I begin by joining others
in congratulating Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on
assuming the noble and high responsibility of the
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth
session. Let me wish him well in his leadership as the
United Nations makes its way through the myriad
evolving challenges on the global agenda. I also take
this opportunity to commend the Secretary-General for
his vision and for the initiatives that he has resolutely
pursued in the interests of all humanity.
The theme of the sixty-fourth General Assembly
session will serve to focus the attention of the
international community on the critical importance of
building partnerships for more equitable and
sustainable development. My delegation shares the
belief that sustainable development is the responsibility
of everyone, and that its realization requires strong
partnerships at all levels. I firmly believe that equity
and sustainable development are mutually reinforcing
goals, for it would be difficult to support peace,
security and growth in any process of development that
left much of humanity behind.
One of the major goals of my country’s
comprehensive reform programme, introduced during
the mid-1990s, is to promote social equity, especially
in terms of integrating the needs of our culturally
diverse people and geographically remote communities
into our national development priorities. I am glad to
say that we are still pursuing our nationwide policy
consultation processes, aimed at developing and
maintaining sound policies and frameworks for
delivering services to our people at the grass-roots
level.
We in the Pacific are grateful to all our
development partners for their continuing support and
their commitment to working closely with us in
developing mechanisms for strengthening development
coordination, improving development outcomes, using
available resources effectively and ensuring
inclusiveness in our approach to development.
We are very much aware of the fact that despite
continued high levels of development assistance over
many years, the economic and development
performance of island States in the Pacific region
remains weak. Many countries in our region, including
Vanuatu, are not on track to achieve all the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Vanuatu will
therefore remain firmly committed to the principles of
the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development
Coordination in the Pacific. We are committed to
working closely with the Pacific Islands Forum
Secretariat and other multilateral agencies to ensure
that all resources made available to the region are
focused on the aim of achieving real progress towards
the MDGs. We are also committed to work with our
individual donor partners to ensure that they support
our national development priorities that are linked to
our overall efforts to achieve the MDGs.
However, Vanuatu is aware that commitments to
strengthening development coordination in the Pacific
region are being made against the backdrop of the
global economic crisis. My delegation therefore wishes
to renew our call to international financial institutions
to assist Pacific island countries in responding to the
international economic crisis. Vanuatu is very
concerned that its recent high economic growth
performance, which rose above 6 per cent between
2006 and 2007, will fall sharply as a result of the
global economic recession. International Monetary
Fund and Asian Development Bank growth estimates
forecast that Vanuatu’s economy will grow at a slower
41 09-52470
pace in 2008 and 2009, averaging between 3 and 4 per
cent. Growth prospects for the future continue to be
uncertain. Maintaining strong economic growth over
the next few years will be critical if Vanuatu is to
succeed in sustained delivery of such basic services as
education, health and infrastructure development to its
80 scattered islands.
In the light of these concerns Vanuatu is pleased
that in February 2010 it will be hosting a Pacific-
United Nations Conference on The Human Face of the
Global Economic Crisis in the Pacific. Discussions of
the organizational arrangements for this important
event are under way between my Government, United
Nations specialized agencies actively engaged in the
Pacific region and Pacific regional organizations. We
all look forward to the outcome of the conference,
especially in terms of guidance and support for
building Pacific regional partnerships that can assist us
in addressing the impacts of this and future global
economic crises on the livelihoods of our people.
The complex and challenging circumstances in
Fiji have led to international condemnation and
pressure for early elections to be held. Further
international pressure has been brought to bear on the
Government of Fiji in view of more recent
developments. While Vanuatu is part of the Pacific-
wide regional calls for an early return of democracy in
Fiji, my Government believes that continued
engagement of the Fiji Government by the
international community will be critical. Under
Vanuatu’s chairmanship, the Melanesian Spearhead
Group has continued to maintain high-level dialogue
with the Government of Fiji, primarily to ascertain that
Government’s views and to put forward the concerns of
neighbouring States.
Vanuatu welcomes the recent establishment of a
full-fledged department to oversee the implementation
of the framework for change that the Fiji Government
introduced recently and to facilitate a nationwide
process of reconciliation and dialogue. As the closest
neighbouring island State, Vanuatu continues to plead
that the process of returning Fiji to democracy and
parliamentary legitimacy should be driven by peaceful
dialogue and genuine concern for the socio-economic
well-being of the people of Fiji. Any punitive measures
would not be in the economic and social interest of the
good people of Fiji or the region of the Pacific as a
whole. We are all too aware of the unprecedented
challenges that small island developing States like
Vanuatu have come to be faced with today. Man-made
or linked with such phenomena as climate change,
these challenges pose unacceptable implications for the
social, economic and political structures of our small
island States and often have grave security
implications.
Vanuatu would like at this juncture cordially to
applaud the tireless and collective efforts of all the
island nations, large and small, in cooperating and
working together towards the adoption by the General
Assembly this past June of resolution 63/281 on
climate change and its possible security implications.
This is indeed a historical milestone for Pacific small
island developing States, such as my own country,
because for the first time the security implications of
climate change were brought to the attention of the
international community. Over the years differing and
conflicting views have stalled the strenuous efforts of
the small island countries in convincing the world that
the impact of climate change was irreversible. Inherent
in many of the arguments that needed to be overcome
was the idea that there was still time.
At this point I wish to reiterate that the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
must be the principal forum for addressing climate
change. Given our vulnerabilities and geographic
realities, we in the Pacific region have been among the
first fully to accept the security implications of climate
change. I would like to stress here that no country,
small or large, developed or developing, will be able to
avoid the security implications of climate change,
which are already affecting the livelihoods of our
people, as the international community struggles to
come to terms with the idea that climate change poses
a real threat to the future survival of mankind. Unless
all the relevant organs of the United Nations intensify
their efforts to consider and address the issue of
climate change, no word will be more appropriate to
the global situation under this particular crisis than the
word “doomed”. The momentum seen today forces
upon us the realization that these threats are real and
therefore require urgent attention.
In preparations for the coming conference in
Copenhagen, leaders of the Alliance of Small Island
States have agreed this week that more action is
required from members of the international community
in living up to their commitments. While globalization
and interdependency have brought with them both
opportunities and challenges for the small island
09-52470 42
States, the challenges predominate and are ominous.
The gathering of world leaders at the Summit on
Climate Change at this year’s General Assembly was a
reaffirmation that climate change presents a security
threat to all our nations and peoples.
Consisting of volcanic and coral islands, Vanuatu
is one of the smaller island nations in the South Pacific
region and in the world. Because of Vanuatu’s rapidly
growing young population and low economic growth
rate, the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) assessment, until very recently, ranked it as
one of the poorest countries in the South Pacific
region. This degree of underdevelopment drastically
limits its capacity to effectively curb threats associated
with the adverse impacts of climate change.
More than 80 per cent of the people of Vanuatu
live off the land through subsistence farming, which
constitutes their contribution to the national economy.
Vanuatuan traditional farming practices have been
shaped by farmers’ subsistence needs and climatic
conditions. Land has always been precious to the
Ni-Vanuatu; rights to its ownership and use form a
central part of their culture and traditional governance.
The rapidly growing population of Vanuatu places
increasing pressure on access to a finite amount of
farmland. This issue is likely to be compounded by
probable losses of arable land owing to the adverse
effects of climate change. Such possible losses raise
serious economic, political and security implications
for Vanuatu.
Not only is Vanuatu among the least developed
countries, but it remains one of the most disaster-prone
nations among the small island States. It is highly
susceptible to cyclones, coastal erosion, river flooding,
earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis and volcanic
eruptions.
Without doubt these are challenging times. We
followed with great interest the recent Conference on
the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its
Impact on Development. Vanuatu is deeply concerned
that the world financial crisis, like climate change, is
caused by external forces beyond our control, and yet
its rippling effects are quickly reaching our nation’s
most vulnerable populations. Children, women, the
disabled and the working poor will be the hardest hit
and the least able to cope with dramatic changes.
Vanuatu is indeed being hurt by a variety of
economic realities, such as decreasing trade, erratic
commodity prices, increased borrowing costs and
strains on official development assistance. One of the
reasons for this downturn is that we are quite
dependent on external financing, in the form of both
aid and trade. Furthermore our foreign-exchange
earnings and our Government revenue rely on a small
number of commodities. However, we are confident
that we will be able to counteract those weaknesses in
our economic situation by introducing progressive
microeconomic policy mechanisms, improving
Government structures and striving to maintain
political stability. This plan is in line with working to
implement the Millennium Development Goals and to
achieve country targets by the year 2015.
Vanuatu emphatically concurs with the premise of
the upcoming Copenhagen conference that climate
change is one of the most fundamental challenges ever
to confront humanity. No issue is more fundamental to
long-term global prosperity, and no issue is more
essential to our survival as a species. I strongly feel
that a fair and comprehensive global deal in
Copenhagen will represent a step forward for all us, for
nations small or large, developing or developed.
Mutual cooperation, respect and trust will be the key
political driving forces for a successful deal in
Copenhagen.
While we commend recent efforts to reform the
United Nations, Vanuatu shares the view of many other
countries that to ensure a stronger and more effective
Organization we need to reconsider the membership of
the Security Council sooner rather than later. If the
Council’s membership better reflected the world’s
geography and better represented currently
underrepresented groups, the United Nations would
build a stronger sense of common responsibility and
collective responsiveness. A more representative
Council would bring openness and transparency, create
confidence and ameliorate understanding and
cooperation.
Still, any reform must be implemented in a way
that does not affect the authority of the Council. Of
course there are diverse vested interests among us. But
our common interests and the United Nations role in
furthering them must continue to hold a central place to
ensure the continuity of the international legal
framework. Negotiations must therefore be conducted
in an atmosphere of inclusion and through constructive
dialogue and positive engagement. Diatribes offer no
solutions. We must remain resolute in our defence of
43 09-52470
the United Nations; the necessity of this Organization
is continuously made clear by the horrors that the
scourges of armed conflict, disease and famine inflict
on people, especially women and children.
On a more administrative level, the highly
bureaucratic procedures and accession mechanisms
established by the United Nations system for much
needed funds have placed unnecessary strain on local
capacities. As the burgeoning climate crisis looms on
the horizon we need to identify ways of simplifying
procedures, such as those for accessing climate change
mitigation funds, and to consider revising delivery
modalities, including exploring direct access
possibilities. The blueprint for international
cooperation may be in place but it must be followed up
by action.
Finally, my delegation welcomes Security
Council resolution 1887 (2009) on non-proliferation of
nuclear weapons and disarmament. The presence of all
the leaders of the Permanent Five at the meeting (see
S/PV.6191) demonstrates a commitment to control the
spread of weapons of mass destruction. Maintaining
international peace and security will always remain
humanity’s greatest challenge, and there is hope.
Despite all our differences and diversities, human
security for all is our main objective. We recognize the
efforts of the Secretary-General and commend the
manner in which he has pursued the mobilization of
political momentum for Copenhagen with the relevant
bodies of the United Nations. Saving the Earth and
humanity remains our ultimate goal.
In conclusion, we go to Copenhagen with
optimism. The future is in our hands. Let us not
deprive future generations of their right to live in a
world of peace and stability.