The Bahamas, 1997

I join previous speakers in

congratulating you, Sir, on your election to the presidency

of the fifty-second session of the General Assembly. My

delegation is satisfied that your vast experience in

international affairs and your proven diplomatic skills will

guide the work of this session to a successful conclusion.

I wish to assure you of my delegation’s full support and

cooperation in the execution of the duties of your office.

I also wish to express my delegation’s gratitude and

congratulations to your predecessor, Ambassador Razali

Ismail of Malaysia, who presided over our Assembly during

the fifty-first session with great vigour, skill and resolve.

Having had the honour of serving as a Vice-President of

that session, I am particularly appreciative of his

noteworthy contributions.

This is my first opportunity in this Assembly to

address and congratulate our new Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan. He is, of course, no stranger to any of us,

having faithfully served this Organization for so many

years. We are confident that he has the vision, ability and

determination to lead the United Nations as it prepares to

meet the challenges of the new millennium. I wish to assure

the Secretary-General of the continued support and

cooperation of the Government of the Commonwealth of

the Bahamas.

On behalf of the Government and people of the

Bahamas, I also wish to pay tribute to our former

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The

Bahamas particularly wishes to recall and salute his tireless

efforts in seeking to restore financial stability to our

Organization.

Today, I reiterate the Bahamas’ solemn pledge that as

we lead our nation into a new millennium the primary

focus of our efforts will be directed towards improving the

delivery of health care, education and skills training, a

reduction in the level of serious crime and unemployment,

and the eradication of poverty and poor housing. We are

committed to achieving the full empowerment of women

and equality among the sexes as we work toward the

evolution of a society in which our children will live with

hope, a society where there is opportunity for all, where

there is respect for human rights, fundamental values and

the rule of law.

Our efforts on behalf of the Bahamian people also

represent our contribution towards the collective efforts

which Member States of the United Nations must make

to ensure a safe, stable and productive global society so

that progress, peace and development can be achieved for

all the people represented here. We are therefore

committed to assisting in the much needed reform of this

world body, so as to enable us to achieve these goals.

One of the greatest threats to quality of life and to

productive development worldwide is criminal behaviour.

My Government has set as one of its highest priorities the

comprehensive reduction and prevention of crime, in all

its forms, including drug-trafficking, money-laundering

and illegal trafficking in firearms, and, indeed, in human

beings. Those who engage in such menacing activities

respect no borders. We therefore implore all Member

States, irrespective of size or might, to recognize that the

most effective means of reducing crime at the national

and international levels is through joint and collaborative

efforts.

The Government of the Bahamas supports the

strengthening of the international legal order against

crime. We also hope that the special session on the

question of drugs in 1998 will provide new impetus and

resolve to combat this particular menace to all of our

societies.

My Government reiterates its call to urgently address

the growing problem of the traffic in small arms. The

Bahamas, neither a manufacturer nor a vendor of arms,

urges those countries involved in the production and sale

of arms to impose stringent control measures and provide

assistance to vulnerable States to reduce the threat of the

traffic in arms.

Another concern of the world’s nations is the

protection of the environment. The Bahamas recognizes

and appreciates that conservation and enhancement of the

environment are critically important to the well-being of

our people, and especially that of future generations.

Consequently, our national planning process incorporates

community environmental education and the regular

monitoring and enforcement of laws for the protection of

natural resources and the conservation of habitats. Indeed,

during the course of this year, the Government of the

Bahamas enacted legislation to protect our physical

landscape and prevent the destruction of certain

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indigenous trees. The expansion of green and open spaces

for the benefit of the general population is another key

pillar in our environmental policy.

Tourism is the leading industry in the Bahamas and

the fastest growing industry in the world. We are all aware,

however, that the development of tourism does not always

take place in harmony with environmental protection and

conservation. Mindful of this fact, the Bahamas, along with

its regional partners, seeks to develop strategies, policies

and procedures which will ensure that the continued

development of the industry is consistent with standards of

environmental sustainability. In this vein, the Caribbean

Community has adopted a regional position against the

transportation of hazardous and radioactive substances

through the Caribbean Sea, a concern previously voiced in

this forum.

While the concept of sustainable development remains

subject to further definition, my Government believes that

poverty reduction and social development can and must be

achieved in concert with environmental integrity, economic

stability and good health. The proper integration of

developing economies into the rapidly advancing

globalization of world trade will, we believe, mark the

measure of our success in these areas. Regrettably,

developments over the past decade have not always met

expectations.

In spite of the technological revolution of the last

decade and the rapid increase in worldwide commerce, the

benefits of the globalization of the world’s economy have

not been evenly distributed. Developing countries continue

to be marginalized even as the world’s market economy

grows at an extraordinary pace.

Globalization can offer great opportunities, but only if

it is managed carefully and with more concern for equity,

morality and indeed compassion. An enabling environment

must be created for all to take full advantage of the new

opportunities created by globalization.

The peculiar vulnerability of small islands — their

susceptibility to natural disasters, their economy’s

dependence on primary products, their small human and

material resource base — means that small island States

have much more at stake in achieving sustainable

development. The Bahamas, therefore, attaches great

importance to the 1999 review of the Barbados Programme

of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island

Developing States, and calls for the mobilization of external

resources for its further implementation. We are also

pleased to note that consideration is being given by the

United Nations to the possible development of a

vulnerability index. We welcome the proposed convening

of an expert group meeting later this year to review

various proposals, and look forward to the completion of

the technical study now in progress.

The development of a mechanism such as the

vulnerability index will help to alleviate a concern which

the Bahamas has repeatedly expressed in this assembly

regarding the persistent use of per capita gross national

product as the major measurement of wealth. It is our

view that this criterion is an inadequate measurement of

development and is often inconsistent with the principles

of equity.

The vulnerability of small island States is painfully

demonstrated in the unfolding natural disaster on the

Caribbean island of Montserrat, where volcanic activity

has forever changed the physical, sociological and

psychological landscape. Indeed, the viability of the island

to provide a base for the livelihood and development of

the people of Montserrat is yet to be determined. We, the

Government and people of the Bahamas, wish to express

our solidarity with, and pledge our continued support to,

the people of Montserrat during this particularly difficult

time.

We are similarly conscious of the fact that natural

disasters affect virtually all the Member States of this

Organization, large and small, developed and developing.

In recent times, typhoons in South-East Asia, floods in

Eastern and Central Europe and in the central states and

provinces of the United States and Canada, and

earthquakes in South America, and most recently in Italy

and Indonesia, have wreaked untold suffering on millions

of people.

As we look towards the twenty-first century, we

must assess how best this Organization can prepare itself

during the next three years to enter into this new era in

human history.

Since becoming a Member of the United Nations in

1973, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas has at

successive sessions of the Assembly reaffirmed the

importance of the United Nations and has conveyed its

commitment to work with other Member States in pursuit

of the principles and objectives of the Charter.

In this connection, we congratulate the Secretary-

General on the important reform proposals which he has

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presented, and we stand ready to participate in their

comprehensive and constructive review during this session.

It is the view of my delegation that reform should

have as its end result an improved and more efficient

Organization, fully able to meet the demands of the

Members which it serves. At the same time, reform would

be meaningless if the Organization were not to have a

stable financial basis on which to carry out its functions. It

is imperative, therefore, that we find a way to overcome the

myriad obstacles that have eluded resolution to date in areas

such as the reform of the Security Council and the financial

situation of the United Nations.

The Bahamas strongly urges all Member States to

commit themselves to resolution of the question of Security

Council reform at this fifty-second session of the General

Assembly. The Bahamas supports the need to expand the

Council’s membership in both categories. This expansion

must, however, pay due regard to the principles of equal

representation, the reflection of the universal character of

the Organization and the need to correct existing

imbalances in the composition of the Council.

In a world confronted daily by press reports on the

tragedies of failed efforts to preserve peace between

nations — and indeed, between different ethnic and/or

religious groups within nations — it is frequently easy to

ignore the successes being achieved by the Organization.

My Government welcomes the positive work being done by

the United Nations in the maintenance of international

peace and security. The fact that increasing numbers of

countries are willing to cooperate with the United Nations

is an indication of how important it is for the Organization

to continue the implementation of its mandate in this area.

We note the success stories in areas such as Central

America and also in Haiti, where the mandate of the

Support Mission has recently been extended. It has always

been the contention of the Bahamas Government that too

early a withdrawal from Haiti had the potential of derailing

the hard-earned gains made in that country. The continuing

and recently escalating arrival of many Haitian migrants in

the Bahamas is a sobering reminder that a setback in

Haiti’s difficult march towards political and economic

stability could well be destabilizing.

The Government applauds the international community

in its successful negotiation of a treaty to ban anti-personnel

landmines. Bahamas will sign the treaty and ratify it as

soon as possible, and hopes that the Convention will

receive full support, particularly from the developed

countries of the world. The Bahamas fulfilled its promise

made last year to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-

Ban Treaty, and pledges early ratification, in keeping with

its commitment to save succeeding generations from the

scourge of nuclear war. These, along with other measures,

bring us one step closer to the total elimination of

weapons of mass destruction.

The Bahamas is of the view that the United Nations

should serve as a pillar of support for the aspirations of

its Member States and as a beacon of hope for the

destitute of the world. Let us therefore resolve to have

this fifty-second session of the General Assembly

remembered as a decisive turning point in the work of the

Organization. It should be remembered as a session where

Member States were able to attain a greater level of

understanding, trust, cooperation and a sense of purpose

to empower them to deal with the problems affecting the

international community.