Jamaica, 2008

It is perhaps fortuitous

that my own Deputy Prime Minister happens to be

presiding over the Assembly at the time when I address

the Assembly for the very first time. But it is not true,

as someone suggested to me just before I came to the

rostrum, that we have come to the sixty-third session of

the General Assembly believing that we are still at the

Olympics in Beijing. Neither is it true that my name is

Usain Bolt. My name is Bruce Golding.

I offer Mr. D’Escoto Brockmann my

congratulations on his presidency and I ask you,

Mr. Vice-President, to convey those congratulations to

him. He has assumed that office at a time when the

world faces challenges of crisis proportions. Much will

be demanded of his leadership, and I want you, Sir, to

assure him of Jamaica’s full support and cooperation in

all of his endeavours.

21 08-52272

We have convened amid worrying global

developments. The hopes of the new millennium are in

danger of fading as the ideals of international harmony

and shared global prosperity remain elusive.

Globalization, despite its promise of expanded

production and trade, has been uneven in the spread of

its benefits and, for many countries, marginal in its

impact. Indeed, the gap between rich and poor has

widened within and among countries.

The global economy now appears to be headed

for a severe downturn. Developments in the global

financial system, the painful increase in oil and

commodity prices and the escalating food crisis

threaten to plunge vast sections of the world’s

population deeper into poverty. Fiscal challenges and

the crippling burden of debt render many countries

incapable of responding to the crisis. Countries like

Jamaica are called upon to respond within our limited

capacity to protect the most vulnerable.

In the long term, however, our hopes for survival

will require huge investments, improved productivity,

better access to the world’s markets and human

capacity-building. Developing countries cannot be left

to find their own solutions. The situation requires a

collaborative, coordinated and global response. That is

not mere altruism. It is an indisputable truth that, if

developed countries assist developing countries to

improve their economies, their productive capacity and

the purchasing power of their people, they will expand

the markets for their own goods and services. It is the

interdependency that we share and that is manifested in

so many other areas, from climate change to global

epidemics, organized crime and human trafficking.

Solving the problem of developing countries

requires more than mere liberalization of trade, more

than mere privatization of the economy and more than

the mere free flow of capital. It requires a sincere and

sustained effort that focuses on the limitations that

bedevil developing countries. Global development, not

just global markets, must be at the centre of our

priorities.

Poverty and wealth should not have to coexist.

Poverty can be eradicated. The tools of development

exist and are capable of transforming the world,

empowering the poor and enabling them to rise from

their poverty. We must therefore commit ourselves to

creating a world in which not everyone may be rich,

but no one has to be poor.

In 2001, we committed ourselves to achieving the

Millennium Development Goals by 2015. We are now

at the halfway mark and we are behind schedule. It is

time to take stock to see where we are, who is falling

behind, and what must be done to make up lost ground.

A critical success factor must be the partnership

between developed and developing countries as

defined in the 2002 Monterrey Consensus on financing

for development, integrating aid, debt relief, market

access, good governance and foreign direct investment.

Those initiatives were carefully calibrated. Proceeding

with some elements without the others will not achieve

the goals we have set. Indeed, it might make it worse.

We must all pull up our socks if we are to reverse

the slippage we have suffered. Developing countries

must ensure that their priorities are properly structured.

Developed countries must live up to their commitment

to devote 0.7 per cent of their gross national income to

official development assistance. That is a modest

amount, yet only five countries have so far done so.

The focus of development cooperation cannot, I

submit, be too narrowly defined. The varied economic

and social profiles of developing countries require a

more flexible response that recognizes investment in

human capital, infrastructure and the transfer of

technology as critical elements in reducing poverty in a

sustained way.

That is particularly important to developing

countries that are classified, based on per capita

income, as middle-income countries. That

classification deprives them of access to concessionary

financing and creative measures to reduce the crippling

debt burden that afflicts so many of them. If we are to

reduce poverty, the peculiar circumstances of those

countries cannot be ignored since that is where more

than one third of the world’s poor are to be found.

We call on the international community to devise

strategic programmes to address the peculiar needs of

middle-income countries with deep pockets of poverty.

Because of those factors and because of our exposure

to frequent natural disasters, which in the matter of a

few hours can reverse gains that took years to

accomplish, Jamaica and its Caribbean Community

(CARICOM) partners are proposing the international

recognition of CARICOM States as a special category

of small vulnerable and highly indebted middle-income

countries.

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The international financial system, designed more

than 60 years ago in the context of those times, has

undergone very little change in its governance,

structure and practices. However, the world has

changed and that requires a re-engineering of the

global financial system. Jamaica supports the call for

reform of the existing financial infrastructure to reflect

the new global realities and make it more proactive and

responsive to the needs of the entire world community.

I want to suggest, however, that it must involve more

than merely expanding the membership of an exclusive

club. It must be development-driven, recognizing that

poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity elsewhere. It

must include mechanisms to detect signs of global

crises and must be able to institute preventive

measures.

The crisis currently rocking the world’s financial

markets reflects the inadequacy of the regulatory

structures that are essential to the effective functioning

of any market. But it is more than that. It represents the

failure on the part of the international financial system

to facilitate the flow of resources into areas where they

can produce real wealth, not paper wealth. The world is

not short of capital. What it lacks are the mechanisms

to ensure the efficient utilization of that capital.

I want to suggest that another urgent task is the

creation of a viable and equitable international trading

system. Jamaica is deeply disappointed that the Doha

Development Round has failed to deliver on the

promise of an open, fair and predictable multilateral

trading system. We urge all parties to resolve the

outstanding differences, particularly on the removal of

trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, and to address

the need for special safeguard mechanisms for

economically challenged countries.

The need for more concerted action on global

warming is impatient of debate. Developing countries

are the most vulnerable, but they are also the least

capable of mitigation measures. Countries that are the

major pollutants must bear the major share of the

responsibility for corrective action. They must make

binding commitments to fulfil that responsibility. The

purchase of carbon credits, especially from developing

countries, must not exculpate them from that

responsibility.

Jamaica calls for a fair, equitable and balanced

long-term scheme to bind emission caps within a new

international framework beyond 2012, when the Kyoto

Protocol expires.

The impact of climate change on agricultural

output, and the frequency and intensity of natural

disasters to which countries like Jamaica are

particularly vulnerable, point to the need for a global

environment management structure that establishes

clear standards and enforces compliance.

Jamaica is concerned that political instability in

many parts of the world, often fuelled by extremism

and intolerance, continues to threaten regional and

international peace and security. They are neither

limited in scope nor confined to national borders.

Resolving those conflicts requires effective diplomacy

and global cooperation, and the United Nations must

continue to use its good offices to secure just and

peaceful settlements.

Our intense focus on combating terrorism and

transnational organized crime, and eliminating nuclear

arms and other weapons of mass destruction must not,

however, marginalize the need for decisive action to

curb the illicit trade in small arms, which facilitate

internal violence in many of our countries and result in

high levels of homicide. Jamaica supports the

establishment of an arms trade treaty to impose strict

controls on the illegal trade in small arms and

ammunition.

The persistent humanitarian crisis in Darfur

continues to be a matter of serious concern to all of us.

We are disappointed that the African Union-United

Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur is not yet fully

operational. We urge all parties to desist from actions

that could deepen the crisis, jeopardize the safety of

the civilian population and of United Nations personnel

and prevent access to humanitarian relief.

Jamaica remains irrevocably committed to

finding a just, lasting and peaceful solution to the

Middle East conflict — a solution that must ensure the

security of Israel and the establishment of a viable

Palestinian State.

The United Nations must continue to play a

pivotal role through its peacekeeping missions in the

creation of sustainable peace in post-conflict situations.

Jamaica will use its membership in the Peacebuilding

Commission to underscore the importance of sustained,

long-term economic development in rebuilding and

23 08-52272

transforming countries that have been wracked by

conflict.

The devastation wrought in Haiti by recent

hurricanes has aggravated the already harsh conditions

under which the Haitian people are forced to live.

Much more needs to be done not only in providing

emergency relief, but also in addressing the long-term

social, economic and development needs of that

country, as a sustainable solution to the fragile

humanitarian situation that exists there. Haiti needs and

deserves the support of the entire international

community.

We are gathered here this week as Members of

that union we call the United Nations. What is the state

of that union? We must not ignore the cynicism that

exists in some quarters about the continued value of the

United Nations. Those cynics have not bothered to

contemplate what the world would be like if the United

Nations did not exist. But we have contributed to that

cynicism, so often bending the facts to suit our own

design, breaking the rules to secure a particular

advantage and making commitments without the will to

honour them.

Reform of the structure and procedures of the

United Nations is an imperative whose time has long

come. Let us not bury it in procrastination and

incessant squabbling. It is time for constructive,

consensus-building dialogue. The need for changes in

the structure and scope of the Security Council has

been under discussion for almost 15 years, bogged

down in polarized, adversarial positions.

We have a compelling duty to put in place

systems that can secure peace and prosperity for the

future. We therefore welcome the unanimous adoption

of decision 62/557, contained in paragraph 23 of

document A/62/47, which, we hope, will provide

resolve for the early commencement of

intergovernmental negotiations within a specified time

frame and in the context of an informal plenary

meeting of the General Assembly.

The sixtieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights serves to remind us of

the central role of the United Nations in promoting

human rights and fundamental freedoms. Those are

essential components of the environment required for

sustained development. It was consistent with that

principle that we launched the initiative to erect a

monument to honour the victims of slavery. I thank the

Secretary-General and the members of the committee

for their support and assistance. I also thank Member

States that have made or pledged contributions. We

invite other States to do likewise.

Six decades ago, the founding fathers of the

United Nations agreed that the Organization should be

a mechanism for harmonizing the actions of nations in

the achievement of our common goals: peace and

prosperity throughout the world, respect and tolerance

among the powerful and support for the weak and

vulnerable. That remains our mandate, our unfinished

business. Fulfilling that mandate and advancing that

mission will require a more proactive United Nations,

one that is more responsive to the needs of Member

States and gives equal attention to issues of peace,

security and development. The hopes of people

everywhere in the world depend on us, the leadership

that we provide and the will that we exert for the times

in which we live. We must not fail them.