and a strong and effective United
Nations that I will explore the response of my country
to these global challenges. I will also address the
strategies to be pursued by this small nation intent on
playing its part in this family of nations. Barbados is a
small island developing State classified as a middle-
income developing country. It faces significant
vulnerabilities made real by the spectre of climate
change and the associated natural disasters, the
consequences of the recent financial and economic
crises, and the threat posed by transnational criminal
networks. My country has sought to take its place in a
world characterized by increasing economic,
environmental and social complexities. We take our
place in a world in which the United Nations family
continues to witness increasing economic interdependence
and globalization, both posing challenges to national
sovereignty.
Barbados shares the United Nations vision for a
world able to achieve and surpass the Millennium
Development Goals. We are committed to the fight
against the ravages of HIV and AIDS and other
infectious diseases. As a natural-resources-poor small
island developing State, we have achieved much on the
basis of our investment in human development,
primarily in the areas of education and health. We have
thus prioritized our responses to those global
challenges in a manner that puts our people first. Our
successes to date have been due to our investment in
our key resource — our people. Given the emphasis on
our people’s development and the dangers posed to our
population, we supported the resolution entitled
“Prevention and control of non-communicable
diseases” (resolution 64/265), introduced by the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) at the sixty-fourth
session of the General Assembly in 2009. Our
responses can be seen in our efforts to achieve our
ultimate goal of crafting a green economy. We see the
green economy as a tool for transforming our economy
to achieve sustainable development. At the heart of this
economic and social model is a commitment to people-
centred development. Aligning our development
strategy along this particular trajectory ensures a
consistency not only with our global obligations but
also, and more importantly, with our national values
and in the best interests of all our citizens.
Even as the international community searches for
a definition of the green economy, Barbados has
simply defined this model as an integrated production,
distribution, consumption and waste assimilation
system that, at its core, reflects the fragility of our
small island ecosystems as the basis for policy
interventions for natural resource protection, business
and investment choice, human development
programming, and the facilitation of export market
development strategies.
In pursuit of the green economy the Government
of Barbados has undertaken an assessment of the
opportunities and challenges of a green economy
transition. Our focus is on the priority sectors of
tourism, agriculture, transport and housing, along with
cross-sectoral issues of water resources, energy and
waste. In addition, we have partnered with the United
Nations Environment Programme to promote a
transition to a green economy, building on existing
Barbados initiatives in the area of resource efficiency
and the promotion of sustainable consumption and
production. We believe that our experience in
transitioning to a green economy will serve as a useful
model for other small island developing States and
small economies, and we intend to share our unique
perspective with the international community in the
preparatory process for the Rio+20 Summit in 2012.
The efforts of Barbados to transform its economy
into a green economy and achieve sustainable
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development will be undermined without ambitious
and urgent global action to address climate change. The
challenge of climate change remains one of the great
threats to the survival and viability of Barbados and
other small island developing States. Even as science
points to a worsening situation, global emissions
continue to rise and the prospects seem dim of arriving
at an agreement to provide legal certainty in the fight
against climate change. It is clear that the objective of
an ambitious and comprehensive legally binding
outcome will not be achieved in Cancún, Mexico, in
December this year. Barbados nevertheless believes
that the substantive outcomes at the sixteenth session
of the Conference of Parties (COP-16) to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
must demonstrate that the international community
remains committed to addressing the defining
challenge of our time. In this regard COP-16 should
deliver outcomes that: prioritize the needs of the most
vulnerable, particularly in the areas of adaptation and
finance; finalize issues on which there is a broad
agreement and provide guidance and clarity on the
difficult issues; and demonstrate progress on the
delivery of the $30 billion fast-start financing pledged
at Copenhagen. Critical to the success at Cancún is
arriving at a common understanding of how, when and
where an ambitious and legally binding international
climate agreement will be finalized.
In 1994 Barbados had the distinct honour of
hosting the first Global Conference on the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States. The
Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius
Strategy for Implementation (MSI) remain the essential
blueprints for the sustainable development of small
island developing States. Barbados welcomes the
recently adopted outcome of the five-year review of the
MSI and hopes that this will result in a renewal of the
commitment of the international community to support
the sustainable development of small island developing
States. It is of great concern to Barbados that, 18 years
after the international recognition of the special case of
small island developing States at Rio, our unique and
particular vulnerability is being challenged. Barbados
is not prepared to renegotiate the special case of small
island developing States but urges the international
community to focus on the delivery of tangible and
concrete actions to build resilience and promote
sustainable development in small island developing
States.
The January 2010 earthquake that devastated
Haiti serves as a grim reminder of the fragility of
island States to natural disasters. In the immediate
aftermath of the earthquake, the Government of
Barbados provided financial assistance, relief supplies
and deployed a contingent of medical and security
personnel as part of a CARICOM relief team. If Haiti
is to realize its full potential, the international
community must remain fully engaged in Haiti, and the
many pledges of financial and technical support must
be delivered on time. The Government and people of
Haiti can be assured that Barbados will continue to be
a partner in this rebuilding and reconstruction phase.
Our commitment remains strong, and we will play our
part in Haiti’s long-term development. We call on all
who have mobilized resources for the benefit of Haiti
to work with countries like Barbados and in
collaboration with the Government and people of Haiti
to rebuild that country.
There is a very definite role for a reformed
United Nations to assist countries like Barbados. The
model economy being pursued by Barbados cannot be
achieved by unilateral action.
As stated previously, the role of the United
Nations is clear. It must generate the templates to be
adopted and serve as a catalyst for action: it must seek
to mediate where conflicts arise; it must work to ensure
that there are reforms of the global economic and
financial system to make it inclusive, transparent and
supportive of the development aspirations of least
developed countries and more developed countries; it
must also facilitate South-South cooperation,
supporting the efforts of these countries to share
appropriate experiences and indigenous solutions.
Barbados shares your vision, Sir, for a strong,
inclusive and open United Nations as the guarantor of
global governance. Barbados maintains the strong
position that responsibility for the setting of rules and
the making of core decisions on matters of a global
nature rightfully belongs within the ambit of the United
Nations, given its primacy as the only legitimate forum
for global action.