Antigua and
Barbuda joins other Members of the United Nations in
congratulating Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa on her
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
its sixty-first session. Madam President, we wish you
success in all your efforts and assure you of our full
cooperation. I wish also to thank and congratulate your
predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, for his outstanding
leadership of the sixtieth regular session of the General
Assembly.
Permit me also to convey the appreciation of the
Government of Antigua and Barbuda to Mr. Kofi
Annan for his many years of service to the United
Nations and for his overall dedication to the pursuit of
world peace and development. Every year brings new
and unique challenges which add to the burdens of the
office of the Secretary-General, and this past year has
been no exception. In bidding Mr. Annan farewell, on
behalf of the Government and people of Antigua and
Barbuda, I pay tribute to his indomitable courage over
the past 10 years and say to him that success is never
final and failure is never fatal; it is courage that counts,
and he has risen to the challenge when it counted most.
Among the many accomplishments achieved in
the twentieth century was the establishment of the
United Nations. Among the accomplishments of the
United Nations in its 60 years of existence is its
advocacy of decolonization by peaceful means; its
advancement of the concept of sovereignty as a natural
right of all nations and all peoples; and the awareness
it has brought to the international community that, in
this era of globalization, the majority of humanity is
afflicted not by inter-State wars but by the ravages of
poverty, hunger, disease, environmental degradation
and human rights violations.
We are aware of the awesome task of
implementing reform measures for this Organization.
We are, however, encouraged by the significant
achievements made since the adoption of the Outcome
Document of the 2005 World Summit. We are pleased
that some progress has been made in areas such as the
establishment of the Human Rights Council, the
Central Emergency Response Fund, the launching of
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the Peacebuilding Commission and agreement on a
counter-terrorism strategy.
Respectfully, Antigua and Barbuda joins this
community of nations in underscoring the importance
of social and economic development, basic human
rights and their importance to the maintenance of
international peace and security, mutual respect, and
lasting goodwill among nations.
Slavery is today perhaps the most under-
recognized crime against humanity, in spite of its
consequences: the vicious displacement and brutal
treatment of an entire race. Next year — 2007 —
marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the
trans-Atlantic triangular slave trade. The 14 members
of the Caribbean Community, whose people are
principally of African slave descent, are committed to
bringing this anniversary to the attention of the world,
and we look forward to members’ unanimous support
in the General Assembly for our forthcoming
resolution and to their joining us in the appropriate
recognition of this event, which foreshadowed the
abolition of slavery.
In a few weeks, on 1 November, Antigua and
Barbuda will celebrate 25 years of political
independence. As we take stock of our challenges and
experiences in nation-building and our actions in
attempting to achieve and maintain a decent standard
of living for our people, our progress report is one of
mixed successes and failures punctuated with hope and
frustration.
The reality is that we are a politically
independent small island nation with limited resources,
existing in an economically interdependent yet fiercely
competitive world.
Our challenges are many. But, having emerged
from a past dominated by colonialism, we are indeed
proud of our history as an independent democratic
State where people of whatever race, creed or political
affiliation are free to express and exercise all basic and
fundamental human rights, which are inherent features
of the United Nations legal framework. However, for a
politically independent nation like ours to survive in
this economically interdependent world, that requires
effective multilateralism and the forging of real
international partnerships. In other words, our future
depends on our ability to work well with each other in
a spirit of understanding and respect, given our diverse
cultures, histories and economies.
Antigua and Barbuda is acutely aware of the
importance of partnerships and of the necessity of
working within a multilateral framework to meet the
challenges we face as a young developing nation. That
brings me to the importance of the United Nations in
its role as a melting pot of ideas for constructive and
positive action.
The United Nations development agenda is an
ambitious, noble, worthy and necessary one. Were we
to accomplish the goals we have set within the
specified time frames, it would be a testament to the
greatness of humankind. My Government and my
people therefore support any process of reform of the
United Nations that will enhance the level of
representation in all its principal organs, increase its
effectiveness and improve its legitimacy. It should be
more democratic in its representation, more reflective
of modern-day geopolitical realities and more timely
and effective in delivering on the outcomes of its many
international conferences, summits and agreements,
including, of course, the Millennium Declaration.
We wholeheartedly agree with those who believe
that multilateralism should not be subverted and that
the United Nations framework for the peaceful
resolution of international conflicts should not be
undermined or replaced by unilateralist tendencies.
Additionally, in our efforts to revamp and
revitalize the various development bodies of the United
Nations, we should pay particular attention to the
vulnerability of States. When the entire gross domestic
product of a country can be wiped out by a single
commonplace natural disaster, that country’s economy
is most definitely vulnerable. When the economic
mainstay of a country can be cut off by activities and
events that occur in another country many, many miles
away, that country is indeed vulnerable. When a
country’s economic activity can be effectively stymied
by the failure or refusal of another country to abide by
international rules, accepted norms and arbitral
determinations, that country’s economic prospects are
certainly vulnerable. For small island States like ours,
such vulnerability is our greatest insecurity.
Over the years, Antigua and Barbuda has joined
the rest of the world in mourning immeasurable losses
from natural disasters, be they monsoon flooding, sub-
Saharan drought or Asian tsunamis. Our Caribbean
subregion is particularly susceptible to the annual
ravages of a hurricane season that lasts from June —
11 06-53952
which the popular ditty says is “too soon” — to
October, when it just may be “all over”. My country’s
Government feels that a review of existing
international disaster relief funds and an increase in the
amount of financial resources made available are
necessary for the elimination of the sad state of the
economic vulnerability of so many of our nations.
With regard to international peace and security,
the Government of Antigua and Barbuda does not
believe that war benefits any country — not the
warrior, not the vanquished and not the passive
onlooker. As leaders of nations, therefore, international
peace is the greatest gift we can give to our peoples
and to our children. Hence, a world where friendly
diplomatic relations and dispute-solving discussions
between countries are promoted is a world in which
our children and grandchildren will inherit a legacy
worth cherishing.
Our present-day values and our hopes for a better
tomorrow have been reason enough for my country’s
compliance with a significant number of United
Nations-mandated anti-terrorism treaties. Terrorism
breeds insecurity and exacts a severe financial burden,
even on countries and communities far removed from
the actual terrorist act. We join others in encouraging
the Members of the United Nations to continue to deal
comprehensively with the threat of terrorism by all
means necessary, including the promotion of, and
respect for, religious, cultural and ethnic tolerance.
We must of necessity be more responsible when
we speak as influential world leaders. With the growth
and development of technology, all of the world is a
stage in a manner that William Shakespeare never
foresaw. It therefore behoves us all to constantly and
continuously mind our exits and our entrances and the
many parts that we play on the global stage.
Today we join a list of countries that have time
and again in these hallowed halls repeated the clarion
call for greater action by the international community
to realize the laudable objectives and full intentions of
the United Nations Charter in the areas of meaningful
development financing and the concept of fair trade.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan was correct politically
when he said a few days ago from this very rostrum
that “the ‘global partnership for development’ is still
more a phrase than fact — especially in the all-
important area of trade” ().
Too often we have taken corrective steps at home
on the domestic level to create, in the jargon of the
United Nations, an enabling environment. Yet we see
little or no real or tangible results, because developed
countries do not deliver on their commitments but
continue, in spite of their rhetoric, to support or
continue systematic imbalances in the international
trading system.
Antigua and Barbuda, in spite of its limited
resources and its highly vulnerable economy, has
embarked upon a strategy of economic diversification
guided by the rules and regulations of the World Trade
Organization. Yet, unfortunately, even as we play by
those rules, the unfair trading practices of some of our
international partners threaten to diminish the modest
economic gains that we have made in recent times. We
need to ask ourselves, are we really serious about
raising standards in the developing world? Are we
really serious about sustainable development?
Rest assured that in spite of the continuing
rhetoric, we in Antigua and Barbuda will continue our
efforts to achieve a high standard of living and
improved economic and social well-being for our
80,000 people. We will continue to partner with our
sister countries within the Organisation of Eastern
Caribbean States and Caribbean Community
subregional groupings. We will continue our advocacy
for good environmental stewardship and the
advancement of the fundamentals of sustainable
development at home, in our region and beyond. In
addition, we will continue to insist on nationally owned
development strategies as we seek deeper North-South
and South-South cooperation for more meaningful,
tangible and lasting economic development.