Solomon Islands, 1996

As we begin the

second half of the United Nations first century, we are

presided over by a diplomat whose distinguished career

has included service in four of the world’s five great

regions. He has demonstrated skill and ready humour in

his work as the Permanent Representative of Malaysia. I

note with some amazement his most recent achievement:

getting this Assembly to begin each meeting promptly on

schedule. This bodes well for our efforts here.

Mr. Freitas do Amaral of Portugal presided over the

fiftieth session of the General Assembly with the intellect

and distinction characteristic of his career as a

parliamentarian and teacher of law. We are in his debt.

Last year, I saluted the Secretary-General, as well as

the women and men of the Secretariat, the specialized

agencies and other bodies of the United Nations for their

extraordinary work during this difficult time in the

Organization’s history. The Solomon Islands applauds

them all. It is difficult to persevere in the face of harsh

and unjustified criticism and insufficient financial

resources while engaged in the complex task of

revitalizing the United Nations to meet the needs of a

world in rapid transformation.

This morning, on behalf of the Solomon Islands, I

signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

(CTBT). I was especially pleased to do so because

nuclear-weapons testing and disarmament are critical

issues for the people of my country. During the fiftieth

session of the General Assembly, the Solomon Islands

worked with its sister States of the South Pacific Forum

and the Pacific basin for the adoption of resolution 50/70

A on nuclear testing. Noting the international alarm over

recent nuclear tests and the potential negative effects of

underground nuclear testing on health and the

environment, the General Assembly deplored all nuclear

testing and called for its immediate cessation.

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The islands and atolls of the Pacific Ocean were the

sites of nuclear tests for 50 years. Peoples were displaced

and fragile environments destroyed. We welcome the end

of the nuclear-weapons tests, but when will the States who

conducted them accept their responsibility for providing

long-term damage assessments and aid for resettlement and

the restoration of economic productivity?

Solomon Islands also welcomes the signature of

Tonga, as well as the signature and ratification by the

Republic of Vanuatu, of the South Pacific Nuclear Free

Zone Treaty and the signing of its Protocols by France, the

United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Last November, the judges of the International Court

of Justice heard two weeks of argument to assist them in

rendering the Advisory Opinion requested by the General

Assembly at its forty-ninth session on the question: Is the

threat or use of nuclear weapons in any circumstances

permitted under international law? The Solomon Islands

worked closely with the Marshall Islands and Western

Samoa in developing and presenting to the Court, in

cooperation with other States, the case that the use of even

the smallest nuclear weapon would violate international

law, particularly humanitarian law. The landmark Opinion

rendered by the Court on 8 July largely supported our

position. Regrettably, the nuclear Powers that argued

against us at the International Court of Justice see it

otherwise. We look forward to the debate on the Advisory

Opinion, which is on the agenda thanks to the initiative of

Malaysia.

The indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the creation of

Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones in Africa and South-East Asia,

the finding of the International Court of Justice, the General

Assembly’s adoption of the CTBT — whatever its

shortcomings — and the report of the Canberra

Commission indicate that a momentum exists for

establishing targets and timetables for the elimination of all

nuclear weapons. Although the majority of States support

this, such States have no forum in which they can develop

their ideas and formulate a strategy. Solomon Islands

proposes the creation of a forum of non-nuclear-weapon

States. Committed to the elimination of nuclear weapons,

the forum would seek agreement on a unified approach to

the full implementation of article VI of the NPT and

monitor progress towards that end. Moreover, the forum

would work to give effect to arrangements such as the

southern hemisphere nuclear-weapon-free zone and linked

regional nuclear-weapon-free zones that could evolve into

a global nuclear-weapon-free system.

Solomon Islands endorses the statement made here

last week by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the

Marshall Islands on behalf of the South Pacific Forum.

Solomon Islands, a member of the South Pacific Forum

ministerial committee on New Caledonia, welcomes the

progress facilitated by France and the relevant parties in

implementing the Matignon Accords.

For the small island States of the Pacific, the

environment, development and international trade are

matters of critical concern. The development of

comprehensive arrangements for the sustainable

management of our region’s fisheries is urgently needed.

Solomon Islands will soon sign and ratify the Agreement

for the Implementation of the Provisions of the

Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982

relating to the Conservation and Management of

Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

The special session of the General Assembly to be

convened in 1997 to review Agenda 21 is also of great

importance to Solomon Islands. We seek practical ways

to improve ongoing regional efforts to meet the Agenda’s

goals.

The second assessment report of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a call to

the international community to speed up negotiations,

recognizing that such a global problem demands a

collective solution. Solomon Islands continues to support

the Alliance of Small Island States Protocol to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. If

lower greenhouse gas emissions are not achieved soon,

the very survival of small island developing States will be

threatened. Moreover, the sustainable management and

conservation of our forests are essential for the biological

diversity and economy of the country.

In the Pacific, where healthy coral reefs are essential

for effective coastal zone management, we are

collaborating in the international coral reef initiative and

will take part in our region’s Year of the Coral Reef in

1997. As valuable as these efforts are, what remains to be

done is formidable. The recent report to the United

Nations Commission on Sustainable Development on

activities to implement the Barbados Programme of

Action in the Pacific region shows the range and

magnitude of the problems the citizens of the small island

developing States face.

The future of the Solomon Islands must depend on

a people-centred development strategy that uses a bottom-

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up and top-down process of decision-making. With a

population of fewer than 400,000 people of diverse ethnic

and linguistic origins, 80 per cent of whom live in rural

settings on hundreds of islands arrayed over 1,600

kilometres of ocean, no other system is workable. A major

change in our system of provincial government is designed

to maximize rural community participation in planning and

decision-making. Overseas development assistance could,

therefore, be directed to where it is most needed. We are

fostering public health, literacy and electrification. That is

why the recent completion of our first solar-powered village

is important for us. In implementing the Habitat Agenda,

we are encouraging self-reliance in village development.

Solar and other renewable energy resources, such as water

and wind, will further our economic, education and health

development plans.

Several weeks ago, the Internet reached the Solomon

Islands. Personal computers in a growing number of our

secondary schools and the possibility of lap-top computers

in the hands of teachers and students give new hope for my

country’s future. We are now using the World Wide Web

to introduce the country to potential investors and tourists.

Peace in our region is essential for sustainable

development. Solomon Islands encourages the efforts of

Papua New Guinea to resolve its Bougainville crisis

through constructive dialogue with all the parties concerned.

The confidence-building measures have reduced the tension

across the border between Papua New Guinea and Solomon

Islands.

Solomon Islands, which patiently follows the debates

on reforming the United Nations, recognizes the difficulties

inherent in making the Organization more effective. We

support an increase in the non-permanent membership of

the Security Council on a regional basis and thank Italy for

its valuable proposal. If the number of permanent members

is also to be enlarged, the responsibilities of permanent

membership and the criteria for the use of the veto must be

established and made transparent.

The fiftieth anniversary Declaration called for the

revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, the

universal organ of the States Members of the United

Nations. Proposals have been put forward and debated.

Calls for reducing the length of the agenda continue to echo

through these halls. Yet, in the past few weeks, we have

seen how vital the General Assembly can become when a

delegation skilfully and vigorously presses forward with a

great issue and effectively marshals the support of many

Member States. I refer to the extraordinary work of

Ambassador Richard Butler and his Australian colleagues

in mobilizing overwhelming support for the adoption of

the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

When the will and commitment are present, the General

Assembly can act with brilliant effectiveness, winning the

applause of a world hungry for security, peace and

prosperity.

Such an achievement need not be rare. As the

universal organ of the Member States, the General

Assembly should be a force for democracy, transparency

and universality. For example, the Charter permits the

General Assembly a much larger role in the selection of

the Secretary-General than it has exercised in the past.

Confronted as we are with public action in this matter by

one of the great Powers, should we not now seek to make

the process truly democratic and open? Can we afford to

leave this essential issue to last-minute bargaining behind

closed doors? Twenty-five years ago, the General

Assembly at its twenty-sixth session adopted resolution

2837 (XXVI), which recognized the unquestionable value

of the general debate and said that it should continue to

be held every year and that the time devoted to it should

be utilized to the maximum.

The general debate offers a glimpse of how Member

States see the state of the world and the United Nations.

Listening to the statements in this great Hall, one is

struck by the spectrum of ideas and opinions they present.

Discussion would enhance their value for us, but we have

not established appropriate venues at which the views

offered here could be thoroughly explored. Can we afford

to deny ourselves the benefit of engaging our colleagues

intellectually?

To move the General Assembly towards universality,

Solomon Islands believes that substantially reducing the

floor rate in the scale of assessments, as has been

proposed, would not only enable several countries in our

region to seek membership of the United Nations but

would help many developing countries to pay their annual

assessments in full and on time.

Two themes have clearly emerged in our general

debate: Whatever its weaknesses, the United Nations is

indispensable; but without sufficient resources and a

decisive commitment to true multilateralism, the

Organization cannot fulfil its obligations to the peoples of

the world. Solomon Islands and the other small island

developing States need this Organization. Whether the

issue is investment, law enforcement, trade embargoes,

fishing rights, hazardous waste dumping, natural disasters,

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autonomy, independence or any combination of these, the

people of the small islands turn to the United Nations for

support.

We and others spoke out on behalf of the Republic of

China on Taiwan, which, barred from the United Nations

and seeking unification with the People’s Republic of

China, is attempting to enlarge its contribution to the

developing world through this Organization. Solomon

Islands hopes that unification negotiations based on the

proposals each party has put forward can begin in the near

future.

The United Nations is dealing with important issues:

the Agenda for Development, the programmes of action

approved at the world conferences, technical assistance, the

Secretary-General’s preventive diplomacy, the evolving

international system for protecting human rights. In this

respect Solomon Islands especially thanks the International

Committee of the Red Cross for its efforts to rid the world

of anti-personnel landmines and for its work caring for the

displaced and searching for missing persons, including

Kuwaitis and Greek Cypriots who have still not been heard

from, and many other people who have “disappeared”.

These are life and death matters even for those of us

who live on distant islands. Through a commitment to

equity, democracy and tolerance based on multilateralism

and universality, an effective United Nations will serve us

all for generations to come.