Mauritius, 2007

May I, on behalf of

my delegation, and in my own name, extend our

sincere congratulations to Mr. Srgjan Kerim on his

election to preside over the General Assembly at its

sixty-second session. I assure him of our fullest

support and cooperation in the daunting tasks that lie

ahead of us. His election is a personal tribute to his

engagement and rich experience in international

politics and diplomacy. Allow me also to convey our

sincere appreciation and thanks to his predecessor, Her

Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for the

effective and efficient manner in which she conducted

the business of the sixty-first session. May I also take

this opportunity to pledge my delegation’s support to

the new Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban

Ki-moon, in his efforts and approach in charting out a

vision for the Organization that will respond to the

needs and aspirations of the twenty-first century.

International peace and security constitute the

bedrock of the Organization. We have come a long way

since 1945 in securing peace and security in many

parts of the world. However, a lot remains to be

accomplished in order to have a conflict-free world.

We are seriously concerned about what is happening in

the Middle East. Conflicts in some parts of Africa

continue to be a major source of concern to us. The

trail of violence and death continues to plague the

Middle East. In order to give peace a chance and allow

it to take root in those regions and manifest its positive

effects in the day-to-day lives of citizens, we need to

redouble our efforts and explore all possible avenues to

achieve peace, stability and security, in the larger

interests of the citizens of those countries.

The fragility of the Middle East situation, and in

particular the question of Palestine, needs a holistic

approach that, inter alia, includes linkages embedded in

the socio-cultural, political, economic and security

issues of the region. I should also once again like to

reiterate our full support for the establishment of an

independent and sovereign Palestinian State side by

side with the State of Israel.

With regard to Darfur, we welcome the African

Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur

which is expected to assume the peacekeeping and

peacebuilding operations there. We call on all the

parties concerned in the conflict to demonstrate their

real commitment and resolve to engage fully in the

search for lasting peace.

In Somalia, despite the serious efforts to contain

violence during the past six months, the situation

remains highly volatile. In that context, I would like to

add my voice to the call made by the Chairperson of

the African Union Commission, Mr. Konaré, to the

Secretary-General to consider the possibility of

deploying a United Nations force to assist the African

Union Peace Support Mission in Somalia.

The President returned to the Chair.

The world today is confronted with growing

threats of terrorism be it home-grown, cross-border,

regional or international in nature. That scourge should

be confronted with all the means at the disposal of the

international community. We also believe that more

effective and efficient mechanisms should be put in

place to capture the financiers of terrorist

organizations.

The United Nations remains the cornerstone of

the fight against terrorism. Mauritius has lent, and will

continue to lend, its fullest support to the numerous

initiatives and resolutions of the United Nations on

counter-terrorism. We are happy to note that the

International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of

Nuclear Terrorism entered into force in July of this

year.

The world of the twenty-first century is a world

of interdependence, with the national frontiers between

peoples and countries falling faster than we had

envisaged. This has brought about the interphase and

interaction between peoples from different parts of the

world. We are today living in a world intertwined with

interreligious and intercultural predicaments.

Mauritius, as the Assembly is aware, is a multi-

ethnic and multicultural society. Unity in diversity is

the solid foundation on which we have built the

framework for the peaceful coexistence of peoples of

different faiths and cultures. Cultural diversity,

understanding and respect for different faiths and

religions are today part and parcel of Mauritian society.

We warmly welcome the convening of the High-

level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural

Understanding and Cooperation for Peace, which is to

be held in October 2007 at United Nations

Headquarters, for the promotion of tolerance,

understanding and universal respect on matters of

freedom and religion. We will certainly be part of the

Dialogue.

Furthermore, we reaffirm our determination to

support all initiatives that promote a culture of peace

and tolerance. We are also happy to note that the

General Assembly recently adopted resolution 61/271

to observe and celebrate the International Day of

Non-Violence on 2 October each year in recognition of

the great apostle of peace and non-violence, Mahatma

Gandhi.

Mauritius is a strong advocate of all human rights

and fundamental freedoms so much so that the

founding fathers of our constitution ensured that

human rights figured prominently therein. Since our

independence, in 1968, we have persistently

endeavoured to place our citizens at the core of all

forms of human rights and have ensured that they

enjoy all political and civil rights irrespective of their

status, colour or creed. We have enacted several pieces

of legislation and we continue to enhance our

legislative and institutional framework for the further

protection and promotion of human rights and

fundamental freedoms. We have set up the National

Human Rights Commission, the Sex Discrimination

Division, the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children

and the Human Rights Centre to ensure and promote

compliance with fundamental rights and freedoms of

the individual and the international instruments on

human rights.

Mauritius is party to all major international and

regional human rights treaties. We continue to extend

our unwavering support to the United Nations in the

promotion and protection of human rights. As a

member of the Human Rights Council, we are lending

our fullest support to make it more effective, efficient

and relevant in the eyes of the world. Our quest for

universal respect for human rights demands that the

perpetrators of massive violations be brought to justice

promptly. Impunity gives rise to violations.

We cannot but admire the Buddhist monks of

Myanmar and the courage of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi,

whose party won a democratic and fair election in

1990, only to be removed from office by a military

coup. She has now spent 11 of the last 17 years under

house arrest. And now the legitimate stirrings of the

people’s will are being brutally repressed in blood, as

we are speaking here at the United Nations. It is our

duty to let the people of Myanmar know that the free

nations of the world stand by them. But we need to do

more than just stand by them. The time has come for

the most stringent sanctions to be taken against the

military junta that has proved again and again that it is

totally impervious to good sense and common

humanity.

I am proud to say that in 1997, in my first term as

Prime Minister, I took the decision to stop buying rice

from Myanmar. I applaud the decision of the President

of the United States of America to apply sanctions. All

of us should do the same. The military junta must be

sent a clear message: that the free world will not

tolerate gunning down people who are demanding

freedom and justice.

While the Assembly has made responding to

climate change the thrust of the general debate,

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has qualified climate

change as the defining issue of our era. We cannot

agree more with that. Climate change affects all of us.

Indeed, if it is not addressed head on, it will have

irreversible consequences and devastating effects on

the survival of human beings and the habitability of our

planet Earth. We all have a stake in addressing climate

change and global warming.

We commend the laudable initiative of the

Secretary-General in convening the High-level Event

on Climate Change on 24 September. We remain

confident that the strong message that has emanated

from the High-level Event will provide the necessary

impetus and political will and act as a catalyst to the

Bali meeting later this year. However, in our approach

to finding a global solution to climate change we

should avoid making those who bear the least

responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions and who

are yet the hardest-hit, pay the price on the same scale

as others who have led to the increase in global

warming as early as the eighteenth century. Mauritius,

for its part remains committed to the principle of

common but differentiated responsibilities.

The rise in sea level constitutes a danger that

threatens most of the low-lying island developing

States. Those States have limited capacity to withstand

the negative effects of natural disasters and external

economic shocks. Their sustainable development

becomes more trying and rigorous in the light of their

inherent vulnerabilities. Mitigation and adaptation

capabilities of countries may vary depending on the

level of their economic development. Small island

developing States (SIDS) face, in their adaptation

choices, fundamental constraints of inadequate data

and technical capacity, weak institutional capacity and

limited financial resources.

In that respect we call for the full and effective

implementation of the commitments, programmes and

targets adopted in the Barbados Programme of Action

and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further

Implementation of the Programme of Action for the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing

States. A special SIDS fund to assist the development

and implementation of adaptation measures in the same

manner as the special fund for the least developed

countries under the umbrella of the Global

Environment Facility (GEF), and regional climate

observational systems to better monitor climate

variations associated with global warming and

sea-level rise, need to be set up.

While it is true that if the present pace of climate

change goes unchecked, the face of the world may

change dramatically in the next hundred years with

devastating effects for future generations, it is equally

true that underdevelopment, poverty, hunger and

diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis

in the developing world are the present challenges that

require the immediate and undivided attention of the

world as laid down in the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs).

The 2007 Millennium Development Goals

midterm report underscores that “the MDGs will be

attained only if concerted additional action is taken

immediately and sustained until 2015” (Millennium

Development Goals Report 2007, p. 4). Africa,

unfortunately, in spite of serious and strenuous efforts,

continues to lag far behind on the MDGs.

Mauritius for its part, is on track to meet the

MDGs by the year 2015. Nonetheless, since my

Government took office in 2005, we have allocated

considerable resources in our national budget for the

empowerment of the poor and the social uplifting of

vulnerable groups. The development challenges of

Mauritius go well beyond the achievement of the

MDGs.

In order to improve the prospects for attaining the

MDGs, it is essential for donors and development

partners to honour their undertakings and commitments

made at the 2002 Monterrey International Conference

on Financing for Development. In that respect, we

hope that the follow-up International Conference on

Financing for Development in 2008 will provide the

much-awaited response from the concerned parties to

adequately address international commitments on

financing for development.

In our efforts to find ways and means to alleviate

and ultimately eliminate poverty in our subregion,

Mauritius, jointly with the Southern African

Development Community will be hosting an

International Conference on Poverty Alleviation and

Development in April 2008.

While there is no denying the fact that

globalization has led in its wake to economic growth in

the world including developing countries, it is also true

that many countries, especially the most vulnerable

ones, are unfortunately not reaping the benefits of

globalization. This is particularly true of LDCs, lower-

and middle-income countries and countries in

transition, which continue to face huge difficulties in

integrating the globalizing economy.

We call for a new global strategy that would

create an enabling economic environment for

development. It would require greater coherence

between the international trading, monetary and

financial systems. We therefore reaffirm our dedication

to the establishment of a new international economic

order which emphasizes globalization with a human

face whose benefits will be more widely shared.

More than six years after the 2001 Declaration of

Commitment on HIV/AIDS “Global Crisis Global

Action”, the pandemic still remains a global crisis

requiring global action. The negative impact of

HIV/AIDS on human resources in the 25-45 age group,

particularly in sub-Saharan Africa is simply

overwhelming. The alarming rate with which the

HIV/AIDS pandemic is ravaging innocent lives in our

societies has far-reaching implications for our socio-

economic development. It undermines the efforts

towards the achievement of the Millennium

Development Goals.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mauritius is

merely 0.2 per cent, with between 20 and 30 per cent

of the cases affecting vulnerable groups, such as prison

inmates and intravenous drug users. Our policies are

geared towards containing the level of contamination,

in particular by combating transmission via the sharing

of contaminated needles. We are providing substantial

funds for the development of a needle exchange

programme and a public awareness information and

communication campaign on HIV/AIDS.

I wish here to put on record our appreciation to

the Clinton Foundation for having included Mauritius

amongst the countries that can benefit from the Clinton

Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative.

Every year at this time heads of State and

Government meet here in this Assembly, because we

believe in the virtues of multilateral diplomacy. All of

us here are sincerely concerned about the multiple

tensions across the world. I am convinced that we all

wish to make our full contribution to the search for

practical, viable and long-term solutions. We are all

inspired by the same will to manage our differences in

dialogue and understanding. We want to call attention

to the problems of globalization and participate in

launching and strengthening the economies of our

countries.

We recognize and welcome the enormous role

that the United Nations plays on the international

scene, a role that needs to be considerably enhanced.

The scope of diplomacy has considerably widened in

recent years. Through the lever of international

relations, the United Nations has the means and the

duty to promote cooperation based on conflict

prevention and the efficient management of natural

disasters. But the United Nations still needs

improvement in its structure and functioning, and we

hope that reform will soon be brought about.

We continue to follow with keen interest and

participate actively in the ongoing reform process of

the United Nations, particularly on the question of the

reform of the Security Council, the revitalization of the

General Assembly, system-wide coherence, the

mandate review and the management reform.

For us, meaningful reform of the United Nations

must first pass through a comprehensive reform of the

United Nations Security Council. At the 2005 World

Summit, we expressed our resolve to support early

reform of the Security Council with a view to making

it more broadly representative, efficient and

transparent. There has been enough talk on this subject

and it should not remain as mere words and intentions.

My Government welcomes the decision of the Open-

ended Working Group dealing with the reform of the

Security Council, which has decided, inter alia, to start

intergovernmental negotiations on the reform of the

Security Council. We are convinced that the

intergovernmental negotiations should be results-

oriented.

Mauritius remains committed to the African

common position, which calls for two permanent seats

and five non-permanent seats for Africa in a reformed

Security Council. We continue to support the legitimate

aspirations of the Latin American and Caribbean

countries for a permanent seat. Mauritius reiterates that

a permanent seat for India in the Security Council is

long overdue. As the largest democracy and a secular

state, India is a living example of the peaceful

coexistence of major religions, cultures and faiths.

India can be a source of inspiration as well as a testing

ground for the outcome of the forthcoming United

Nations High-level Dialogue on Interreligious and

Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace.

In 1965 at the Constitutional Conference for the

granting of independence to Mauritius, the Chagos

Archipelago, among many other islands, formed an

integral part of the territory of Mauritius and should

have remained as such in accordance with the Charter

of the United Nations and General Assembly

resolutions 1514 (1960) and 2066 (1965). Resolution

1514 (1960) states, inter alia:

Any attempt aimed at the partial or total

disruption of the national unity and the territorial

integrity of a country is incompatible with the

purposes and principles of the Charter of the

United Nations. (para. 6)

The excision of the Chagos Archipelago by the

colonial Power at the time of our independence

constitutes a dismemberment of our territory in total

disregard of resolutions 1514 (1960) and 2066 (1965).

Furthermore, it is also a violation of the Charter of the

United Nations itself. We therefore, once again,

reiterate our request to the United Kingdom to engage

in bilateral dialogue with us as soon as possible with a

view to enabling us exercise our sovereignty over the

Chagos Archipelago.

Equally, on the question of our sovereignty over

Tromelin, we note the progress registered at the recent

Mauritius-French joint commission. The United

Kingdom and France, two permanent members of the

United Nations Security Council, are two major and

important economic, trade and development partners of

Mauritius. We fully appreciate their continued support

in the development of our country. We have been

striving to reach an amicable agreement on these issues

but we cannot and will not compromise on our

territorial integrity and our sovereignty over those

islands.

To conclude, I should like to reaffirm my

country’s full faith in the United Nations. It remains

the only organization that offers us hope for peace and

security for a better world for future generations.