Saint Lucia, 2004

Saint Lucia supported

your unanimous election as President of the General

Assembly at its fifty-ninth session, Sir, as it shares the

view of Member States that you will provide important

leadership to this General Assembly. I extend sincere

congratulations to you and to the Government and

people of your country, Gabon, on behalf of the

delegation of Saint Lucia, and on my own behalf, and

pledge to work cooperatively with you in our common

endeavour.

There is a personal note to my pledge of support

and cooperation. Just one year ago, this Assembly

honoured my country and me by entrusting the

leadership of the fifty-eighth session of this body to

me. I am fully aware, therefore, of the tremendous

responsibility that falls to you as President, and OF the

demands and pressures of leadership of this, the United

Nations sole universal organ. In a relay of leadership

that began some 59 years ago, I have passed the baton

to you, assured that this will be a productive and

successful fifty-ninth session.

My year as President of the General Assembly

gave me a keener appreciation of the myriad tasks

which the Secretary-General performs in the service of,

and to inspire confidence in, the United Nations. The

Government and people of Saint Lucia support him in

26

his continuing contribution to our efforts to address the

critical issues facing our Organization and our world.

The picture of our twenty-first century world is

far different from that envisaged in the United Nations

Charter. Instead of a world of peace, security and

economic and social progress, in which human rights,

fundamental freedoms and international law are fully

respected, today our world is buffeted by poverty;

hunger; the spread of endemic disease, including HIV/

AIDS; conflicts; war; terrorism, and other grave

problems.

This is so despite the combined effort of the

United Nations system and the enormous potential of

the Organization to live up to the ideals, principles and

purposes of the Charter.

The United Nations is passing through a period of

intense questioning and doubts as to its capacity and

relevance. It is the view of my Government that many

of the doubts and questions stem from the continuing

challenge posed to the Organization to transform the

ideals of the Charter into action. Those questions and

doubts have been intensified by the concern that some

of the Organization’s most influential and powerful

Member States might turn away from

multilateralism — the very foundation of the United

Nations — and follow the path of unilateral action.

We can and we must, stop our unique and

indispensable Organization from being battered by the

tides of these turbulent times. We must better enable it

to address the myriad problems with which peoples and

nations are grappling. And we must reaffirm its status

as the world’s foremost multilateral organization. But

we can only do so through our full commitment and

resolve to ensure that the Organization and its Member

States live up to the ideals of the Charter.

We know that the Charter charges the United

Nations to achieve the solution of economic problems

cooperatively. That puts the Organization on the front

line of what, for many States, particularly those in the

developing world, appears to be a very long road to

sustainable development. Nowadays, it is a road

constructed primarily around globalization and trade

liberalization, which have mostly delivered on their

promises of economic advancement to developed

countries, but have yet to deliver on those promises to

many others, mostly developing countries.

It cannot be disputed that current inconsistencies

and inequities in the global trading system are

widening the gap between rich and poor, haves and

have-nots. It is not surprising, therefore, that

developing countries, particularly in the framework of

the World Trade Organization (WTO), are asserting

that globalization and trade liberalization should not

undercut their sustainable development prospects, and

that there ought to be a fair and equitable global

trading system.

Agricultural subsidies, market access, non-tariff

barriers to trade, low or falling commodity prices and

special and differential treatment — all those issues

beg for constructive dialogue and decisive action,

particularly in the interest of the developing world.

Specific mandates for trade and development issues

may reside in other organizations, including the WTO,

the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

But the United Nations has a leading role to play in

bringing coherence — here I underscore the word

coherence — to debate and policy-setting on those

issues, in line with its Charter mandates. Its efforts in

that area have the full support of my Government.

The spate of deadly hurricanes that continue to

traverse the Caribbean region, have brought sharply

into focus the issues on which small island developing

States (SIDS), including Saint Lucia, have urged the

United Nations and the international community to act.

We have reiterated, for example, that SIDS are

vulnerable and that special and differential treatment,

fair prices for commodities and development financing

are essential to their sustainable development.

In just a few short weeks, hurricanes have

brought death and destruction throughout the

Caribbean region, and, indeed, also to the Bahamas and

the United States. There was tragic loss of life in our

sister Caribbean countries and territories — 37 in

Grenada, 20 in Jamaica; and even now, Haiti is still

counting the cost in lives lost. Property and

infrastructural damage was immense, particularly in

Grenada. Hurricane “Ivan the terrible” destroyed 90

per cent of that country’s physical infrastructure. I say

to this Assembly that when a small island developing

State loses 90 per cent of its physical infrastructure in

the space of a few hours, the challenge to that country

is formidable.

For Grenada, it is like starting over. Grenada

must rebuild its infrastructure, economy,

27

communications systems, hospitals and schools,

everything from the ground up to restore the quality of

life for its people. But how, and with what resources

will it rebuild? The member States of the Caribbean

Community (CARICOM) have made a commitment to

Grenada, but can only assist to the extent that their

means allow. Given their own resource constraints,

how far can that assistance be expected to go? The

Government and people of Grenada and of CARICOM

are highly appreciative of the condolences expressed in

this Hall, and for offers of assistance. But Grenada

needs much more. The Government of Saint Lucia

calls upon the international community to make a

commitment, as a matter of urgency, to the

reconstruction of Grenada. We urge the convening, at

an early date, of an international donor conference for

the purpose of mobilizing the resources required for

the reconstruction effort.

In keeping with the international commitment to

promote the sustainable development of SIDS, Saint

Lucia calls upon the development partners and the

international donor community to work together with

SIDS to address their vulnerability and other critical

issues frontally. The International Meeting for the 10-

Year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for

the Sustainable Development of Small Island

Developing States, to be convened in Mauritius in

January 2005, gives everyone yet another opportunity

to do so. Saint Lucia urges all States, developed and

developing, and particularly partners and donors, to be

represented at the International Meeting at the highest

level. In particular, we urge that commitments to

provide resources for the implementation of the

Barbados Programme of Action, are kept.

Indeed, this fifty-ninth session of the General

Assembly will be a pivotal one in respect of

commitments made internationally, including those

made in the critical area of HIV/AIDS. The session is

also crucial to positioning us for the 2005

comprehensive review of commitments made in

furthering the United Nations development agenda,

including the Millennium Development Goals. Even as

we prepare for the High-level Plenary that will

examine the successes and failures in implementing the

outcomes of more than a decade of United Nations

conferences and summits in the economic and social

fields, the disjuncture between what we have agreed

and what we have done in the interest of the peoples of

the world becomes self-evident.

We must ask ourselves why it is that we continue

to fail the poor, the hungry, the sick and the

disenfranchised among us, despite the numerous

specialized, high-level meetings we have convened to

address their condition? And why is it that we appear

incapable of meaningful action beyond the boundaries

of those meetings? If we cannot bring relief to the vast

numbers of marginalized and disadvantaged among us,

if we cannot advance growth and development,

particularly for developing countries, we can rest

assured that we will lose, or continue to lose, the

confidence of the people of the world. There is

therefore one message we must take into the 2005

high-level event: agreement on outcomes is

meaningless if it is not followed by practical and

effective implementation. We must act to implement

and we must act now.

It is asserted that peace and security are not

possible without development and that development is

not possible without peace and security. Saint Lucia

agrees with this point; both are central to the purposes

and principles of the Charter. We must, however,

remain vigilant that our development agenda is not

eclipsed by a single-minded focus on conflict and war,

which continue to cast a giant and deadly shadow over

our world.

The function given to the United Nations — and

particularly to the Security Council — for the

maintenance of international peace and security is an

exceptional one. How effectively the Organization

carries out that function is an important determinant of

its standing in the eyes of the people who need it most

and of world public opinion. Therefore, we must be

consistent in our global strategy for world peace and

security. Importantly, the United Nations must not be

seen as an Organization so mesmerized by crises that it

is slow to act decisively to address critical issues of life

and death. The action we take, after all, should present

our best hope for a more peaceful and more secure

world.

We know that conflict and war have costs that are

incalculable, particularly in human lives, and can have

no happy ending. Today, Iraq remains an unsettled,

fractured country. The United Nations has a

responsibility to the people of Iraq to work with them

to restore peace, security and prosperity to their

country. In this, the Organization must ultimately take

its lead from the people of Iraq; it is only they who can

devise uniquely Iraqi solutions to Iraqi problems and

28

determine the kind of future to which they are

committed.

Regarding another crisis, my Government is

disappointed that the road map to peace in the Middle

East appears to have been put aside, and hopes that

new initiatives will be undertaken urgently towards

settling that long-standing situation, which continues to

cause so much grief.

Every day, news stories and commentaries in the

media remind us of the level of violence and perils in

our world. The complex and uncertain threat of

terrorists and terrorism constitutes a critical factor

contributing to the rising tide of violence, death and

destruction. Recently, terrorism became a reality for

hundreds of victims in the Russian Federation. My

Government extends its sympathy to the Government

of Russia and to all victims of terrorism and their

families worldwide. Even with our best efforts, it is not

always possible to know where or when terrorists will

strike again, nor can we say with any certainty that

current efforts against terrorism have made the world a

less dangerous place.

We can say, however, that the root causes of

terrorism are symptomatic of problems, some

seemingly intractable, around the globe; that terrorism

is global in its impact; and that its solution must be

global. In addressing the problem of terrorism, we

must also look to dealing with the hunger, poverty and

inequities spoken of by President Lula da Silva of

Brazil and many other concerned leaders, which are

giving rise to the hopelessness and despair being

experienced by millions and millions of people all over

the world. Greater efforts must be made to resolve

those critical problems.

As we survey the enormity of the challenges the

United Nations and the global community face today,

we must ask ourselves: Is our 59-year old Organization

equipped to confront those challenges? There is a

current of reform within the Organization. A series of

progressive steps were taken during the fifty-eighth

session, in particular, to advance revitalization of this

Assembly. However, the Assembly still has to

demonstrate its ability to reconcile the interests of its

member States and to take action to implement the hard

choices which revitalization of this important universal

forum requires. We must ensure that the gains made are

not reversed.

During the fifty-eighth session, the debate was

also opened on Security Council reform, and some

progress was made to lift this matter out of its

moribund state. The Security Council must indeed be

reformed, so that its actions can carry more weight and

acceptance internationally. The Council must be

expanded to make it more representative of the

generality of the membership, and a way must be found

to address the serious concerns surrounding the veto

privilege. Recent reform initiatives should impact

processes under way and practical recommendations

aimed at ensuring that the Security Council is adequate

to its mandates, including those that might be taken up

at the 2005 high-level plenary meeting.

Since the establishment of the United Nations,

non-governmental organizations and civil society have

worked constructively with this Organization to

address pressing global problems. We now have a

report on how the relationship might be made more

beneficial. It is our hope that the Assembly will

carefully consider this matter, as the support of non-

governmental organizations and civil society is too

important to be taken for granted.

The Government and people of Saint Lucia

believe that confidence in the United Nations is being

restored. We believe that the world’s people expect the

Organization to take a leading role in resolving their

most pressing problems. We believe that the United

Nations can be many things to many people. The

Organization has been sorely challenged in recent

years, but has shown resolve in rising to the challenge.

With an abundance of political will, the principles and

purposes of the United Nations Charter can triumph.

The Government and people of Saint Lucia are inspired

by that prospect.