Saint Lucia is pleased to
join the other Members of the United Nations family in
congratulating His Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann on his election as President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-third session. We wish him every
success as he guides these important deliberations at
this most critical time. We also wish to express our
appreciation to his predecessor, His Excellency
Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for the professional manner in
which he spearheaded the work of the Assembly at its
sixty-second session. In addition, we wish to
acknowledge the important work undertaken by the
Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
and his team in continuing to promote the noble
principles and values of the United Nations.
We have passed the midpoint in our quest to
achieve the ambitious but achievable Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by the projected year,
2015. Since the adoption of that timetable in 2000,
however, the global economy has experienced a
number of shocks that have served to challenge our
ability to achieve the MDGs within the allotted time.
We and the rest of the international community must
redouble our efforts to meet those challenges by
addressing them with serious conviction.
As the Secretary-General has said, we face a
development emergency, and emergencies require
immediate action. It is therefore imperative that the
international community move with the utmost urgency
to enact measures to address the challenges that have
emerged. Inaction or indifference will only threaten to
reverse the gains already made in some areas. We must
ensure that our annual reaffirmations of the right to
development and the rights to food, shelter, security
and peace do not ring hollow.
In spite of the numerous difficulties and
challenges with which it is faced, Saint Lucia
maintains its commitment to the realization of the
MDGs by 2015 and will do all within its means to
attain that objective, even as new difficulties arise. For
that reason, Saint Lucia’s social indicators are fairly
reasonable and reflect the investment that has been
made in human development over the years.
The reduction of poverty remains a top priority
for my Government, and increased resources have been
made available to programmes and institutions
dedicated to the attainment of that objective.
In the education sector, universal access has
already been achieved at the primary and secondary
levels. Emphasis is currently being placed on
improvement of quality at the primary and secondary
levels, on expanded access at the tertiary level and on
early-childhood education. More attention is also being
given to the higher school-dropout rates among young
men.
In the area of health care, reform of the health
sector continues to be a priority, and significant
progress continues to be made towards the achievement
of free health care for all. Success continues to be
recorded in respect of key indicators such as life
expectancy, infant mortality and immunization
coverage. Saint Lucia has achieved an even lower
infant mortality rate than the 30-per-1,000 target set for
the Caribbean by the World Health Organization, and
we have already achieved 100 per cent immunization
coverage. At the same time, the incidence of
communicable diseases has been significantly reduced,
although there is concern over chronic
non-communicable diseases.
The AIDS pandemic continues to be the focus of
our attention, and, with the assistance of regional and
international partners, Saint Lucia has made important
strides in addressing that challenge. Our current HIV
prevalence rate is 0.12 per cent. We continue to focus
on education as one of the main instruments in this
fight, even as we devote increased resources to
programmes geared towards early detection and the
provision of free or subsidized antiretroviral drugs.
There are, however, two additional issues that are
critical to development in Saint Lucia and that are not
properly covered under the existing MDG framework.
The first issue encompasses violence, crime and
security. It is an issue that takes many forms, including
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gender-based violence, which should be addressed in
the MDGs. The second issue is that of migration in all
its dimensions, including the impact of the emigration
of skilled workers — especially teachers and nurses —
on national development. It is imperative that we also
consider those two issues, as they affect the
achievement of the MDGs and the development of
Saint Lucia and many other countries.
A particular challenge confronting us is the
emergence of serious climate change and its
detrimental impact on the environment. Those
conditions continue to disproportionately affect small
island developing States, such as Saint Lucia and the
other States members of the Alliance of Small Island
States, whose national territories in the Atlantic,
Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean Sea are
extremely vulnerable.
Increased drought on the one hand and torrential
rains and flooding on the other are affecting all parts of
the globe and serve as recipes for disaster and human
suffering. Those conditions are being attributed more
and more to the unbridled and unsustainable use of
fossil fuels and the concomitant release of greenhouse
gases.
A second major challenge taxing our resolve, and
also associated with fossil fuel use, is the astronomical
rise in energy prices. The astronomical rise in energy
prices has created a new challenge as the world seeks
to replace fossil fuels with cleaner and more cost-
effective biofuels. The trouble with that approach is
that the decreased availability of agricultural
production for food has resulted in higher prices for the
staple foods of people around the world, especially in
developing countries, but also among the marginalized
of the developed world. That trade-off — food for
fuel — if not carefully balanced, could cause increased
poverty, hunger and economic and social
marginalization, which would serve to exacerbate
already unacceptable levels of poverty and hunger.
That notwithstanding, we are heartened by the
renewed efforts and improvements in the renewable
energy agenda, but we lament the slow pace of their
use in developed countries and the high cost of those
technologies to developing countries. There must be
greater liberalization and availability of new
technologies in order to allow developing countries
more access to development models. In the meantime,
we must redouble international efforts to reduce the
emissions of greenhouse gases to the levels already
accepted by the large majority of the members of the
international community.
Last July, I joined with my fellow Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) heads of Government in
reviewing the impact of rising global prices, the issues
surrounding energy use and climate change and the
implications for the region’s food and nutrition
security. Among the issues arising from our
deliberations, we emphasized the need for
Governments to provide the necessary budgetary
support and incentives for investment in agriculture,
particularly at this time. And, given the importance and
the development implications of climate change, we
agreed to the establishment of a Task Force on Climate
Change to give direction for the way forward.
It is from that perspective that Saint Lucia and
many other like-minded countries have continued to
emphasize the urgent need to focus on development
based on sustainable economic growth as the most
effective means of transforming developing countries
and enabling them to reach levels where they can
realize their long-term capacity for a significant
enhancement of the quality of life of their people.
Accordingly, Saint Lucia reiterates its strong
conviction that the United Nations should regard
development as the most essential tool for eradicating
poverty and achieving the Millennium Development
Goals.
As food prices and energy costs rise,
development finance is becoming even less available.
We appreciate the efforts of the countries that have met
the established official development assistance target
of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product. We urge
other countries in a position to do so to act quickly so
that the target may not have to be shifted upwards due
to increased poverty worldwide.
Of particular concern to us is the difficulty facing
the lower-middle-income group of countries, to which
Saint Lucia and many of the small island developing
States belong. In spite of their limited resources, the
members of that group have initiated prudent economic
measures and have been able to make significant
strides in their efforts to bring a reasonable level of
economic and social benefits to their people.
However, policies that are ill-conceived and ill-
advised will continue to negate our efforts and reverse
some of the gains that have been made, forcing a
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reclassification of our status. We look forward to
meaningful progress at the Follow-up International
Conference on Financing for Development to Review
the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, to be
held in Doha later this year, and call on our
development partners to give practical expression to
the numerous commitments that have been offered in
the past, but that remain unrealized.
In Doha, we expect greater momentum on the
question of trade and development. Many of our
countries are characterized by small size and the
associated vulnerabilities. While the products and
services we have to offer are few, they are nevertheless
the source of our livelihood. The investments in those
products and services are significant for our countries,
and while the pressure of competition from larger and
more diversified economies may force the
consideration of a wholesale shift in production focus,
the economic dislocation that would result from the
pursuit of such a strategy would be too overwhelming.
In addition, as small as our population may be,
the youth sector is a sizable portion of our society, and
they need to be given hope. The best avenue is through
education and the development of small and medium-
sized enterprises. Many countries have successfully
developed through that route, but have failed to share
their experiences with others. We therefore need the
trade links to be open and fair, with greater
consideration given to the very small States, so that we
too can meet the hopes and aspirations of our young —
and until now, patient — populations. In that respect,
we call upon the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization to play a more meaningful
role in that endeavour.
South-South cooperation continues to be a
significant component of Saint Lucia’s approach to
development. Saint Lucia continues to benefit from the
generous economic and technical cooperation among
developing countries within and outside of the
Caribbean region, including Cuba, Trinidad and
Tobago, Brazil and Mexico, to name a few, while we
continue to develop closer cooperation with our Latin
American neighbours.
We therefore applaud the establishment of the
South Fund for Development and Humanitarian
Assistance approved at the second South Summit, held
in 2005 in Qatar, as a financing mechanism to assist
developing countries in economic, social, health and
educational development, and in the alleviation of
hunger, poverty and the impact of natural disasters.
While developing countries have made great
strides in financing their own development and the
development of other countries of the South, greater
cooperation in the area of technology transfer,
particularly capacity-building and technical assistance,
is required from the North. Capacity-building among
young people is crucial to the development of the skills
required to implement our commitments to achieve the
MDGs.
We recognize the valuable role that both South-
South and North-South cooperation play in the
advancement of the development agenda. However, we
know that triangular cooperation can be an equally
useful and cost-effective tool for furthering our
development objectives. We therefore welcome efforts
in that area. Critical also to the realization of the
MDGs is the delivery of aid commitments to
developing countries without the burdensome
conditionalities that are a typical feature of
international programmes of development assistance.
The sustainable development of our sister
CARICOM country of Haiti continues to be a
formidable challenge faced by our region and the wider
international community. It is one that requires the
implementation of a long-term assistance programme
that ensures that economic and social recovery take
root and that the people of that country can be assured
of a brighter future.
We wish therefore to applaud the Government of
Haiti for its successful completion of the national
growth and poverty reduction strategy focusing on
improving democratic governance, security and justice,
and the delivery of basic services. We call on the
international community to assist Haiti in the speedy
implementation of the national growth and poverty
reduction strategy.
We therefore continue to call for the sustained
release of pledged development resources so that the
Government and the people of Haiti may continue to
meaningfully, and in a sustainable manner, undertake
measures to confront the numerous challenges to the
development of their country.
Saint Lucia’s relationship with its partners is
based on a commitment to mutual respect and
understanding for each other. In that vein, Saint Lucia
37 08-52265
pays tribute to the Government and the people of the
Republic of China, Taiwan, a democratic country that
has continued to abide by the very principles that the
United Nations holds dear, seeking to nurture and
preserve human rights and development. We
acknowledge the contribution that the Republic of
China, Taiwan, has made to international development
by its provision of substantial development assistance
to developing countries in the spirit of South-South
cooperation. The Government of Taiwan has provided
significant cooperation assistance to Saint Lucia and
other States in the areas of education, health,
agriculture and tourism.
We are also heartened by recent bilateral
discussions that would serve to reduce tensions in the
Taiwan Straits and would result in an increase in
economic cooperation, investment and transportation
links. Natural disasters, epidemics and food and energy
crises know no boundaries. The 23 million people in
Taiwan are inextricably linked to the world scene and
have the same responsibilities and obligations as others
to collaborate in the prevention of global catastrophes.
We hope therefore that this body will take that fact into
consideration and allow them to meaningfully
participate in the United Nations specialized agencies
in the fight against such catastrophes.
Saint Lucia is seriously concerned about the
proliferation of small arms in our part of the world.
The presence of small arms in our region poses serious
challenges for the security and stability of our
societies. As we struggle to address that problem
within our limited resources, we call on those States
that are engaged in the production and trade of small
arms and ammunition to enact appropriate measures to
curb that illicit trade, which threatens the stability and
security of our societies.
Saint Lucia remains concerned about the pace at
which the matter of reform of the Security Council is
proceeding. Reform of the Security Council has been
on the agenda of the United Nations for much too long.
We continue to support the view that it is time for the
Security Council to be more democratic, in order to
make it better able to deal with the increasing number
and complexity of issues it must deal with and more
reflective of post-1948 reality. In that respect, Saint
Lucia supports the call for, at a minimum, a permanent
seat on the Council for the African continent, just as
other continents have such a seat.
Recent events are providing a vivid illustration of
the need for reform of the Security Council. Large size,
military power, economic power, or large population
are not in themselves sufficient criteria for a permanent
seat on the Council. Adherence to the principles
enshrined in the Charter of this Organization should be
paramount over all others.
In closing, Saint Lucia is a small country with
resources that would fail to register in global terms.
Yet, small as we are, our people have hopes,
aspirations and ambitions like any other. Moreover, we
hold the firm belief that we have the capacity to
contribute to the world in a measured way beyond our
size. We are probably best at economics, working
miracles with limited resources, and literature, where
our aspirations are clearly articulated — having two
Nobel Laureates in these areas. We hold the view that
our limited resources should be utilized and focused on
improving the quality of life of our people in
education, health, social services and economic
opportunity. Those are our primary aims, and we
believe them to be in conformity with those of this
eminent Organization.