Seychelles, 2014

It gives me great pleasure

to begin this address with warm congratulations to His

Excellency Mr. Sam Kutesa on his election as President

of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. I

also wish to congratulate His Excellency Mr. John Ashe

on his inspiring leadership of the Assembly at its sixty-

eighth session.

This year, we marked the 100th anniversary of the

First World War. Our forefathers in 1918 called that

War the war to end all wars, because they knew, as we

know today, that no society can aspire to development

and a better way of life without peace. At that time,

many Seychellois people gave their lives to defend that

ideal. Despite being one of the smallest nations in the

world, geographically far removed from the centres of

power and of conflict, our people have always known

that we cannot be at peace if the world is not at peace.

I take this opportunity to salute those who made the

ultimate sacrifice in those turbulent times of 1914 and

those islanders who showed that no matter how small

we may be, we can make a meaningful contribution.

However, the turbulent events that have unfolded

before our eyes during the course of 2014 have shown

very clearly that the world is not at peace. The heinous

and murderous acts of global terrorist activities in

recent weeks remind us of the increasing threat posed

by terrorism and of the pain that it brings to innocent

victims. That is coupled with a multiplication of

regional conflicts and instability within States.

In order to build peace, we must reinforce our

commitment to multilateralism through the United

Nations, while also ensuring that we accord the highest

priority to more inclusive and effective development.

In that context, I commend the President for placing the

discussion in this year’s general debate under the banner

of “Delivering on and implementing a transformative

post-2015 development agenda”. Seychelles takes

pride in having achieved most of the Millennium

Development Goals and continues to impart greater

impetus to ensure that the remaining challenges are

effectively dealt with by 2015.

For small island developing States (SIDS), the

sustainable development goals are essential to allow

for the implementation of development transformation.

We must recognize that the current development

framework of the majority of development institutions

is still not favourable to the development of SIDS. Most

development gains are still assessed ultimately through

gross domestic product (GDP) per capita measurements,

which do not adequately identify the threats to human

development or the opportunities that exist, especially

for small island States.

Seychelles warmly welcomes the outcomes of

the Third International Conference on Small Island

Developing States, held in Apia, and would particularly

like to thank the Government and people of Samoa for

their leadership in establishing a platform for action to

support the development of SIDS.

Seychelles has championed three priorities that are

outcomes of that conference. The first is the need for a

vulnerability index to be used as a more effective tool

for addressing the development needs of SIDS than

GDP per capita. The second is the need to address the

debilitating debt of SIDS through innovations, such as

debt for climate change adaptation swaps. The third

priority is the need to build opportunities for SIDS

on the basis of their strengths, not their weaknesses;

hence, the need to support a blue economy approach,

whereby SIDS can better utilize their oceanic potential

and whereby we can be large-ocean nations.

Those three priorities are not specific only to

SIDS. The development challenges of SIDS highlight

the deficiencies of the development framework for

all developing nations. A vulnerability index allows

us to target those areas that place our societies at

risk. An effective vulnerability index adopted by

the United Nations will allow us to better target the

diverse needs of SIDS, least developed countries and

landlocked countries, as well as States threatened by

desertification or those most prone to natural disasters.

It is an inclusive view of development.

Ownership of the blue economy also widens

development perspectives for our whole planet. It is

high time that we realize the immense potential of

our oceans. We cannot apply the principles of a green

economy and of sustainable development without

recognizing that we are applying them in a blue world,

for over 70 per cent of our planet is covered by oceans

and seas. For developing nations, the ocean is a shared

opportunity. It is therefore essential that we address

our oceans, and the challenges therein appropriately,

through a stand-alone sustainable development goal on

oceans.

The right to development belongs to us all. True

development is therefore not only about economic

growth or the total wealth that a country can create.

It is about the constant improvement that we need for

the well-being of people. It is about being able to build

a future for our children based on shared opportunity.

In that vein, I reiterate the call that the international

community not spare any effort in helping the nations

of West Africa to overcome the Ebola pandemic, which

is a health issue of international concern. Ensuring

that the affected communities have access to the right

medical support will save lives not only in West Africa

but across the world. Ebola is not just an African

problem. It is a global problem.

We also remain preoccupied by the conclusions of

the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change. That is why SIDS have

continuously underlined the scientific research being

conducted on climate change, which shows that a

warming of even 1.5°C will have a negative impact

on all countries, even if islands are on the front line.

However, the science also tells us that we still have a

window where we can act decisively and effectively.

A legally binding agreement that sets a course for

increases of no more than 2°C is achievable, but all

countries, large or small, must make it happen. It is not a

subject that we can leave aside to take up later, to debate

at a later date. We call on all partners to ensure that

the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,

which will meet in Lima, sets the stage for concluding

a meaningful and legally binding agreement in Paris in

2015.

I would also like to reiterate the importance

of fulfilling commitments to jointly mobilize

over $100 billion annually by 2020 for the full

operationalization of the Green Climate Fund, which

should be capitalized as soon as possible. I also

underline the importance of ensuring that the most

vulnerable, in particular SIDS and African nations,

have access to the appropriate resources as quickly

as possible. Further, we call for SIDS to be part of the

decision-makers on issues of climate change and to be

allocated a permanent seat on the Executive Committee

of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and

Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts.

Seychelles will also continue to advocate for a

solution to the debt trap in which many of us, especially

SIDS, find ourselves. A solution that Seychelles

has brought forward in partnership with the Nature

Conservancy, an international non-governmental

organization, is proposals for debt-for-adaptation

swaps. SIDS are often constrained in their development

because of large debt-to-GDP ratios. Transferring

that debt into climate change adaptation projects

will address the SIDS need for greater flexibility in

addressing their development challenges while also

making a real impact in terms of building climate

change resilience by creating marine protected areas,

not only locally, but globally. That concept will also

allow for the application of climate change funding in

order to achieve leverage for adaptation projects while

reducing financial barriers for small island developing

States.

(spoke in French)

Faced with the challenges of security, transnational

crime and extremism, the United Nations requires

significant reform and must rise above its divisions

to help build a world in which human beings can live,

wherever they are, in dignity and free from want and

fear. More than ever, it is necessary to encourage the

search for collective solutions to address all sorts of

phenomenon that undermine the balance of our world.

That is the sense that guides every action of

my country. Seychelles is indeed ready to meet the

challenges of the twenty-first century in a spirit of

openness and dialogue with all peoples, for a world

of peace and human brotherhood. We are working in

Africa, particularly in the Indian Ocean, with a view to

the region becoming one of shared peaceful, democratic

and prosperous development.

The Indian Ocean region is grateful to the United

Nations, and the Seychelles once again thanks its

specialized agencies, as well as our various partners, for

the invaluable role each one has played and still plays in

the fight against maritime piracy, which has already had

a deep impact on our development plans. Statistics show

that today maritime piracy has declined, but that hardly

indicates that that threat has disappeared. Therefore,

we must remain vigilant, and we still need the support

of all to help dispel the profound aftereffects it has left

for our economy. Over the years, maritime piracy has

had serious repercussions on fishing, tourism, shipping

and port services. Seychelles continues to work in

harmony with all its partners, since any slackening in

the face of that unpredictable phenomenon could have

consequences.

The Seychelles is actively involved with partners

in our region and beyond to better target organizers

of cross-border trafficking in the Indian Ocean zone.

We have established a regional information centre that

allows better coordination between our region’s forces

and also aims to better manage the monitoring and

protecting of our shared maritime space against the

shared threats, whether piracy, narcotics trafficking or

illegal fishing.

In the same vein, the Seychelles will continue to

support the Security Council decision to strengthen

the United Nations-African Union partnership in

Somalia. It is a difficult task, for which I wish to

affirm our solidarity with the African and United

Nations staff involved. I take the opportunity to urge

the international community to continue supporting

efforts to restore peace and reconciliation in Somalia.

The international community must not lose patience

in view of the mixed results achieved so far. For our

part, we have taken action bilaterally and with regional

and multilateral partners to help Somalia strengthen its

capacities in areas such as fisheries management and

development. The United Nations must always show the

way and inspire the necessary efforts to bring together

the means necessary in the struggle and to coordinate

them with the States concerned.

Seychelles also expresses solidarity with all

African countries affected by conflict or instability.

We are committed to working together so that we can

build together, in the African Union, the transformative

Africa that we foresee through our 2063 strategy.

Seychelles, like all African countries, also

expresses solidarity with the Palestinian people, given

the challenges of the continuing conflict in the Middle

East, and we reiterate our wish for peace between the

two neighbouring States based on the 1967 borders.

We also take the opportunity to recall the

importance of lifting the economic embargo against

Cuba, an island country that depends on trade access to

better support its development, as all island States do.

All those problems and challenges justify the United

Nations remaining the leaven of international peace

and security, but also and especially the conscience

of humanity. Here I commend the Secretary-General,

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his remarkable work at the head

of our Organization at a time when human history is

facing enormous challenges. Indeed, much remains to

be done, but optimism remains, for the helm is in good

hands. The United Nations will effectively discharge its

mission if all the nations that gave rise to it, large and

small, provide it with the necessary means and entrust

it with the responsibility for carrying out actions in the

service of humanity. Seychelles, for its part, remains

ready to play its role to its full capacity, in this noble

and exciting mission.