Marshall Islands, 2004

I am honoured to address the

General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session on behalf of

the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Allow me to extend my congratulations to you,

Mr. President, on your election, and to wish you well in

your endeavours throughout this session.

This year has seen important landmarks for the

Marshall Islands at the domestic level. On 1 May we

celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption

of our Constitution. The same day also marked the

entry into force of our amended Compact of Free

Association with the United States. The renewal of that

agreement reaffirms the special relationship between

our two countries.

At the regional level, we continue to place great

importance on our membership in the Pacific Islands

Forum. Over the past year, the Forum has conducted a

comprehensive review of existing regional

mechanisms. Last month Pacific leaders met in Samoa,

where they endorsed the terms of reference of a new

Pacific Plan, which will develop a strategy for broader

regional cooperation based on the key goals of

economic growth, sustainable development, good

governance and security.

At the international level, the Marshall Islands

reaffirms its solidarity with the Alliance of Small

Island States (AOSIS), which continues to act as a

powerful voice for small island developing States.

It has long been recognized that small island

developing States suffer from unique vulnerabilities

and disadvantages. In January 2005, the international

community will meet in Mauritius to conduct the

10-year review of the Barbados Programme of Action

for the Sustainable Development of Small Island

Developing States. Over the past year, members of

AOSIS have been engaged in a detailed process of

preparation for the international meeting. At an

interregional meeting in January, small island

developing States adopted the AOSIS Strategy for the

Further Implementation of the Barbados Programme of

Action, which addresses critical issues including

climate change and sea-level rise, renewable energy,

trade access and others.

It is vital that we maintain the momentum in the

lead-up to Mauritius in order to ensure a successful

outcome for small island developing States. I

encourage the international community to become

engaged in the ongoing preparatory process and to

participate in the international meeting at the highest

level. It is our fervent hope that the meeting will

produce practical outcomes that will assist small island

developing States in implementing the Programme of

Action to benefit people at the local level.

In this increasingly globalized world, the

Marshall Islands faces challenges shared by many

other small island States. Our environment is extremely

vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural

disasters; our small population faces the challenge of

managing high levels of major diseases such as

diabetes, and the risk of the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS

and other sexually transmitted diseases; and our limited

resource base and remoteness restrict our ability to

integrate into the global economy.

With these challenges in mind, the Marshall

Islands is particularly concerned about the following

issues.

First, regarding sustainable development, the

Marshall Islands has developed a national sustainable

development strategy, and we are in the process of

establishing a task force to ensure that the Millennium

Development Goals are fully integrated into our

national strategy. In striving to achieve internationally

agreed development goals, we are severely constrained

by our lack of human and technical resources. Thus we

continue to seek to form partnerships that will assist us

through capacity-building and technology transfer.

We were pleased that the twelfth session of the

Commission on Sustainable Development focused on

water, sanitation and human settlements. We in the

Pacific region are working hard to improve access to

fresh water and to develop environmentally responsible

waste-management systems. We seek the support of the

international community to assist us in the

implementation of regional projects such as the Pacific

Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Water

Management. We look forward to the thirteenth session

of the Commission’s providing further policy guidance

in these areas.

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An ongoing issue of the utmost concern for the

people of the Marshall Islands is that of nuclear-

weapon testing. Between 1946 and 1958, the United

States conducted a series of nuclear tests in the

Marshall Islands, which included the detonation of 23

atomic and hydrogen bombs. On 1 March this year we

commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the Bravo

test at Bikini atoll. The Bravo blast was 1,000 times

more powerful than Hiroshima, and its fallout spread

radioactive debris across the neighbouring islands.

Today, many of our people continue to suffer

from the long-term health effects, while others remain

displaced from their homes because of ongoing

contamination. We urge the United States Government

to fully address the issue of adequate compensation for

populations affected by the nuclear testing programme

and to fulfil its responsibilities regarding the safe

resettlement of displaced populations.

On broader issues of disarmament and non-

proliferation, we urge the international community to

retain a focus on disarmament by the nuclear-weapon

States, as well as on non-proliferation measures. We

look forward to next year’s Review Conference of the

Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons, and we hope that the Conference

will produce substantial progress on the 13 steps

towards complete nuclear disarmament.

I wish to reiterate our critical concern regarding

climate change. Along with other low-lying island

nations, we are most vulnerable to the impacts of

climate change. We are already experiencing these

dramatic effects: sea levels are rising, weather patterns

are changing and coral reef systems are being harmed.

Urgent action is needed at the global level to halt and

ultimately reverse the devastating impact of climate

change. Without such global action, our national efforts

at sustainable development will ultimately be rendered

meaningless.

While we are committed to playing our part,

strong leadership is required by the major

industrialized countries. We renew our support for the

Framework Convention on Climate Change and the

Kyoto Protocol, and we call upon all States that have

not yet done so — in particular the major emitters — to

ratify the Protocol without further delay. We also call

upon the international community to assist small island

developing States in developing and implementing

comprehensive adaptation strategies.

As a nation whose livelihood depends on the

resources of the sea, we are becoming increasingly

concerned about the state of the world’s oceans and

fish stocks. At the regional level, we cooperate closely

with other members of the Pacific Islands Forum to

ensure that the oceans and marine resources in our

region are managed in a responsible and sustainable

manner. The Pacific Islands Regional Ocean Policy,

adopted in 2002, will be implemented throughout the

region under a recently developed framework for

integrated strategic action. Another notable

achievement in the region is the entry into force of the

Convention on the Conservation and Management of

Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and

Central Pacific Ocean.

While such developments are encouraging, we

reiterate our concerns regarding the prevalence of

illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Like many

other small island developing States, we rely on

fisheries resources as a primary means of survival, yet

we lack the capacity to adequately monitor our

exclusive economic zone. Regional and international

cooperation must focus on addressing the problem of

illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and

assisting small island developing States by building

capacity for monitoring and surveillance.

I have briefly mentioned a few of the major

priorities for the Marshall Islands. There are, of course,

many other important issues to be addressed during the

upcoming session.

International terrorism is obviously one of the

biggest challenges facing the global community today.

The reality is that no State or region is immune. All

States must take action at the national level and must

cooperate at the regional and international levels to

ensure that we combat terrorist threats with

comprehensive and unified action. Within the Pacific

region, we continue to cooperate closely to ensure that

effective regional action is taken to combat threats to

peace and security. At the national level, we are in the

process of implementing the 12 core anti-terrorism

conventions and the relevant Security Council

resolutions, and we have taken many steps to combat

money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Marshall Islands, as a State party to the

Rome Statute, welcomes the ongoing progress of the

International Criminal Court. We are pleased that the

Court is now fully operational and has begun its first

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investigations. We are confident that the Court will

play a valuable role in the administration of justice at

the international level, and we urge those States that

have not yet done so to become parties.

Another issue requiring action by this body is the

continued exclusion of Taiwan from the United

Nations. Taiwan is a peace-loving, sovereign State, and

only its democratically elected Government can be the

legitimate representative of the interests of the people

of Taiwan within the United Nations. The Marshall

Islands reiterates its full support for the ongoing quest

of the people of Taiwan to be granted membership in

this global body and in various other international

organizations.

Finally, the Marshall Islands reiterates its support

for the expansion of the Security Council in both

categories of membership. We support the allocation of

a new permanent seat to Japan, and we believe that the

representation on the Council of developing countries

must be increased. Such expansion is crucial if the

Council is to retain its legitimacy.

My delegation looks forward, Mr. President, to a

productive session under your able leadership.