Saint Kitts and Nevis, 1992

I bring heartfelt greetings

from the Government and friendly people of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and I am

particularly pleased and, indeed, honoured to be called upon to address the

forty-seventh session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Let me first join those speakers who have preceded me in congratulating

the former President, Mr. Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia, on his efficient and

proficient handling of our past deliberations. Then I must hasten to welcome

our new President, assuring you, Sir, of my country's active support and

cooperation. Clearly, Mr. President, the very skilful and methodical manner

in which you have been guiding and conducting our work augurs well for a

productive session.

Next I wish to commend most highly our Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who has been serving the cause of our Organization

with diligence, dignity and dexterity in the face of challenging times. The

Government and people of Saint Kitts and Nevis welcome you,

Mr. Secretary-General, to this, your first session of the General Assembly as

Secretary-General, and we have every confidence in your commitment to

international peace and security as the bases for democracy and development.

When we met last year for the Assembly's forty-sixth session it was in an

atmosphere of great optimism. The cold war was over, Kuwait was liberated,

freedom and democracy were breaking out all over Europe and in the former

Soviet States, positive steps for the reduction of nuclear arms were taking

place. The world waited with anticipation to reap the benefits of the

all-embracing peace dividend. In my address then I said:

"The enhancement of education, the eradication of poverty, the

reduction of unemployment, the maintenance of good health, the provision

of affordable housing, the adapting of science and technology to

socio-economic development these must be the dividends that flow from

diverting global financial resources away from the amassing of armaments,

to be invested in human development. This is the challenge we face.

This is the new battle we must join and we must not fail."

(A/46/PV.25. p. 6)

It is perhaps too soon to say that we have failed, but we have certainly not

succeeded. Once again, the attention of the international community has been

distracted by fierce and despicable atrocities in far-flung theatres of

regional conflict.

On the one hand, we are shocked by the gruesome and intense savagery of

the fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reports of detention camp

atrocities, indiscriminate killings, starvation and torture, seem like a

reincarnation of less civilized times, and it is difficult to accept them as

part of the twentieth century.

On the other hand, the scenes of human degradation, suffering and death

from starvation and disease emanating from Somalia appear at last to have

jolted the conscience of the international community and stimulated a

humanitarian response to the crisis.

In these theatres of civil strife, our relief efforts are disrupted by

those who are seemingly untouched by human suffering. Relief convoys come

under fire, and food intended for the victims of war is hijacked and ends up

in the coffers of those whose very actions are perpetuating the crisis.

I am aware of the outstanding efforts of the Secretary-General to ensure

that the United Nations has responded to these crises with urgency and in

positive and practical ways. We must however do more. We must mobilize the

resources, diplomatic and other, of the Member States to bring an end to the

fighting and, secondly, we must continue to intensify the relief effort for

those in need of the basic necessities of food, shelter and medicines.

It is serious cause for concern that countries in which the economy is in

shambles, and in which production of goods and services is practically at a

standstill, can still find the means to procure massive amounts of arms and

ammunition and sustain armed conflicts for many months and even years. Here

again we see resources that should be channelled to address issues of human

development being diverted into weapons of destruction for the perpetration of

violence.

It is therefore clear that there is also an urgent need for a reduction

in both conventional and non-conventional weapons and I call upon the Assembly

to pursue this objective.

While much of our attention seems to be directed towards Eastern Europe

let us be reminded that peace and development continue to elude the people of

Haiti and South Africa.

The people of Haiti still cannot breathe the pure air of freedom; they

still suffer under an oppressive illegal regime which blatantly and

monstrously repudiated the will of the people, which was so freely and

overwhelmingly expressed in the elections of December 1990.

Saint Kitts and Nevis, and indeed the entire Caribbean community,

continue to condemn this dastardly assault upon the democratic process in

Haiti, and we maintain our call for the restoration of constitutional

democracy in Haiti. I call on the Member States of the United Nations to

ostracize the illegal regime in Haiti and to take all appropriate measures to

restore democracy and the constitutionally elected government in Haiti.

In the meantime we must continue and increase humanitarian assistance to

the people of Haiti through international relief organizations, and ensure

that our assistance reaches those who need it most. We must also be prepared

to mobilize significant development assistance to Haiti when democracy is

restored.

In relation to South Africa, we in the Caribbean have been strong in our

condemnation of apartheid. I have no doubt that our principled stand, along

with that of other countries has contributed to the eventual dismantling of

the main pillars of apartheid. Encouraged by the African National Congress,

and as a means of encouraging further progress, we relaxed some of the

sanctions that we had imposed. The recent upsurge in violence, which appears

to enjoy tacit support from elements within the ruling regime itself, must

cause us to doubt the sincerity of the De Klerk administration to lay

apartheid in its final resting place.

The Government and people of Saint Kitts and Nevis call upon the General

Assembly at this forty-seventh session to condemn the wanton killings in South

Africa and to appeal to all parties to resume talks in good faith, for the

sake of democracy and good government. We call for an end to the violence in

South Africa. We urge the immediate resumption of the negotiating process

towards a free and democratic South Africa. We re-emphasize our unshakable

solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle and we appeal to the South African

regime to exercise more effective control over its security forces. The

climate for negotiation has to be restored in order to facilitate the

emergence and subsequent establishment of a democratic and non-racial South

Africa. We seize this opportunity to invite the international community, if

necessary, to remobilize its forces in the struggle against apartheid, in the

struggle for freedom, peace and democracy in South Africa.

Let us not abandon the oppressed people in South Africa. Let us stand

firm instead until justice, equality and freedom become realities. The

primary objective must be "one person, one vote". This is the only brand of

democracy we in the Caribbean understand. This is the only brand of democracy

we want for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters in South Africa.

We commend the role the United Nations has played and continues to play

in respect of Arab-Israeli relations. We regard the peace talks that have

started as a positive development and we urge that they be continued in good

faith by all parties concerned, so that a just and lasting solution which

addresses all of the issues of fundamental rights, security and economic and

social development can be achieved.

The people in developing countries are still anxiously awaiting the

"peace dividend". This body of nations must work assiduously at bringing an

end to conflicts, at ending hunger and starvation. We must, in short, strive

to move beyond a mere crisis-response modality and shift into a posture to

effect just and sustainable development throughout the world. It is a

monumental task, which will require massive mobilization of resources,

sensible and sensitive application of those resources, and an unprecedented

level of cooperation between developed and developing countries.

There must be a major emphasis on human resource development so that the

people may be empowered to drive the development process. In this decade of

the disabled, and beyond, they too must be involved. My Government is making

every effort to ensure that the disabled of our country are involved in the

total process of mobilization. In order to increase public awareness and to

assist in the development of the disabled, my Government has spearheaded a

major fund-raising effort through the annual walkathon undertaken by Ministers

of Government as part of our celebration of independence. We also support

training programmes through our own school for the deaf and private sector

support institutions.

The people must be given the tools education, basic infrastructure,

appropriate technology transfer and the life-quality-enhancing support of

affordable housing, good health care and facilities for recreation.

Instead of a massive mobilization of financial resources for developing

countries, however, we are faced with reductions in concessional financing and

across-the-board cuts in aid. These will hit the poorest and smallest

countries hardest and undermine our efforts to reduce poverty, stimulate

growth and protect the environment.

Free trade is being touted as the new panacea for all our ills. There

is, however, no single prescription for the economic ailments of all

countries. There is no one solution for the rich and the poor, for the

industrialized and the non-industrialized, for the developed and the

developing. Even within the category of developing countries, there are

structural differences between small island developing countries and others.

Special consideration must therefore be given to small island developing

countries.

In matters of trade we cannot be equal partners. How can we, when large

countries, having the benefit of economies of scale, highly developed

infrastructure and modern technology, can swamp our markets with virtually any

product? On the other hand, the per capita cost to us of providing the

infrastructure to support an export-oriented development is higher than it is

in developed countries.

In the Caribbean we recognize that we must accept the principal

responsibility for progress in our own development. We have demonstrated a

commitment to reform and diversification, we have taken bold initiatives

involving greater fiscal and economic discipline, and we are willing to do

more. But we cannot do the job alone.

We have made significant progress in regional cooperation and are now

poised to take further initiatives to strengthen our functional, economic and

political cooperation. We know that we can do more for ourselves through more

effective regional integration.

As a Caribbean people, we have to be realistic in assessing the potential

impact of our regional integration process. The members of the international

community too must be realistic in designing their policies for interacting

with us in the Caribbean community. The fact is that, as developing

countries most of us being island developing countries in the Caribbean

community we are individually small. When taken together and looked at in

the international context, we are still small, and the basic problems,

inequities and vulnerabilities of small developing countries still afflict us.

We want to play an effective part in the international economic system;

we want to be equal partners in the evolving global trading arrangements. In

our case, however, equal does not mean identical, because we do not start from

the same premise. The basic conditions and inequities which necessitated

special arrangements under agreements such as the Lome Convention, the

Caribbean Basin Initiative and CARIBCAN are still present. Therefore, while

we support the call for an early and successful conclusion to the Uruguay

Round of trade negotiations, we urge that as we, the small island developing

countries of the Caribbean, work assiduously to transform our economies,

earnest consideration should be given to the continuation of preferential

trading arrangements to small countries such as ours. In particular, special

treatment of the sensitive commodities, sugar and bananas, is vital to our

stable adjustment to the changing global economic environment.

The other area for urgent action is the maintenance of concessional flows

of aid to developing countries. I am aware that global recession and the

recent uncertainties reflected in the financial system in Europe will put

severe pressures on donor budgets and will thus encourage the trend towards

the reduction of official development assistance. I must, in spite of the

difficulties, renew the call for developed countries to recommit themselves to

reaching the United Nations target for official development assistance

amounting to 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product.

A reduction in aid would undermine our efforts to promote sustainable

development and protect the environment. Yet those objectives were the very

heart of the consensus reached at the historic United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development the Earth Summit held at Rio de Janeiro in

June of this year.

That conference provided us with a rare, almost unique, opportunity for

global cooperation and partnership. We paused there to chart afresh the

course for improving the quality of life for all peoples in our time and for

future generations, through an integrated, caring and people-oriented approach

to sustainable development. We left there with a clear commitment to balance

the urgency of environmental preservation with the imperatives of human

development.

We signed the Convention on biological diversity to encourage the

rational management of natural resources, to ensure that the people of

developing countries will justly gain the benefits associated with the use of

their resources. We also signed the Convention on climate change, because

Saint Kitts and Nevis, and indeed the entire Caribbean region, are susceptible

to the ravages of hurricanes, and, as island States, we are certainly

vulnerable to the effects of global warming and a rise in sea level.

The execution of those Conventions must have special meaning to our women

and children. The United Nations has already committed itself to devoting

special attention to them. Saint Kitts and Nevis fully acknowledges the

importance and contribution of our women to sustainable development. Women in

my country are fully involved as equal partners in the decision-making and

development processes. The rights of women and the entitlement to such rights

have been integrated into my country's development policies and programmes,

which are implemented by a Ministry of Women's Affairs. We recognize the

strong correlation between environmentally sound development and population

growth, and we provide family-planning programmes involving education,

information and accessible services.

We maintain our commitment to our children through the provision of

improved educational facilities and appropriate curricula, a variety of

training opportunities, recreational facilities, improved housing and a strong

programme of primary health care in which we maintain our standard of

100 per cent immunization against the common communicable diseases.

The importance of our marine environment to the health, welfare and total

development of our Caribbean people cannot be overemphasized. Consequently

reports of the impending shipment of a large quantity of plutonium through the

Caribbean Sea later this month are a matter of the gravest concern to us in

Saint Kitts and Nevis. This is a matter which must and will be addressed by

the Caribbean community.

I call on the international community to support us in our efforts to

protect our marine environment and to prohibit the movement of hazardous waste

through our region.

We in Saint Kitts and Nevis will continue to play our part in preserving

our planet by implementing national policies and programmes based on domestic

social and economic realities, including solid waste management, water quality

improvement, control of soil and coastal erosion, forestry management,

agricultural and fisheries development and preservation of our marine

environment. In Rio, we endorsed an implementation programme known as

Agenda 21. It addresses the major issues related to sustainable development.

It charts the way to improved living standards in developing countries. We

must now translate this blueprint into tangible action by providing the

financial resources for its implementation. Within the programme, access to

the resources must not be tied to conditions that would impose further burdens

on the people of developing countries. Such resources must be made available

on preferential terms, with special concessions for small island developing

countries. I can stress the urgency of this requirement in no better way than

to repeat what I said to the historic assembly in Rio:

"We cannot aspire to save the planet for future generations, while

consigning the poor, the underprivileged, the underdeveloped of this

generation to a life of persistent misery and deprivation."

The task *is enormous, the challenge is monumental, but within the

international community we have the tools. All that is left is for us to

summon the commitment to preserve, develop and manage our combined heritage

with the objective of guaranteeing a better quality of life for all people,

everywhere.