In
circumstances like these, I would normally speak for
about an hour, but I would like to assure you, Sir, and
the Assembly that the quality of mercy is not strained
and that I will be considerably briefer than that. Today,
I propose to stay within the time allotted to me.
Trinidad and Tobago extends its sincerest
congratulations to the President on his ascension to the
stewardship of this sixty-fourth session of the General
Assembly. We know that his vast experience and
leadership qualities will ensure very successful
deliberations. We also pay tribute to his predecessor,
Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, for his
vision and fearless discharge of his responsibilities as
President of the Assembly at its sixty-third session.
We convey our very best wishes to Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon, whom we welcomed to Port of
Spain earlier this year when Trinidad and Tobago
hosted the fifth Summit of the Americas. We assure
him of our continuing support as he pursues his
09-52586 16
mission to ensure that the United Nations meets the
new challenges of the twenty-first century.
We meet at a time of very serious challenges for
the world economy. We are now beginning to emerge
from a global recession caused by a near collapse of
the international financial system, but there is no room
for complacency. Unemployment continues to grow in
almost every country, credit remains contracted and
consumer confidence, that most critical factor, persists
at very low levels. Additionally, there is no certainty of
a steady upward trajectory for the global economy.
Valued opinion on this matter points to the possibility
of further recessionary trends before the present green
shoots produce flourishing green fields.
We clearly cannot take our eye off the ball. We
must not return to business as usual. We should not
countenance the resurfacing of discredited patterns on
financial streets and capitals. We must be wary of the
level of adventurousness in leading financial
institutions that contributed very significantly to
driving the world to the edge of an economic precipice
from which we are just starting to pull back. There is
justification for concern about this situation in every
country on this planet. In the globalized economy, we
are all affected by policies or actions that direct the
international financial system.
We of the smaller countries and the developing
world have always been the most vulnerable and the
worst affected. It is happening again. Especially in the
southern hemisphere, the prospects have grown for
increased poverty, unemployment and general slippage
in the development process. How much longer will this
acute vulnerability of so many nations persist? How
many more dreams must now, once again, be deferred?
The trust of the world in the totally unregulated
market has been entirely misplaced. We must now
capitalize on the opportunity of this crisis and, without
delay, reform our international economic system. The
global architecture must be transformed to take the
new realities into account. Among these are new and
emerging centres of economic power and the now
indispensable need to deliberately generate growth in
the developing world if the global economy is to
achieve resurgence and sustainability. In this extremely
interconnected world, it is our collective resources,
ingenuity, productivity, markets and technology that
will keep all of us afloat.
Let this General Assembly therefore play its part
in ensuring that we leave behind the old approaches
that suffocated development of the many for the benefit
of the few. Let it call for greater recognition of the
absolute need to bring into the global mainstream the
entire productive and purchasing capacity of this
planet, our collective home.
We are heartened by developments and decisions
among the countries of the Group of 20, but we must
ensure that there is absolutely no reversal of the new
approach; no dimming of the new light that the present
crisis has generated; and no diminution of the
acceptance that we are all in this together and that
development everywhere translates into prosperity for
all. Let us therefore ensure that the reform of
international financial institutions does indeed take
place; that we entrench greater sensitivity to the
varying needs of countries at differing levels of
development; that new voices, respecting and
representing more of humanity, are in the decision-
making process; and that resource flows for trade and
investment are in fact realized and activated.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has not
been spared the debilitating effects of the current
global economic situation. Most CARICOM States are
now experiencing economic contraction and rising
levels of debt and unemployment, with their
challenging social consequences. It is therefore
regrettable that some middle-income countries, such as
many in CARICOM, may not be eligible for funding
under some of the World Bank’s facilities for
international development assistance.
Given their vulnerabilities, middle-income
countries’ need for access to concessionary financing
must not be underestimated. This was highlighted in
2008 at the Third Ministerial Conference of Middle-
Income Countries in Namibia, which called for
enhanced levels of international development
assistance and noted that the current categorization
does not accurately reflect the particularities and needs
of these nations. This General Assembly must take
steps to advance the cause of middle-income countries
in this matter.
The situation in Haiti is one of grave concern. We
are encouraged by the diverse United Nations-related
initiatives aimed at promoting peace and security in
that country, but greater attention is required by the
international community. Arising out of the Fifth
17 09-52586
Summit of the Americas, Trinidad and Tobago has
advanced a proposal for the establishment of a
hemispheric development fund for Haiti, to which all
western hemisphere countries would be expected to
contribute. Haiti is first and foremost a western
hemisphere challenge, and we see this fund as essential
to the re-establishment of proper standards of living in
that country. We bring this matter before the General
Assembly for its support.
One of the very significant problems facing the
global community is transnational organized crime of
increasing strength, which includes terrorist activity as
well as the illegal traffic in drugs, arms and persons.
The Caribbean is particularly plagued by the illegal
drug trade, which uses our region as a trans-shipment
route for its pernicious cargo headed northwards. This
activity has a corrosive effect on our small societies,
fuelling, for example, trafficking in small arms and
light weapons, with troubling consequences.
In CARICOM, we have been pooling our
resources for this fight. There is now unprecedented
cooperation among the legal and security systems of
our countries, but we need more resources in our
struggle with this menace. We will continue to engage
in the various processes of the United Nations aimed at
addressing this problem. We encourage those Member
States that have not been supportive of the initiative
aimed at negotiating a legally binding arms trade treaty
to join those States working to ensure that it becomes a
reality.
But the security situation has been aggravated by
the deteriorating economic situation in many of our
countries, weakened by the loss of preferential markets
for bananas and sugar. The situation is exacerbated by
the new paradigm of reciprocity in trade, and by the
fact that both the tourism industry and the financial
services sector, to which many have turned to
supplement their economic development, have not
produced the anticipated returns. The economic
situation of these countries has therefore become even
more critical, with severe consequences for the security
and prosperity of our region, given the inextricable link
between security and socio-economic development.
Climate change is one of the major challenges
facing our civilization today. The Secretary-General
must be highly commended for his commitment to
dealing with this issue, which he declared as a priority
at the start of his tenure. In this regard, we add our
voices to those that have praised highly the United
Nations Summit on Climate Change, which has just
concluded. This General Assembly must promote more
meaningful action directed towards an internationally
acceptable formula for the reduction of carbon
emissions.
Trinidad and Tobago wishes to make it absolutely
clear that we do not accept the per capita basis for the
determination of levels of carbon emissions. It is
manifestly unfair to a small, energy-producing
developing country like ours with a small population.
We consider the method of absolute emissions to be a
more just method of determining a country’s
contribution to global warming, since it is affected not
by per capita emissions, but by absolute levels. The
question of population size, in this context, has nothing
to do with the matter whatsoever.
We also assure the Assembly that our country has
already voluntarily embarked on reducing emissions
through a programme that includes the pursuit of
renewable sources of supply. We will also be hosting
the 53 Commonwealth heads of Government at a
meeting in Port of Spain in November of this year. This
will be the last major summit before the Copenhagen
Climate Change Summit in December. We propose to
use the opportunity to attempt to forge a consensus that
would reflect the common views of the
Commonwealth, comprising as it does both high
greenhouse-gas emitters and some of the countries
most threatened by climate change. We are determined
to do all in our power to ensure agreement in
Copenhagen.
We are firmly of the view that non-communicable
diseases demand the heightened attention of the
international community at this time. It has been
forecast that by 2020 non-communicable diseases will
account for approximately 73 per cent of global deaths
and 60 per cent of the global burden of disease. We
join the call for indicators on non-communicable
diseases and injuries to be integrated into the core
monitoring and evaluation system of the Millennium
Development Goals. We have taken this matter on
board at the level of the Caribbean Community. Indeed,
we held a special regional summit in Port of Spain on
chronic non-communicable diseases in 2007. I now
propose that this Assembly convene a special summit
meeting of the United Nations on non-communicable
diseases at the earliest opportunity.
09-52586 18
The year 2015 is fast approaching, but there has
been, sadly, no encouraging progress towards our
Millennium Development Goal of food security for all
by that date. Indeed, we have fallen behind in our
schedule, with an increase in deaths from hunger and
malnutrition in the developing world. A much greater
sense of urgency is needed in our approach to this
situation. All countries must honour their commitments
made at the 2008 High-Level Conference on World
Food Security. Trinidad and Tobago therefore looks
forward to the next World Summit on Food Security,
scheduled for November in Rome, with the expectation
that the results will aid the international community in
achieving the revised target set by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to
eradicate hunger by 2025.
My country is committed to an international order
based on peace, security and the right to development
of all countries. We believe that democracy and
representation are key to achieving meaningful and
effective multilateralism. We therefore wish again to
support efforts to reform the Security Council. Reform
of that important organ of the United Nations,
responsible for the maintenance of international peace
and security, must include efforts aimed at making its
composition reflect more closely the global
geopolitical realities since the end of the Second World
War.
In this new century, the United Nations must
become an even more effective voice for all of
mankind. We have very important work ahead of us at
a very challenging time in our history. Let us never
lose sight of our main purpose, which is the security
and development of the people of the world. Let us
renew our focus on this main objective.
Let us therefore support the reign of fundamental
freedoms and human rights in every country. Let us
strive for the individual empowerment of citizens in
every nation; let there be opportunity and upward
mobility for all; let none be marginalized on the
periphery; and let the abundant talent and potential of
humanity flower everywhere, serving as inspiration,
guidance and example to present and future
generations.
Let us therefore join our strengths for the benefit
of all. Let us indeed build a global community where
there is increasing and intensified cooperation and
communication among our nations, where no country
lags behind, and where all nations and their peoples are
on the international road to development.