Saint Kitts and Nevis, 2014

It is indeed

an honour for me to address this body for the first time

since assuming the portfolio of Minister for Foreign

Affairs a little over one year ago. I take pleasure in

sharing the perspectives of the Government of Saint

Kitts and Nevis on matters before the General Assembly

during its sixty-ninth session.

Allow me to start by congratulating Mr. Kutesa on

his election to the office of President of the General

Assembly, to steer the course of the Assembly during

this session. Indeed, his sterling contribution in

his native Uganda, where he serves as Minister for

Foreign Affairs, and his efforts at strengthening the

African Union have prepared him for the challenging

task of finalizing the development of the post-2015

development agenda.

My delegation wishes to commend his predecessor,

Mr. John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, for his

leadership in presiding over the Assembly at its sixty-

eighth session. His focus on the development of the

sustainable development goals and other issues of

importance to small island developing States (SIDS)

and developing countries in particular is worthy of high

commendation.

The theme of the sixty-ninth session, “Delivering

on and implementing a transformative post-2015

development agenda”, is quite timely as we enter a new

dispensation that reflects global priorities that were not

contemplated at the time the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) were conceptualized leading up to

the year 2000. As we work on implementing the

post-2015 development agenda, we must ensure

that the 17 sustainable development goals recently

formulated are effective in building on the foundation

laid by the Millennium Development Goals. It is my

delegation’s hope that the agenda as developed will be

transformative in nature, with a high degree of success

in its overarching objectives — the eradication of

poverty and hunger, and the promotion of sustained and

inclusive economic growth.

We are mindful that MDG 8, which calls for the

strengthening of global partnerships, remains part of

the unfinished business of the Millennium Development

Goals established at the Millennium Summit in 2000. It

is therefore highly important that we take great care in

ensuring that the first 16 sustainable development goals

are buttressed by a robust suite of implementation tools

that will effectively serve as the catalyst for achieving

success in the post-2015 development agenda.

My delegation can never overemphasize the

importance of rendering effective and operational Goal

17, which calls for the strengthening of the means of

implementation and the revitalization of the global

partnership for sustainable development. We are

therefore heartened by the President’s expressed plan to

convene three high-level thematic debates and one high-

level event geared towards, inter alia, strengthening the

means of implementation in order to achieve sustainable

development in its three dimensions.

We pay keen attention to the first event, the

debate on the means of implementation. We are of

the view that achieving sustainable development will

require mobilization and the effective use of financial

resources and technology development and transfer,

in addition to capacity-building at all levels. It will

also entail increased investment in the social sectors,

infrastructure, community development, climate

financing and the protection of global common goods.

The key question before us in relation to the means

of implementation is how we mobilize the significant

resources that will be needed to turn the aspirations

of the post-2015 development agenda into tangible

outcomes. I wish to pledge my Government’s support

in advancing the basic thrust of the President’s tenure.

A strengthened global partnership should foster close

collaboration between and among Governments,

provide for an increased role of the private sector,

ensure a fair international trading regime, and foster

national and foreign direct investments.

My Government wishes to reiterate its firm

commitment to doing its part to ensure that we

achieve the goals developed to sustain economic and

social development in a manner that will preserve

the environment and ensure stable, safe and peaceful

societies. Since our last address to this body, Saint

Kitts and Nevis has solidified its position as a leader in

the Caribbean in attracting foreign direct investment,

specifically in its tourism infrastructure, and

building its industrial base in the light manufacturing

sector — electronics and electrical components. We have

also successfully forged public-private partnerships in

renewable-energy ventures providing sustained growth

for our economy.

One of the peculiar vulnerabilities of small island

developing States such as Saint Kitts and Nevis is

our susceptibility to economic and external shocks,

which results in a state of high indebtedness. It is

no secret that high public debt affects the ability of

Governments to achieve sustainable development in all

its dimensions. In the area of economic sustainability,

we developed in 2011 and successfully implemented

a comprehensive approach to the management of our

national debt. Our plan included debt restructuring

with international financial institutions, an exchange

offer for government bonds, the curtailment of public

borrowing to sustainable levels and a creative land-for-

debt swap initiative.

I am pleased to report that by the end of June, we

had successfully reduced the ratio of our debt to gross

domestic product (GDP) by 50 percentage points, from

over 145 per cent pre-restructuring to 95 per cent now.

I am even more pleased to report that our debt-to-GDP

ratio is projected to decline further, to 85 per cent by the

end of 2014. In spite of our fiscal discipline, however,

it is important for us to be mindful of the fact that one

severe climate event can erase the gains achieved,

effectively sending us into a vicious cycle that makes

it difficult if not impossible to achieve sustainable

development on the economic front.

At this juncture, I would be remiss if I failed to

echo the call for a new paradigm for the assessment

used in the policy of graduation, which currently uses

the narrow policy of per capita gross national income

to confer middle-income and high-income status on

developing countries. Saint Kitts and Nevis is of the

view that that measure is grossly inadequate and needs

to take into account the peculiar vulnerabilities of

SIDS. We commend the Commonwealth secretariat

for the innovative work it has been spearheading to

encourage leading international financial institutions

to accept a broader matrix, including the vulnerability

index, to correctly assess the true economic situation of

SIDS such as Saint Kitts and Nevis.

I must emphasize that graduation to a higher

income category makes it difficult to access resources

to sustain our economic, social and environmental

policy objectives. Borrowing funds at a high rate on

the international market serves only to perpetuate the

vicious cycle of debt and threatens our sustainable

development. That runs contrary to the goals and

objectives of the post-2015 development agenda. In

that connection, I call on the international community,

including the leading international financial

institutions, to broaden the scope of the assessment of

SIDS in order to avoid creating scenarios where debt

sustainability measures undertaken at the national

level are undermined by the policies of international

institutions. Saint Kitts and Nevis stands ready to work

with the international community by contributing its

ideas to the debate in order to ensure a most favourable

outcome.

My delegation is convinced that a nation’s wealth

lies in the health of its people — its productive sector.

We continue to wrestle with the high incidence of

non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in our country

and region. We wish to reiterate our call for a strong

global response to combating the high incidence of

non-communicable diseases, in particular in developing

countries. In our last statement to this very body (see

A/68/PV.15), our Prime Minister stressed the need for

this international body to keep on the front burner a

practical strategy to address the high incidence of

NCDs within our region and throughout the world.

In that connection, I wish to commend the outgoing

President of the General Assembly, Ambassador John

Ashe, for convening a number of events focusing on

that matter of great importance to my delegation.

It is our hope that the final report on the

informal interactive hearings with non-governmental

organizations, civil-society organizations, the private

sector and academia on the prevention and control of

NCDs, which was held in June 2014, will serve to build

on the outcome of the initiatives resulting from the

High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases,

held in September 2011 during the Assembly’s sixty-

sixth session, and the work conducted during the

following session.

My delegation is indeed pleased to see the inclusion

of non-communicable diseases in the goals and targets

for sustainable development as part of the post-2015

development agenda. We support the goal to ensure

healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all

ages. We also support the target to reduce by one third

premature mortality from non-communicable diseases

through prevention and treatment, and to promote

mental health and well-being by 2030. We look to

the various specialized bodies of this international

Organization for guidance and support as we seek to

meet the targets and indicators under that and all goals

developed as part of the post-2015 development agenda.

We reiterate the call for the strengthening of the means

of implementation of the goals and targets and for the

revitalization of the global partnership for sustainable

development.

Climate change remains more than an environmental

concern for small island developing States such as Saint

Kitts and Nevis. We regard it more as a threat to our

existence. The adverse effects of climate change are well

known: persistent adverse weather conditions, floods,

extended droughts and rising sea levels. My delegation

is convinced of the need to preserve our planet Earth

for ourselves and generations yet unborn. We have an

obligation to combat climate change through mitigation

and adaptation measures.

Climate change financing and technology transfer

will be pivotal to the success of that objective. We

urge widespread acceptance by the international

community of creative initiatives such as debt swap

for climate adaptation and mitigation. My Government

is convinced that such proposals, developed with

assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat, provide

SIDS with a greater degree of flexibility as we try to

achieve sustainable development. We welcome the

commitment of the President of the General Assembly

to provide appropriate impetus and momentum to the

ongoing process under the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reach a

global agreement on climate change by 2015.

Maintaining peace and security remains one of

the main priorities of the United Nations. That ideal

is captured in the post-2015 development agenda as

sustainable development goal 16, to achieve peaceful

and inclusive societies and the rule of law and to build

effective and capable institutions. I am pleased to

report that at the national level we have implemented

strategies that have brought a reduction in violent crime

and strengthened institutions that sustain peaceful and

inclusive societies. We are grateful to our development

partners — the Governments of the United States of

America, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada,

the European Union, and the Republic of China on

Taiwan — for their invaluable assistance in that regard.

Thirty-one years ago, our new nation forged a

strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with

the Republic of China on Taiwan. That relationship

has grown by leaps and bounds, and it touches all

three dimensions of sustainable development. As

the dialogue continues on the implementation of the

post-2015 development agenda, Saint Kitts and Nevis

regards itself suitably qualified to speak on the valuable

contribution which the Republic of China on Taiwan

can make to the international community.

At the recent SIDS Conference in Samoa, our

Prime Minister had the privilege to speak of the value

of the partnership established with the Government

and private sector of Taiwan in implementing a number

of projects in renewable energy, specifically the

establishment of a solar panel manufacturing plant and

the outfitting of Government buildings and street lights

with solar panels. The latter project will assist us in

Saint Kitts and Nevis to achieve the goal of ensuring

access to affordable, reliable and modern energy

services for all.

For many years, our Government has called for

the international community to allow the Republic

of China on Taiwan to participate in the work of the

organs of the United Nations system. That call is by

no means arbitrary in nature. It has resulted from

our partnership in numerous development initiatives

across the sustainable development spectrum. Saint

Kitts and Nevis is therefore pleased to note that Taiwan

was recently invited to attend the Assembly of the

International Civil Aviation Organization for the first

time since 1971. We are equally pleased to note the

participation of Taiwan in the World Health Assembly

and to offer our commendation to the Government and

people of Taiwan for sharing their expertise in the fields

of medicine and civil aviation safety.

At this juncture, we are convinced that the time

is right for that spirit of understanding and inclusion

to extend to the area of the ongoing negotiations

in the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change and the United Nations Environment

Assembly. My Government is equally convinced that

the experiences gained by Taiwan in its strategy for

building environmental and economic resilience can be

shared with the international community through the

UNFCCC.

While the international community is focused

on maintaining peace and security, we are pleased to

underscore the active role played by the Government

of the Republic of China on Taiwan in promoting peace

and security across the Taiwan Strait and for proposing

the East China Sea Peace Initiative, thus demonstrating

its commitment to international peace and security.

The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis remains

concerned by the decades-old unilateral trade embargo

imposed on Cuba. That relic of the Cold War runs

counter to the principles of international law, principles

which undergird the United Nations system. We stand

by our sister nations in the Caribbean Community and

the Group of 77 and China and reiterate our call for

creative ways to resolve that perennial issue, which

adversely affects the tenor of hemispheric relations.

My delegation recognizes the challenging weeks

and months ahead as we prepare in earnest to implement

the post-2015 development agenda. We offer our fullest

support in that regard. Such support is critical to the

successful implementation of the development agenda.

May we, as an international community, redouble our

efforts in a manner that will redound to the benefit of

developed and developing countries alike.