Seychelles

My delegation is proud and honoured to see Mr. Julian Hunte, a fellow islander, also from one of the smallest nations of the world, presiding over the deliberations of this body. We are well aware of his skills, experience and competence, and we are confident that he will lead our work to a successful outcome. Let me also pay tribute to his predecessor, Mr Jan Kavan of the Czech Republic, for his excellent work during the fifty- seventh session of the General Assembly. Our appreciation also goes to the Secretary- General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his dedicated and steadfast leadership of the United Nations during these trying times. We commend him for his tireless efforts to make the United Nations more effective and responsive to the demands of its Members. In recent months, some have questioned the relevance and utility of the United Nations. For 28 Seychelles, the United Nations remains a unique, indispensable and universal multilateral institution where global issues affecting the entire international community can be debated and addressed. We believe that, despite its shortcomings, there is no other institution that is better equipped and better suited to meet the diverse demands for justice, peace, security, development and international cooperation or to ensure that the voices of its Members are heard, irrespective of their size or economic power. We hereby reaffirm our faith in the principles and purposes of the United Nations in addressing the wide range of challenges confronting the international community in the globalized and interdependent world we are living in at the dawn of the twenty-first century. We acknowledge the fact, however, that the United Nations system needs to be reformed and modernized. We support the ongoing initiative to revitalize the General Assembly to make it more effective and efficient. Our Assembly ought to be restored to its rightful place at the centre stage of meaningful deliberations on problems and issues common to all of its Members. We ought to strive to ensure that debate in our Assembly is translated into action. In this respect, my delegation calls for the establishment of a follow-up mechanism to monitor and implement decisions and resolutions taken by the General Assembly, as well as those of the major United Nations conferences of the past decade. The reform process will be inadequate if the transformation of the Security Council into a democratic and representative organ, reflecting its universal character and present-day realities, is not achieved. My delegation supports an increase in both permanent and non-permanent members to include developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America. After 10 years of debate, it is imperative that we bridge positions and make progress. What is required is political will by all the parties concerned with a view to arriving at an acceptable solution. We support the decision of the Secretary-General to establish a high-level panel of eminent persons on the reform question. We hope they will provide inspiration and fresh ideas for the way forward. My delegation holds the view that development ought to be central to the renewed United Nations agenda. The reform process should focus on reinforcing the role of the United Nations system in the commitment to international cooperation for development. There should be closer collaboration and coordination between the United Nations system and the international financial institutions in elaborating novel frameworks to address development funding. The ongoing dialogue between the Economic and Social Council and the Bretton Woods institutions should be vigorously pursued. We welcome the dialogue between the leaders of the Group of Eight and their counterparts from the developing world. Those consultations should be a platform to engage the industrialized countries of the North in fulfilling their commitments to the outcomes of the major conferences, in particular the Millennium Summit, the Doha Development Round, the Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg Plan of Action. Our development partners should realize that the implementation of their commitments is vital if we, the developing countries, are to achieve sustainable development. Their words must, indeed, be matched with deeds. The allocation of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product for international development should be an achievable objective. This dialogue should also provide an opportunity for us to candidly discuss issues that are of common interest and concern. Problems requiring urgent attention, such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, the root causes of terrorism, the debt burden, refugees, trade terms, trafficking in humans, climate change and environmental degradation, to name just a few, should be addressed as part and parcel of shared international responsibilities. The situation of small island developing Sates will feature high on the international agenda next August when Mauritius hosts the International Meeting for the 10-year review of the Barbados Programme of Action. It will be a timely occasion to reaffirm the special characteristics, vulnerabilities and concerns of small island developing States and to consider their prospects for sustainable development. It will be an occasion to remind the international community to pay greater attention to the social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities faced by small island developing States. The Mauritius review will present the opportunity to assess implementation progress to date and establish the appropriate framework for further partnership and 29 cooperation in achieving the sustainable development aspirations of small island developing States. We will need the required resources to advance implementation. We therefore appeal to our development partners for their fullest support in the review process and the implementation of the outcome of the Mauritius International Meeting. My delegation notes with concern the breakdown of negotiations at the recent World Trade Organization ministerial conference in Cancún. Small developing countries have no capacity whatsoever to distort world trade. It is therefore imperative that their vulnerabilities and special needs be taken fully in account. Seychelles urges the international community to heed the call for special and differential treatment to be accorded to developing countries, in particular small island States, that have structural disadvantages. This is crucial to the integration of our countries into the multilateral trading system so that we can achieve our development objectives. Concessions to small, vulnerable developing economies should include the critical areas of market access and trade preferences. The second pillar of my country’s economy — tuna fisheries — faces a real threat. There will be considerable social and economic consequences for us if the preferential treatment on which the industry was built is to be abandoned. After all, the trade regime is meant to provide benefits for all, not to condemn the most fragile and vulnerable groups of the international family to marginalization and economic strangulation. A subject of preoccupation to my delegation is the adverse impact of climate change. Studies, as well as experience, have revealed that extreme changes are taking place in the climate patterns of the Western Indian Ocean region. Over recent years my country has experienced unusual periods of drought and torrential rainfall, the latter causing floods, landslides, the destruction of agricultural crops and infrastructure and even loss of life. It is estimated the 75 per cent of the corals in our archipelago have been bleached due to an increase in sea surface temperatures. Global warming is not an issue of our making. Small island nations like mine are not responsible for it, yet we have to bear the consequences. This growing threat calls for renewed concerted international action, as it is affecting the whole planet. All nations must take steps to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The industrialized countries have the prime responsibility and must be the first to take action. We urge them to be accountable under the Kyoto commitments and to ratify the treaty, as this is the only appropriate multilateral framework that can address and respond to this phenomenal challenge facing all nations on earth. Last year the General Assembly endorsed the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), as the framework for development for the continent. International support for the implementation of this home-grown initiative is essential. We appreciate the pledges of support by the G-8 by means of their Africa Action Plan. We hope that this will soon evolve into the realization of concrete projects and programmes. My delegation is of the view that there should be provision in the NEPAD development agenda to take into account the peculiar problems and specificities of the eight island nations that constitute the African family. The 19 August attack on the United Nations compound in Baghdad serves as the latest reminder to all of us of the central importance of being vigilant and prepared to combat terrorism. Seychelles reiterates its condemnation of terrorism in all its manifestations. We are in the process of finalizing our accession to the 12 United Nations conventions and protocols on terrorism. We are actively cooperating with the Counter-Terrorism Committee in the implementation of the obligations of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001). Complying with the obligations of this Security Council resolution is a daunting task for a very small country like mine, with extremely limited capacity to deal with the relevant requirements. We will do our share as part of our responsibility, but to succeed we need technical and financial assistance. There is also the need to ensure that the capacities of small States are enhanced through sharing of intelligence information, training of personnel, and the provision of appropriate technology and equipment, for example, to deal with and handle the new challenges we have to confront. We hope the international community will be attentive and responsive to our predicament. The conflict in the Middle East has brought about too much suffering and destruction. My delegation supports the road map for peace and calls on all parties to the conflict to embark on genuine and substantive dialogue and negotiations in the interest of durable 30 peace in the region. We reaffirm our belief in the rights of the Palestinian people to their own independent State, with clearly defined borders. We welcome all efforts in facilitating the search for an enduring solution to the conflict. As regards the situation in Iraq, my delegation hopes that full sovereignty will be restored to the Iraqis as soon as possible, and that a credible and widely accepted political road map will be drawn up and implemented. We believe that the United Nations should have a central role to play in the process. When Assembly President Julian Hunte assumed office, he appealed for an action-orientated and proactive General Assembly. I give him the assurance that, albeit in a modest manner, he will receive the full- hearted support of the Seychelles delegation for a productive and fruitful session.