I should like to congratulate
the President on his election to preside over the
General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. We are
confident that under his able leadership and guidance,
our deliberations will be successful. I assure him of my
delegation’s fullest support and cooperation. I would
also like to convey our deep appreciation to his
predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann, for his leadership at the sixty-third session.
It has been only 18 months since my country
successfully made the transition to a democratic
constitutional monarchy. Within this period, the elected
Government has made every effort to establish a strong
foundation for a sustainable and vibrant democracy, as
it is these initial years that will determine the direction
of democracy in Bhutan. Concrete steps are being
taken to empower the people and to ensure that
democracy truly benefits every citizen.
The people of Bhutan, although hesitant at first,
were guided and encouraged by our enlightened and
visionary monarchs and have fully embraced
democracy. From our experience so far, we are
confident that a strong foundation for democracy has
been established; it is now time to nurture and continue
to strengthen this foundation.
The world is grappling with multiple, interlinked
global crises. The impact of these crises has been
particularly severe on the least developed countries,
where levels of poverty and insecurity are already high.
The food and energy crises have driven millions of the
most vulnerable people deeper into poverty and further
desperation. Meeting their needs and freeing them from
the cycle of poverty continues to be the major
challenge to development and to achieving the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is
inconceivable that, in an era of unprecedented
prosperity, the vast majority of the world’s population
remains in poverty and destitution. The alleviation of
poverty, therefore, must be at the forefront of the
international community’s development efforts.
Since the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus in
2002, developing countries have made significant
progress in many areas of domestic resource
mobilization. However, challenges remain, especially
during the current economic slowdown, for developing
countries to mobilize adequate domestic resources to
meet their development needs. For many such
countries, official development assistance (ODA)
remains the most important source of external
financing for achieving their development objectives
and attaining the MDGs. We therefore encourage donor
countries to take concrete steps towards fulfilling their
ODA commitments.
In Bhutan, we have achieved relative
socio-economic progress over the past five years. The
annual gross domestic product growth rate has
averaged around 8 per cent, the national literacy rate
has reached 60 per cent and health coverage has been
sustained at 90 per cent. The royal Government
continues to accord high priority to the social sector.
Bhutan launched its tenth five-year plan in July 2008
with the overarching goal of poverty reduction and
implementing MDG-based initiatives. As this is the
first plan to be implemented under our first elected
Government, its successful implementation is of
paramount importance to reaffirming the people’s faith
in parliamentary democracy and ensuring a successful
political transition.
These successes in the political, social and
economic fields would not have been possible without
the support of our development partners, bilateral and
multilateral. To them I offer our deep gratitude and
appreciation, and we look forward to their continued
assistance and support during this critical transitional
phase.
It is becoming increasingly evident that the
impact of continuing climate change cannot be ignored.
While its adverse effects will spare none, small
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developing countries will bear a heavier burden, even
though they contribute the least to the causes. Despite
Bhutan’s negligible emission of greenhouse gases, our
fragile mountain ecology faces potential threats,
primarily the adverse impact on agriculture, which is
the mainstay of our people. Erratic and severe weather
patterns and the threat of glacial lake outburst floods
are of particular concern to Bhutan. Other hazards,
such as flash floods, landslides, forest fires and
droughts, are also likely to increase. When Cyclone
Aila hit the Bay of Bengal in May, it also had
disastrous and widespread effects in Bhutan, touching
every corner of the country. Precious lives were lost;
power and water supplies affected; roads, bridges and
vital infrastructure damaged. Farms, the most
vulnerable sector, were the worst affected.
Our capacity to carry out adaptation and
mitigation measures is severely constrained by our lack
of scientific, technical and financial resources. Bhutan
has always maintained that climate change must be
addressed within the framework of sustainable
development. The issues are inextricably linked to
development, and any debate on the subject must take
into consideration equity and the right of developing
countries to be able to provide their people with better
livelihoods.
My delegation appreciates the initiative of the
Secretary-General in convening the high-level Summit
on Climate Change. It provided the necessary political
impetus for negotiations to be concluded in
Copenhagen this December. We must now advance the
progress of the multilateral negotiations in every
possible way to ensure that tangible results are
achieved in Copenhagen for the well-being of present
and future generations. In this regard, I am pleased to
inform this gathering that Bhutan will assume the chair
of and host the sixteenth summit of the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in
April 2010. Given the importance of the subject,
climate change and environment will be the Summit’s
theme, and the issue will receive our leaders’ highest
attention when they meet in Thimphu.
Terrorism in all forms and manifestations is a
serious threat to domestic as well as global peace and
security. It endangers and undermines our common
values of respect for human rights and the rule of law,
and our basic desire to live in peace and harmony.
Preventing terrorism preserves these fundamental
values, through which we can achieve lasting peace
and security.
Even my country, which has always enjoyed
peace and stability, has not been spared this evil
menace. Bhutan therefore fully supports the
international consensus on taking firm action against
terrorism. The General Assembly’s adoption of the
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288)
was an important political achievement that represents
our common approach to combating the scourge of
global terrorism. We must show similar commitment in
concluding a comprehensive convention on
international terrorism. Within our region, the leaders
of SAARC have concluded an agreement on mutual
legal assistance in criminal matters, reaffirming our
region’s commitment to collectively addressing the
evils of terrorism.
Bhutan accords high importance to reform of the
United Nations, particularly the revitalization of the
General Assembly and reform of the Security Council.
We fully support the expansion of the Security Council
in both its permanent and non-permanent membership.
For their active role in global affairs and their capacity
and resources to shoulder greater responsibilities,
reflect present global realities and make the United
Nations more representative, we fully support electing
India, Japan, Brazil and Germany, plus two African
countries, to be permanent Security Council members.
My delegation is greatly encouraged by the
momentum gained in the intergovernmental
negotiations on the reform process. We hope that the
sixty-fourth session will build on the progress achieved
so far and bring this long-drawn-out process to a
successful conclusion under Mr. Treki’s leadership.
Natural calamities are occurring regularly every
year, and smaller developing countries are increasingly
faced with the challenge of coping with such problems.
Just last week, my country was severely affected by an
earthquake that measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. It is
one of the biggest disasters we have experienced in
recent times. Its devastating effects were felt in six
districts of eastern Bhutan, where 13 people lost their
lives and many were left injured and homeless. About
1,900 homes, numerous schools, Government offices
and historical monuments were destroyed or damaged.
The full impact is still being ascertained. During this
difficult period, we have been comforted by the
outpouring of support from friendly countries such as
47 09-52598
India and others, which have rendered much-needed
technical and financial assistance for the massive relief
work.
Given the increasing frequency of such severe
natural calamities and their negative effects on many
parts of the world, there is a need for institutionalized
disaster preparedness and response mechanisms at the
national, regional and global levels. In this context, the
establishment of the United Nations Central Emergency
Fund is an important step towards providing the
disaster relief that is urgently required for life-saving
operations. Bearing this in mind and as an expression
of our continued support for the commendable
humanitarian work of the United Nations, Bhutan has
made a modest contribution to the Fund, which we
hope to increase in the coming years.
These are indeed difficult times with multiple
crises hitting us simultaneously. The threat of climate
change is real and its effects are occurring even as I
speak. Global governance needs to be made more
effective to help us address the global challenges more
efficiently. In this interdependent world, it will be
impossible for any country to act alone in resolving
these crises. Therefore, as we gather here once again to
deliberate and find solutions to the many difficult
problems confronting us, I conclude by reiterating my
delegation’s full support and cooperation in working
towards addressing our common challenges.