Marshall Islands, 1992

I take this opportunity warmly to

congratulate you. Sir, on your election to the presidency of the forty-seventh

session of the General Assembly. We know that we are in capable hand as we

face the important tasks ahead of us. I should also like to express my

appreciation to your predecessor. Ambassador Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia,

for the distinguished manner in which he guided the General Assembly during

the last session.

It was one year ago that the General Assembly honoured the Republic of

the Marshall Islands by granting it membership in the United Nations. On this

anniversary, as we reflect on our times, we note that a central feature of the

international political landscape of the past several years has been the

emergence or the re-emergence of the nationalities.

It is our grave responsibility to serve our nations during this

challenging period of transition and development. Throughout the world we are

seeing the advent of self-government by nations. The sovereignty and dignity

of indigenous peoples are coming to be recognized as the basis for effective

government. In the Marshall Islands, as in other developing countries

throughout the world, we have set high aspirations for our nation and we seek

expanded opportunities for our people. Our children will no longer be denied

achievement of their potential because of the time and place into which they

were born. They will be the hope and the pride of our nation, and our future.

We are grateful to the United Nations for its steadfast commitment to

fostering the self-government and self-determination of peoples. For many

peoples, it has been a long time coming.

Like so many countries, large and small, the Marshall Islands was for

four and a half decades relegated to one camp of the great cold-war struggle.

In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the residents of Bikini

and Enewetak Atolls in the Northern Marshall Islands were relocated from their

ancestral homes so that the United States Government could conduct an

extensive and widely publicized programme of testing atomic and nuclear

weapons. Even though the testing programme was discontinued in the late

1950s, our Government and people are still coming to terms with its effects on

our health and way of life. We have many good reasons to applaud the end of

the cold war.

The breakdown of the two contending camps has left a world in which we

can no longer conveniently apply the simple classification of nations into the

Eastern bloc or the Western block. It is a time fraught with uncertainty and

risk, but it is also a time for rethinking our concepts of government and its

relation to individual citizens. And with this rethinking we must see that

greater responsibilities are opened to mankind.

We are finding that the expediencies that once worked in the cold war

centres of power are too broad, too large in scale, too impersonal, for the

smaller nations. Development is now taking place on a more human scale. The

growth of nations is providing the context for human ingenuity to assert

itself with fewer restraints. The progress of the past decade has resulted in

a greater portion of mankind than ever before living in situations of

political and economic freedom. Increasingly, the human spirit has been able

to soar unfettered by restraints and regulations imposed by authorities too

distant from individuals' circumstances.

In a setting of liberty, the individual is empowered to advance to the

extent of his ability. For many years teachers in the Marshall Islands have

sought to implement the wise insight of Marcus Aurelius:

"Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish

and you have fed him for ever."

Some of our teachers have even convinced themselves that this is Marshallese

folk wisdom! But at least they recognize that the most effective help is

self-help.

The exchange of ideas and the reduction of trade barriers have served to

draw mankind together. People throughout the world are now cooperating in the

developmental process. In no nation do people live in the isolation that our

ancestors did only a century ago and that some people endured until the end

of the cold war. But, in the face of modernization, the people and places of

the world have retained their particular attributes, and these are now giving

force and cohesion to their national characters.

The past year has seen the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. At this

historic gathering the nations of the world agreed to pursue their

developmental goals in a manner that will sustain the ecological diversity of

our planet. We in the Marshall Islands, living on low-lying coral atolls and

islands, have been following with great interest the scientific debate over

global warming. The same careful approach that we have applied to evaluating

the impact of nuclear testing in our islands is also being applied to the

possible dangers of a rise in sea level. In this regard, I am pleased to

reiterate the call that President Amata Kabua of the Marshall Islands made at

the Rio Summit for the United Nations to convene a follow-up Earth Summit in

1995, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

If global warming endangers certain regions and certain modes of life, we

have to confirm the risks and inform our citizens about them. An environment

at risk will be a significant constraint for the developing nations in the

late twentieth century. Nevertheless, our concern for environmental quality

need not put a halt to the developmental process. Instead, it will be part of

the overall situation to which individuals will respond with creativity and

productivity.

With the assistance of the United Nations, the people of our countries

will continue to benefit from the international structure of trade, cultural

exchanges, environmental studies and the resolution of disputes.

The heart of the United Nations consists of the many Member

nation-States. The rich mix of nationalities is certainly complicating the

map of the world. Our challenge is to find collective benefit in this

diversity.

As a primary obligation, of course, we must meet basic human needs that

are beyond local capabilities: collectively, we can help feed the starving

refugees of Somalia; we can commit our manpower and financial resources to

help bring peace to the Middle East and in the Balkan States; we can provide

emergency assistance to the victims of natural disasters; we can continue to

work towards the eradication of the great plagues. In these situations, where

the human need is greatest, the United Nations is admirably serving its

purposes. In addition, the techniques and processes made available by the

agencies of the United Nations have helped provide our citizens with security

and basic public services.

On the other hand, the preservation of cultural diversity, and probably

the preservation of environmental diversity, will require the direct

commitment of nations and individuals. In an era of national consciousness,

most matters of public policy, even those with international consequences, are

going to be worked out at the national level - and frequently locally and

individually.

Let us celebrate the diverse nationalities, and do everything in our

power to nurture our peoples and enable them to lead lives that are full and

contented and peaceful.