Before anything else, allow me to congratulate His
Excellency Mr. Ali Treki of Libya, a country with
which we maintain excellent relations of brotherhood,
for his election to the important post of President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session, which
role he will certainly carry out with his usual level of
excellence. I would also like to congratulate His
Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann for his
excellent work on the world economic crisis during his
presidency at the sixty-third session.
A year has passed since the opening of the
Assembly’s sixty-third session, and yet we have still
not recovered from the full effects of the global
economic crisis, despite enormous efforts on the part of
developed countries. The same distortions in the
world’s economy remain.
But it is not just economic and financial problems
that we face. Our biggest challenge today is
guaranteeing the future of our planet, not just in the
economic sense, but also resolving climate change
issues that threaten the very survival of small island
nations like Sao Tome and Principe. Though our carbon
emissions are insignificant and our forests play a key
role as part of the world’s lungs, rising sea levels are
already causing coastal erosion around our country.
Time is no longer on our side but has become our
unforgiving judge. There is no time for more
unfounded justifications for the non-fulfilment of the
Kyoto Protocol. We cannot continue evading these
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essential environmental issues, which are not a
question of developing countries against developed
ones. We need urgent measures that are global and
concrete to save us from this crisis.
The report of the Secretary-General on the work
of the Organization (A/64/1) contains some important
points to which we have given considerable attention,
because my country shares similar concerns. I am
referring to the urgent need for reform of the United
Nations system. Africa, especially its small countries
on the periphery, continues mired in the deepest
poverty. Our problems are particularly difficult to solve
due to a combination of adverse factors that deserve an
approach from the international community that is
more systematic, more diligent and more coordinated.
There have been several crises in 2009, and we
have to re-think together the future of the new world
economic order. Those crises affect all countries and
demand a global response. Sao Tome and Principe is a
micro-State with a micro-economy, and thus it is poor
and vulnerable. As such, it is not immune to the effects
of those crises.
We need to reinforce the merits of multilateralism
as an instrument through which the international
community can promote peace and development.
Therefore, Sao Tome and Principe wants to
demonstrate its support for the institutionalization of
this agenda within the framework of the United
Nations. In a world confronting a global economic and
financial crisis, along with the negative impact of
climate changes, there is a need to guarantee food
security and energy security, to deal with migrations
and pandemics and numerous regional conflicts of
increasing complexity and associated risks.
The only way we can face these crises is through
active multilateralism, based on international law and
on the principles of the United Nations Charter, and
through reaffirming our commitment to achieving the
goals set out in the United Nations 2005 World
Summit. We are well aware that we will achieve those
goals only through a renewed multilateral system,
integrated in a world organization that is stronger,
more egalitarian and with more solidarity.
In this framework we call for support for the oft-
repeated proposal for reforming the United Nations
system, and particularly the issue of permanent
members of the Security Council. We believe that this
issue cannot be endlessly put off. There must be more
justice in the context of the United Nations. The
African States must have a voice and cannot be ignored
in this process of reform of our Organization. That is
why I want to state my complete agreement with what
was said from this tribune yesterday, at the
3rd meeting, by the President of the African Union, our
brother-leader Qadhafi, reclaiming better participation
by the African countries as permanent members of the
Security Council.
We are beginning the last five years in the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). The past five years have presented us with
the biggest challenges facing global society: poverty,
pandemics, environmental degradation — everything
that galvanized the world’s position that was translated
into the declaration that we heard yesterday. The goals
and hopes that this declaration embodies need
attention. I can say that in Sao Tome and Principe we
have made determined efforts, especially to achieve the
Goals in the areas of health and education. We are
almost there, although we are yet not completely
satisfied.
The biggest debates related to global warming
concentrate on substitutions for fossil fuels in order to
reduce carbon emissions that contribute to the
greenhouse effect. This debate has gone on as
temperatures have risen, causing the glaciers and polar
ice caps to melt, which in turn has already caused a rise
in the sea level. As I mentioned earlier, that is
threatening our country.
These environmental changes present a strategic
challenge for countries, with increasing global
insecurity caused by the effects of violent storms,
droughts, massive migrations and pandemics, which
lead to an increase in poverty, environmental
degradation and weakening national Governments.
Experts in this field call our attention to the fact that
these climate changes may result in an unprecedented
need to provide emergency food aid, which could cause
a crisis of sustainability for the international
community.
The negotiations in the framework of the United
Nations are aimed at creating a substitute for the 1997
Kyoto Protocol, which establishes limits on greenhouse
gas emissions by 2012 for 37 countries in the
developed world and is an attempt to profoundly alter
the world climate situation.
17 09-52320
We hope the 2020 objectives can be formalized
during the Copenhagen summit. Even in the meetings
this week, at the Assembly’s current session, we have
seen growing concern on the part of the international
community, at the level of the Secretary-General and in
the Alliance of Small Island Developing States, with
regard to the success of this process.
Whenever I speak before the General Assembly, I
conclude by mentioning two continuing cases of
injustice: that of the Republic of China on Taiwan and
that of the trade embargo against Cuba.
Despite everything, there are positive signs on the
international scene, for which we are grateful. We
welcome the recent positive developments between the
Republic of China on Taiwan and the People’s
Republic of China. We continue to support increased
participation at the United Nations for the Republic of
China on Taiwan. In that regard, we welcome the
admission of that nation of 23 million people as an
observer at the World Health Organization. We hope
that other United Nations agencies, such as the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
and the International Civil Aviation Organization, can
also take advantage of the valuable contributions that
that developed country can make with respect to the
urgent needs of the Organization.
Unfortunately, however, while we can express a
certain satisfaction concerning the issue of the
Republic of China on Taiwan, we cannot do so with
regard to the trade embargo against Cuba; indeed, we
are greatly disappointed in that area. But we dare to
remain hopeful that the new United States
Administration will have the courage and
determination to shortly address this issue in the same
manner as it has dealt with that of Guantánamo.
I wish to stress that the road ahead of us is very
difficult and long. There must be global cooperation in
a context of availability and responsibility to ensure
sustainable development for all countries. I therefore
appeal for greater cooperation between donor and
beneficiary countries and greater consultation not only
with Government institutions, but also with institutions
more familiar with the needs of people on the ground. I
am referring specifically to rural communities,
teachers, doctors, nurses, farmers, fishermen and all
those in the productive sectors of our countries.
For the Government and the people of Sao Tome
and Principe, the United Nations remains an
indispensable Organization where there should be no
differences among Member States. The United Nations
must continue its mission of maintaining peace and
security and promoting international development.
Those are the Organization’s objectives to ensure the
betterment of our world.