Bhutan, 2009

I should like to congratulate

the President on his election to preside over the

General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. We are

confident that under his able leadership and guidance,

our deliberations will be successful. I assure him of my

delegation’s fullest support and cooperation. I would

also like to convey our deep appreciation to his

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann, for his leadership at the sixty-third session.

It has been only 18 months since my country

successfully made the transition to a democratic

constitutional monarchy. Within this period, the elected

Government has made every effort to establish a strong

foundation for a sustainable and vibrant democracy, as

it is these initial years that will determine the direction

of democracy in Bhutan. Concrete steps are being

taken to empower the people and to ensure that

democracy truly benefits every citizen.

The people of Bhutan, although hesitant at first,

were guided and encouraged by our enlightened and

visionary monarchs and have fully embraced

democracy. From our experience so far, we are

confident that a strong foundation for democracy has

been established; it is now time to nurture and continue

to strengthen this foundation.

The world is grappling with multiple, interlinked

global crises. The impact of these crises has been

particularly severe on the least developed countries,

where levels of poverty and insecurity are already high.

The food and energy crises have driven millions of the

most vulnerable people deeper into poverty and further

desperation. Meeting their needs and freeing them from

the cycle of poverty continues to be the major

challenge to development and to achieving the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is

inconceivable that, in an era of unprecedented

prosperity, the vast majority of the world’s population

remains in poverty and destitution. The alleviation of

poverty, therefore, must be at the forefront of the

international community’s development efforts.

Since the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus in

2002, developing countries have made significant

progress in many areas of domestic resource

mobilization. However, challenges remain, especially

during the current economic slowdown, for developing

countries to mobilize adequate domestic resources to

meet their development needs. For many such

countries, official development assistance (ODA)

remains the most important source of external

financing for achieving their development objectives

and attaining the MDGs. We therefore encourage donor

countries to take concrete steps towards fulfilling their

ODA commitments.

In Bhutan, we have achieved relative

socio-economic progress over the past five years. The

annual gross domestic product growth rate has

averaged around 8 per cent, the national literacy rate

has reached 60 per cent and health coverage has been

sustained at 90 per cent. The royal Government

continues to accord high priority to the social sector.

Bhutan launched its tenth five-year plan in July 2008

with the overarching goal of poverty reduction and

implementing MDG-based initiatives. As this is the

first plan to be implemented under our first elected

Government, its successful implementation is of

paramount importance to reaffirming the people’s faith

in parliamentary democracy and ensuring a successful

political transition.

These successes in the political, social and

economic fields would not have been possible without

the support of our development partners, bilateral and

multilateral. To them I offer our deep gratitude and

appreciation, and we look forward to their continued

assistance and support during this critical transitional

phase.

It is becoming increasingly evident that the

impact of continuing climate change cannot be ignored.

While its adverse effects will spare none, small

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developing countries will bear a heavier burden, even

though they contribute the least to the causes. Despite

Bhutan’s negligible emission of greenhouse gases, our

fragile mountain ecology faces potential threats,

primarily the adverse impact on agriculture, which is

the mainstay of our people. Erratic and severe weather

patterns and the threat of glacial lake outburst floods

are of particular concern to Bhutan. Other hazards,

such as flash floods, landslides, forest fires and

droughts, are also likely to increase. When Cyclone

Aila hit the Bay of Bengal in May, it also had

disastrous and widespread effects in Bhutan, touching

every corner of the country. Precious lives were lost;

power and water supplies affected; roads, bridges and

vital infrastructure damaged. Farms, the most

vulnerable sector, were the worst affected.

Our capacity to carry out adaptation and

mitigation measures is severely constrained by our lack

of scientific, technical and financial resources. Bhutan

has always maintained that climate change must be

addressed within the framework of sustainable

development. The issues are inextricably linked to

development, and any debate on the subject must take

into consideration equity and the right of developing

countries to be able to provide their people with better

livelihoods.

My delegation appreciates the initiative of the

Secretary-General in convening the high-level Summit

on Climate Change. It provided the necessary political

impetus for negotiations to be concluded in

Copenhagen this December. We must now advance the

progress of the multilateral negotiations in every

possible way to ensure that tangible results are

achieved in Copenhagen for the well-being of present

and future generations. In this regard, I am pleased to

inform this gathering that Bhutan will assume the chair

of and host the sixteenth summit of the South Asian

Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in

April 2010. Given the importance of the subject,

climate change and environment will be the Summit’s

theme, and the issue will receive our leaders’ highest

attention when they meet in Thimphu.

Terrorism in all forms and manifestations is a

serious threat to domestic as well as global peace and

security. It endangers and undermines our common

values of respect for human rights and the rule of law,

and our basic desire to live in peace and harmony.

Preventing terrorism preserves these fundamental

values, through which we can achieve lasting peace

and security.

Even my country, which has always enjoyed

peace and stability, has not been spared this evil

menace. Bhutan therefore fully supports the

international consensus on taking firm action against

terrorism. The General Assembly’s adoption of the

Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288)

was an important political achievement that represents

our common approach to combating the scourge of

global terrorism. We must show similar commitment in

concluding a comprehensive convention on

international terrorism. Within our region, the leaders

of SAARC have concluded an agreement on mutual

legal assistance in criminal matters, reaffirming our

region’s commitment to collectively addressing the

evils of terrorism.

Bhutan accords high importance to reform of the

United Nations, particularly the revitalization of the

General Assembly and reform of the Security Council.

We fully support the expansion of the Security Council

in both its permanent and non-permanent membership.

For their active role in global affairs and their capacity

and resources to shoulder greater responsibilities,

reflect present global realities and make the United

Nations more representative, we fully support electing

India, Japan, Brazil and Germany, plus two African

countries, to be permanent Security Council members.

My delegation is greatly encouraged by the

momentum gained in the intergovernmental

negotiations on the reform process. We hope that the

sixty-fourth session will build on the progress achieved

so far and bring this long-drawn-out process to a

successful conclusion under Mr. Treki’s leadership.

Natural calamities are occurring regularly every

year, and smaller developing countries are increasingly

faced with the challenge of coping with such problems.

Just last week, my country was severely affected by an

earthquake that measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. It is

one of the biggest disasters we have experienced in

recent times. Its devastating effects were felt in six

districts of eastern Bhutan, where 13 people lost their

lives and many were left injured and homeless. About

1,900 homes, numerous schools, Government offices

and historical monuments were destroyed or damaged.

The full impact is still being ascertained. During this

difficult period, we have been comforted by the

outpouring of support from friendly countries such as

47 09-52598

India and others, which have rendered much-needed

technical and financial assistance for the massive relief

work.

Given the increasing frequency of such severe

natural calamities and their negative effects on many

parts of the world, there is a need for institutionalized

disaster preparedness and response mechanisms at the

national, regional and global levels. In this context, the

establishment of the United Nations Central Emergency

Fund is an important step towards providing the

disaster relief that is urgently required for life-saving

operations. Bearing this in mind and as an expression

of our continued support for the commendable

humanitarian work of the United Nations, Bhutan has

made a modest contribution to the Fund, which we

hope to increase in the coming years.

These are indeed difficult times with multiple

crises hitting us simultaneously. The threat of climate

change is real and its effects are occurring even as I

speak. Global governance needs to be made more

effective to help us address the global challenges more

efficiently. In this interdependent world, it will be

impossible for any country to act alone in resolving

these crises. Therefore, as we gather here once again to

deliberate and find solutions to the many difficult

problems confronting us, I conclude by reiterating my

delegation’s full support and cooperation in working

towards addressing our common challenges.