The Bahamas, 2005

It is my honour to

congratulate you on your election to the presidency of

the sixtieth session of the General Assembly. I also

wish to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of your

predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping, for the manner in which he

guided the work of the fifty-ninth session.

I wish to extend the condolences of the Right

Honourable Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of

the Bahamas, Perry Christie, and the Government and

people of the Bahamas to the Government and people

of the United States in the aftermath of Hurricane

Katrina last month. This is a scene with which the

people of the Bahamas are regrettably all too familiar,

and we continue to offer our assistance and support in

any way possible.

The High-level Plenary Meeting held last week,

at which so many heads of State and Government were

represented, served as a timely and much-needed

reminder of the need for us all to recommit ourselves

to the purposes and principles of this Organization. At

a time when some have begun to question the purpose

of this Organization, the Bahamas reaffirms that the

United Nations remains the best chance for all States,

large and small, to achieve peace, security and

sustainable development for our peoples.

One of the leaders who spoke last week was the

Most Honourable P. J. Patterson, Prime Minister of

Jamaica. On April of 2006, Mr. Patterson demits office

after more than a decade in the service of his people

and the Caribbean region as Prime Minister, and a

generation as a parliamentarian and Government

Minister. His statement last week was perhaps his final

statement to this Assembly as Prime Minister. The

Bahamas - and the region joins us, I am sure -

salutes Mr. Patterson as he retires from active public

life.

Mr. Pattersonís example in Jamaica is one that we

know well enough in the Caribbean region. It is the

example of democratic governance and the traditions

of regular elections and accountability to the publics

whom we serve. The history of democracy in our

region has also produced for the region an enviable

standard of living in many ways. This way of life has

been described by the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent

and the Grenadines, The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves,

as the "Caribbean civilization" - one that did not

develop without significant investment in our people

and that cannot be sustained unless that investment

continues.

The region is neither poor nor rich. It falls in

between, having accomplished most if not all of the

Millennium Development Goals. But as we watch the

development of globalization, there is a tendency to

forget that this region of relatively few people and

small nations requires the continued support of the

developed world. Nowhere is this more evident than in

the decisions taken on sugar and bananas. There is a

symbiotic relationship between the region and the

developed world, with many of our people leaving the

region to help to sustain the way of life of the

developed world. There is a major transformation right

now in economies throughout the region.

Our view is that greater attention from our

developed partners must therefore be paid to that

region in transition, looking towards investment,

particularly in education, support for the delivery of

health care and continued support for democratic

governance. It is not charity that is required, but a

sound, sensible investment in our common future.

Haiti is our poorest member in the region and is

perhaps the example from which it is best to draw

lessons. We want to thank Brazil and the many sister

countries of Latin America that have risen to the

challenge with men and materiel. But while much has

been given, there are many pledges of donor aid that

have not materialized as they should. It is a complaint

throughout the developing world that donors make

pledges of financial and material support but do not

follow through on those pledges.

Haiti today is paying the price in a real way for

having charted the way towards freedom in this

hemisphere when, in 1804, it struck a blow for the

freedom of Africans in the West. Today, we repeat

what the American Christian Bishop, T. D. Jakes, said

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in the National Cathedral in Washington last week

when praying for the victims of Hurricane Katrina: it is

what we do that counts, but what we say we will do.

Haiti is of major interest to us in the Bahamas,

because, given the circumstances of its economy and

its national politics, the Bahamas and the region are

facing increased pressure from illegal migration from

Haiti and the threat of instability. It is incumbent upon

all of us in the United Nations to do all that we can to

help resolve the issues in Haiti.

It is also important that we not overlook issues of

global governance and institutional reform. It would be

nearly impossible for small States, in particular, to

sustain meaningful gains from the process of

globalization without a voice and without participation

in international decision-making and norm-setting

bodies. It is for that reason that the Bahamas is

encouraged by the discussions that took place during

the high-level dialogue on financing for development,

held earlier this year, which confirmed that there is a

place for the United Nations in all aspects of global

standard-setting and assessment. The dialogue clearly

demonstrated that there is a need to address the

democratic deficit in many of the international

economic, financial and trade institutions.

From this rostrum last year, the Bahamas called

for the convening of a global forum to address the

unfairness of unelected bodies imposing mandates that

are unfunded upon developing economies like ours in

the region, without our countries having an opportunity

to be heard and to influence the result. We call once

again for such a forum, and pledge that the Bahamas

will continue to work towards levelling the playing

field, particularly in the financial services sector.

The images of destruction in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina are all too familiar to many small

island developing States. The images have been

sobering, as we realize that even the biggest and

strongest of us has to grapple with the difficulties

associated with the recovery from such a destructive

force of nature. Last year in this Hall, we said that the

native peoples of our region were so familiar with the

violent storms that plague the region in the summer

months that they called them hurricanes. Today, we are

seeing those storms hit with a savagery unknown in

recent times. It leads us to question whether we are

now being confronted by cyclical change or by climate

change. Either case places front and centre the need for

public policy on sustainable development and the

implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for small

island developing States.

The Bahamas, much of whose land is barely five

feet above mean sea level, wishes to highlight the need

to undertake global action to address the problems of

climate change. With the warming of the Earth's

surfaces and oceans, we have seen an increase in the

incidence of natural disasters, many of them causing

untold loss and damage. We have an opportunity,

however, to address the adverse effects of climate

change. We have a chance to make a statement here

during this session that we will not neglect our

common but differentiated responsibility to protect our

environment and to send this message to Montreal,

where, in November this year, the Kyoto Protocol can

finally begin to take on a more substantial form.

For countries such as the Bahamas, the threat of

devastation as a result of natural disasters is

exacerbated by man-made hazards. We once again

reiterate our grave concern about the serious threat

posed to the security and economic development of

Caribbean countries by the trans-shipment of nuclear

waste through the Caribbean Sea, and continue to call

on States involved in such trans-shipments to desist

from that practice. In this context, I wish to highlight

the continuing efforts of the Caribbean region to

designate the Caribbean Sea a special area in the

context of sustainable development.

The achievement of sustainable development will

require healthy, productive populations that are able

both to contribute to and benefit from social and

economic progress. The unrelenting spread of

HIV/AIDS continues to threaten that progress in all

countries, but particularly in the hardest hit developing

countries. The Bahamas is a leader in the fight against

HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean region, and has been

recognized at the international level for the progress

made in turning the tide against that disease in our

country. We pay tribute to Dr. Perry Gomez, our lead

physician in the fight against HIV/AIDS and, indeed,

to my predecessor at this rostrum, Mr. Denzil Douglas

from Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as to all the other

caregivers throughout the world. We welcome this

body's reaffirmation at the highest levels of the fight

against that disease.

In this context, the Bahamas looks forward to the

high-level five-year review of the progress made in

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implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on

HIV/AIDS, scheduled to take place in June 2006. At

that time we must undertake an honest appraisal of

what we have achieved and where we are failing short,

and we must determine the way forward towards

achieving the full implementation of the Declaration of

Commitment.

In addition, the Bahamas has seen useful ideas

advanced by the United States of America, the World

Health Organization and the Pan American Health

Organization, to prevent a bird flu pandemic. We

would like to take this opportunity to alert the world

that we must fight to stop such an eventuality, and

pledge our support in doing so.

By virtue of its geographical location, the

Bahamas is an unwitting transit point for illegal drugs

from producing countries south of our borders to

consumer countries to the north. We have consistently

pointed out that the Bahamas does not produce such

substances and is not the ultimate destination for them.

That, however, does not stop the countries that

consume the drugs from blaming countries like ours for

the scourge. It is very unfair to do so. It is clear that

consuming nations must increase their efforts to reduce

demand within their borders. We continue to cooperate

with the United States and other countries in that

international fight. Our successful efforts and those of

the broader region have been acknowledged by our

international partners in the fight. I should like to

mention in particular the admirable performance of the

Bahamas in its counter-narcotics effort and the superb

record of our country's police in terms of dismantling

drug-trafficking organizations, as well as our hard

work to improve the country's ability to combat

money-laundering. It is a fight that we pledge to

continue.

The Bahamas, like other transit countries, is

experiencing the negative social impact of illegal

activities associated with that trade. The deadly nexus

between illicit drugs and small arms and light weapons

and other criminal activities is undermining the

economic and social fabric of our nation. We therefore

welcome the conclusion in June of the work of the

Open-ended Working Group on the marking and

tracing of small arms and light weapons. The Bahamas,

like many other countries, would have strongly

preferred to reach agreement on legally binding

commitments on the marking and tracing of such

weapons. Nonetheless, we hope that this tool will

provide some of the necessary political will and

momentum to make real progress in halting the illicit

accumulation and spread of small arms and light

weapons. We also look forward to adopting concrete

commitments in the near future to regulate the

activities of brokers of small arms and light weapons.

In addition, the Bahamas continues to call on

developed countries to take the same extraordinary

measures they use in seeking to stop the trafficking of

drugs into their countries to stop illegal arms from

reaching our shores from their countries.

The Bahamas is pleased to note the adoption by

the General Assembly on 13 April 2005 of the

International Convention for the Suppression of Acts

of Nuclear Terrorism. We hope to be in a position to

sign the Convention in the near future. We are resolute

in the fight against the attacks on innocent people

going about their daily lives by those pursuing dubious

and nefarious political ends. The vicious attacks in

London and Sharm el-Sheikh this year demonstrate

clearly the urgency of our task.

However, we must also remember that the fight

against those who would attack our common

civilization can never be used as an excuse to curtail

the rights and freedoms of our citizens, and we must

ensure that all counter-measures must conform to both

the letter and the spirit of international human rights

law. If we lose our common humanity in the process,

the other side will win. We must also ensure that a

spirit of cooperation and assistance permeates our

international cooperation efforts on this issue, as we

unite to fight a common enemy.

Over the past year, various issues related to the

management of United Nations programmes and funds

have been highlighted in the world media. Our

Organization has been plagued by allegations of

corruption and abuse. Therefore, during the months

leading up to the present session, the Bahamas

welcomed the opportunity to engage constructively in

consultations to ensure a successful outcome on the

question of management reform of the Organization.

We reaffirm our support for the Secretary-General with

respect to the bold measures that he promised in his

report entitled "In larger freedom" (A/59/2005), and

we believe that he should be given the necessary level

of authority and flexibility to fulfil his function as our

chief executive officer. However, that is not to say that

we support those proposals from other quarters that

would seek to transfer power from the General

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Assembly to the Secretary-General in matters such as

the redeployment of resources. The General Assembly

is and should remain the principal policy organ of the

United Nations, with absolute powers in the area of

setting priorities. The Bahamas also looks forward to

continuing discussions on the reform of the Security

Council, particularly in relation to the Councilís

working methods.

Let me take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kofi

Annan for his fine work in leading the United Nations

through treacherous seas over the past years. We will

shortly celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the signing

of the Charter of the United Nations. Looking back

over the past 60 years, there is much of which we can

justifiably be proud. There are some cases where we

must accept that the international community failed to

live up to its legal and moral obligation to act for the

benefit of people in need. There are some cases where

our decisions were dominated by big-Power

pragmatism and doubtful legalisms, as opposed to

moral certainty and philosophical clarity.

As we move forward, let us be sure that we learn

from our mistakes as well as our successes. We have

engaged in a process of reflection, which at times has

been painful. Let us emerge from this stronger, more

unified and determined to act to achieve the goals

adopted 60 years ago to promote social progress and

better standards of life in larger freedom. The peoples

of our nations demand and deserve nothing less. Now,

more than ever, we need the United Nations.