Solomon Islands, 2008

At the outset, Sir,

allow me to offer the warm and sincere congratulations

of Solomon Islands on your election as President of the

Assembly at its sixty-third session. I am confident that

with your vast experience and able leadership you will

guide this session to a fruitful outcome. You can rest

assured of Solomon Islands unwavering support and

cooperation during your tenure of office.

Through you, I acknowledge the good work of

your predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, who has shown

great leadership on issues of global concern, in

particular on climate change, financing for

development, United Nations reform and the

Millennium Development Goals.

My delegation is pleased to see you,

Mr. President, take such issues head on, presiding over

the high-level event on the Millennium Development

Goals as we arrive at the midpoint of our time-bound

commitments. Unfortunately, many countries, including

my own, are off track in terms of achieving the Goals.

My delegation also wishes to join others in

conveying its gratitude and appreciation to our

Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who has worked

tirelessly and diligently to protect and preserve the

principles and purposes of the Charter during his first

year in office. We wish him well as he carries on the

good work he has begun — in particular, his regular

briefings of the membership, making his office

accountable and transparent in carrying out its

activities.

This year our multilateral institution is being

revisited by history and challenged by the changing

international system. Unilateralism and changing

postures by big Powers are creating a new global order.

The creation of new fronts in Asia, the Pacific and

Eastern Europe is coupled with the ongoing conflicts in

the Middle East and parts of Africa. Above all, the

arms race is no longer a threat, but a reality.

The structural imbalances of the international

financial architecture have exposed the inability of the

major developed markets to respond to the volatility of

the international financial system, resulting in State

interventions. The world economy is looking more

precarious and unequal. For small open economies the

results are catastrophic. Hence, we must be cautious in

using the free market approach and recognize its

limitations.

The increasing cost of food and energy is causing

macroeconomic instability throughout the world today.

This speaks of the complexity and weakness of the

international system. It reflects the uneven distribution

of wealth that continues to fail the developing

countries, generating instability across the world. This

can only be corrected by having an open rule-based,

non-discriminatory and equitable trading system.

Furthermore, market speculation and agricultural

subsidies continue to pose major risks to the global

economy. The failure of the recent Doha Round is of

concern to my delegation, as it further marginalizes the

small economies from globalization. The issue of the

food crisis now deserves our immediate and most

serious consideration at this session.

My delegation deeply regrets that the recently

discussed United Nations food crisis Comprehensive

Action Plan is not matched by the required resources.

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Countries will therefore need to look at their own

resources for solutions. To this end, Solomon Islands is

working on short-, medium- and long-term solutions.

The population is encouraged to eat locally produced

food and to undertake community-based rice growing

programmes. Solomon Islands hopes to further

strengthen its relations with rice-growing countries.

My Government commends the Republic of China on

Taiwan for supporting Solomon Islands rice-growing

programmes.

Dependency on imported fossil fuel and food is

reversing Millennium Development Goals gains,

painstakingly achieved over the last decades. Solomon

Islands is no exception. Thus, cleaner energy to power

the world economy is the way forward. In this

connection, we look to both the North and the South

for solutions. I wish to thank the Republic of China on

Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Austria for coming forward

with community-based renewable energy programmes.

Such cooperation preserves the indispensable character

of our noble institution and translates into action the

Solomon Islands rural electrification policy of bringing

affordable electricity to 80 per cent of its population in

the rural areas.

We are also exploring bulk purchasing

arrangements with Venezuela, using the models of the

Petro Carribe arrangement. We hope, having spent a

third of our national budget on fuel alone, that this will

provide Solomon Islands with some breathing space.

Climate change and natural disasters continue to

create anxiety and cast a dark cloud over the future and

survival of humanity, in particular of the 50 million

people of small island developing States. The

magnitude of climate change has outgrown the existing

capacity of the United Nations system. Our multilateral

institution is heavy on providing technical support and

analytical data and less weighty with regard to on-the-

ground activities. Regional and subregional

intergovernmental organizations are also going in the

same direction, leaving countries to fend for

themselves. Solomon Islands hopes that the Small

Island Developing States Unit within the United

Nations will be strengthened to effectively coordinate

implementation of meeting the special needs of small

island developing States.

Today there is already within Solomon Islands a

steady migratory pattern of movements of indigenous

populations from their ancestral low islands to larger

islands as sea levels rise. This has placed much stress

on the diverse fragile land tenure system, causing

friction between ethnic groups. Climate change is for

Solomon Islands a sustainable development, security

and poverty issue — all are interlinked. It is about

preserving our forests, about our reforestation

programme and about providing environment-friendly

opportunities for the resources owners in our rural

areas.

On this note, Solomon Islands is embarking on an

ambitious programme of scaling down logging, which

is the country’s major export income-earner. My

Government has earmarked funds for community-based

reafforestation and reforestation programmes. It is

hoped that over time the agriculture, tourism and

fisheries industries will fill the forestry vacuum within

the country’s economy, and that sustainable harvest of

forests will become the norm.

The increased frequency and magnitude of

natural disasters remind us that no country will be

spared. Solomon Islands is still recovering from last

year’s tsunami. We feel the pain and suffering of the

Governments and peoples of Myanmar and the

People’s Republic of China, hit by Cyclone Nargis and

earthquake respectively.

More recently the three hurricanes that battered

our fellow islanders in the Caribbean speak of our

common vulnerability to natural disasters.

My delegation hopes that a more committed

outcome will emerge from the Bali Action Plan.

Solomon Islands further notes with concern the

proliferation of climate change financial mechanisms

outside the multilateral process. This will once again

disadvantage the most vulnerable countries — small

island developing States and least developed countries.

Climate change for us requires new and additional

resources. Accessibility to the Adaptation Fund and

funds for mitigation and technology transfer are at the

heart of the solutions to climate change challenges.

In this light, Solomon Islands fully associates

itself with the Alliance of Small Island States

Declaration on the issue, as well as the recently

adopted Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Niue

Declaration on Climate Change. We further call on the

United Nations membership to support the draft

resolution on climate change and security.

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On the issue of terrorism, Solomon Islands is

concerned about the lack of progress on the draft

comprehensive terrorism convention. The absence of a

legal definition of terrorism is creating gaps in our

global fight against terror. We continue to condemn

terrorism in whatever form and manifestation. We urge

the international community to weed out the evils that

breed terrorism. Our fight against terrorism must be

responsible and humane.

I take this opportunity to sincerely congratulate

the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands,

commonly referred to as RAMSI. The Government and

people of Solomon Islands value its partnership with

the Regional Mission, and I thank all participating

Pacific Islands Forum Countries for their ongoing

contribution and commitment. RAMSI continues to

enjoy popular support, as it provides a unique

opportunity and an enabling environment to rebuild

Solomon Islands. Since assuming office nine months

ago, my Government, the Coalition for National Unity

and Rural Advancement, has defined its relationship

with RAMSI and the Pacific Islands Forum through

consultation and dialogue. This is done through

regional and national processes.

Solomon Islands and RAMSI will soon

commence negotiations on a proposed Government-

RAMSI partnership framework, which will form the

basis of future cooperation. The guiding principles of

the framework are that it should be people-centred,

nationally owned and driven and aligned to

Government priorities and policies. This should

guarantee its sustainability and long-term success.

Meanwhile, our Parliamentary Foreign Relations

Committee has been mandated by our National

Parliament to review RAMSI. The Committee is

expected to report its findings to Parliament next year.

Solomon Islands is establishing a Truth and

Reconciliation Commission, modelled on South

Africa’s experience, to address people’s traumatic

experience during the three years of ethnic conflict. It

is our hope that the process will rebuild confidence,

trust and unity among the diverse cultural communities

in Solomon Islands.

More than 80 per cent of the country’s resources

and land are traditionally owned. Last month the

Solomon Islands National Parliament passed a Secured

Transactions Bill, which will make traditional assets

bankable to allow more investment in the informal

sector. Solomon Islands is also considering putting in

place a Political Parties Integrity Bill to instil national

stability and nurture its growing democracy.

On the issue of achieving the Millennium

Development Goals, as a small island developing State

with least developed country status, we find that much

of our achievement rests on partnership with all

stakeholders at all levels. Solomon Islands is one of the

highest foreign aid recipient countries. This

unfortunately has overstretched and crowded our

national policy space in strengthening and maintaining

good relations with all donors. Meanwhile, the

Government welcomes new approaches by

non-traditional donors of providing direct assistance

using existing national institutional frameworks. This

strengthens governance and democracy, as provided for

under the Paris Declaration, allowing the State to

increase its legitimacy and reach out to its population

more meaningfully.

My delegation remains concerned that much of

the debate on the Millennium Development Goals is

centred on social commitments, from health to gender

and from HIV/AIDS to education. Economic issues are

given no attention, placing countries with huge youth

and unemployed populations in an awkward and fragile

situation. We consider such a gap as a time bomb that

will explode and trigger more instability in the future if

it remains unaddressed.

Educating our youth is the way forward. We are

therefore grateful to those countries that continue to

train our young people. This year a new partner, Cuba,

is offering medical training opportunities for more than

60 students. Solomon Islands will make every effort to

utilize these training opportunities.

Within my subregion of the Pacific, the

Melanesian Spearhead Group, after some 20 years of

informal existence, has established a secretariat,

located in Vanuatu. This should further strengthen

relations among the subregion’s countries and its wider

neighbours, as we continue to address our collective

development aspirations.

We have only eight months left to register our

continental shelf, as required by the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea. We are working

diligently on the matter, having just accessed the

Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea

Trust Fund four months ago. Solomon Islands

welcomes the recent decision by the eighteenth

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Meeting of States Parties to the Convention

recognizing the technical and resources constraints on

many developing countries in meeting the required

time frame of May 2009. We are determined to keep

working on this very important issue, which will

redefine our territorial waters.

I turn to sustainable development issues. Hailing

from the world’s largest ocean, countries of the Pacific

have relied on the ocean for their livelihood and

economic sustenance. This has prompted certain

countries of the Pacific, including Solomon Islands, to

initiate sustainable management arrangements to

protect our juvenile tuna stocks by closing pockets of

high seas adjacent to our respective exclusive

economic zones.

The review of the implementation of the

Monterrey Consensus scheduled for late this year

should promote global growth and better international

development support, especially for the least developed

countries which remain on the periphery of the

international system. Solomon Islands hopes the

review will also reinvigorate the operations and

governance of the Bretton Woods institutions, to make

them more responsive to the changing character of the

international financial system and become an effective

part of the multilateral system.

As one of the least developed countries, Solomon

Islands looks forward to the Fourth United Nations

Conference on the Least Developed Countries,

scheduled for 2010, which will provide an opportunity

to address the special challenges of the least developed

countries. My delegation joins other least developed

countries in looking to you, Mr. President, for

leadership to work on the modalities of the conference

during this session.

On the issue of democratization of the United

Nations, Solomon Islands believes that our

Organization must play a prominent role in influencing

and shaping the dynamics of the international system.

This can be achieved only by increasing the legitimacy

of our premier Organization through wider

participation of its membership. This means that

strengthening the General Assembly is crucial.

Ensuring that the Secretariat is representative of the

membership is a must.

We also call for a genuine attempt by the

Secretariat to undertake a universal recruitment drive,

in particular among those that remain underrepresented

in the Organization. This could be achieved through

annual country competitive recruitment exams.

Solomon Islands welcomes the recent recruitment

exams held in Honiara, and would like to see them held

annually.

On the issue of system-wide coherence, Solomon

Islands notes the establishment five months ago of the

joint office arrangement between the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations

Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Having one of the largest

UNDP country programmes in the subregion of the

Pacific, we note with concern that more than 70 per

cent to 80 per cent of the programmes are spent on

consultancy, making country-United Nations relations

distant.

In this regard, my delegation welcomes the

appointment of an in-country UNDP Deputy Resident

Representative. However, we renew our call for a fully

fledged in-country Resident Representative.

Security Council reform continues to elude the

Organization. It is like a process that has never started

and takes the longest to finish. We have over the years

identified elements for negotiations, yet remain

reluctant to move into intergovernmental negotiations.

I am confident that you will give us leadership,

Mr. President, and plough deep in facilitating an

intergovernmental process on Security Council reform

by February 2009. In this connection, Solomon Islands

reiterates its support for Japan, Brazil and India as

permanent members in an enlarged Security Council.

On the issue of Taiwan, Solomon Islands

congratulates the Government and people of Taiwan on

the successful free and fair election of President Ma

Ying-jeou in March this year. My delegation

acknowledges the goodwill shown by Taiwan in

developing an atmosphere of trust, flexibility,

pragmatism and a positive spirit to reduce tension

across the Taiwan Strait with greater economic

engagement through trade, tourism and cultural

exchange.

We also note the intention to replace armed

confrontation with negotiation, and isolation with

engagement. Resumption of direct flights between the

two countries, increased dialogue, and people-to-

people interaction are all positive developments that

should be encouraged. Above all, much has happened

since the March election.

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Solomon Islands calls on the international

community to recognize the Republic of China on

Taiwan’s good faith and build on the positive

momentum. The international community must provide

the Republic of China on Taiwan with the necessary

and appropriate international space if we are to be

responsible and contribute to the maintenance of

international peace, stability and security along the

Taiwan Strait.

Solomon Islands welcomes the 47-day Annapolis

talks held from December 2007 into January this year.

My delegation shares the Quartet’s support for ongoing

Palestine and Israel negotiations to realize the shared

goal of establishing a Palestine State by December

2008 as a just, permanent and long-lasting solution to

the Middle East conflict.

Solomon Islands further salutes Turkey for

mediating talks between Israel and Syria in April, and

salutes the courage of the two countries in discussing

issues that are difficult and sensitive.

In conclusion, as we reflect on the range of the

global agenda before us, we must honour and act on

our collective commitments. We must also define a

path that offers our people human security

guaranteeing freedom from want, freedom from fear

and freedom to live in human dignity.