Seychelles, 1997

I take this opportunity to congratulate you, Sir,

on your election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its fifty-second session.

I wish also to thank your predecessor, Ambassador

Razali of Malaysia, for the skill and commitment with

which he guided our work during the last session.

I convey to the Secretary-General and his staff my

high appreciation of the often difficult initiatives they

have taken this year to promote peace not only between

peoples but also within nations. These initiatives accent

the Organization’s role and its principles, to which I am

pleased to reaffirm the commitment of the people of

Seychelles. There have also been initiatives to promote

development and to protect the environment and the weak

among us, and to help stateless individuals and refugees

from countries that are often marginalized.

We need a consistent, effective United Nations

backed by the funds necessary for it to carry out its

mandate. The Secretary-General has proposed a series of

reforms along these lines, and the Republic of Seychelles

firmly backs that initiative.

Seychelles is a small island State. Yet we have done

all in our power to integrate ourselves fully into

international life and into the world economy. In that

connection, Seychelles has requested membership of the

World Trade Organization; it is already a member of the

Indian Ocean Commission and the Common Market for

Eastern and Southern Africa, and recently joined the

Southern African Development Community. Seychelles

has thus adopted an open economic policy designed to be

attractive; yet we continue to face the handicaps

characteristic of an island State, exacerbated by a lack of

human and natural resources and by the limits of our

domestic markets.

Following the Global Conference on the Sustainable

Development of Small Island Developing States, held in

Barbados in 1994, and in accordance with resolutions

adopted in international forums, the international

6

community is heeding the appeal of small island States for

help in laying and strengthening the foundations of

sustainable development. Like larger countries, small island

States have the same aspirations, the same needs — and

even more so. Yet they are disadvantaged by their greatly

limited means and their structurally fragile economies. That

is why it would be more equitable to identify specific

criteria that would integrate them harmoniously into the

process of global cooperation and economic development

on both the bilateral and the multilateral levels.

Recently, Seychelles has experienced remarkable

climatic setbacks. Unceasing torrential rains of unusual

intensity have caused loss of life, flooding, landslides and

the destruction of homes and of infrastructure of all kinds.

They also threaten the environment on which our lifestyle

depends and our ecosystem, especially in coastal areas.

For a small State striving to keep pace with

development, an unexpected upheaval, with all its economic

and other consequences, can have far-reaching effects that

are not immediately evident.

I should like to take this opportunity to thank the

Department of Humanitarian Affairs for having quickly

dispatched an evaluation mission to take stock not only of

the damage done but of the future threats such an upheaval

poses, given the climatic change under way on a global

level. Moreover, that mission was followed by the

launching of an appeal to the international community for

assistance. The people of the Seychelles are very grateful

for all these actions.

In conclusion, I should like to express the hope that

the future of our planet will bring vast improvements,

notwithstanding the numerous difficulties that loom on the

horizon. The United Nations, through its initiatives and the

joint efforts of all peoples, will most surely achieve that

goal.