Saint Kitts and Nevis, 2009

It is indeed

an honour to address the General Assembly at its sixty-

fourth session. Today, we converge in this Hall to

outline how, from the perspective of our respective

nations, this esteemed body might uphold the rights of

all mankind, secure world peace and indeed, ensure the

very survival of planet Earth.

We converge here in order to arrive at some

collective insight regarding the interests of the world’s

various peoples as well as the interests of humankind

itself. We have come here not only to be heard, but

more importantly to listen and ultimately to commit

ourselves, both as a body and as independent,

sovereign States, to constructive, ameliorative action.

I congratulate the President on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth

session and assure him of my Government’s full

support; and if I may, through him thank his

predecessor, His Excellency Father Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann of Nicaragua for his leadership during his

presidency of the sixty-third session.

Our world is defined by issues of politics, the

environment, trade and finance at the global level. Last

year’s financial crisis, which continues to reverberate

throughout the world, stands as a sobering reminder of

the interconnectedness of our economies and the

knowledge that multilateralism is indispensable.

Whether we are speaking about global trade, monetary

and fiscal policies, human rights protection, health and

public security or protecting the environment, these

issues have become interlinked. And their complexity

means that no country can act alone.

The circumstances that precipitated the virtual

collapse of several financial institutions were not

created by small States such as St. Kitts and Nevis. Yet,

as in the case of climate change, their consequences

have been forced upon us and we are left to fend for

ourselves. But, if we are to learn anything from the

crises we face today, it should be that collective action

and partnership are necessary not only in the

management of conflicts but also in building effective,

comprehensive and sustainable infrastructure to protect

our citizens’ future. The ever-changing global

landscape will require that Governments and

institutions work to establish common regimes and

international regulatory frameworks for some time to

come.

To that end, my Government will support an

enhanced role for political forums such as the United

Nations to strengthen multilateralism. We owe this

much to the citizens around the world, who still look to

the United Nations for hope — rooted in the belief that

through our efforts their aspirations will be realized.

We live in complex times, and unexpected

developments challenge our resolve daily. But we

cannot and must not relent. We must double our efforts

and use the convening power and political authority of

this Organization and others like it to find common

ground, even in the face of strident and sometimes

divergent views. That is how we build that

indispensable architecture so as to create a legacy

worthy of future generations. And that is no small feat;

it is, in fact, a monumental task. But the Government

of St. Kitts and Nevis is confident that the President’s

central role in the coming year will help us to craft a

template for collective action.

I would like this General Assembly to be able to

see the world from the perspective of a small middle-

income heavily indebted country. The country that I

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have the honour of leading is a small one — the

smallest nation in the Western hemisphere. Despite the

recent downturn, small economies like ours continue to

display resilience and to make the sacrifices necessary

to sustain ourselves.

As far as our access to capital is concerned, our

hard work and sound management have had

unexpected, harsh and destabilizing implications, with

unwelcome restrictions vis-à-vis debt relief and other

key matters. The international economic crisis has

made clear the urgent need for the restructuring and

repair of the global economic system. As this moves

forward, I urge that the very real vulnerabilities of

small States that happen to have high per capita gross

domestic product be more clearly considered and

reflected in multilateral policies, deliberations and

procedures.

We seek support for a new debt forgiveness

initiative within the framework of the reform of the

international financial institutions and through the

materialization of a concept of middle-income highly

indebted countries, in which peculiarities and

vulnerabilities no longer trigger punitive actions such

as premature graduation from concessionary financing.

In addition, the global economic crisis, which

began far beyond our shores, has nonetheless made its

way to us and made it necessary for my country to

develop and introduce its own stimulus package, thus

forcing us to sacrifice urgently needed tax revenues in

the interest of protecting employment and to find the

means to shore up and advance the viability of our own

private sector.

Nevertheless, we are continuing to invest in our

people through education and retraining programmes

and by working to attract international investments in

critical sectors to generate employment and other

business opportunities. By doing this, we hope to

prepare for the future, when the global economy

eventually rebounds.

It is no secret that our efforts can sometimes

amount to very little, because, through no fault of our

own, it is a fact that when global crises occur, small

vulnerable economies tend to pay a disproportionately

high price. But under my leadership, Saint Kitts and

Nevis will not play victim or assign blame. We prefer

instead to work vigorously at the national level and to

collaborate actively internationally so as to introduce

measures and systems that transform our economy and

improve the lives of our citizens.

Going forward, we want our voices and ideas to

inform whatever new architecture is developed, so as

to avoid the mistakes of the past. Therefore, we will

support the measures established to follow up on issues

pertaining to recovery from the global financial and

economic crises. And we intend to participate

enthusiastically in the process to ensure that the

recovery is comprehensive.

We have common challenges and a shared

responsibility to tackle them. We in the Caribbean have

repeatedly called on the international community to

recognize the special circumstances attending the

realities of small island developing States, not as a

favour to us, but as a practical way of addressing the

multifaceted and complex issues that we face. For

instance, on the issue of environmental protection, the

Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis has always urged

a multilateral approach.

The interconnectedness of our planet, then, is

indeed real, and nowhere is it more so than on the issue

of climate change. Whereas small countries such as

Saint Kitts and Nevis have tiny carbon footprints with

negative environmental impact, global warming and

climate change, with their effects, do not discriminate.

We can all agree that the incidence of catastrophic

climatic events, such as hurricanes, floods and

mudslides, continue to cause more destruction and

claim more and more lives each year.

The geography of our small islands is changing.

Sea levels are rising, and the marine life on which

many of our citizens depend for their livelihoods is fast

diminishing. Our coastlines are being affected. Our

reefs are paying a high price. The long-term

implications for food production are dire indeed.

Again, though those changes began far beyond our

shores, climate change has been inflicting a massive

and disproportionate blow on nations such as mine,

causing us now to urge, in the strongest possible terms,

timely and effective action. Saint Kitts and Nevis is not

interested in stale debates about blame; we are

interested in action, and we want to play our own part.

In the interest of advancing global stability,

therefore, we urge unrelenting commitment to emission

targets by industrialized nations. We urge that the

major global emitters take the lead in ensuring that the

resources are in place so that small island developing

27 09-52586

States can meet our adaptation, mitigation, technology

transfer and capacity-building goals. And we urge that

the emitters embrace the measures needed to

compensate for the risks and the losses resulting from

climate change.

We continue to collaborate regionally and to work

towards efforts in the areas of disaster preparedness,

reduction and mitigation. We recognize that high

dependence on fossil fuels is untenable. Therefore,

with support from the Organization of American States

and private enterprise, we are exploring renewable

sources of energy, including geothermal energy, in the

Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

As the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol

approaches, my Government welcomes the recent

commitments by some industrialized countries to do

more to address harmful emissions. I hope that that

will be translated into concrete results on the

environment and climate change at the Copenhagen

summit later this year.

I also wish to urge the United Nations to

strengthen the Small Island Developing States Unit

with additional resources to make it more effective in

addressing the concerns of Member States. I look

forward to the Unit’s assistance as we work towards

the five-year review of the Mauritius Strategy for the

Further Implementation of the Programme of Action

for the Sustainable Development of Small Island

Developing States at the current sixty-fourth session. I

urge Member States to ensure that the agreed goals of

the Mauritius Strategy and the commitments made are

implemented and to support initiatives proposed during

the review exercise.

In multilateralism, constructive partnership is an

effective strategy. In such an approach, we are forced

to appreciate the value of belonging: the need for all

peoples of the world to be embraced within the

fraternity of nations and to be allowed to contribute to

the common good. The Republic of China on Taiwan, a

constructive partner to a range of countries around the

world for so long, has a great deal to contribute to

specialized agencies and programmes of the United

Nations, such as the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change and the International

Civil Aviation Organization, given that climate change

and aviation safety affect its own development, as well

as the well-being of all mankind.

The issue of security continues to be prominent

on the international agenda, and the global anti-crime

campaign intensifies, as concern heightens in the face

of emerging threats to our citizens and to society. This

development is the result of a new wave of crime and

violence, especially among the youth population. In the

hemisphere, there is increased focus on human security

in relation to the transnational nature of the categories

of crime — especially illicit trafficking in drugs and

firearms — that are linked to anti-social behaviour,

particularly among our youth.

An emerging trend in the global analysis of crime

points to a new variable: young people as victims of

crime. Studies show that, in increasing numbers, the

victims and perpetrators of crime are young men. The

reality of coexisting in a global village, the prevalence

and sophistication of modern technology, the enhanced

communication infrastructure and the free movement

of capital and people have given rise to an

unprecedented escalation in crime and violence.

Youth alienation, youth rage and youth brutality

are troubling global phenomena in urgent need of

global analysis and action. And so, this moment

demands that this body, with its unique capacities and

capabilities and as part of its quest for international

societal stability, marshal all available resources to

better identify the underlying causative factors and

come to a clear agreement as to how, individually and

collectively, we can halt and reverse this destabilizing

trajectory.

Violence is a multisectoral public-policy

challenge. It spans several areas, including public

security, governance, development and public health.

The human, social and financial costs of violence are

unacceptably high. In addition to physical injury and

death, violence has a serious and lifelong impact on

mental and physical health, including

non-communicable diseases and HIV/AIDS, and

damages the social fabric, leading to unsafe

communities. Ultimately, violence slows economic and

social development in those countries that can least

afford it. However, scientific evidence amassed in

recent years clearly demonstrates that violence and its

consequences can be successfully prevented. But, at

present, an integrated approach to violence prevention

is lacking.

An attempt to define a regional response to the

problem was made at a recent two-day regional

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symposium, held on 22 and 23 June 2009 in Saint Kitts

and Nevis, on the theme “Confronting the challenges

of youth crime and violence: Defining a multisectoral

response”. We would like to call upon Member States

to join us today in submitting a draft resolution in

support of an integrated approach and multisectoral

response to violence prevention, which we would wish

to place on the agenda of the sixty-fifth session of the

General Assembly.

My Government strongly condemns all forms of

violence, including transnational organized crime and

terrorism. And while we commend the United Nations

for its continued assistance to Member States in our

crime-fighting efforts, we urge that it extend its support

by reopening, in the spirit of developing an effective

multilateral approach, the United Nations Office on

Drugs and Crime regional office in the Caribbean.

The challenges we must meet are vast. The

non-proliferation of nuclear weapons today and a

world free of nuclear weapons tomorrow should be the

goals of us all.

Within the Pan-Caribbean Partnership, we

continue to develop and expand regional responses to

the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The problems posed by the

HIV/AIDS pandemic are a real and growing threat, not

only in terms of loss of life and livelihood, but also to

the extent that the disease eliminates the most

productive groups in our society and demands outlays

of capital that would otherwise be allocated to

economic and social development. The Caribbean

Community, through the Pan-Caribbean Partnership,

has made gains in tackling the medical aspects of the

disease.

The President returned to the Chair.

But we need to do much more to fight stigma and

discrimination and to increase access to inexpensive

antiretroviral drugs and treatment for those infected

with the disease. With the help of the international

community, we can reconcile the objective need of

pharmaceutical companies to receive proper

compensation for their research, development and

investment without prejudice to those who are in

urgent need of care and without politicizing the issue.

We, too, are very concerned about the challenges

that non-communicable chronic diseases pose to small

countries like ours and to mankind in general. In this

regard, we join with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and

Tobago in calling on the United Nations to convene at

the earliest opportunity a special summit on

non-communicable chronic disease.

In conclusion, Mr. President, my Government

applauds your initiative to pursue effective responses

to global crises and strengthen multilateralism. For

Saint Kitts and Nevis, multilateralism is a sine qua non

and the only effective approach to lasting peace,

effective security and sustainable development. We

have seen the fallout from unilateral action. Many of us

have paid the price for the decisions and actions made

in isolation by a few.

I emphasize that it is the fundamental right of all

humankind to choose its own destiny. At the same

time, we have a collective duty to act responsibly and

to work in the interest of the common good. That is the

premise of multilateralism. That is the promise of my

Government, and, Mr. President, my delegation stands

prepared and willing to support you in this cause.

I recall that it was Hubert H. Humphrey, former

Vice-President of the United States of America, who

felt it necessary to emphasize to individuals, like those

of us in this Hall today, our responsibility to ensure

that the United Nations is a force for verifiable,

constructive change in the world. In reminding us and

those who will come after us of what is expected of us,

he said:

“The heroes of the world community are not

those who withdraw when difficulties ensue, not

those who can envision neither the prospect of

success nor the consequence of failure — but

those who stand the heat of battle, the fight for

world peace through the United Nations.”

This we must do today and forever.