Mauritius, 2003

Let me first

extend to you, Sir, on behalf of my delegation and in

my own name, our sincere congratulations on your

election as President of the General Assembly at this

session. Indeed, it is a matter of pride for all small

island States, and Mauritius in particular, to see you

presiding over the Assembly. My delegation wishes to

assure you of its full support and cooperation during

your tenure of office.

Let me also express my Government's deepest

appreciation to your predecessor, His Excellency Mr.

Jan Kavan of the Czech Republic, for the remarkable

manner in which he presided over the General

Assembly at its fifty-seventh session and to the

Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, for

his dedicated leadership of our Organization. I wish to

assure him of our full support in his appeal for radical

reforms of our Organization and the setting up of a

high-level panel to address the issues of peace and

security, and institutional reform.

Since we were here last autumn, many events of

global importance have occurred. The war against Iraq

was waged and hostilities were declared at an end, but

peace and stability in Iraq have yet to be restored.

Terrorism has continued relentlessly on its path of

ghastly attacks and indiscriminate killing of innocent

civilians. The geographical shift, however, in the

terrorist attacks is becoming increasingly a disturbing

development.

Multilateralism, which was almost condemned to

a premature burial, is being re-energized.

Unfortunately, the recurring problems of HIV/AIDS,

malaria, poverty, lack of development, conflicts and the

ready supply of small arms and light weapons have

continued to inflict death and suffering on an

unprecedented scale, particularly in Africa.

The attack against the United Nations compound

in Baghdad contains countless messages. The most

significant of them is that our Organization is in urgent

need of major overhaul and reform, as rightly stated by

the Secretary-General.

The premature deaths of the Special Envoy of the

Secretary-General to Iraq, the late Sergio Vieira de

Mello, and other dedicated staff members of the United

Nations, whom we deeply mourn, should make us

reflect on the dangers behind foreign policy initiatives

that undermine or ignore the United Nations.

The international community is deeply attached

to the legitimacy the United Nations confers on its

actions. It is our collective duty to refrain from taking

any measures likely to weaken it.

These horrendous terrorist acts have

demonstrated anew the crucial need for the

international community to tackle the root causes of

terrorism.

As all small islands, we in Mauritius remain

highly vulnerable in respect of our security and

terrorist threats. With limited means at our disposal,

coupled with the multiple demands on our scanty

resources, we find that it is only through international

efforts and cooperation that we can win the war against

terrorism. We are particularly anxious that there should

be concerted and sustained action and a commitment to

cooperation at the international level with a view to

eradicating the scourge of terrorism. All countries must

cooperate to stem the flow of cross-border infiltration.

The financing of terrorism and the proceeds of

transnational organized crime need to be closely

monitored.

Not winning the war against terrorism as well as

that against transnational organized crime is not an

option for the world today. Mauritius views with

concern that, despite the stated commitment of the

international community to the cause of disarmament,

the actions of many countries do not match their

rhetoric.

The new challenges to security and disarmament

should compel us to look anew at the potential threat

posed by nuclear weapons and weapons of mass

destruction and to pursue more vigorously efforts

towards their total elimination.

We reiterate our appeal to the nuclear Powers for

the early convening of a conference on nuclear

disarmament as a first step towards complete

disarmament, keeping in mind that such a regime must

be comprehensive and non-discriminatory.

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Over the last year the international community's

ability to tackle political conflicts and find lasting

solutions has been dismal.

The situation in the Middle East continues to

preoccupy us. Despite the various initiatives, including

the latest Road Map, violence remains unabated and we

fear that recent developments in the region will unleash

further killings and destruction.

No solution will be possible there unless all the

protagonists are taken on board. Exclusion as a policy

is destined to fail. We continue to believe that President

Arafat is an essential part of the solution, and any

attempt to sideline him will be detrimental to any peace

initiative.

We call on both Israel and the Palestinian

Authority to exercise utmost restraint and to pursue

their efforts for the implementation of the Road Map

with a view to putting an end to the occupation and the

succeeding generations of Palestinians in refugee

camps. The establishment of a Palestinian State at the

earliest should be the priority of the international

community.

The situation in Iraq is disquieting. It is important

that the Iraqis regain as soon as possible total

sovereignty and assume control over their own destiny

through a democratic process. The United Nations has,

in the view of my delegation, a leading role to play in

this process and must be empowered to do so.

The African continent has been plagued for too

long by conflicts and wars, which have led to the loss

of thousands of innocent lives and the squandering of

enormous wealth and resources. Small arms and light

weapons have in fact become the weapons of mass

destruction on the African continent. These weapons

drain African resources and we appeal to those

countries that manufacture and market those weapons

of destruction to ensure that Africa does not continue

to be their killing field.

Nonetheless, during the past two years, the

African continent has demonstrated an unprecedented

momentum in its efforts to seriously address these

conflicts and to search for lasting solutions. There is,

however, some good news out of Africa and everything

is not gloomy.

The transformation of the Organization of African

Unity into the African Union, the coming into

operation of the various commissions of the Union and

the election of commissioners on a gender-equal basis

at the Maputo Summit in July last are clear indications

that Africa has chosen a new path and is confident that

it will be able to meet the challenges ahead.

It is a matter of great satisfaction that peace is

now slowly returning to the troubled areas on the

continent. The conflicts in Sierra Leone and Angola

have ended. A government of national unity is in office

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Efforts under

the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on

Development (IGAD) for a comprehensive and lasting

resolution to the conflict in Somalia have been

crowned with success. We do recognize that years of

conflict will not be easily forgotten, but what is

reassuring is that African leaders are maintaining a

hands-on approach to these situations.

The recent developments in Liberia and the

restoration of the constitutional order in Sao Tome and

Principe confirm the ability of African leaders to

effectively address issues affecting their continent.

There is fresh confidence in the African leaders'

ability to deal with flashpoints. The implementation of

the Peace and Security Council of the African Union

will go a long way towards preventive action being

taken. We recognize that we will have to bear primary

responsibility for the peace and security of our

continent.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development

(NEPAD) is our basic instrument of empowerment.

Having decided to take our destiny in our own hands,

we are not going to engage in the blame game, but we

will take action to reverse poverty and to promote good

governance. We will do whatever is necessary to attract

investment. The establishment of the African Peer

Review Mechanism within NEPAD will ensure that

economic development takes place in the spirit of good

governance, democracy, transparency and

accountability.

It is comforting, therefore, that this homegrown

African initiative has received global recognition. The

assistance of the Group of Eight and countries like

India in the implementation of the objectives of

NEPAD is much appreciated.

We noted with regret that the rate of official

development assistance to developing countries is

decreasing, contrary to the commitment made in

Monterrey.

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We therefore call on the developed countries and

other key specialized institutions in the monetary,

financial and development fields to deliver on their

implementation plans for the Monterrey Consensus

during the October high-level dialogue.

Monday's high-level segment on HIV/AIDS, in

which more than a hundred delegations took part,

demonstrates the extent of the concern of the United

Nations membership to the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.

We welcome the initiative of the General Assembly to

maintain global awareness of the problem and to ensure

that effective action is taken urgently to stop the spread

of the pandemic.

I mentioned earlier the need for reform of our

Organization. It is imperative that the necessary

reforms of the United Nations be undertaken to reflect

in a more realistic manner the political realities in the

world today.

The United Nations Charter must be amended to

provide for a Security Council that is more democratic

and more representative of today's world. Should

permanent membership of the Security Council with

veto power be retained, we consider that India should

be admitted with such a membership at the earliest.

Likewise we believe that the African continent should

be adequately represented at the same level.

We would also urge a review of the veto power,

which has been used in the past and continues to be

used for purposes outside the letter and spirit of the

Charter.

May I welcome the decision of the Security

Council to lift the sanctions on the Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya.

The situation of small island developing States

(SIDS) will be the focus of attention in September

2004, when Mauritius hosts an international meeting

for the 10-year review of the Barbados Programme of

Action. This Barbados +10 meeting will allow us to

make a full assessment of the Programme of Action

and evaluate its success and shortcomings.

We need to constantly remind the international

community about the fragility and vulnerability of

SIDS where ecology and geography combine to inflict

irreparable damage.

Mauritius and all other small island developing

States attach great importance to this international

meeting and hope that it will harness more efforts on

the part of the international community to provide the

required assistance to the small island developing

States. I call on this Assembly to lend the necessary

support to make this international meeting a success.

In this regard, let me express my appreciation to

the Commonwealth and La Francophonie for their

active interest in supporting the cause of small island

States.

As the current Chairman of the Alliance of Small

Island States (AOSIS), may I inform the Assembly that

the 44 Alliance Member States and Observers consider

the International Meeting to be a very important

occasion for reaffirming the partnership for sustainable

development that grew out of the Rio Conference. In

Mauritius next year we expect to establish an

appropriate framework for partnership and cooperation.

The time has come to enshrine the special case of

Small Island Developing States as an important

component of focus and attention on the part of the

international community.

We appeal to the international community to

support this process and ensure the full and effective

participation of all SIDS at the meeting and to ensure,

as well, its own participation in it.

Access to information and communication

technologies remains a fundamental concern in Africa.

While such technologies are often promoted as an

instrument that will allow countries to leapfrog stages

in development, there is a real fear that the digital

divide could very well prove to be yet another handicap

that adds to Africa's marginalization.

We therefore urge that particular attention be paid

to issues of access and infrastructure. My delegation

wishes to underscore that Mauritius, like many other

small island States, has high hopes that the Plan of

Action of the World Summit on the Information

Society will provide concrete action in favour of small

island developing States, whose geographical isolation,

remoteness and other inherent constraints warrant

special attention.

The failure of the World Trade Organization

(WTO) Ministerial Conference at Cancun has dealt a

blow to the multilateral trading system. That is very

unfortunate, as there are no winners but only losers.

For small developing countries in particular, a strong

rules-based global trading system provides protection

27

against the unilateralism of powerful trading countries

or blocs. The serious imbalances in the WTO system,

coupled with the lack of effective and operational rules

and disciplines to address their development concerns,

resulted the failure of Cancun. We should pick up the

pieces from Cancun and try to construct a trading

system that guarantees equity and fairness for

developing countries. Only such an approach will

provide the legitimacy that the WTO system so badly

needs to deliver on the Doha Development Agenda.

In order to successfully respond to the

multifaceted challenges we are facing in the world

today, we are convinced that the international

community should rededicate itself to the values of

solidarity, tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation.

The belief that countries can be immune from

what other countries do is no longer tenable. The need

for international cooperation, rather than confrontation,

is critical. A new international order is essential if we

are to avoid a collision of cultures and religious beliefs.

This is the last occasion on which I will address

the General Assembly in my capacity as Prime

Minister. In six days' time, I will relinquish my current

post and accede to the presidency, while my Deputy

Prime Minister will be sworn in as Prime Minister. I

am confident that he will be accorded the same

collaboration and friendship that I have enjoyed during

my tenure in office.

Before I conclude, however, I renew my appeal to

the United Kingdom to take all measures to complete

the process of the decolonization of Mauritius. For

years, Mauritius has consistently reaffirmed its

sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, including

Diego Garcia, here and in all international forums. I

sincerely regret that this issue has not been resolved. I

therefore reiterate our appeal to the United Kingdom,

as a country known for its fair play and for

championing human rights, and to our friends in the

United States, to engage in a serious dialogue with

Mauritius over the issue of the Chagos Archipelago so

that an early solution may be found.

The removal of the Chagossians under false

pretences resulted in gross violations of human rights.

Hopefully this aspect of the matter will be resolved

through the British courts shortly.

I also appeal to the French Republic, with which

we have excellent relations, to resume the dialogue

with a view to returning Tromelin island to Mauritian

sovereignty.

With those words, I bid the Assembly goodbye.