It is indeed
an honour to address the General Assembly at its sixty-
fourth session. Today, we converge in this Hall to
outline how, from the perspective of our respective
nations, this esteemed body might uphold the rights of
all mankind, secure world peace and indeed, ensure the
very survival of planet Earth.
We converge here in order to arrive at some
collective insight regarding the interests of the world’s
various peoples as well as the interests of humankind
itself. We have come here not only to be heard, but
more importantly to listen and ultimately to commit
ourselves, both as a body and as independent,
sovereign States, to constructive, ameliorative action.
I congratulate the President on his election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth
session and assure him of my Government’s full
support; and if I may, through him thank his
predecessor, His Excellency Father Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann of Nicaragua for his leadership during his
presidency of the sixty-third session.
Our world is defined by issues of politics, the
environment, trade and finance at the global level. Last
year’s financial crisis, which continues to reverberate
throughout the world, stands as a sobering reminder of
the interconnectedness of our economies and the
knowledge that multilateralism is indispensable.
Whether we are speaking about global trade, monetary
and fiscal policies, human rights protection, health and
public security or protecting the environment, these
issues have become interlinked. And their complexity
means that no country can act alone.
The circumstances that precipitated the virtual
collapse of several financial institutions were not
created by small States such as St. Kitts and Nevis. Yet,
as in the case of climate change, their consequences
have been forced upon us and we are left to fend for
ourselves. But, if we are to learn anything from the
crises we face today, it should be that collective action
and partnership are necessary not only in the
management of conflicts but also in building effective,
comprehensive and sustainable infrastructure to protect
our citizens’ future. The ever-changing global
landscape will require that Governments and
institutions work to establish common regimes and
international regulatory frameworks for some time to
come.
To that end, my Government will support an
enhanced role for political forums such as the United
Nations to strengthen multilateralism. We owe this
much to the citizens around the world, who still look to
the United Nations for hope — rooted in the belief that
through our efforts their aspirations will be realized.
We live in complex times, and unexpected
developments challenge our resolve daily. But we
cannot and must not relent. We must double our efforts
and use the convening power and political authority of
this Organization and others like it to find common
ground, even in the face of strident and sometimes
divergent views. That is how we build that
indispensable architecture so as to create a legacy
worthy of future generations. And that is no small feat;
it is, in fact, a monumental task. But the Government
of St. Kitts and Nevis is confident that the President’s
central role in the coming year will help us to craft a
template for collective action.
I would like this General Assembly to be able to
see the world from the perspective of a small middle-
income heavily indebted country. The country that I
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have the honour of leading is a small one — the
smallest nation in the Western hemisphere. Despite the
recent downturn, small economies like ours continue to
display resilience and to make the sacrifices necessary
to sustain ourselves.
As far as our access to capital is concerned, our
hard work and sound management have had
unexpected, harsh and destabilizing implications, with
unwelcome restrictions vis-à-vis debt relief and other
key matters. The international economic crisis has
made clear the urgent need for the restructuring and
repair of the global economic system. As this moves
forward, I urge that the very real vulnerabilities of
small States that happen to have high per capita gross
domestic product be more clearly considered and
reflected in multilateral policies, deliberations and
procedures.
We seek support for a new debt forgiveness
initiative within the framework of the reform of the
international financial institutions and through the
materialization of a concept of middle-income highly
indebted countries, in which peculiarities and
vulnerabilities no longer trigger punitive actions such
as premature graduation from concessionary financing.
In addition, the global economic crisis, which
began far beyond our shores, has nonetheless made its
way to us and made it necessary for my country to
develop and introduce its own stimulus package, thus
forcing us to sacrifice urgently needed tax revenues in
the interest of protecting employment and to find the
means to shore up and advance the viability of our own
private sector.
Nevertheless, we are continuing to invest in our
people through education and retraining programmes
and by working to attract international investments in
critical sectors to generate employment and other
business opportunities. By doing this, we hope to
prepare for the future, when the global economy
eventually rebounds.
It is no secret that our efforts can sometimes
amount to very little, because, through no fault of our
own, it is a fact that when global crises occur, small
vulnerable economies tend to pay a disproportionately
high price. But under my leadership, Saint Kitts and
Nevis will not play victim or assign blame. We prefer
instead to work vigorously at the national level and to
collaborate actively internationally so as to introduce
measures and systems that transform our economy and
improve the lives of our citizens.
Going forward, we want our voices and ideas to
inform whatever new architecture is developed, so as
to avoid the mistakes of the past. Therefore, we will
support the measures established to follow up on issues
pertaining to recovery from the global financial and
economic crises. And we intend to participate
enthusiastically in the process to ensure that the
recovery is comprehensive.
We have common challenges and a shared
responsibility to tackle them. We in the Caribbean have
repeatedly called on the international community to
recognize the special circumstances attending the
realities of small island developing States, not as a
favour to us, but as a practical way of addressing the
multifaceted and complex issues that we face. For
instance, on the issue of environmental protection, the
Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis has always urged
a multilateral approach.
The interconnectedness of our planet, then, is
indeed real, and nowhere is it more so than on the issue
of climate change. Whereas small countries such as
Saint Kitts and Nevis have tiny carbon footprints with
negative environmental impact, global warming and
climate change, with their effects, do not discriminate.
We can all agree that the incidence of catastrophic
climatic events, such as hurricanes, floods and
mudslides, continue to cause more destruction and
claim more and more lives each year.
The geography of our small islands is changing.
Sea levels are rising, and the marine life on which
many of our citizens depend for their livelihoods is fast
diminishing. Our coastlines are being affected. Our
reefs are paying a high price. The long-term
implications for food production are dire indeed.
Again, though those changes began far beyond our
shores, climate change has been inflicting a massive
and disproportionate blow on nations such as mine,
causing us now to urge, in the strongest possible terms,
timely and effective action. Saint Kitts and Nevis is not
interested in stale debates about blame; we are
interested in action, and we want to play our own part.
In the interest of advancing global stability,
therefore, we urge unrelenting commitment to emission
targets by industrialized nations. We urge that the
major global emitters take the lead in ensuring that the
resources are in place so that small island developing
27 09-52586
States can meet our adaptation, mitigation, technology
transfer and capacity-building goals. And we urge that
the emitters embrace the measures needed to
compensate for the risks and the losses resulting from
climate change.
We continue to collaborate regionally and to work
towards efforts in the areas of disaster preparedness,
reduction and mitigation. We recognize that high
dependence on fossil fuels is untenable. Therefore,
with support from the Organization of American States
and private enterprise, we are exploring renewable
sources of energy, including geothermal energy, in the
Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
As the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol
approaches, my Government welcomes the recent
commitments by some industrialized countries to do
more to address harmful emissions. I hope that that
will be translated into concrete results on the
environment and climate change at the Copenhagen
summit later this year.
I also wish to urge the United Nations to
strengthen the Small Island Developing States Unit
with additional resources to make it more effective in
addressing the concerns of Member States. I look
forward to the Unit’s assistance as we work towards
the five-year review of the Mauritius Strategy for the
Further Implementation of the Programme of Action
for the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States at the current sixty-fourth session. I
urge Member States to ensure that the agreed goals of
the Mauritius Strategy and the commitments made are
implemented and to support initiatives proposed during
the review exercise.
In multilateralism, constructive partnership is an
effective strategy. In such an approach, we are forced
to appreciate the value of belonging: the need for all
peoples of the world to be embraced within the
fraternity of nations and to be allowed to contribute to
the common good. The Republic of China on Taiwan, a
constructive partner to a range of countries around the
world for so long, has a great deal to contribute to
specialized agencies and programmes of the United
Nations, such as the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the International
Civil Aviation Organization, given that climate change
and aviation safety affect its own development, as well
as the well-being of all mankind.
The issue of security continues to be prominent
on the international agenda, and the global anti-crime
campaign intensifies, as concern heightens in the face
of emerging threats to our citizens and to society. This
development is the result of a new wave of crime and
violence, especially among the youth population. In the
hemisphere, there is increased focus on human security
in relation to the transnational nature of the categories
of crime — especially illicit trafficking in drugs and
firearms — that are linked to anti-social behaviour,
particularly among our youth.
An emerging trend in the global analysis of crime
points to a new variable: young people as victims of
crime. Studies show that, in increasing numbers, the
victims and perpetrators of crime are young men. The
reality of coexisting in a global village, the prevalence
and sophistication of modern technology, the enhanced
communication infrastructure and the free movement
of capital and people have given rise to an
unprecedented escalation in crime and violence.
Youth alienation, youth rage and youth brutality
are troubling global phenomena in urgent need of
global analysis and action. And so, this moment
demands that this body, with its unique capacities and
capabilities and as part of its quest for international
societal stability, marshal all available resources to
better identify the underlying causative factors and
come to a clear agreement as to how, individually and
collectively, we can halt and reverse this destabilizing
trajectory.
Violence is a multisectoral public-policy
challenge. It spans several areas, including public
security, governance, development and public health.
The human, social and financial costs of violence are
unacceptably high. In addition to physical injury and
death, violence has a serious and lifelong impact on
mental and physical health, including
non-communicable diseases and HIV/AIDS, and
damages the social fabric, leading to unsafe
communities. Ultimately, violence slows economic and
social development in those countries that can least
afford it. However, scientific evidence amassed in
recent years clearly demonstrates that violence and its
consequences can be successfully prevented. But, at
present, an integrated approach to violence prevention
is lacking.
An attempt to define a regional response to the
problem was made at a recent two-day regional
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symposium, held on 22 and 23 June 2009 in Saint Kitts
and Nevis, on the theme “Confronting the challenges
of youth crime and violence: Defining a multisectoral
response”. We would like to call upon Member States
to join us today in submitting a draft resolution in
support of an integrated approach and multisectoral
response to violence prevention, which we would wish
to place on the agenda of the sixty-fifth session of the
General Assembly.
My Government strongly condemns all forms of
violence, including transnational organized crime and
terrorism. And while we commend the United Nations
for its continued assistance to Member States in our
crime-fighting efforts, we urge that it extend its support
by reopening, in the spirit of developing an effective
multilateral approach, the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime regional office in the Caribbean.
The challenges we must meet are vast. The
non-proliferation of nuclear weapons today and a
world free of nuclear weapons tomorrow should be the
goals of us all.
Within the Pan-Caribbean Partnership, we
continue to develop and expand regional responses to
the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The problems posed by the
HIV/AIDS pandemic are a real and growing threat, not
only in terms of loss of life and livelihood, but also to
the extent that the disease eliminates the most
productive groups in our society and demands outlays
of capital that would otherwise be allocated to
economic and social development. The Caribbean
Community, through the Pan-Caribbean Partnership,
has made gains in tackling the medical aspects of the
disease.
The President returned to the Chair.
But we need to do much more to fight stigma and
discrimination and to increase access to inexpensive
antiretroviral drugs and treatment for those infected
with the disease. With the help of the international
community, we can reconcile the objective need of
pharmaceutical companies to receive proper
compensation for their research, development and
investment without prejudice to those who are in
urgent need of care and without politicizing the issue.
We, too, are very concerned about the challenges
that non-communicable chronic diseases pose to small
countries like ours and to mankind in general. In this
regard, we join with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and
Tobago in calling on the United Nations to convene at
the earliest opportunity a special summit on
non-communicable chronic disease.
In conclusion, Mr. President, my Government
applauds your initiative to pursue effective responses
to global crises and strengthen multilateralism. For
Saint Kitts and Nevis, multilateralism is a sine qua non
and the only effective approach to lasting peace,
effective security and sustainable development. We
have seen the fallout from unilateral action. Many of us
have paid the price for the decisions and actions made
in isolation by a few.
I emphasize that it is the fundamental right of all
humankind to choose its own destiny. At the same
time, we have a collective duty to act responsibly and
to work in the interest of the common good. That is the
premise of multilateralism. That is the promise of my
Government, and, Mr. President, my delegation stands
prepared and willing to support you in this cause.
I recall that it was Hubert H. Humphrey, former
Vice-President of the United States of America, who
felt it necessary to emphasize to individuals, like those
of us in this Hall today, our responsibility to ensure
that the United Nations is a force for verifiable,
constructive change in the world. In reminding us and
those who will come after us of what is expected of us,
he said:
“The heroes of the world community are not
those who withdraw when difficulties ensue, not
those who can envision neither the prospect of
success nor the consequence of failure — but
those who stand the heat of battle, the fight for
world peace through the United Nations.”
This we must do today and forever.