On behalf of the
Government and people of the Commonwealth of the
Bahamas, I congratulate Mr. Joseph Deiss on his
election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-fifth session, and I assure him of my country’s
and my delegation’s full support and cooperation. I
also extend sincere congratulations to his predecessor
for his stewardship of this Assembly during the sixty-
fourth session.
I also take this opportunity to express
condolences on behalf of the Government and the
people of the Bahamas to the Government and people
of Pakistan for the loss of lives and property sustained
as a result of devastating floods affecting their region.
The Government and the people of the Bahamas stand
in solidarity with Pakistan.
One of the greatest challenges of the global
economic and financial crisis has been the loss in speed
towards achieving the development goals, including
the Millennium Development Goals. We are
encouraged by the decline in the number of people
living in absolute poverty and the reported increased
access to primary and secondary education for some.
We are mindful that high levels of infant mortality,
unsatisfactory reduction in the rate of maternal
mortality, continued high incidences of sexual violence
against women and a rise in the prevalence of HIV
continue to persist in many countries.
The World Health Organization forecasts that
between 2006 and 2015, deaths from
non-communicable diseases will increase worldwide
by some 17 per cent. The increasing risks and high
prevalence of non-communicable diseases are exacting
heavy tolls on finances and health systems of countries
like the Bahamas. Hence we welcome the adoption of
resolution 64/265, which calls for a high-level plenary
meeting of the General Assembly next September to
address the prevention and control of
non-communicable diseases.
The Bahamas continues to pledge the highest
priority on attaining and achieving the Millennium
Development Goals. We fully expect to achieve most if
not all of the goals and targets identified. Still, we are
not out of the woods. The fallout from the global
economic and financial crisis continues to impact the
chief engine and principal employer in our country,
tourism, and to slow recovery and expansion in other
segments of our economy. My Government has
accelerated the implementation of a planned
programme of national infrastructure upgrade and
expansion, with a view to upgrading the country’s
infrastructure in order to accommodate new growth and
development when the global economy rebounds.
We believe it is critical that greater attention be
given to achieving a more transparent international
credit rating system that takes fully into account the
needs and concerns of developing countries. Greater
participation by developing countries is also required
in key international norm- and standard-setting bodies
in financial regulation and supervision, including the
Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee on
Banking Supervision. It is also our view that there is an
important role for the United Nations in this process,
particularly in the area of institutional strengthening.
We are pleased by the considerable progress
made in enhancing our social safety net, expanding
unemployment benefits and introducing a national
prescription drug programme designed to ensure that
the most vulnerable sectors of our society — infants
and school-age children, and the elderly — receive
prescription medication, regardless of their ability to
pay. And we are also pleased that, notwithstanding
forced reductions in Government expenditures across
the board, every child in the Bahamas continues to be
assured of a place in Government-operated schools,
from primary to high school.
Overshadowing our successes is the ever-present
threat posed by climate change. The Bahamas is the
fifth most vulnerable country to rising sea levels. We
are a country of negligible greenhouse gases and
negligible gas emissions; still, we will suffer
catastrophic results if emissions are not stabilized and
reduced worldwide. Indeed, science demonstrates that
a two degree Celsius change in temperature will result
in a sea-level rise of more than two metres. Such an
occurrence would submerge 80 per cent of our
territory.
The Bahamas therefore joins with other small
island developing States (SIDS) in reiterating the call
to the international community, and particularly to
developed countries, to undertake urgent and decisive
action to significantly reduce emissions of all
greenhouse gases, and also to implement fast action
strategies. We similarly call for increased financial and
technological support of SIDS, and our particularly
vulnerable countries, as we struggle to adapt to the
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adverse impacts of climate change. As such, we look
forward with considerable anticipation to the
December Conference in Cancún.
The Bahamas draws attention to the importance
of the Barbados Programme of Action for the
Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States, as that programme remains the blueprint for
action on sustainable development for SIDS, as was
subsequently reaffirmed in the Mauritius Strategy. In
the Bahamas we have an unwavering political
commitment to sustainability as the cardinal principle
for national development strategies. And in the area of
biodiversity, significant achievements have been made
in establishing and expanding marine, coastal and
terrestrial protected areas. We are also well along with
the development of a national energy policy, with
potential for renewable energy.
It is impossible for my country to note the high
incidence of catastrophic natural disasters being
experienced around the world and not acknowledge the
plight of our great neighbour, Haiti. Haiti and its
people are a priority concern for the Bahamas and the
Caribbean Community subregion, as they are for the
entire international community. None of us, however,
were under any illusion that the recovery and
reconstruction of Haiti, in the wake of the devastating
January earthquake, would be anything less than a
Herculean task. In the immediate aftermath of the
disaster, billions of dollars were pledged and the wider
community of nations vowed to stay the course and
work to ensure that Haiti gained a footing on the path
to sustainable growth and development.
There has been some progress in Haiti over the
past nine and a half months — but not nearly enough.
Millions of internally displaced people continue to
languish in makeshift tent cities, with inadequate
shelter or protection, and most of the rubble from that
January earthquake still lies where it fell. It is
imperative, therefore, that the United Nations continue
in its pivotal role of mobilizing international assistance
for Haiti and assisting with the recovery and
reconstruction.
International peace and security remain a concern
to all of us. The recently held second review of the
United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy
underscored that we must renew our efforts to combat
terrorism in an effective and integrated manner. I
reiterate my Government’s commitment to full
implementation of the Strategy and renew the call for
completion of negotiations on a comprehensive
convention on international terrorism. The Bahamas is
a full partner in the international fight to combat
terrorism and other transnational criminal activities.
We currently serve as Chair of the Inter American
Committee against Terrorism. We were also pleased to
host this past June a subregional workshop on counter-
terrorism financing, organized by the Organization of
American States in cooperation with the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The Security Council is central to international
efforts aimed at fostering peace and improving security
around the globe. We believe that the Council’s efforts
in this regard would be strengthened if its composition
better reflected the geopolitical realities of the world.
Towards that end, the Bahamas lends its voice to the
call for increased urgency in efforts to make the
Security Council more representative, accountable,
democratic and transparent.
Crime and threats to security continue to occupy
the minds of the people of the Bahamas and indeed of
the Caribbean subregion. International traffic in illicit
drugs and the illicit trade in small arms and light
weapons have for many years disrupted the lives of
peace-loving citizens of the Caribbean. Governments
like my own have been required to dedicate increased
portions of our annual budgets to the fight against
crime. The seemingly unlimited resources of the illegal
cartels continue to render our efforts insufficient.
Hence, we look forward with anticipation to the 2012
Conference, whose objective is the conclusion of an
arms trade treaty. We fully endorse, in that regard, calls
from fellow Caribbean countries for the treaty to be
comprehensive in scope, with provisions for all
categories of weapons.
My Government also confirms its commitment to
the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and
Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light
Weapons in All Its Aspects. We were pleased with the
outcome document of the Fourth Biennial Meeting of
States (A/CONF.192/BMS/2010/3), which was adopted
by consensus in June.
I record the appreciation of my Government for
the technical assistance recently received from the
United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and
Disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean in
the area of firearms destruction and stockpile
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management. We look forward always to assistance in
the future.
The Bahamas applauds the General Assembly’s
proclamation of the year beginning on 12 August 2010
as the International Year of Youth, under the theme of
dialogue and mutual understanding. We believe that the
overwhelming majority of our young people are
creative and law-abiding citizens. They will doubtless
contribute and be a credit to their community and their
country. Regrettably, however, a significant minority,
not unlike troubled youth throughout the world, find it
difficult to overcome the challenges presented by
poverty, weak educational achievement, risky social
behaviours, including drug and alcohol abuse, criminal
activity and rising unemployment.
A recent report of the International Labour
Organization found that young people aged 15 to
24 accounted for 22 per cent of the increase in the
number of unemployed persons since the beginning of
2007. My Government is therefore seeking to further
expand educational programmes and career-oriented
training opportunities for our youth by enhancing our
secondary school curriculum and by strengthening the
programmes available at the Bahamas Technical and
Vocational Institute.
The Bahamas welcomes efforts by the
Organization to continue to bring focus to women’s
issues. We applaud the adoption of resolution 64/289,
which established a new gender entity — UN Women.
We also applaud the recent launch of the United
Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking
in Persons. Human trafficking is a growing
phenomenon in our region and is increasingly a
challenge for us in the Bahamas, as we are an
archipelagic nation with porous borders. My
Government is therefore committed to combating that
activity and to intercepting and prosecuting to the
fullest extent of the law those engaged in it.
Building on its ratification in 2008 of the
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, the Bahamas
enacted child protection and trafficking legislation
specially designed to work on counter-trafficking. We
are fortunate that financing has been made available to
representatives of relevant Government agencies and
key stakeholders.
The Bahamas believes that the United Nations is
working diligently under its mandate to facilitate
increased international dialogue, realizing the noble
goals set out in its Charter. The Bahamas has taken
note of the Secretary-General’s announcement of a
High-level Panel on Global Sustainability as a
blueprint for a liveable, prosperous and sustainable
future for all.
My delegation fully endorses the Secretary-
General in his assertion that the time for narrow
agendas and narrow thinking is over. As an
Organization, we must continue to chart a course that
will enable us to meet unprecedented global challenges
and translate our efforts into actions for the benefit of
all. The rhetoric must become reality. We all have a
contribution to make in realizing the goals and
objectives of the United Nations, based on the purposes
and principles outlined in the Charter.