Saint Kitts and Nevis

As we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, it is indeed an honour for me to address this distinguished Assembly. I take pride in conveying to it fraternal and cordial greetings from the new Labour Government and the people of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The United Nations has made noticeable progress and important strides during the past five decades through sheer determination, assiduity and the unrelenting faith of its Members. This is faith in an Organization that has been able to balance the interests of the weak with those of the strong, faith in our collective will to preserve democracy, promote peace and improve the quality of life for all our peoples. The occasion of the convening of this historic session of the United Nations General Assembly provides an important impetus to galvanize our Governments to reaffirm our commitment to the causes of world peace, international security and development. This faith represents the very essence of what we celebrate not only this year, but every year as well. Fifty years ago a few men of great courage and vision cast aside national differences to come together to plant new seeds of hope in a future that would one day bear fruit for humankind to enjoy. The historic legacy of cooperation and partnership that triumphed over individualism should burn like an eternal flame in our minds, serving to remind us all that peace, one of the most precious of commodities, is not ours to squander, but merely on loan to us. We have a solemn responsibility to pass it on to future generations. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis salutes those visionaries of half a century ago and thanks them for the rich legacy bequeathed to us all. I wish to join other delegations in expressing warmest congratulations and good wishes to you, Sir, our new President, elected to preside over the Assembly in this landmark year in the history of the United Nations. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis wishes to assure you, Mr. President, of its continued cooperation and support. We are confident that your presidency will be marked by adroit leadership, which will ensure a successful outcome to these deliberations. On behalf of my Government, I am pleased to express gratitude to the outgoing president, His Excellency Mr. Amara Essy of Côte d’Ivoire, for his diligence and able guidance in a year characterized by varying degrees of political turmoil and other serious challenges. I salute the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his tenacious leadership, his goodwill, and his diplomatic skills par excellence, which have been tested with great frequency since he took office a few years ago. My Government congratulates the Secretary-General on the outstanding manner in which he has carried out the mandates of the Organization with regard to peace-keeping and humanitarian efforts. As our nations continue to work together to build a better future for our peoples, I wish to assure him of my Government’s continued cooperation, support and goodwill. As regards human rights, my Government is of the view that, as an international fraternity of nations, we find it incumbent on us all to remember that every single human being has an inalienable right to freedom, to the pursuit of happiness and to a better standard of life. The sanctity of human life is not negotiable; it is paramount. My Government remains steadfast in its own efforts, and supports those of the United Nations to protect and preserve human rights. I now call attention to the question of representative democracy. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis warmly welcomes the unprecedented pace of democratic reforms taking place around the world. However, we are concerned with the growing complexities of recurrent problems and the emergence of new and more complicated ones which still pose serious threats to world peace and international security. Consequently, my delegation commends the resolve of the United Nations and its willing leadership to steer Member States along a steady and purposeful course through the turbulent seas of political upheavals. It is encouraging to see that, despite obvious problems, democracy continues to spring up in the far-flung corners of the world. This should propel us to channel our collective energies into ensuring that those peoples still yearning for a taste of freedom will one day come to experience the triumph of democracy. The Caribbean breathed a sigh of relief when the horrid spectre of dictatorship was removed from the Haitian landscape. Finally, the people of Haiti can begin to harvest the rewards of peace as they proceed to build a lasting and viable democracy. At present the Caribbean and Latin America enjoy a period of relative peace and the rule of law. We wish for this to continue infinitely. It is certainly not my intention to be the harbinger of doom. However, we cannot afford to take this situation for granted, because history bears frightening and credible witness to the fact that political instability and poverty in areas where democracy is fragile, tend to form a treacherous alliance. Democracy as a mere concept, without the requisite support of infrastructural development and institution- building, cannot survive. In order for democracy to remain viable in countries which are unaccustomed to it and/or which suffer from high or increasing levels of poverty, democracy should be buttressed with the appropriate support systems. My Government firmly believes that the United Nations is a people’s Organization. Therefore, we the Members should impress upon the poor masses, which are often easily led and misled, that democracy works, that it can work for them, and that eventually, if given a chance, it will deliver the political and material benefits they require to improve their lives. I wish to state here clearly that my Government is not appealing for hand-outs. On the contrary, we appeal for a reliable hand of genuine cooperation and partnership. Because our countries share a common world community, with common concerns and interests, we should become our brother’s keeper. Failure to work together effectively means that we foreclose the possibility of learning from the past, and at the same time, we shall be burning the bridges to the future, built with selfless courage by our predecessors. It appears that whenever we succeed in solving one major problem another more complicated one is foisted upon us. The post-cold-war world has given way to the re-emergence of agonizing, old ethnic tensions, worsening levels of poverty and widening economic inequalities which, together, continue to force their way to the top of 2 the international agenda. These new challenges require innovative and collective strategies. They require partnership. The prevalence and the length of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia seem to elude attempts at an effective and lasting solution. None the less, we support the international efforts to find a diplomatic resolution of this conflict. Therefore, my Government welcomes the timely initiatives of the United States Government, which we consider to be crucial in laying the groundwork for future progress in ending the war. Also, we wish to compliment efforts by the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to broker a lasting peace in the former Yugoslavia. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis strongly condemns the outrageous and cowardly acts of genocide, “ethnic cleansing” and indiscriminate killing of the innocent and helpless, on all sides in this brutal conflict. It is my Government’s sincerest hope that the persons found to be responsible for these atrocities will be brought to justice. I wish now to turn to another volatile region, the Middle East, which has for a long time been one of the lingering trouble spots in world affairs. Times are changing, and in the interest of peace some Governments in the region have begun to respond to these changes by taking appropriate steps to reconcile their differences and to ensure that their peoples can live together in peace. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis applauds the initiatives of the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization to rescue peace from the clutches of terrorism and violence. This augurs well for peace not only in the disputed territories but also throughout the Middle East. Further, we urge nations in the region to respect Israel’s right to exist and to follow the lead of the recent accord reached between the Governments of Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan. We hope that other countries in the region will heed the call of peace and use diplomacy in the pursuit of their objectives. Also, we urge all Governments to declare war on terrorism and to make a commitment to its eradication, wherever it may lurk. My Government is unambiguous in its belief that an act of terror against any man, anywhere, is an act of terror against all mankind, everywhere. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis welcomes the decision taken last year by the Iraqi Government to recognize the State of Kuwait. Kuwait’s territorial integrity and sovereignty must be maintained. We also call on the Government of Iraq to comply with all United Nations resolutions and to release all Kuwaiti nationals detained illegally in Iraq. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis is convinced that the United Nations is about people. Consequently, we expect this Organization to advance the causes of all our peoples. To achieve this, however, Member Governments must fulfil their obligations to the Organization so that it can function more effectively. At the same time, the United Nations has to accept that it is accountable to its vast membership. Also, Member Governments and the Organization should seek to reconcile this critical relationship and work more closely in the future to devise new approaches to problem- solving, development and security. The time has come for us to change the way we do business. Our Government is in favour of the reform of the Security Council to reflect the current configuration of world affairs. I should like to focus the Assembly’s attention on the question of membership. As we all are well aware, one of the fundamental principles of this Organization is that of universality of membership. My Government perceives the United Nations as a people’s organization; therefore, we believe that Member States will appreciate the need to consider the timely readmittance of the Republic of China on Taiwan to this body. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis maintains that that country’s 21 million inhabitants have the right to be appropriately represented in this Organization. Taiwan continues to comply with international law and has taken due steps to ensure the democratization of its politics and respect for and protection of human rights. I now wish to refer to the important subjects of, first, the vulnerability of small island States and, secondly, sustainable development. Although these issues are not new, my Government remains convinced that the international community cannot afford to forget them. We commend the United Nations for hosting a Conference last year in Barbados to address these crucial issues. However, we need to go further. This will require partnership, cooperation and resolve from both developing and developed nations. Many small island nations are painfully aware of the potential dangers that environmental degradation holds for 3 small island States like Saint Kitts and Nevis. Some of these dangers are: rising sea levels, coastal erosion, sea pollution and natural disasters. These problems are easily compounded, because small island States with limited resources, such as those in the Caribbean, lack the financial and technological capabilities to deal with them. The environmental vulnerability of small island States is intricately interwoven with our economic dependency and openness to external forces. My delegation therefore appeals to the international financial community to review its policies on concessional lending to small island States. Statistics can be quite misleading. The tendency to judge a country and its people’s development based on figures such as per capita income quite easily distort the objective reality of our situation. Just last month, for example, Saint Kitts and Nevis was ravaged by two hurricanes. Unfortunately, the passage of the first was sufficient to disrupt seriously the daily lives of my people, to destroy the physical infrastructure, and to undermine severely the economic life of both islands. My country’s main export crop, sugar, was almost completely wiped out, and prospects for the 1996 sugar harvest are discouraging. Further, my country’s main hospital suffered extensive damage, placing the health of the people of Saint Kitts and Nevis at great risk. I take this opportunity to thank the international community for the quick response in providing emergency relief to the people of Saint Kitts and Nevis. This, first and foremost, is the reality of small island States. It is this reality — not cold statistics — that should inform world policies towards them. Returning to the subject of the environment, my delegation puts forward the view that, to a large extent, our islands have inherited problems that are not always of our own making. This is not meant to lay blame. On the contrary, we wish to suggest that all countries take appropriate measures to reduce the possibility of environmental degradation and that those in a position to help in environmental protection lend assistance to those unable to do so. My delegation makes a fervent appeal to the developed world not to link the granting of development assistance to guarantees of environmental protection from developing countries. Instead, we propose a much closer and more constructive working relationship aimed at creating more meaningful, long-term strategies to solve environmental problems. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis vehemently condemns attempts by some countries to use the waterways of the Caribbean as a transshipment lane for their toxic and hazardous wastes. Clearly, this region suffers from a high vulnerability index. We therefore cannot afford any increase in this index. We call on countries responsible to find safer and more appropriate means of dealing with their toxic and hazardous waste. Saint Kitts and Nevis categorically supports the indefinite, unconditional extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and we anxiously await the successful conclusion of negotiations on a comprehensive test-ban treaty. Also, we urge all nations to impose a ban on nuclear tests. With regard to women in development, we applaud the convening of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing to examine issues affecting women throughout the world. We appeal to Member States to go beyond the conference halls and to make genuine efforts to promote the interests of women. The protection of human rights and the pursuit of sustainable development cannot be viewed as distinct from the development of women and their rights. They must go hand in hand. Women play a central and critical role in the process of development. Their contributions should be recognized and rewarded appropriately. My Government is committed to further legislation to eliminate gender discrimination and to institute policies that address the inequalities that women face. We also have a duty to protect the lives of our children and to ensure that we provide them with adequate protection for their individual growth and future prosperity. We hold their future in trust, and we therefore have a sacred responsibility to them, as well as to future generations. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis strongly condemns any form of discrimination and violence against women and children. We urge all Governments to wage war on the barbarism of child prostitution, infanticide and abortion on discovery that the foetus is female. The right to life is fundamental, universal and sacred. 4 In conclusion, the catalogue of problems confronting our nations bears ample testimony to the tremendous tasks ahead of us. Our countries share common goals such as the pursuit of peace, world security, and better standards of living for all our peoples. Our predecessors have sown the seeds, and today we celebrate their legacy. My Government is convinced that we can achieve our individual goals by working collectively. And indeed we can. I know we can. Most importantly, we owe it to those who elected us, as well as to those who will follow. As we, the peoples of the world, celebrate our past achievements, let us resolve to achieve even greater successes in the years ahead.