Jamaica, 1995

On behalf of the Government

and the people of Jamaica, I congratulate Mr. Diogo Freitas

do Amaral on his election to the presidency of the fiftieth

session of the General Assembly. As a distinguished

representative of Portugal, we are assured that he will be

able to bring his undoubted skills to the affairs of this body

at this important juncture in the life of the United Nations.

Allow me also to express my appreciation to his

distinguished predecessor, Foreign Minister Amara Essy of

Côte d’Ivoire, for his very valuable contribution to the work

of the forty-ninth session.

I also wish to take this opportunity to extend a

welcome to the Republic of Palau, which was admitted to

the United Nations on 15 December 1994.

Let me, on behalf of the Government and the people

of Jamaica, express our sympathy to the peoples of our

sister countries in the Caribbean who recently experienced

the ravages of devastating hurricanes. Most of these small

islands suffered extensive damage to infrastructure and to

their agriculture and tourism industries. Their task of

reconstruction will require immediate assistance and

support from the international community. I appeal to all

gathered here to provide the required support to these

Caribbean partners.

Our general debate this year coincides with the

celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United

Nations. This historic occasion affords us the opportunity

to reflect on the work and value of the Organization and

to chart the way forward into the twenty-first century.

The establishment of the United Nations 50 years

ago irrevocably changed the course of world history. With

its founding, a new framework for international relations

was created. Throughout the last five decades, the world

body, buffeted as it has been by the vagaries of an

unpredictable and often tense international environment,

has achieved remarkable successes in a wide variety of

fields, and in many ways and for many millions of people

around the world it remains the greatest repository of

hope, and the only viable option for ensuring international

peace, security and development.

Today we still inhabit an imperfect world where

poverty, social and economic inequality between and

within States, hunger, disease and environmental

degradation remain critical issues. Global solutions must be

found to what are inevitably global problems. At last we all

now agree that the major problems confronting our world

are transnational in nature.

Addressing these challenges is a daunting task.

However, whereas less than a decade ago the cold-war

ideological divide hindered our ability to address them,

today we are in a much more favourable position to do so.

Today there is greater willingness and capacity to make

common cause on a number of issues.

The priority task of our time is to eliminate the

fundamental causes of instability and conflict in the global

community, a situation rooted in the social and economic

conditions affecting the greater part of mankind. As we

move into the next century, our commitment to achieving

development in all its aspects must be our priority

objective. In this regard, Jamaica continues to attach great

importance to the work of the United Nations in advancing

the Agenda for Development. We believe it provides the

rudiments for constructing a sustained development

strategy. It is our hope that this historic session of the

General Assembly will recognize the importance of the

Agenda and give the mandate for its implementation.

The Secretary-General has outlined five dimensions

which provide the foundation for action to achieve

sustainable development. These are: peace, the economy,

environmental protection, social justice and democracy.

It is important that we accept these concepts as

mutually reinforcing and interdependent. Development is

not possible in the absence of peace and stability.

Conversely, the absence of broad-based development and

the lack of opportunity to participate in the benefits of

material progress constitute a threat to peace and stability.

Economic growth is necessary for development. As the

Secretary-General points out in his report,

“New development approaches should not only

generate economic growth, they should make its

benefits equitably available. They should enable

people to participate in decisions affecting their lives.”

(A/49/665, para. 5)

For sustainable development to be maintained it must

be people-oriented in its objective, scope and focus. It

needs an environment that gives priority to the promotion

of social well-being, integration and advancement; an

environment where there is emphasis on the eradication of

poverty, on the enhancement of health and education and

on productive employment for all.

That is why it is vital that we honour the

commitments agreed at major international conferences

and integrate them into a common framework for

development. The declarations and work programmes of

conferences, beginning with the World Summit for

Children in 1990, up to and including the recent Fourth

World Conference on Women, provide the basis for

forging a global consensus on new approaches to social

and economic development. The United Nations

Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), to be held

next year, will further add to the global consensus.

It is in this context that I refer specifically to the

World Summit for Social Development, one of the two

major global conferences held this year. That Summit

provided a forum for discussion and commitment to

action on issues of poverty, unemployment and social

disintegration. In Copenhagen world leaders recognized

the central and pervasive theme of poverty and its

impediment to social integration. The Copenhagen

Declaration and Programme of Action contain universal

commitments: a commitment to create a national and

international environment conducive to the eradication of

poverty; a commitment to enhance productive

employment; a commitment to promote social

development and foster social integration. All these

actions would be taken in a framework of sustainable

economic growth and development.

Not only does the Declaration and Programme of

Action contain commitments to accelerate economic,

social and human resource development: it also

specifically sets targets for addressing the seemingly

intractable problems facing developing countries. The

critical issue is one of resources. It is a daunting

challenge.

As part of national policy and consistent with the

content of the Declaration and Programme of Action,

Jamaica has already committed itself to the alleviation of

poverty as a matter of priority.

Permit me to refer to the other important conference

held this year, the Fourth World Conference on Women,

which was recently concluded in Beijing. Out of that

Conference emanated a comprehensive Platform for

Action aimed at fostering greater empowerment of women

and bringing them fully into the development process.

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We recognize that Governments have the main

responsibility for undertaking the commitments agreed at

these conferences. However, to achieve these goals national

efforts must be complemented by effective international

cooperation. We therefore join others in urging the

international community to collectively fulfil the

commitments by channelling substantial new and additional

financial and technical resources to developing countries. It

is this mobilization of adequate financial resources for

development purposes that will determine whether the

poorest countries in the world remain excluded from the

progress enjoyed by others.

The positive trends in world economic growth cannot

mask the dichotomy which persists in the international

economy. The efforts by developing countries to implement

sound macroeconomic policies and structural adjustment

programmes continue to be affected by adverse external

economic conditions characterized by protectionism in

goods-and-service trade, continuing decline in official

development assistance (ODA), volatile financial flows and

exchange-rate instability, and constraints in access to

technology.

All this is convincing evidence that in the increasingly

globalized environment it is imperative that we give greater

weight to the whole process of coordination of international

economic policy. Institutions such as the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank should further

improve their processes to take into account the critical

needs and peculiar circumstances of developing countries.

This process could be improved further through better

consultations between the Group of 77, the Group of 15

and the Group of 7.

Many developing countries have at great cost

undertaken reforms in policy and regulatory framework

resulting in the creation of a private-sector-led, market-

driven economy. These efforts will be rendered meaningless

without the existence of a favourable international economic

environment. In its absence, efforts to build self-sustaining

economies will be frustrated.

With the completion of the Uruguay Round and the

establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) the

stage is set for a more open multilateral trading system. In

confronting this new and complex trade regime developing

countries require production and marketing assistance to

gain the potential benefits from the new market

opportunities.

It is therefore crucial that a degree of flexibility be

given to developing countries to enhance our full

participation in the multilateral trading system.

Recent developments and institutional changes,

including the establishment of the World Trade

Organization, reinforce the need for institutions such as

the United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development as a policy-oriented trade forum with a

strong development perspective. We should not fail to

reflect on the valuable role that has been played by

UNCTAD, as well as by the United Nations Industrial

Development Organization. Every effort should be made

to preserve those organizations. They were designed to

serve the development objectives of the developing

countries. They are not above change. They have shown

their capacity to adapt to the new environment and to

develop concepts and programmes relevant to the present

needs of the developing countries. We are therefore

opposed to any attempt to undermine the contributions of

those bodies to the development objectives within the

international system.

In our own region steps are being taken to improve

the conditions that will foster proper trading relations

among our countries, thereby enhancing the productivity

of our economies. The Convention establishing the

Association of Caribbean States has now entered into

force. The new grouping of 25 States plus associate

members represents a strong and viable economic base

from which to seize the opportunities offered by the new

international economic environment.

In this regard we continue to assert the need for the

inclusion of all countries in the region in the integration

process. To this end, we reiterate our concern at attempts

further to complicate regional-trading arrangements

through national legislation that has an overwhelming

extra-territorial character.

If I have devoted a substantial portion of my

statement to issues of development and international

economic and trade policy, it is because Jamaica would

like to emphasize the fundamental importance of

economic and social development to the attainment of

peace and security. We welcome the fact that the

Secretary-General’s Agenda for Development has rightly

been acknowledged as an essential complement to “An

Agenda for Peace”. We remain committed to a continuing

role for the United Nations in the area of peace-keeping.

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The current regional and civil conflicts being waged

against the backdrop of ethnic and religious antagonism

demand that greater emphasis be placed on preventive

diplomacy in order to diffuse tensions before they escalate

into the violence and bloodshed that we have witnessed in

the Balkans and in Central Africa. We must design

mechanisms to deal with problems in their early stages and

thus prevent the situation whereby the international

community finds itself expending more and more resources

to deal with an ever-worsening situation. In this regard,

urgent action to achieve a rapid-deployment capability

should be considered.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina the world has been witness

to the tragedy of the forcible dismantling of a multi-ethnic

and multireligious society. The situation has been a difficult

one for the United Nations. It is vital that all efforts be

made to bring an end to the fighting, and we hope that the

most recent attempts to reach a negotiated settlement will

lead to a lasting and comprehensive solution. I wish at this

point to express on behalf of the Government of Jamaica

our profound regret at the almost- daily loss of life. Our

sympathies go to the families of United Nations peace-

keepers as well as to the families of the three American

diplomats who were engaged in brokering a settlement to

the conflict.

We are no less concerned and distressed by the

situation in Rwanda and Burundi. We continue to urge the

factions to pursue national reconciliation leading towards

the economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of their

countries.

In our own region, we can be justifiably proud of the

role of the United Nations in restoring the democratically

elected President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to the

leadership of his nation. This was a critical element in the

complex diplomatic effort to achieve a solution to the crisis

in our sister country. Jamaica joined other countries in the

Caribbean Community in contributing to the multinational

force in Haiti and subsequently to the United Nations

Mission in Haiti. The people of Haiti are now on the path

to building democracy. Haiti’s success in its efforts to

rebuild the economy of the country depends in no small

measure on the continued attention of the entire

international community.

The success of the United Nations in Haiti leads us to

reflect on the often-overlooked achievements of the

Organization in providing much-needed humanitarian

assistance in situations of conflict.

There are a number of outstanding political issues on

the Assembly’s agenda that require resolution, among

them the situation in the Middle East. We welcome the

efforts of the parties to continue the peace process in a

spirit of reconciliation in order to achieve a

comprehensive, just and lasting peace. We hope that the

same spirit of reconciliation will prevail in negotiations to

resolve other long-outstanding issues, including that of the

situation in Cyprus.

I wish to refer to a matter which we consider one of

global concern. Four months ago, the Review and

Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) concluded

with a majority of States agreeing that the Treaty should

be extended indefinitely. Like other non-nuclear-weapon

States, we supported the indefinite extension on the basis

of the declared intention of nuclear Powers to exercise

restraint in relation to vertical proliferation and nuclear

disarmament. In this sense, we view with great

disappointment and as a serious blow to the non-

proliferation regime the recent decisions by some nuclear-

weapon States to resume nuclear testing. Jamaica is

opposed to the proliferation of weapons and wishes to

reiterate the need for the completion of a comprehensive

nuclear-test-ban treaty. In the meantime, we urge nuclear-

weapon States to respect the moratorium on nuclear

testing.

The progressive development of international law

has been a fundamental objective of the United Nations.

The entry into force of the United Nations Convention on

the Law of the Sea and the inauguration of the

International Seabed Authority in Kingston, Jamaica, in

November last year, represent a major achievement in the

creation of a legal order for the management of the seas

and oceans as the common heritage of mankind. We urge

universal acceptance of the Convention. Jamaica being the

host of the Seabed Authority, I can assure the Assembly

of its steadfast commitment to provide the enabling

environment to ensure that the objectives of the

Convention are met.

The establishment of the International Seabed

Authority represents the commitment of States parties to

have this new international regime operational in the

shortest possible time. We are all very disappointed that

the first session was concluded without the requisite

administrative arrangements in place for commencement

of the substantive work of the Authority. I take this

important occasion to urge that States parties address the

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outstanding issues with the same commitment that was

evident in securing the acceptance of the Convention.

We believe the United Nations is now positioned to

achieve the objectives of the Charter and to play an active,

dynamic and catalytic role in maintaining international

peace and security and promoting economic cooperation.

Now, more than ever before, there is a real possibility for

us to take decisive and universal action to fulfil the

purposes for which the Organization was created. We must

take advantage of this opportunity. We are conscious of

heightened expectations. For these reasons, the restructuring

and revitalization of the United Nations system must be

vigorously pursued. We are confident that a reformed and

strengthened Organization will be able to undertake the

twin tasks of promoting peace and assisting the

development process of all members of the international

community.

In the Secretary-General’s annual report to the General

Assembly this year, he has emphasized, in the context of

reforming the United Nations, that

“A crucial component of that larger reform

process should be the achievement of a more dynamic

relationship among the main intergovernmental

organs — the General Assembly, the Security Council

and the Economic and Social Council.” (A/50/1, para.

20)

This is a point of view which I share. Jamaica firmly

believes that the General Assembly should be allowed to

fulfil its role as the Organization’s highest deliberative and

decision-making body. We also believe that the role of the

Economic and Social Council should be strengthened.

It is relevant also to underscore the fact that the

United Nations was conceived in an entirely different era.

Today, with all the changes which have taken place in the

past 50 years, it is indefensible that the same five

permanent members of the Security Council can exercise

the same control as they did when they assumed that right

after the Second World War. For this and other valid

reasons, Jamaica supports the call for the expansion of the

Security Council, including its permanent membership, on

an equitable geographical basis.

Numerous initiatives have been undertaken by Member

States, independent groups and individuals on ways to

improve the functioning of the Organization. It is now time

for the seminal ideas generated by these initiatives to be

distilled into a comprehensive framework for designing the

new structure of the United Nations. In this regard,

Jamaica will participate fully in the High-level Open-

ended Working Group of the General Assembly, recently

established to undertake a thorough review of the studies

and reports relating to the revitalization and reform of the

United Nations.

The agenda for this fiftieth session is indeed a

challenging one. Our goal is to ensure that the

Organization is well placed to discharge its

responsibilities effectively. There is enough evidence of

a disposition to do this, and this gives us hope. As

custodians of the future, let us therefore strive to make

this a more peaceful, just and prosperous world.