The Bahamas, 2010

On behalf of the

Government and people of the Commonwealth of the

Bahamas, I congratulate Mr. Joseph Deiss on his

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-fifth session, and I assure him of my country’s

and my delegation’s full support and cooperation. I

also extend sincere congratulations to his predecessor

for his stewardship of this Assembly during the sixty-

fourth session.

I also take this opportunity to express

condolences on behalf of the Government and the

people of the Bahamas to the Government and people

of Pakistan for the loss of lives and property sustained

as a result of devastating floods affecting their region.

The Government and the people of the Bahamas stand

in solidarity with Pakistan.

One of the greatest challenges of the global

economic and financial crisis has been the loss in speed

towards achieving the development goals, including

the Millennium Development Goals. We are

encouraged by the decline in the number of people

living in absolute poverty and the reported increased

access to primary and secondary education for some.

We are mindful that high levels of infant mortality,

unsatisfactory reduction in the rate of maternal

mortality, continued high incidences of sexual violence

against women and a rise in the prevalence of HIV

continue to persist in many countries.

The World Health Organization forecasts that

between 2006 and 2015, deaths from

non-communicable diseases will increase worldwide

by some 17 per cent. The increasing risks and high

prevalence of non-communicable diseases are exacting

heavy tolls on finances and health systems of countries

like the Bahamas. Hence we welcome the adoption of

resolution 64/265, which calls for a high-level plenary

meeting of the General Assembly next September to

address the prevention and control of

non-communicable diseases.

The Bahamas continues to pledge the highest

priority on attaining and achieving the Millennium

Development Goals. We fully expect to achieve most if

not all of the goals and targets identified. Still, we are

not out of the woods. The fallout from the global

economic and financial crisis continues to impact the

chief engine and principal employer in our country,

tourism, and to slow recovery and expansion in other

segments of our economy. My Government has

accelerated the implementation of a planned

programme of national infrastructure upgrade and

expansion, with a view to upgrading the country’s

infrastructure in order to accommodate new growth and

development when the global economy rebounds.

We believe it is critical that greater attention be

given to achieving a more transparent international

credit rating system that takes fully into account the

needs and concerns of developing countries. Greater

participation by developing countries is also required

in key international norm- and standard-setting bodies

in financial regulation and supervision, including the

Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee on

Banking Supervision. It is also our view that there is an

important role for the United Nations in this process,

particularly in the area of institutional strengthening.

We are pleased by the considerable progress

made in enhancing our social safety net, expanding

unemployment benefits and introducing a national

prescription drug programme designed to ensure that

the most vulnerable sectors of our society — infants

and school-age children, and the elderly — receive

prescription medication, regardless of their ability to

pay. And we are also pleased that, notwithstanding

forced reductions in Government expenditures across

the board, every child in the Bahamas continues to be

assured of a place in Government-operated schools,

from primary to high school.

Overshadowing our successes is the ever-present

threat posed by climate change. The Bahamas is the

fifth most vulnerable country to rising sea levels. We

are a country of negligible greenhouse gases and

negligible gas emissions; still, we will suffer

catastrophic results if emissions are not stabilized and

reduced worldwide. Indeed, science demonstrates that

a two degree Celsius change in temperature will result

in a sea-level rise of more than two metres. Such an

occurrence would submerge 80 per cent of our

territory.

The Bahamas therefore joins with other small

island developing States (SIDS) in reiterating the call

to the international community, and particularly to

developed countries, to undertake urgent and decisive

action to significantly reduce emissions of all

greenhouse gases, and also to implement fast action

strategies. We similarly call for increased financial and

technological support of SIDS, and our particularly

vulnerable countries, as we struggle to adapt to the

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adverse impacts of climate change. As such, we look

forward with considerable anticipation to the

December Conference in Cancún.

The Bahamas draws attention to the importance

of the Barbados Programme of Action for the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing

States, as that programme remains the blueprint for

action on sustainable development for SIDS, as was

subsequently reaffirmed in the Mauritius Strategy. In

the Bahamas we have an unwavering political

commitment to sustainability as the cardinal principle

for national development strategies. And in the area of

biodiversity, significant achievements have been made

in establishing and expanding marine, coastal and

terrestrial protected areas. We are also well along with

the development of a national energy policy, with

potential for renewable energy.

It is impossible for my country to note the high

incidence of catastrophic natural disasters being

experienced around the world and not acknowledge the

plight of our great neighbour, Haiti. Haiti and its

people are a priority concern for the Bahamas and the

Caribbean Community subregion, as they are for the

entire international community. None of us, however,

were under any illusion that the recovery and

reconstruction of Haiti, in the wake of the devastating

January earthquake, would be anything less than a

Herculean task. In the immediate aftermath of the

disaster, billions of dollars were pledged and the wider

community of nations vowed to stay the course and

work to ensure that Haiti gained a footing on the path

to sustainable growth and development.

There has been some progress in Haiti over the

past nine and a half months — but not nearly enough.

Millions of internally displaced people continue to

languish in makeshift tent cities, with inadequate

shelter or protection, and most of the rubble from that

January earthquake still lies where it fell. It is

imperative, therefore, that the United Nations continue

in its pivotal role of mobilizing international assistance

for Haiti and assisting with the recovery and

reconstruction.

International peace and security remain a concern

to all of us. The recently held second review of the

United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy

underscored that we must renew our efforts to combat

terrorism in an effective and integrated manner. I

reiterate my Government’s commitment to full

implementation of the Strategy and renew the call for

completion of negotiations on a comprehensive

convention on international terrorism. The Bahamas is

a full partner in the international fight to combat

terrorism and other transnational criminal activities.

We currently serve as Chair of the Inter American

Committee against Terrorism. We were also pleased to

host this past June a subregional workshop on counter-

terrorism financing, organized by the Organization of

American States in cooperation with the United

Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The Security Council is central to international

efforts aimed at fostering peace and improving security

around the globe. We believe that the Council’s efforts

in this regard would be strengthened if its composition

better reflected the geopolitical realities of the world.

Towards that end, the Bahamas lends its voice to the

call for increased urgency in efforts to make the

Security Council more representative, accountable,

democratic and transparent.

Crime and threats to security continue to occupy

the minds of the people of the Bahamas and indeed of

the Caribbean subregion. International traffic in illicit

drugs and the illicit trade in small arms and light

weapons have for many years disrupted the lives of

peace-loving citizens of the Caribbean. Governments

like my own have been required to dedicate increased

portions of our annual budgets to the fight against

crime. The seemingly unlimited resources of the illegal

cartels continue to render our efforts insufficient.

Hence, we look forward with anticipation to the 2012

Conference, whose objective is the conclusion of an

arms trade treaty. We fully endorse, in that regard, calls

from fellow Caribbean countries for the treaty to be

comprehensive in scope, with provisions for all

categories of weapons.

My Government also confirms its commitment to

the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and

Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light

Weapons in All Its Aspects. We were pleased with the

outcome document of the Fourth Biennial Meeting of

States (A/CONF.192/BMS/2010/3), which was adopted

by consensus in June.

I record the appreciation of my Government for

the technical assistance recently received from the

United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and

Disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean in

the area of firearms destruction and stockpile

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management. We look forward always to assistance in

the future.

The Bahamas applauds the General Assembly’s

proclamation of the year beginning on 12 August 2010

as the International Year of Youth, under the theme of

dialogue and mutual understanding. We believe that the

overwhelming majority of our young people are

creative and law-abiding citizens. They will doubtless

contribute and be a credit to their community and their

country. Regrettably, however, a significant minority,

not unlike troubled youth throughout the world, find it

difficult to overcome the challenges presented by

poverty, weak educational achievement, risky social

behaviours, including drug and alcohol abuse, criminal

activity and rising unemployment.

A recent report of the International Labour

Organization found that young people aged 15 to

24 accounted for 22 per cent of the increase in the

number of unemployed persons since the beginning of

2007. My Government is therefore seeking to further

expand educational programmes and career-oriented

training opportunities for our youth by enhancing our

secondary school curriculum and by strengthening the

programmes available at the Bahamas Technical and

Vocational Institute.

The Bahamas welcomes efforts by the

Organization to continue to bring focus to women’s

issues. We applaud the adoption of resolution 64/289,

which established a new gender entity — UN Women.

We also applaud the recent launch of the United

Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking

in Persons. Human trafficking is a growing

phenomenon in our region and is increasingly a

challenge for us in the Bahamas, as we are an

archipelagic nation with porous borders. My

Government is therefore committed to combating that

activity and to intercepting and prosecuting to the

fullest extent of the law those engaged in it.

Building on its ratification in 2008 of the

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in

Persons, Especially Women and Children, the Bahamas

enacted child protection and trafficking legislation

specially designed to work on counter-trafficking. We

are fortunate that financing has been made available to

representatives of relevant Government agencies and

key stakeholders.

The Bahamas believes that the United Nations is

working diligently under its mandate to facilitate

increased international dialogue, realizing the noble

goals set out in its Charter. The Bahamas has taken

note of the Secretary-General’s announcement of a

High-level Panel on Global Sustainability as a

blueprint for a liveable, prosperous and sustainable

future for all.

My delegation fully endorses the Secretary-

General in his assertion that the time for narrow

agendas and narrow thinking is over. As an

Organization, we must continue to chart a course that

will enable us to meet unprecedented global challenges

and translate our efforts into actions for the benefit of

all. The rhetoric must become reality. We all have a

contribution to make in realizing the goals and

objectives of the United Nations, based on the purposes

and principles outlined in the Charter.