Papua New Guinea, 2013

I am honoured

to deliver this statement on behalf of Prime Minister

Peter O’Neill and the people of Papua New Guinea. I

also wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as

President of the General Assembly. We welcome your

overarching theme of “The post-2015 development

agenda: setting the stage”, advocating a solid global

foundation for a results-oriented partnership that is

people-centred and inclusive in our common pursuit of

sustainable development. Papua New Guinea pledges

its support to you as you take on that important task.

We acknowledge the contributions of your predecessor

and wish him well in his future endeavours.

I take this opportunity to address the Assembly

on the state of our economy, highlight the challenges

before us and put forward the policies and development

plans of my Government.

Papua New Guinea continues to be a vibrant and

thriving democracy. However, as experienced by other

developing nations, the road has not been easy in

terms of the political, economic and social challenges

that have confronted us domestically and globally. In

the past, our development efforts have been littered

with missed economic opportunities. My Government

is therefore determined to reset the development and

wealth-creation direction for our nation.

We have set a transformative agenda for our

country and people under our long-term Papua New

Guinea Vision 2050 policy framework and five-year

medium-term development plan. We are determined to

achieve those development plans, as they continue to

reinforce our work aimed at achieving the Millennium

Development Goals and making progress on the post-

2015 development agenda.

Our economy continues to record unprecedented

growth levels, which can be attributed to a stable

Government with responsible and sound monetary

and fiscal policies. Such positive economic growth

complements the Government’s long-term development

policies aimed at stimulating the economy and

achieving our development aspirations. Strategies to

strengthen economic growth include reinvesting in key

enablers, such as infrastructure, health and education,

so as to maximize opportunities and improve the lives

of our citizens.

My Government is harnessing that positive

economic growth to address and improve our social

indicators, including low literacy levels and high

maternal and infant mortality rates. We have also

embarked on a major strengthening of law-and-order

enforcement infrastructure. This year, 50 per cent of

our budget has been allocated to education and basic

health care, law-and-order enforcement, and critical

infrastructure improvement.

My Government is committed to a public-private

partnership model as an important catalyst for national

development. We are also committed to strengthening

existing programmes and networks with the private

sector, churches, donor agencies and non-governmental

organizations through cooperative and mutually

beneficial arrangements.

We are equally committed to investing in provincial

and local-level government so as to improve service

delivery for the majority of our population living in

rural areas. We firmly believe that such partnerships

will create an enabling environment and empower our

people to take ownership of their lives and be proactive

in nation-building.

My Government has also embarked on investor-

friendly policies, supported by public-private

partnerships and prudent economic management, so

as to promote growth in key non-mining sectors. In

that connection, my Government is reviewing taxation

policies with a view to providing incentives and

concessions and encouraging strategic investments in

areas that are critical to driving our economic growth.

Exporting our raw materials is not an option. We

therefore encourage downstream processing through

genuinely joint ventures and other acceptable economic

cooperation.

My Government is committed to strengthening

governance at all levels by combating corruption. We

have adopted the principle of zero tolerance. To that end,

the Government has adopted a national anti-corruption

strategy and established an independent task force with

powers to investigate and prosecute. An independent

commission against corruption will be established to

enhance the implementation of the United Nations

Convention against Corruption.

Given the importance of cross-border security

and related issues, a national security policy is in the

final stages of completion. The focus of that policy is

on dealing with national security issues as contained

in pillar 4 of the Vision 2050 policy framework. In line

with our national security policy, we are committed to

rebuilding our disciplinary forces and institutions as

well as continuing our participation in United Nations

peacekeeping operations.

My Government is committed to addressing some

of my country’s unflattering international human

development indices, including those regarding

human rights issues. We recognize our development

challenges, including gender-based violence, sorcery-

related deaths, access to social services and the low

level of representation of our women in the public and

private sectors. In our assessment, many of those human

rights and human development reports are exaggerated

and insensitive, with scant attention paid to the positive

efforts by the Government to promote and protect basic

rights for all our citizens. Over the past six months,

my Government has enacted the Family Protection

Law and repealed the Sorcery Act of 1971, effectively

making domestic and sorcery-related violence criminal

offences.

I am pleased to announce that my Government has

ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities. The instrument of ratification has been

deposited with the United Nations at this session.

In recent months, there have been many reports

about Papua New Guinea’s bilateral agreement with

Australia on the regional resettlement arrangement for

asylum-seekers. Papua New Guinea, as a State party

to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the

Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, recognizes

the importance of addressing that international

humanitarian issue. Our two Governments are jointly

working on the issue and call upon the international

community to support our efforts. Furthermore, we call

upon like-minded Member States and other stakeholders

to assist our efforts to address the root causes of the

displacement and dislocation of people, as well as to

combat human trafficking and people smuggling.

As an emerging economy in the Pacific region,

Papua New Guinea will enhance its level of engagement

on issues of mutual concern, both within the region and

globally. In the spirit of friendship and neighbourly

South-South cooperation, we are committed to sharing

the benefits of our natural resources development with

our Pacific island neighbours. We have embarked on

that path by providing development assistance to our

neighbours, including the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu,

Marshall Islands, Tonga and Samoa.

Through the Melanesian Spearhead Group, we

are forging dynamic and strong bonds in areas that

include trade and investment, education and training,

judicial support, sporting and cultural exchanges and

visa arrangements to facilitate the movement of skilled

persons. To further consolidate such very important

partnerships at the regional level, we are collectively

reviewing the relevance of the Pacific plan in relation

to regional integration. Papua New Guinea is playing a

leading role in that review exercise.

Papua New Guinea supports the outcome document

of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20), entitled “The future we want”

(resolution 66/288, annex), as the basis for the post-

2015 development agenda. That agenda addresses

balanced human development, including issues relating

to eradicating extreme poverty and improving living

standards for humanity. We also support inclusive

economic growth, while preserving the environment

for future generations. We welcome the work of the

High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015

Development Agenda and the creation of the High-

Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development,

which succeeded the Commission on Sustainable

Development. Both serve as a good starting point for

driving the agenda forward.

Papua New Guinea and the Pacific small island

developing States call on the international community

to support the inclusion of the oceans as a stand-alone

sustainable development goal. We are now in the initial

stages of preparing a sustainable development policy

and strategy for our country, which is to complement

our long-term Vision 2050 policy framework. We

welcome support from the international community to

enhance that work.

Papua New Guinea is pleased to note that the

sustainable development issues of small island

developing States are a priority on the General

Assembly agenda, further reaffirming the importance

of the Rio+20 outcome document and the relevant

General Assembly resolutions. Your two visits this year

to our Pacific region, Mr. President, underscore your

commitment to small island developing States, for which

we applaud you. We look forward to the strengthening

of that important work during your presidency.

As the global community prepares for the third

International Conference on Small Island Developing

States in September 2014 in Apia, Papua New Guinea

reiterates the call for small island developing States to

remain a special case for sustainable development. The

adverse impacts of climate change continue to be of

serious concern to the global community, but especially

for small island developing States. While contributing

the least to that threat, small island countries are not

only suffering the most from the serious impacts of

climate change but also run the risk of being submerged

by rising sea levels.

We support the Majuro Declaration for Climate

Leadership, recently adopted by Pacific Island Forum

leaders. We therefore reiterate the challenge to the

international community to accept its responsibilities

and its leadership role. We also urge the international

community to renew its political commitment to

prioritize the sustainable development issues of small

island developing States in the post-2015 development

agenda. As part of our continued efforts, I am pleased

to note that Papua New Guinea has now become a

member of the Governing Council of the Global Green

Growth Institute.

Papua New Guinea agrees that the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs), despite their

shortcomings, have galvanized the international

community’s development efforts to shape the post-

2015 development agenda. We agree with the view

expressed in the Secretary-General’s 2013 annual report

on the work of the Organization (A/68/1) that we should

remain focused and redouble our efforts to consolidate

the implementation of the Millennium Development

Goals for improved outcomes. We also welcome the

outcomes of the recently concluded high-level special

events on the MDGs and on disability and development

during the sixty-eighth session.

Papua New Guinea is unlikely to achieve most of

the MDGs by 2015. However, my Government remains

committed to implementing the goals beyond 2015.

We have tailored our Millennium Development Goals

targets and indicators in accordance with our 2011 to

2015 medium-term development plan and the Vision

2050 policy framework. We are making progress in

the areas of universal primary education enrolment,

poverty reduction, reduced infant and maternal

mortality rates, combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and

other health issues and strengthening gender equality

and empowerment.

Papua New Guinea expresses its appreciation for

the support it has received from United Nations agencies

and other development partners complementing

our efforts to accelerate the implementation of the

Millennium Development Goals.

I am pleased to report on the continued progress

in the implementation of the Bougainville Peace

Agreement and the successful scaling down of the

Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands.

We thank the United Nations, regional partners and the

international community for their continued assistance

in both instances.

On international peace and security issues, Papua

New Guinea remains concerned about conflicts and

tensions in various regions of the world, including in

the Middle East, North Africa, the Korean peninsula

and the South China Sea. We urge all parties involved

to defuse the situation through peaceful dialogue.

We join the international community in condemning

the use of chemical weapons in Syria and urge full

compliance with the provisions of the Chemical

Weapons Convention. We therefore commend the

Security Council for adopting resolution 2118 (2013)

with a view to dismantling and eradicating Syria’s

chemical-weapons programme.

Since October 2011, Papua New Guinea has

been contributing to United Nations peacekeeping

operations in the Sudan and South Sudan. Earlier this

year, we became the 148th State Member of the United

Nations to join the Special Committee on Peacekeeping

Operations. We are now looking at expanding and

increasing our troop contributions. We also pay tribute

to the United Nations peacekeepers serving around the

world, often in very trying conditions, and especially

those who have made the ultimate sacrifice with their

lives.

We express our concern over the lack of progress

on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation. As a

strong supporter of a nuclear-free world, Papua New

Guinea calls on the United Nations and the international

community to address that serious lack of progress. We

also need to revitalize United Nations disarmament

work so as to foster international peace and security.

Papua New Guinea welcomes the adoption of the Arms

Trade Treaty, which will regulate the trade and transfer

of conventional arms, including small arms and light

weapons.

Finally, Papua New Guinea welcomes the leadership

of the Secretary-General in reforming the United

Nations system. We encourage robust and constructive

reforms in the context of the growing budgetary

constraints faced by the United Nations in recent years.

A lean, effective and responsive United Nations is

imperative so that it can better deliver on its mandate.

We also call for the Security Council to be reformed in

order to reflect today’s geopolitical realities.