Saint Lucia, 2013

I address the General

Assembly today with a sense of deep humility — humility

in the wake of the great architects of world peace who

have stood here before me — and pride. In that regard,

I will utilize my maiden address to this body to pay

homage to those who fostered the birth and initial

dynamics of the United Nations. I therefore find it more

than appropriate to utilize the principles contained in

the Charter of the United Nations as a ready compass

with which to set my course as I navigate the issues that

occupy the forefront of our attention.

Before indicating my own country’s perspectives

on present trends, let me take the opportunity to

congratulate you, Sir, a representative of a Member

State from my own Caribbean region, on your election

to serve as President of the General Assembly. It is a

clear acknowledgement by members of the General

Assembly that all States, large or small, have a deep

and broad interest in how international relations are

evolving and a legitimate contribution to make towards

resolving the problems that are having a negative

impact on us.

At this juncture, permit me to commence my

navigation. The first principle of the Charter reads as

follows:

“To maintain international peace and security, and

to that end: to take effective collective measures

for the prevention and removal of threats to the

peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression

or other breaches of the peace, and to bring

about by peaceful means, and in conformity with

the principles of justice and international law,

adjustment or settlement of international disputes

or situations which might lead to a breach of the

peace”.

Our world vibrates with dynamic political changes,

some welcome, and some threatening to the interests

of small States and therefore unwelcome. Like other

Member States, we prefer the peaceful resolution of

disputes, and therefore welcome the developments in

the Middle East, specifically in relation to Syria, where

the option of a peaceful and negotiated resolution has

taken precedence over the option of war. It is important

that in such matters we not get caught up in the emotions

of the moment. We must be cerebral in our approach,

because emotion is no substitute for intelligence, nor

rigidity for prudence. We do not underestimate the

difficulties inherent in the resolution of issues and

disputes between nations in the Middle East. But we

stand for the right to self-determination as a basic

principle of any people’s existence, and hope that in

other parts of the region the long-standing claims to

entitlement on the part of the people of Palestine will

continue to be pursued, primarily through persistent

negotiation as against any inclination to the threat of

violence and war. We are fortunate to have the United

Nations as a framework within which we can always

proceed to negotiate with patience and persistence until

agreement and/or compromise is reached.

The second principle of the Charter of the United

Nations is to develop friendly relations among nations

based on respect for the principle of the equal rights

and self-determination of peoples, and to take other

appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace.

Saint Lucia, as a small State in a hemisphere of both

small and large States, emphasizes the use of diplomacy

as a prime instrument for the pursuit of normalized

relations. We note the increasing mutual involvement

of the peoples on both sides of the China Strait and

express the hope that that will lead to normal relations

beneficial to all the peoples of the world. In that regard,

we welcome the response of the membership of the

International Civil Aviation Organization to embrace

the participation of the Republic of China on Taiwan in

aspects of its proceedings. That can be an appropriate

model for the further engagement of Taiwan in the

activities of international organizations, thus permitting

that country to play its role more effectively in global

development.

In the same context, the Government of Saint Lucia

reiterates its support for the inclusion of Cuba in all

regional and hemispheric organizations that it wishes

to join. We support the removal of what can clearly be

seen as forced exclusions, which are surely no longer

permissible under the new rules and regimes of balanced

diplomacy. As is evident, the exclusion of Cuba from

normal and complete intercourse remains an open

wound in the heart of our hemisphere. It is unnecessary

and needs to be ended. Saint Lucia therefore emphasizes

its support for persistent international efforts towards

the removal of the unconscionable embargo that inhibits

Cuba’s legitimate efforts at economic growth and full

hemispheric cooperation.

The third principle of the Charter is to achieve

international cooperation in solving international

problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian

character, and in promoting and encouraging respect

for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for

everyone without distinction to race, sex, language

or religion. That is in consonance with the theme

chosen for this year’s general debate, namely, “The

post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage”.

Over a decade ago, when the world was entering the

twenty-first century, the United Nations took the lead

in setting the international development agenda. At

that time, we made a loud and clear declaration of war

against extreme poverty and hunger, illiteracy, gender

inequality, child mortality, poor maternal health care,

HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, environmental

degradation, as well as against the forces that seek to

fragment our global partnership for development.

Our declaration was appropriately entitled the

Millennium Declaration, and the goals contained

therein were time-bound and target-driven. Today,

less than two years before the 2015 deadline arrives,

we find ourselves facing new, and increasingly critical,

development challenges. Youth unemployment has

reached crisis proportions globally, and high debt levels

have threatened the solvency and stability of small

States. Climate change and the increasing ferocity

of natural and man-made disasters are threatening

the environmental sustainability, and even the very

existence, of small island developing States (SIDS).

Global interdependence demands that the strong

help the weak, so that everyone can get strong.

Therefore, the setting of the post-2015 development

agenda is a watershed moment in global history, and all

countries must participate meaningfully in the process.

The rich must resist the temptation to retreat inward,

as that can idle the global economic engine. The post-

2015 development agenda must be driven by common

aspirations, shared goals and a unified vision of a

secure and stable world that we can proudly bequeath

to our children.

Saint Lucia and several other States have already

embarked upon and completed post-2015 consultations,

with the support of the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP). At least 20 such national

consultations have been conducted across the world,

and they have provided invaluable inputs for the post-

2015 agenda. They emphasize that Saint Lucia and

other SIDS have serious vulnerabilities that seem to

have escaped the gross domestic product-focused eyes

of some of our development partners. The post-2015

agenda must therefore address, in a very real sense,

the issues of concern to SIDS, such as the rise in sea

level, non-communicable diseases, and the assessment

of loss and damage caused by natural and man-made

disasters and the funding needed for recovery. We are

also concerned about the causes of climate change,

particularly our over-dependence on fossil fuels, and

its destructive impact on the debt profiles of our small

and vulnerable economies.

In that regard, we want to arrest the adverse

consequences of climate change before they cripple us,

and we want to accelerate the transition to renewable

energy using clean, green technology. In May 2012,

our region hosted the Conference on Achieving

Sustainable Energy for All in Small Island Developing

States in Barbados and, together with UNDP and other

international partners, we resolved to set targets for

increasing the renewable component of our energy

mix. Moreover, a month ago in Barbados, at the

third interregional preparatory meeting for the third

International Conference on Small Island Developing

States, to be held in Apia, Samoa, in 2014, SIDS

reaffirmed their commitment and renewed calls for the

world to pay attention to their special vulnerabilities.

That is in keeping with the fourth principle of the

Charter of the United Nations, which asserts that the

Organization is to be a centre for harmonizing the

actions of nations in the attainment of the common

ends mentioned earlier. In that regard, we recognize a

number of United Nations initiatives.

First, we note that the outcome document of the

High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly

on the Millennium Development Goals requested the

Secretary-General to initiate thinking on a post-2015

development agenda and to include recommendations

in his annual report on efforts to accelerate progress on

achieving the MDGs.

Secondly, we recognize that the 2012 United

Nations Conference on Sustainable Development has

initiated an inclusive intergovernmental process for

preparing a set of sustainable development goals.

Thirdly, we note that the work of the

Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on

Sustainable Development Financing, on which Saint

Lucia is represented, has proceeded in a positive

fashion. That work includes initiatives of the Caribbean

Community (CARICOM) region aimed at applying

policies to address the effects of the global recession

and of new trends and rules that negate our effective

participation in international trade. Such initiatives

are promoted by our regional institutions, such as the

Caribbean Development Bank, whose President recently

highlighted the need for new urgency in implementing

policies to help the Bank’s member States to emerge

from the effects of the global recession.

Fourthly, we take special cognizance of the special

event just held and convened by you, Mr. President, to

follow up on efforts to achieve the MDGs. We concur

with the recommendations that propose a framework

for countries like mine to come up with an evolving

response to the new international environment that

recognizes how urgent it is that developed countries

fulfil their official development aid commitments, and

how critical the MDGs are for meeting the basic needs

of people in developing countries.

It is vital that all such initiatives on the part of the

global community include arrangements such as an

adaptation fund that can enhance the ability of small

island developing States to begin constructing facilities

that can protect our countries from sea-level rise and

natural disasters. Do we lie supine on our backs and hug

the elusive phantom of hope? No. Given the turbulent

and unpredictable world situation that we small States

face, we have been compelled to reassess, restructure

and reformulate domestic and foreign policy postures

to enable us to realistically readjust our economic and

political strategies and reshape our external relations

along more contemporary and multidimensional

lines. In that regard, Saint Lucia has been making a

special effort in the area of regional and international

outreach. Within our hemisphere, we have witnessed

the establishment and active engagement of both the

Union of South American Nations and the Community

of Latin American and Caribbean States, and Saint

Lucia, like other Caribbean Community States, has

actively engaged with them where eligible.

It is in that spirit that we have also joined the

Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America,

so as to broaden our activities in the hemisphere and

ensure that we take full advantage of efforts to advance

our country’s economic growth, reduce the economic

inequalities that result from our small size and ensure

our full participation in the regional and global

decision-making that inevitably affects us.

As I speak of a better balance of global relations

and the evolution of emergent political principles and

practices, Saint Lucia joins with other CARICOM

colleagues in drawing attention to a decision of the

CARICOM Heads of State, taken at their thirty-fourth

regular meeting, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago,

in July. That decision mandates our Governments to

collectively seek reparations, on behalf of our citizens

and countries, for the period of exploitation experienced

during the transatlantic slave trade. Our Governments

have therefore initially agreed to the establishment of

a Caribbean reparations commission that will prepare

the relevant documentation and strategies for pursuing

the practical achievement of that goal, with a central

focus of righting the wrongs of the past and elevating

the status of our people. In that regard, we will continue

to conduct a process of diplomatic outreach, not only

within our own hemisphere and the States of the African

continent, the geographic location of our ancestors, but

also within the wider United Nations family.

I would like to reiterate the importance for small

States like Saint Lucia of deliberate and sustained

efforts to resolve disputes peacefully. We support

strengthening the institutional arrangements of the

United Nations in order to help it better fulfil its

mandate. As the Assembly is aware, CARICOM has

been actively engaged in developments relating to

reform of the Security Council. It is an issue that Saint

Lucia’s Permanent Representative has been directly

involved in, particularly the question of expanding both

the permanent and non-permanent membership of the

Council and thereby giving that body’s decision-making

greater legitimacy. We look forward to further progress

on the matter.

For my part, I can only echo the words of the great

Russian writer Nikolai Ostrovsky, who said,

“Man’s dearest possession is life. It is given to

him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no

torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the

burning shame of a mean and petty past; so live

that, dying, he might say: all my life and all my

strength were given to the finest cause in all the

world — the fight for the liberation of mankind”.

It is to that aim that my country and I devote every

moment of our time.

As I conclude, Mr. President, I thank you and

extend to you Saint Lucia’s best wishes and support

for your successful tenure of office as you pursue

the tasks of the coming year, some visible and some

undoubtedly not yet foreseen. Saint Lucia’s hope is that

as we navigate uncharted waters, we continually refer

to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

to which I have referred, in order to ensure that our

great Organization remains on course, as together, with

mutual purpose and mutual aid, we make a new period

in history.