Antigua and Barbuda, 2009

On behalf

of my Government and the people of Antigua and

Barbuda, I congratulate you, Sir, on your election to

preside over the sixty-fourth session of the General

Assembly and wish you every success during your

tenure. I also extend heartfelt congratulations to

Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on his visionary and

inspiring leadership over the past year.

“We are all members of one body. The

welfare of the weakest and the welfare of the

most powerful are inseparably bound together.

Industry cannot flourish if labour languish.

Transportation cannot prosper if manufactures

decline. The general welfare cannot be provided

for in any one act, but it is well to remember that

the benefit of one is the benefit of all, and the

neglect of one is the neglect of all.”

Those words are taken from a 1914 speech by

Calvin Coolidge. However, as we gather as a

community of nations almost a century later, they are

just as timely. Our common humanity is being tested

by the worst economic crisis since the Great

Depression. Additional challenges that currently

confront us include the increased incidence and impact

of pandemic diseases, worsening poverty and hunger

that trap millions around the globe, the adverse

consequences of climate change, tensions over peace

and security, and increasing environmental

degradation. When history is recorded, our success as

leaders will be determined by our stewardship during

these turbulent times.

Years ago in much warmer and gentler climes,

small island nations like our twin island nation of

Antigua and Barbuda convened a global conference

entitled “Small Islands, Big Issues”. Today, we remain

small islands, but the issues with which we grapple are

gargantuan. In many cases, they have been exacerbated

by ill-conceived or ineffective interventions and

structures. None among us is immune to the financial

insecurity brought about by global banking

mismanagement and fraud. At the same time, global

climate change threatens to overwhelm the very fabric

of our small nations.

It has been said that the rising tide of

globalization floats all boats on a sea of economic

opportunities. What is now clear is that such tides can

turn into an economic tsunami that, in one swift wave,

can wash away development gains that took decades to

be realized. That is the situation in which Antigua and

Barbuda now finds itself. An unwelcome visitor in the

form of this global economic crisis has thrust itself

upon our pristine shores and is threatening to wreak

untold damage on our economies.

Thus, while some members of our community of

nations have begun to tout faint but hopeful signs of

recovery, prudence dictates that we pay heed to the

words of Calvin Coolidge and acknowledge that it

simply is not an option to adopt an insular approach in

responding to this global crisis. The stronger

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economies must remain ever cognizant of the fact that

the welfare of the weakest and the welfare of the most

powerful are inseparably bound together.

In responding to the crisis, all parties must admit

that the old methodologies, as reflected in the

Washington Consensus and similar models, are

obsolete. As we actively pursue the creation of new

structures and strategies, Antigua and Barbuda

encourages the community of nations to explore

alternative models, such as that represented by the

Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). With

its foundation principles of complementarity as an

alternative to competition, solidarity as opposed to

domination, cooperation as a replacement for

exploitation, and respect for sovereignty rather than

corporate rule, ALBA represents an innovative and

viable model of integration and development.

Antigua and Barbuda, along with many of our

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) brothers and

sisters, welcomes the paradigm shift that now

characterizes engagement with agencies such as the

International Monetary Fund. The decision to limit

conditionalities to those critical to achieving the

objectives of the country programme being supported,

and the commitment to play a more supportive role and

allow the objectives to be set by the borrowing country

are welcome responses to earlier calls to recognize the

absolute necessity of using factors other than per capita

gross domestic product as a criteria to access

concessionary financing. We maintain that therein lies

the key to mitigating a downward spiral into economic

and social chaos.

Decision-making on issues of international

financial governance remains a privilege of the few

when such decisions have great impact on the lives,

livelihood and basic well-being of millions of people

the world over. My Government calls on the developed

countries that are members of the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development to ensure that

their response strategies involve better international

cooperation on tax issues through inclusive and

cooperative frameworks that ensure the involvement

and equal treatment of small jurisdictions, as stipulated

in the Outcome Document (resolution 63/303) of the

United Nations Conference on the World Financial and

Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development. The

Outcome Document is a welcome one, and I applaud

the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-third

session for giving voice to the G-192, including the

developing and most vulnerable countries.

The genesis of the crisis lies in the capitals of the

developed world, but its effects are global and the

response must be truly global. In this regard, I urge the

Assembly, through the ad hoc working group to follow

up on the outcome of the Conference, to take an

inclusive approach to allow for the participation of

those that are not members of the exclusive Group of

Eight and Group of Twenty clubs.

Again, drawing on the words of Coolidge, I point

out that the general welfare cannot be provided for in

any one act or, I would add, by any single, small subset

of the community of nations seeking unilaterally to

reshape the global economic and financial architecture.

It is in our power to change the operating principles of

global capitalism such that economic prosperity is

shared equally among countries and within countries.

Drastic change is needed, in theory and practice, in

economic assumptions and in the institutions of

governance. It is the sustainable path to development

and a challenge to which this assembly of nations and

leaders must rise.

Meeting transnational and global threats and

challenges to development requires international

cooperation. As previously stated, traditional Western-

based modalities of development cooperation in which

partners are not considered equals have failed us. A

paradigm shift is not an option; it is an imperative. My

Government firmly believes in promoting partnerships

in support of sustainable development based on

principles of mutual respect and understanding,

equality and a genuine desire to effect the social and

economic development of all.

I have already alluded to my country’s

membership in ALBA and commended that innovative

model of integration and development. Antigua and

Barbuda also looks forward to fully playing its role in

ensuring that the various trade arrangements entered

into with the European Union, the United States of

America and Canada work in the interest of all our

nations. My Government, however, will continue to

place a strong emphasis on the development

components, which should be central to ensuring that

these arrangements produce positive results for our

people.

At the same time, we have deepened our

integration efforts with our CARICOM brothers and

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sisters, focusing on fully implementing the CARICOM

Single Market and Economy as well as deepening the

various subregional regulatory frameworks. As a part

of the smaller Organization of Eastern Caribbean States

(OECS) grouping, Antigua and Barbuda fully supports

the establishment of an OECS economic union in an

effort to build on the shared tradition of our

subregional integration arrangements and to expand the

areas of shared sovereignty in order to survive and

ultimately thrive.

As a member of the CARICOM family, Antigua

and Barbuda is proud of its long-standing relationship

with the Republic of Cuba. It is my Government’s firm

belief that the discriminatory and punitive policies and

practices that serve to prevent Cuba from exercising its

right freely to participate in the affairs of the

hemisphere must be discontinued and with immediate

effect. While the winds of change continue to move

across the United States of America, I call on the

Obama Administration to effect change in its dealings

with our sister nation of the Republic of Cuba. I call on

the United States of America to end the economic,

commercial and financial embargo imposed on our

brothers and sisters in Cuba. As a world leader and

defender of justice, the United States of America must

embrace change fully in the interests of the men,

women and children of Cuba.

It is worth reiterating that the parallels between

the global economic crisis and the global climate

change crisis are both stark and dire for small island

developing States. Again, we are faced with the

adverse impacts of a crisis that is not of our making but

which is threatening — quite literally in the case of

some of our sister nations in the Pacific — to wipe us

off the face of the Earth. It is a recognized fact, but it is

worth repeating, that small island States contribute the

least to the causes of climate change, yet we suffer the

most from its effects.

At the summit of the Alliance of Small Island

States held earlier this week, my country joined with

other island States in sending a strong message to the

international community on the need for bold and

ambitious actions. Small island States have expressed

their profound disappointment at the lack of tangible

action within the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change negotiations to protect

small island developing States and other vulnerable

countries, their peoples, culture, land and ecosystems.

The responsibility for mitigating climate change

is a common responsibility of all nations, be they

developed or developing. However, developed

countries should shoulder their moral, ethical and

historical responsibilities for emitting high levels of

anthropogenic greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It

is those actions that have now put the planet in

jeopardy and compromised the well-being of present

and future generations. Antigua and Barbuda therefore

fully supports our sister nation of the People’s

Republic of China in its call for developed countries to

take up their responsibility to provide new, additional,

adequate and predictable financial support to

developing countries, which, in effect, represents a

joint investment in the future of humankind.

At this pivotal point of the climate change

negotiations that will culminate in December, Antigua

and Barbuda also anxiously awaits an international

agreement significantly to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions. A small island nation like ours, which is

highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate

change, including sea-level rise, coral bleaching and

more frequent and intense hurricanes, understands that

our fate, our very existence, hangs on the outcome of

such an agreement. We wait with bated breath and hope

that humanity will show itself worthy of this planet and

that nations will have the political will and integrity of

leadership to solve the most confounding challenge of

our era.

The effects of climate change have forcibly

brought home the absolute necessity of better disaster

preparedness management and risk reduction. That has

been clearly illustrated by several very active hurricane

seasons in recent history. Cognizant of this, my

Government has upgraded our disaster management

capabilities, including strengthening the national

disaster office, constructing hurricane shelters and

enhancing community resilience. In the spirit of

cooperation and solidarity, we look forward to having

our development partners make available the necessary

resources to enable us to implement our national

adaptation plans and programmes. By so doing, they

will help to address the adverse effects of climate

change that we, the most vulnerable countries, are

already experiencing. We urge them to view this as a

top-most priority and moral imperative.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment

remain centrepieces of the national development

strategy of Antigua and Barbuda. Having achieved

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universal primary education, we are proud that our

young males and females continue to enjoy equal

access and opportunity to education at the primary,

secondary and tertiary levels. Further, with a growing

number of female parliamentarians and key high-level

political positions occupied by women, we continue to

improve on our record of female empowerment. The

advocacy work of the United Nations system on gender

issues has been instrumental in the progress we have

made thus far, and we look forward to continuing

support as we continue to break down the traditional

barriers to the active participation of more than 50 per

cent of our country’s human capital.

Transnational crime has burdened our societies

with social and financial costs that we cannot afford to

bear. Crime prevention and small arms control are

priorities for my Government. Our geography has

placed us at a major trans-shipment point for

transnational organized crime networks trafficking in

arms and narcotics.

In recent years, the level of gun violence and

gun-related crime has escalated significantly, placing

further pressure on an already fragile economy. This

has led to insecurity, fear and loss of life in our

societies, hampering our development efforts and

threatening the general peace and stability of the

region. We need greater cooperation from countries, as

well as the support of the United Nations system, to

eliminate this threat to hemispheric and international

peace and security. Antigua and Barbuda is in full

support of a legally binding arms trade treaty that will

prevent the illegal international transfer of arms and

will govern the trade in conventional arms according to

common international standards.

As a peace-loving nation, Antigua and Barbuda is

also concerned by the lack of progress in the field of

disarmament and non-proliferation. We remain

steadfast in our commitment to a world free of nuclear

weapons. The threat posed by non-State actors

acquiring weapons of mass destruction is shared by all

countries, large and small. For this reason we support

the extension of the mandate of Security Council

resolution 1540 (2004). Pursuant to our obligations

under that resolution we are pleased to have submitted

the relevant reports to the respective Security Council

committees.

The trans-shipment of nuclear waste through the

waters of the Caribbean also remains a critical issue.

The risk of an accident or a terrorist attack on one of

these shipments poses a grave threat to the

environmental and economic sustainability of the

region. Heads of Government of CARICOM and of the

wider Association of Caribbean States have

consistently called for a total cessation of these

shipments in our waters, and we reiterate our strenuous

and forceful rejection of the continued use of the

Caribbean Sea for the trans-shipment of nuclear and

other hazardous waste material.

Finally, as Caribbean people of African descent,

our past is clouded by the dark days of the transatlantic

slave trade. However, with steady hands, committed

minds and innovative plans, a bright future looms with

the sunrise. We must ensure that we develop

programmes to educate and inculcate in future

generations an understanding of the lessons, history

and consequences of slavery and the slave trade. We

must not forget. We must encourage continued action

in this regard. Antigua and Barbuda looks forward to

the erection of a permanent memorial to the victims of

the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, an initiative

being championed by CARICOM. We look forward

also to the continuation of serious dialogue and

eventual consensus on the issue of reparations.

In conclusion, it is very clear that the multiple

and multifaceted nature of the global threats and

challenges we face will test the abilities of this

assembly of nations and its leaders. Is the United

Nations up to the task? Will we, both individually and

collectively, heed the admonition of Calvin Coolidge

and demonstrate in both word and deed a firm

conviction that the welfare of the weakest and the

welfare of the most powerful are inseparably bound

together? For us, a small island with big aspirations

and dreams for the future of our people, we remain

hopeful that we will all find the political will and the

ability to rise to the task.