Grenada, 1994

My delegation is pleased to

convey warmest greetings from the Government and people

of Grenada to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth

session. We also wish to extend sincere congratulations to

Your Excellency Mr. Amara Essy, Foreign Minister of Côte

d’Ivoire, on your election to the presidency of this session.

The Government of Grenada takes this opportunity to

commend Ambassador Samuel Insanally, the first

representative from the Caribbean ever to hold the high

office of President of the General Assembly, for his

exemplary conduct of the proceedings of the forty-eighth

session. We are indeed proud of his performance.

Grenada also wishes to express profound appreciation

to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his

relentless efforts in the pursuit of the purposes of this

Organization.

Grenada is pleased to welcome the new South Africa

to the United Nations, and we pay special tribute to His

Excellency President Nelson Mandela for his resolute will

and firm determination in the fight against apartheid, which

eventually resulted in this new, democratic and non-racial

South Africa.

Grenada is pleased that in recent efforts to bring an

end to the illegal seizure of power by the military in Haiti

and to halt the ensuing human rights abuses there

diplomacy prevailed and further bloodshed was averted.

We now eagerly await the reinstatement of the duly

elected Government and its President, Father Jean-

Bertrand Aristide, and the return of democracy to Haiti.

We support the actions taken by the United States of

America and other multinational forces in implementation

of United Nations resolutions on Haiti, and we join

like-minded nations as they move to establish the

structures in which development and democracy can be

sustained.

Grenada is prepared to do its part to ensure a more

fertile ground for the growth of democracy in Haiti, our

sister Caribbean country. We are proud that, within the

limits of our resources, personnel from Grenada’s law

enforcement services are among the multinational

contingent to help in "Operation Uphold Democracy".

After all, it was 11 years ago this month that Grenada

itself profited from a similar multinational operation,

affording us the historic opportunity to restore democratic

principles to our way of life. It is therefore only natural

that Grenada should wish Haiti well and should be

prepared to support democracy in that country as fully as

we do.

Over the last several years many of the small

developing countries within this Organization have been

experiencing growing economic problems. The forced

response has been to take stringent corrective measures

aimed at stabilizing their economies and creating the

conditions for sustainable development. Speaking

specifically of my own country, Grenada, I can inform the

Assembly that in 1992 we embarked on a voluntary three-

year structural adjustment programme in an effort to

correct serious fiscal imbalances and to put the country on

a path of sustained growth.

This year marks the end of the programme, and I am

happy to report that some success has been achieved.

The Government has significantly reduced the fiscal

deficits from 25 per cent of gross domestic product in

1992 to 11 per cent in 1993 and 9 per cent to date.

Moreover, Grenada’s credit rating has improved notably,

with its creditworthiness restored by the World Bank in

June of this year after having been forfeited in 1988.

Whatever success has been recorded by that programme

is a credit to regionalism, since the programme was

instituted with enormous regional inputs. Grenada wishes

publicly to thank the regional Governments and

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institutions which contributed to the effort. This particular

development means that Grenada is now viewed more

favourably by the multilateral and specialized donor

agencies and friendly Governments in terms of external

financial assistance for its development programmes.

Despite the good fiscal performance, the structural-

adjustment programme has not been able to achieve its

targets in terms of the growth rate of the gross domestic

product. Thus, over the next two years much emphasis will

be placed on achieving a reasonable rate of economic

growth. In addition, efforts to reduce the fiscal deficits

further will continue to be vigorously pursued.

You, Mr. President, are well aware that a topic of

particular currency in the area of international economic

relations is the issue of trade and investment. Of course,

over the past months new trading blocs have been created,

with the result that in the Western Hemisphere we now

have several such arrangements, which include the very

important North American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA). While all the implications of NAFTA are not

yet known, we must nevertheless now seek to position our

economies to interface with the realities of this new

economic environment.

In that context, the conclusion of the latest round of

the negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and

Trade (GATT) has very far-reaching consequences for

trade. The requirements of trade liberalization and

reciprocity mean that small island developing States like

Grenada must now interact on the same playing field as the

more developed countries, which, in effect, signals a rapid

erosion of the preferential treatment that some of us have

enjoyed over the past two decades. The removal of access

to market arrangements traditionally favourable to fledgling

industries in our societies - the banana industry, for

example - compounds our difficulties and presents a major

threat to the overall well-being of our small economies.

Furthermore, the creation of the World Trade Organization

would most definitely change the face of international trade,

and while every independent nation has the opportunity to

become a party to that Organization and thus attempt to

influence its operations, it is evident that, on that score,

equality will not necessarily ensure equity. We are

cognizant of the fact that we must now seek to enhance our

productivity and competitiveness in carefully selected areas

if we are to survive in this era of trade liberalization. But,

more often than not, we cannot do it alone, and this is why

my delegation appeals to the developed countries to be

considerate of our fragile economies and the need to adapt

to this seemingly hostile economic environment.

The recent success of the United Nations Global

Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small

Island Developing States, held in Barbados, and the

adoption of its Programme of Action underscore the

urgent need for international co-operation and assistance,

not only in the form of financial resources for the

implementation of the Programme of Action, but also in

access to markets, acquisition of new technologies and

institutional and human-resource development, so as to

enable us to respond more capably to the challenges of

finding new paths to sustainable development.

The advances made since the United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development must be

built upon, and in this regard the importance of forging

new global partnerships between developed and

developing countries ought to be given priority. The

protection of the global climate and biological diversity,

the sustainable use and conservation of all marine

resources and the protection of our oceans and high seas

require urgent international assistance and cooperation.

My delegation therefore looks forward to the

fulfilment of the obligations of the developed countries

that have pledged their commitment to assist developing

countries and, in particular, small island developing

States, in the implementation of the decisions and

recommendations of Agenda 21, the conventions on

climate change and biodiversity and all the follow-up

conferences of the Rio Conference.

For several years Grenada has expressed its concern

at the apparent unbalanced resource commitment to

security issues versus development. Consequently, my

delegation commends recently expanded efforts aimed at

giving greater prominence to the development needs

confronting the world, particularly in the developing

countries. We applaud the Secretary-General’s report "An

Agenda for Development" and we applaud the former

President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Mr.

Samuel Insanally, for his visionary initiative in organizing

the World Hearings on Development in June of this year.

We urge that the momentum gained therefrom be

maintained, and we wish to place on record our support

for Brazil’s call for a global conference on development

in the year 1996.

The question of population and development is a

very sensitive issue, one that demands continuous

conscientious global effort. Grenada is encouraged by the

consensus which emerged from the recently concluded

International Conference on Population and Development

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at Cairo, and we are hopeful that increasingly balanced

development will be viewed as the essential basis on which

to treat the issue of population.

We are also confident that the Conference on Women

to be held at Beijing in 1995 will address one of the long-

standing issues critical to development, that is, the issue of

women in development.

In March of 1995 world leaders will gather in

Copenhagen to address one of the most pressing questions

of our time, the question of social development. We will

be asked to rule on the debilitating issues of poverty,

meaningful employment and social inclusion. We will be

asked to rule particularly in the interest of youth, the aged,

the disabled and all those outside the mainstream of social

integration.

Grenada is confident that the World Summit for Social

Development and all the other follow-ups to the Rio

Conference are replacing despair with hope worldwide. At

the same time, we are concerned about the different spins

that may be put on the interpretation of those agreements.

For example, we are concerned that environmental causes

should not be used as barriers to access for goods produced

in developing countries to the markets of those with more

prosperous economies. We hope that, on the contrary, the

developed countries will appreciate the need to assist the

poorer countries to gain access to the technologies and

technological know-how necessary to the promotion of

more-balanced development on a global scale.

Stability within and between States is a prerequisite

for international peace and security. Grenada is encouraged

by certain developments, beginning almost a year ago with

the signing of the historic peace treaty between Israel and

the Palestine Liberation Organization. We believe that the

emergence of self-rule in Jericho and Gaza is of great

significance. We look forward to further positive

developments in the Middle East peace process and wish all

the countries in that region the peace and stability upon

which lasting prosperity will be built.

Grenada is encouraged by the diplomatic efforts in the

search for a permanent solution to the crisis in Bosnia and

Herzegovina. We commend the United Nations for its

resolve and determination in this regard. We fully support

the establishment of the International Tribunal to try

allegations of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. By the

same token, Grenada fully supports similar initiatives in

response to situations in other parts of the world, where

these are deemed appropriate.

In the light of the unfortunate circumstances in

Rwanda that resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands

of lives, and bearing in mind other situations of human

devastation, Grenada wishes to express its satisfaction

with the responses from those members of the

international community that have gone to the aid of

people in various sorry situations. We also wish to

convey our appreciation to the relief agencies and others

whose tireless efforts have saved lives, restored health to

the sick and hungry and brought comfort to countless

victims - particularly women and children.

My delegation wishes to underscore the importance

of human rights, freedom and good governance as vital

preconditions to domestic quietude, international harmony

and the creation of the climate necessary for the

achievement of progress within societies. In this regard,

the promotion and protection of the rights of children is

an issue that cries out for greater attention. The

well-being of children cannot wait for the unprompted

evolution of societies. Deliberate efforts must be

expedited at various levels, global and national, to ensure

the promotion and protection of children’s rights.

Likewise, in this the International Year of the Family and

beyond, emphasis should continue to be placed on the

pivotal role of the family in national and global

development.

The end of the cold-war era presents opportunities

for a shift from political and ideological divide to

cooperation in the areas of economic and social

development. New economic Powers on the world scene

seek to occupy positions that were once the prerogative of

the traditional super-Powers. Grenada believes that the

structure of the organs of the United Nations should

reflect these new developments and, at the same time,

make provision for geographical representation that is

consistent with today’s global, political and economic

realities. Reforms currently being undertaken in the

United Nations system provide an opportunity to examine

the question of expanding the Security Council and the

question of the veto power in the light of these new

realities.

Grenada supports the principle of universality and

encourages the General Assembly to give renewed

consideration to the wish of the Republic of China - a

founding Member of the United Nations - to participate

in the Organization and its specialized agencies as a full

Member. We believe that this appeal from the 21 million

people of the Republic of China in Taiwan for a voice

and proper representation in the international community

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is both moral and legitimate. The inclusion of the Republic

of China in Taiwan in the United Nations would further

contribute to global cooperation in trade, economic

development and environmental and ecological protection.

In addition, it would assist in the promotion of international

development assistance to developing countries. Grenada

believes that a committee should be set up to examine the

exceptional nature of the situation of the Republic of China

in the present international context.

So long as drug traffickers and international arms

dealers continue to ply their trade, and so long as

mercenaries, terrorists and other adventurists exist, the

protection and security of small States will remain

particularly vulnerable to acts of aggression, from without

as well as from within.

While the United Nations Charter recognizes the right

of States to take measures in self-defence, the reality is that

often small States faced with serious threats lack the means

to do so. Small States invariably look to the provisions of

the United Nations Charter to secure respect for and

preservation of their sovereignty. It is therefore necessary

that the protection and security of small States remain a

very pertinent issue among the concerns of the United

Nations.

The tasks of the organs and bodies of the United

Nations are by no means easy. Old tensions have given

way to new tensions and concerns, which demand

imaginative approaches if solutions are to be found. As we

embark upon preparations for the fiftieth anniversary of the

United Nations in 1995, let us train our sights on the

factors that brought the United Nations into being in the

first instance and on what gives the Organization its special

worthiness.

The challenge is to attain and maintain long-term

global peace and stability and to enhance the prospects for

solving global problems of an economic, social, cultural or

humanitarian nature. To this end, we as a community of

nations must rededicate ourselves to working ever

relentlessly and concertedly towards the goal of making our

planet a safer, better and happier place in which to live.