Federated States of Micronesia, 2003

I would like to take this

opportunity to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your

election. My Government is deeply gratified by the

recognition of your accomplishments, especially given

that you are a fellow islander. We are confident you

will lead the work of this body with the same high

competence as your distinguished predecessor, His

Excellency Jan Kavan of the Czech Republic.

Before going further I must pause in respectful

remembrance of the second anniversary of the terrorist

attacks of 11 September 2001. We honour the memory

of all who were lost. I must also express our sincere

condolences over the great loss of life recently at the

United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.

I am grateful for the privilege of appearing before

this body for the first time, as President of the

Federated States of Micronesia. We feel a deep sense of

responsibility in joining with nations present here to

work toward a better world for all peoples.

For the past several years, much of the discussion

here and elsewhere has focused on political challenges

around the world. After 11 September, it is not at all

surprising that these challenges have commanded the

lion's share of everyone's attention. We in the

Federated States of Micronesia remain committed to

the eradication of terrorism in all its forms, and will

continue to play the role open to us as the world strives

to reach this goal.

However, the challenges of the environment and

of sustainable development that occupied so much of

our attention during the 1990s have not gone away.

Despite the immediacy of so many pressing demands

today, those remain challenges that the international

community cannot afford to put on hold. We cannot put

them on hold because they are part and parcel of the

worldwide security challenge, especially over the

longer term.

No part of our world is immune to the wide range

of fundamental security threats. War and terrorism are

only consequences of their deeper root causes: poverty,

human injustice and, more recently, environmental

degradation. These are most often discussed in the

context of the more populous regions of the world, but

I ask the Assembly not to overlook the fact that they

also present themselves to the small island developing

States.

The unique vulnerability of our island States to

all those scourges is widely recognized. Even so,

global threat assessments most often are not followed

up by a realistic allocation of resources to the more

remote yet also more vulnerable places, where

threats to global security often find their origin or seek

refuge. I submit to the Assembly that the region of the

Pacific islands has for too long been overlooked in that

way.

We welcomed the initiative of the international

community to address those and related development

problems during the World Summit on Sustainable

Development. But we returned home, and we still find

ourselves struggling just as much as ever with

fundamental needs. As memories of Johannesburg are

pushed into the background by seemingly more urgent

crises, our people are beginning to ask questions about

this process. They are asking whether repetitious

discussion of traditional development strategies at a

lengthening string of summit venues offers the most

productive avenue for achieving real development

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goals. We must consider these things with a broader

consciousness. The challenges are enormous, and they

are immediate. I say to the Assembly respectfully that

business-as-usual multilateralism is not getting the job

done.

Before proceeding, I should say that today's

Micronesians do enjoy a much-improved standard of

living in comparison with the conditions that existed

when we were introduced to the world economy less

than 50 years ago. However, we still have very far to

go before we can reach the levels of even the

moderately successful developing countries, let alone

of the industrialized world.

In saying what I do here about my own country's

difficulties, I must add that we are by no means alone.

Therefore, we stand with developing countries

everywhere, and we fully support the positions to be

expressed here by His Majesty the King of Morocco on

behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and by His

Excellency the Prime Minister of Mauritius on behalf

of the Alliance of Small Island States.

We must all do more. For our part, the small

island developing States need to ensure that we meet

our obligations and fulfil our undertakings to the global

community. We are not just supplicants; we have roles

to play. My country has made commitments to

environmental responsibility in line with our capacity.

We have pledged increased accountability and

oversight of development assistance. We have resolved

to build our capacity to govern more effectively and to

increase regional interaction.

I believe that all developing countries should

explore how we can mobilize our limited resources,

individually and collectively, even as we seek

assistance. In that regard, I commend to the

Assembly's attention the communiquÈ of the Pacific

Islands Forum issued this year at Auckland, New

Zealand. It is illustrative of the kind of regional

collaboration I encourage here. For example, we in the

Forum agreed this year to an important and

comprehensive statement of principles fundamental to

good governmental leadership and recognized by all. I

think that it deserves close study by the Assembly.

Serious attention was also given by the Forum leaders

to the challenges presented by international criminal

elements attracted to our region. They are attracted in

part by our out-of-sight, out-of-mind' status. It was

recognized at the Forum that, given our limitations

individually, we can confront those challenges only

through regional, collective action.

We are also now seeing, more than ever before,

entire regions of the world marginalized in the global

economy, as witness the sad breakdown of the World

Trade Organization (WTO) meetings recently. Some

countries have been virtually ignored until social and

political conditions have severely deteriorated.

We are hearing more frequently the term failed

State'. It has no clear definition, but it has been used

on occasion to justify outside intervention. That may

be necessary under certain circumstances, but it is in

the interests of all that such conditions should not

develop in the first place. I submit that the causes of

any such so-called failure can be traced far beyond the

borders of the unfortunate country that is so labelled.

The time is ripe for a new way of looking at

international peace and security. No longer can

economic, social and environmental issues exist in a

parallel universe, divorced from geopolitical

considerations. The linkages are becoming all too clear,

as the alarming findings of this year's United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) report on

implementation of the Millennium Development Goals

confirm.

Despite our best efforts, we still face the full

range of threats to our natural environment. Those

threats are not diminishing. In fact, on a global scale,

progress by the world community has been glacial in

the face of ever more pressing demands for action. We

may say to ourselves that any disastrous outcomes lie

well in the future, but we can act only in the present.

We are literally making or failing to make life

decisions for the yet-unborn.

One of the most clear and present emergencies

has figured prominently in our statements in the

general debate every year since our country became a

United Nations Member; I refer to the need for

immediate international action to combat climate

change. Regrettably, I cannot speak with any less

concern this year. If anything, our appeals must

become more urgent. At a time when we speak of many

wars, there is also the war against climate change a

war that mankind cannot afford to lose.

I know you can appreciate better than most,

Mr. President, that, for my family and me, the issue of

climate change is a present reality. My island, Woleai,

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in Yap State, is an atoll with no point higher than two

meters above sea level. The frequency and the intensity

of storms in our region have been increasing for some

time.

During the last year we experienced three major

typhoons, as well as other destructive storms. One of

them triggered massive mudslides on the state of

Chuuk's higher islands, and 50 people died. In Yap

state, a recent storm washed away a large and very old

cemetery. These and similar recent events in our other

states are unprecedented. Everything we are, and hope

to achieve as a people, is under grave threat because of

global climate change.

Having confirmed that the climate change crisis

is real, the entire world also now possesses

indisputable evidence that its steady progression can be

laid at the doorstep of human activity. Yet some of the

worst polluters among the industrialized countries see

it as their top priority to protect vested interests. They

are purposely delaying the immediate action that is

required to begin to turn the tide of destructive climate

alteration.

In the Framework Convention, it was agreed by

all that those bearing the responsibility for causing this

problem must take the lead in resolving it. Yet, I must

ask today, where is that leadership?

It is very sad that the Kyoto Protocol, which is a

positive achievement, has been converted by some

Governments into a political target a rallying cry for

the worst polluters. In fact, it represents nothing more

than a small first step that must be followed up by

strong subsequent actions if the war against climate

change is to be at all effective. The scornful attitude

toward the Protocol shown by some countries will

doom the entire Framework Convention to utter failure

if the current situation remains unchanged. The Kyoto

Protocol must be brought into effect without further

delay. The industrial Powers cannot continue to make

the plea of Saint Augustine, Lord, make me thy

servant, but not yet awhile.'

Since our people live in such close harmony with

the natural environment, we also face a host of other

pressing environmental issues. Our coral reefs are

getting a great deal of international attention partly

because of their potential for commercial exploitation.

We appreciate those possibilities and are determined to

preserve our legal rights in any exploitation that takes

place.

But we also appreciate the reefs as our natural

buffers against the sea and the hosts for marine

resources far beyond the regular bounty of present-day

fishing. This is more than a resource; it is a lifeline for

many island countries. The serious decline in the health

of coral reefs all over the world must be reversed.

Stocks of our only substantial economic

resource tuna have seen a marked decline in

recent years. Other species and key elements of the

ocean ecosystem are also now imperilled as never

before. The Federated States of Micronesia will be

lobbying for an aggressive oceans resource protection

policy in both the regional and international arenas.

Water itself, and access to it, is very much a

threatened resource in our country, where we are

surrounded by the ocean but have limited fresh water.

We rely upon rainwater and its collection in the lenses

that lies beneath our atolls. Every drop is precious. We

say that a vulnerable life, such as that of a child, is like

morning dew on a taro leaf, to be handled with care so

that it does not slip away.

Members may be surprised to learn that islands in

the Pacific Ocean, so often pictured in everyone's

dream of paradise, are more concerned about drought

than any other natural threat, including typhoons. Not

only do we experience the salt-water corruption of our

fresh water and our food crops, as a result of increased

storm activity and sea-level rise, we also now must try

to cope with droughts brought on by increasingly

unpredictable El NiÒo activity linked to climate

change.

Fortunately, the world in general seems to be

waking up to the universal human requirement for

access to adequate, clean water. The special exposure

of island countries received welcome attention at the

recent Third World Water Forum in Kyoto. In addition,

I wish to point to a very important, first-ever

interregional collaboration on this vital subject, in the

form of a Memorandum of Understanding recently

concluded between our South Pacific Applied

Geoscience Commission and the Caribbean

Environmental Health Institute.

I have spoken much about my country's concerns

but, of course, we are not alone in these concerns. The

world's small island developing States face largely the

same set of issues in different degrees.

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For that reason, we were grateful for the

international attention generated by the first United

Nations Global Conference on the Sustainable

Development of Small Island Developing States, held

in Barbados in 1994. The Barbados Programme of

Action, which was the product of that Conference, has

been a limited success. The Conference succeeded in

focusing attention on the unique set of problems our

small island nations face. However, it seems that the

international community has to some extent been

content to raise awareness of the issues, while showing

a waning interest in implementing specific measures

during the years following the Conference itself.

We applaud the decision to hold a follow-up

conference in Mauritius in 2004, and we look forward

to a frank evaluation of the progress, or lack thereof, in

implementing the Barbados Plan of Action during the

past 10 years. It is my hope that the Mauritius

conference will afford an opportunity to regain lost

momentum.

This is a landmark year for my nation. We have

completed 17 years in a post-trusteeship political

relationship with the United States. By all accounts,

this has been a success. Never before has free

association been attempted on this scale.

I am pleased that both my country and our

development partner, the United States, have seen fit to

continue this relationship into the future by amending

the treaty between us known as the Compact of Free

Association. As we celebrate the success that this

renewal represents, it is proper to recall the long and

effective stewardship of our region by the United

Nations Trusteeship Council.

We are grateful for the lasting contribution of the

United Nations system to the history of Micronesia,

and we look forward to continuing to work in this body

and others in the United Nations system to reach our

collective goals.

In closing, I would like to refer to the words of

the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who

once said,

If I were asked to state the great objective which

church and state are both demanding for the sake

of every man and woman and child in this

country, I would say that the great objective is a

more abundant life.'

I believe that the President was speaking of true

abundance, not only in a material sense, but also in the

sense of the security of mind and body that comes with

freedom, opportunity and human fulfilment.

We must ask ourselves whether what we are

striving for here at the United Nations is faithful to that

lofty ideal. This Organization is the greatest forum ever

created on this planet. It cannot afford to allow its

important role in conflict management to push aside

the even greater task of managing the conditions that

produce those conflicts. We bring together here, under

the guidance of the Charter, for the first time in human

history, all kinds of resources necessary to lead

mankind to a more abundant life. Let it not be said of

us later that we failed in that task.