Saint Lucia, 2008

Saint Lucia is pleased to

join the other Members of the United Nations family in

congratulating His Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-third session. We wish him every

success as he guides these important deliberations at

this most critical time. We also wish to express our

appreciation to his predecessor, His Excellency

Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for the professional manner in

which he spearheaded the work of the Assembly at its

sixty-second session. In addition, we wish to

acknowledge the important work undertaken by the

Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon,

and his team in continuing to promote the noble

principles and values of the United Nations.

We have passed the midpoint in our quest to

achieve the ambitious but achievable Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) by the projected year,

2015. Since the adoption of that timetable in 2000,

however, the global economy has experienced a

number of shocks that have served to challenge our

ability to achieve the MDGs within the allotted time.

We and the rest of the international community must

redouble our efforts to meet those challenges by

addressing them with serious conviction.

As the Secretary-General has said, we face a

development emergency, and emergencies require

immediate action. It is therefore imperative that the

international community move with the utmost urgency

to enact measures to address the challenges that have

emerged. Inaction or indifference will only threaten to

reverse the gains already made in some areas. We must

ensure that our annual reaffirmations of the right to

development and the rights to food, shelter, security

and peace do not ring hollow.

In spite of the numerous difficulties and

challenges with which it is faced, Saint Lucia

maintains its commitment to the realization of the

MDGs by 2015 and will do all within its means to

attain that objective, even as new difficulties arise. For

that reason, Saint Lucia’s social indicators are fairly

reasonable and reflect the investment that has been

made in human development over the years.

The reduction of poverty remains a top priority

for my Government, and increased resources have been

made available to programmes and institutions

dedicated to the attainment of that objective.

In the education sector, universal access has

already been achieved at the primary and secondary

levels. Emphasis is currently being placed on

improvement of quality at the primary and secondary

levels, on expanded access at the tertiary level and on

early-childhood education. More attention is also being

given to the higher school-dropout rates among young

men.

In the area of health care, reform of the health

sector continues to be a priority, and significant

progress continues to be made towards the achievement

of free health care for all. Success continues to be

recorded in respect of key indicators such as life

expectancy, infant mortality and immunization

coverage. Saint Lucia has achieved an even lower

infant mortality rate than the 30-per-1,000 target set for

the Caribbean by the World Health Organization, and

we have already achieved 100 per cent immunization

coverage. At the same time, the incidence of

communicable diseases has been significantly reduced,

although there is concern over chronic

non-communicable diseases.

The AIDS pandemic continues to be the focus of

our attention, and, with the assistance of regional and

international partners, Saint Lucia has made important

strides in addressing that challenge. Our current HIV

prevalence rate is 0.12 per cent. We continue to focus

on education as one of the main instruments in this

fight, even as we devote increased resources to

programmes geared towards early detection and the

provision of free or subsidized antiretroviral drugs.

There are, however, two additional issues that are

critical to development in Saint Lucia and that are not

properly covered under the existing MDG framework.

The first issue encompasses violence, crime and

security. It is an issue that takes many forms, including

35 08-52265

gender-based violence, which should be addressed in

the MDGs. The second issue is that of migration in all

its dimensions, including the impact of the emigration

of skilled workers — especially teachers and nurses —

on national development. It is imperative that we also

consider those two issues, as they affect the

achievement of the MDGs and the development of

Saint Lucia and many other countries.

A particular challenge confronting us is the

emergence of serious climate change and its

detrimental impact on the environment. Those

conditions continue to disproportionately affect small

island developing States, such as Saint Lucia and the

other States members of the Alliance of Small Island

States, whose national territories in the Atlantic,

Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean Sea are

extremely vulnerable.

Increased drought on the one hand and torrential

rains and flooding on the other are affecting all parts of

the globe and serve as recipes for disaster and human

suffering. Those conditions are being attributed more

and more to the unbridled and unsustainable use of

fossil fuels and the concomitant release of greenhouse

gases.

A second major challenge taxing our resolve, and

also associated with fossil fuel use, is the astronomical

rise in energy prices. The astronomical rise in energy

prices has created a new challenge as the world seeks

to replace fossil fuels with cleaner and more cost-

effective biofuels. The trouble with that approach is

that the decreased availability of agricultural

production for food has resulted in higher prices for the

staple foods of people around the world, especially in

developing countries, but also among the marginalized

of the developed world. That trade-off — food for

fuel — if not carefully balanced, could cause increased

poverty, hunger and economic and social

marginalization, which would serve to exacerbate

already unacceptable levels of poverty and hunger.

That notwithstanding, we are heartened by the

renewed efforts and improvements in the renewable

energy agenda, but we lament the slow pace of their

use in developed countries and the high cost of those

technologies to developing countries. There must be

greater liberalization and availability of new

technologies in order to allow developing countries

more access to development models. In the meantime,

we must redouble international efforts to reduce the

emissions of greenhouse gases to the levels already

accepted by the large majority of the members of the

international community.

Last July, I joined with my fellow Caribbean

Community (CARICOM) heads of Government in

reviewing the impact of rising global prices, the issues

surrounding energy use and climate change and the

implications for the region’s food and nutrition

security. Among the issues arising from our

deliberations, we emphasized the need for

Governments to provide the necessary budgetary

support and incentives for investment in agriculture,

particularly at this time. And, given the importance and

the development implications of climate change, we

agreed to the establishment of a Task Force on Climate

Change to give direction for the way forward.

It is from that perspective that Saint Lucia and

many other like-minded countries have continued to

emphasize the urgent need to focus on development

based on sustainable economic growth as the most

effective means of transforming developing countries

and enabling them to reach levels where they can

realize their long-term capacity for a significant

enhancement of the quality of life of their people.

Accordingly, Saint Lucia reiterates its strong

conviction that the United Nations should regard

development as the most essential tool for eradicating

poverty and achieving the Millennium Development

Goals.

As food prices and energy costs rise,

development finance is becoming even less available.

We appreciate the efforts of the countries that have met

the established official development assistance target

of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product. We urge

other countries in a position to do so to act quickly so

that the target may not have to be shifted upwards due

to increased poverty worldwide.

Of particular concern to us is the difficulty facing

the lower-middle-income group of countries, to which

Saint Lucia and many of the small island developing

States belong. In spite of their limited resources, the

members of that group have initiated prudent economic

measures and have been able to make significant

strides in their efforts to bring a reasonable level of

economic and social benefits to their people.

However, policies that are ill-conceived and ill-

advised will continue to negate our efforts and reverse

some of the gains that have been made, forcing a

08-52265 36

reclassification of our status. We look forward to

meaningful progress at the Follow-up International

Conference on Financing for Development to Review

the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, to be

held in Doha later this year, and call on our

development partners to give practical expression to

the numerous commitments that have been offered in

the past, but that remain unrealized.

In Doha, we expect greater momentum on the

question of trade and development. Many of our

countries are characterized by small size and the

associated vulnerabilities. While the products and

services we have to offer are few, they are nevertheless

the source of our livelihood. The investments in those

products and services are significant for our countries,

and while the pressure of competition from larger and

more diversified economies may force the

consideration of a wholesale shift in production focus,

the economic dislocation that would result from the

pursuit of such a strategy would be too overwhelming.

In addition, as small as our population may be,

the youth sector is a sizable portion of our society, and

they need to be given hope. The best avenue is through

education and the development of small and medium-

sized enterprises. Many countries have successfully

developed through that route, but have failed to share

their experiences with others. We therefore need the

trade links to be open and fair, with greater

consideration given to the very small States, so that we

too can meet the hopes and aspirations of our young —

and until now, patient — populations. In that respect,

we call upon the United Nations Industrial

Development Organization to play a more meaningful

role in that endeavour.

South-South cooperation continues to be a

significant component of Saint Lucia’s approach to

development. Saint Lucia continues to benefit from the

generous economic and technical cooperation among

developing countries within and outside of the

Caribbean region, including Cuba, Trinidad and

Tobago, Brazil and Mexico, to name a few, while we

continue to develop closer cooperation with our Latin

American neighbours.

We therefore applaud the establishment of the

South Fund for Development and Humanitarian

Assistance approved at the second South Summit, held

in 2005 in Qatar, as a financing mechanism to assist

developing countries in economic, social, health and

educational development, and in the alleviation of

hunger, poverty and the impact of natural disasters.

While developing countries have made great

strides in financing their own development and the

development of other countries of the South, greater

cooperation in the area of technology transfer,

particularly capacity-building and technical assistance,

is required from the North. Capacity-building among

young people is crucial to the development of the skills

required to implement our commitments to achieve the

MDGs.

We recognize the valuable role that both South-

South and North-South cooperation play in the

advancement of the development agenda. However, we

know that triangular cooperation can be an equally

useful and cost-effective tool for furthering our

development objectives. We therefore welcome efforts

in that area. Critical also to the realization of the

MDGs is the delivery of aid commitments to

developing countries without the burdensome

conditionalities that are a typical feature of

international programmes of development assistance.

The sustainable development of our sister

CARICOM country of Haiti continues to be a

formidable challenge faced by our region and the wider

international community. It is one that requires the

implementation of a long-term assistance programme

that ensures that economic and social recovery take

root and that the people of that country can be assured

of a brighter future.

We wish therefore to applaud the Government of

Haiti for its successful completion of the national

growth and poverty reduction strategy focusing on

improving democratic governance, security and justice,

and the delivery of basic services. We call on the

international community to assist Haiti in the speedy

implementation of the national growth and poverty

reduction strategy.

We therefore continue to call for the sustained

release of pledged development resources so that the

Government and the people of Haiti may continue to

meaningfully, and in a sustainable manner, undertake

measures to confront the numerous challenges to the

development of their country.

Saint Lucia’s relationship with its partners is

based on a commitment to mutual respect and

understanding for each other. In that vein, Saint Lucia

37 08-52265

pays tribute to the Government and the people of the

Republic of China, Taiwan, a democratic country that

has continued to abide by the very principles that the

United Nations holds dear, seeking to nurture and

preserve human rights and development. We

acknowledge the contribution that the Republic of

China, Taiwan, has made to international development

by its provision of substantial development assistance

to developing countries in the spirit of South-South

cooperation. The Government of Taiwan has provided

significant cooperation assistance to Saint Lucia and

other States in the areas of education, health,

agriculture and tourism.

We are also heartened by recent bilateral

discussions that would serve to reduce tensions in the

Taiwan Straits and would result in an increase in

economic cooperation, investment and transportation

links. Natural disasters, epidemics and food and energy

crises know no boundaries. The 23 million people in

Taiwan are inextricably linked to the world scene and

have the same responsibilities and obligations as others

to collaborate in the prevention of global catastrophes.

We hope therefore that this body will take that fact into

consideration and allow them to meaningfully

participate in the United Nations specialized agencies

in the fight against such catastrophes.

Saint Lucia is seriously concerned about the

proliferation of small arms in our part of the world.

The presence of small arms in our region poses serious

challenges for the security and stability of our

societies. As we struggle to address that problem

within our limited resources, we call on those States

that are engaged in the production and trade of small

arms and ammunition to enact appropriate measures to

curb that illicit trade, which threatens the stability and

security of our societies.

Saint Lucia remains concerned about the pace at

which the matter of reform of the Security Council is

proceeding. Reform of the Security Council has been

on the agenda of the United Nations for much too long.

We continue to support the view that it is time for the

Security Council to be more democratic, in order to

make it better able to deal with the increasing number

and complexity of issues it must deal with and more

reflective of post-1948 reality. In that respect, Saint

Lucia supports the call for, at a minimum, a permanent

seat on the Council for the African continent, just as

other continents have such a seat.

Recent events are providing a vivid illustration of

the need for reform of the Security Council. Large size,

military power, economic power, or large population

are not in themselves sufficient criteria for a permanent

seat on the Council. Adherence to the principles

enshrined in the Charter of this Organization should be

paramount over all others.

In closing, Saint Lucia is a small country with

resources that would fail to register in global terms.

Yet, small as we are, our people have hopes,

aspirations and ambitions like any other. Moreover, we

hold the firm belief that we have the capacity to

contribute to the world in a measured way beyond our

size. We are probably best at economics, working

miracles with limited resources, and literature, where

our aspirations are clearly articulated — having two

Nobel Laureates in these areas. We hold the view that

our limited resources should be utilized and focused on

improving the quality of life of our people in

education, health, social services and economic

opportunity. Those are our primary aims, and we

believe them to be in conformity with those of this

eminent Organization.